Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

63 ratings
How to Install Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines Unofficial Patch on Linux using Protontricks (GUI Guide)
By Grady Vuckovic
This guide describes how to install the unofficial patch for Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines using Protontricks using only a GUI, no terminal required.
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Preparation
NOTE: Based on feedback from comments, not all versions of Proton seem to work, but comments below suggest versions 7.0.6 and 3.16-9 are known safe versions. Your mileage may vary with other versions of Proton.

NOTE: Currently only version 114 of the patch is known to work based on comments below, 115 seems to not work. It's advised to download version 114 of the patch. If you try any newer versions of the patch other than 114 and have success, please keave a comment below!

Before starting, first you should do the following:

1. Ensure you have Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines installed via Steam, and attempt to run the game at least once. It is normal to receive an error message saying there is less than 15MBs of memory available and that the reported memory available is -1MB.

2. Take note of the location where your Steam version of the Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines is installed. To find this:
  • Open Steam
  • Go to your library
  • Right click Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines
  • Go to Manage -> Browse Local files
  • When a file manager opens, select the folder path of the location in the file manager and make a note of it somewhere, such as a text editor.
    Take note of this location, this is the "Game Install" folder.

3. Download the unofficial patch from https://www.moddb.com/mods/vtmb-unofficial-patch and save it somewhere convenient, such as your Downloads folder or your Desktop.

Take note of the location where you saved the .exe file, this is the "Patch installer" file.



4. Install the Flatpak version of "Protontricks" from Flathub using your distro's preferred method for installing Flatpaks:

https://flathub.org/apps/details/com.github.Matoking.protontricks

For example:

Linux Mint: Search for this application with the Software Manager.
Manjaro: Enable Flatpak third party support in the 'Add/Remove Software' app settings and search there.

5. Enable 'Show Hidden Files' in your file manager to make life easier later on.
Installing the Patch
Step 1: Run Proton Tricks



Step 2: Select the game from the list of installed games. Your list will look different depending on what Steam games you have installed. Note: Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines will not appear in the list unless the game has been launched at least once.



Step 3: Choose the 'Select default wineprefix' option.



Step 4: Choose the 'run taskmgr' option.



Step 5: In the task manager, click the 'New Task' option



Step 6: Find the "patch installer" .exe installer you downloaded in the preparation stage. Browse for the file and run it.



Step 7: Follow the prompts of the installer.



Step 8: You will reach a step which will ask for you to specify the location of the file games to install the patch into. Use the browse button to navigate to the location of your "Game Install" folder you found in the preparation stage, then continue.



Step 9: Follow the rest of the prompts for the installer



Step 10: Return to Steam, right click 'Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines', choose 'Properties', and go to the 'General', section. Add the following into the launch options parameter:
-game Unofficial_Patch
That's All
Try out the game to ensure it's working and that's it, all done.
If this guide helped you, please give it a like to help others find it in the future.
25 Comments
vscnt 3 Jun @ 9:12pm 
Seems to work fine with Unofficial Patch 11.5 final (released 25.05.2025) and Proton 7.0.6.
Grady Vuckovic  [author] 16 Jan @ 1:27am 
Thanks for the comments folk, I'll put a note at the start of the guide, if anyone else has any other discoveries feel free to share and I'll add them. :)
Furk 13 Jan @ 1:53pm 
Hi again. Those people forced to use windowed mode, try disabling Steam overlay from game's properties > general > turn off. add -fullscreen to the launch options. Worked for me.
Furk 13 Jan @ 12:44pm 
As a new linux user I got it to work with 114 patch, NOT 115. Game stopped after splash screen but I added -windowed in launch options. It worked. Clean guide, thanks
sofinha 9 Jan @ 4:58pm 
It still works. As pseudomushroom said, 115 unofficial patch doesn't work, so use 114 instead. Also only 3.16-9 proton version works for me (mint btw), and I've played on it perfectly fine.
I've also managed to download and use another mod (clan quest) using basically the same method, just a few changes, so yeah thank you for this guide 👍🏻
pseudomushroom 19 Aug, 2024 @ 4:40pm 
for those who aren't aware, unfortunately, this method (as of right now), does not work for the newest 115 unofficial patch. if you want to use this guide, use the 114 unofficial patch and make sure the proton version you use is 7.0.6. your screen ratio will be 800x600 the moment you boot into the game, but that can be adjusted in your game settings. once that's all set, you can change the proton version to whatever you want after the first boot!
wuaieyo 18 Aug, 2024 @ 8:31am 
so i followed this guide but installed the VTMBup115rc10.9.exe patch, on the last screen i cliked ok to run the game and i closed it on main menu to add the launch command in steam game properties, after that i get the game to launch only for 1 second and it would close. so i reinstalled eveything but with the 114 patch version and with normal wine and then the game would get stuck after starting videos with black screen, then i tryed all proton versions from newest to oldest and the 7.0.6 made it to launch in the main menu finaly, after that i changed resolution and now i can launch the game on latest proton experimental. : ( super troubles...
Lime 8 Aug, 2024 @ 10:15am 
welp, I managed to install the game by enabling steam-play for all games. Now Protontricks simply crash after step 1 after selecting VTM:Bloodlines, returning the errors: 'WINETRICKS environment variable is not available.' and 'Couldnt find custom shortcuts. Maybe none have been created yet? '
Lime 8 Aug, 2024 @ 9:18am 
I cant even attempt to install the basegame via Steam on an Ubuntu platform.
I havent touched Linux in more than a decade so it might just be me tho.
Any guide out there to force-install the game via Steam? I've only been able to find some wine-guide which I'm assuming requires the files to be present locally.
seatopian 9 Jul, 2024 @ 4:26am 
Yeah. It just gives me a black screen for a second, then closes.