This game is an absolute classic, and with good control mappings it plays really well on the Deck. I wanted to run it with the Clan Quest Mod, which adds a whole range of new content including weapons, quests, NPCs, and even an entire new quest hub towards the end of the game.

This took some tinkering because the Steam Deck runs on Linux, and this guide describes how to do it. I focus on installing CQM specifically, but at the end I cover how you can use the same steps to install other mods. I tried my best to explain everything clearly for Linux noobs such as myself, but it is quite a simple process overall.

Also, if you find this guide useful, I wrote similar ones for the original Deus Ex and its sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War.

You will need to download the Clan Quest Mod. I used the 4.1 Full Installer, but if you see a newer one, use that instead. If you want another mod, download that instead and then read the section at the end of the guide.

You should either download this directly on the Steam Deck in desktop mode, or download it on your computer and transfer it over via USB key or by some other means. You will also need to install ProtonTricks and ProtonUp-Qt, but these are covered in the guide.

Download Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines through Steam. Run the game once before quitting - don't worry if the game gives an error.

Switch your Steam Deck into Desktop mode. Open "Discover" using the menu or the icon on the taskbar. Search for ProtonTricks and install it. ProtonTricks can be used to run .exe files on the Deck, so we will need it.

On the Discover menu, search for ProtonUp-Qt and install it. ProtonUp-Qt allows us to add other versions of Proton, the Steam Deck's operating system, which we will need to run VTMB. Once it is installed, click "Launch" in the top right corner of the Discover menu.

On the ProtonUp-Qt menu, click "Add version" at the bottom. Make sure "GE-Proton" is selected under "Compatibility Tool", then under "Version" scroll down to "6.21-GE-2" (near the bottom) and select it, then press "Install".


You will then see Proton being downloaded and installed, and afterwards it will appear in the list as shown below. You can now close this window.


Navigate to wherever you put the Clan Quest Mod installer. My installer's filename was SVtMB_-_Clan_Quest_Mod_Installer_4.1.exe, but yours might be different if a newer version is released in the future.

Right-click the setup exe file and select Open With -> ProtonTricks Launcher. It should come up with a list of programs - select "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines: 2600" (shown below). If it does not appear in the list, you forgot to run the game in step 1. Click "OK" to launch the installer.


The installer gets confused here because it is designed for a Windows file system. I have my games installed on the internal SSD in the default folder, which the installer sees as drive Z:. Open Steam, right-click on VTMB and select "Manage -> Browse Local Files". This will open a window showing where the game is installed. Click on the file path near the top of the window to reveal the full path. Then click "browse" on the installer, select drive Z:, and browse to the correct folder. The revealed file path, folder browser and completed path are shown below.


For me, the full path was Z:\home\deck\.steam\steam\steamapps\common\Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines\, but this might differ based on your Steam Deck setup.

Click Next, and customise your mod as you want it. I did a custom installation and installed the Unofficial Patch Plus, Companion Mod and Camarilla Edition, Disable Blood Timers, Context Loading Screens, Posters Revised, Arsenal Mod and the X20 mod. I did not install the Achievement System because I find it annoying, and I prefer the Arsenal mod over the weapon sounds mod. Once you're done, click "Next" and "Install". Let the installer complete and then click "Finish".

In Linux, .dll files in the game folder do not automatically override the system dlls, so we need to tell the game to use the .dll file in the VTMB folder. We also must tell the game to use the files in the CQM folder. To do this, right-click VTMB in your Steam library, click "properties", and paste the following line into "Launch Options" at the bottom. It must be pasted EXACTLY as given, or it will not work:


You can then close the properties window and reboot to non-desktop mode.

We will now test that the installation is working. Select the game and open the settings menu using the gear on the right. Select "Compatibility" on the left, then tick the box for "Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool". In the drop-down menu, select Proton-6.21-GE-2. For me, other versions of Proton had broken controls.

Now is a good time to pick a good controller mapping. Select the controller icon next to the gear. There are many good ones on the community page, but I must shamelessly plug my own: VTMB by Debaser, which is comfortable and easy to use.

- Allows you to move, look, jump/duck and shoot all at the same time
- Dialogue choices bound to D-Pad
- Left trackpad menu governs all menu functions and quicksaves
- Hotkeys for weapons and powers on right analog stick
- Keyboard bound to preview (select) buttons for easy typing on computers
- Hacking (CTRL+C) possible via crouch (L4) and selecting the "character" menu (C) on the left trackpad


Run the game. The Deck may need to download some files for the new Proton version before you can do this. When the game launches, you should see "Clan Quest" just under the main title. Start a new game with any random stats and select "skip intro". When the game begins and you're in the alleyway, press the "Weapons" button (L5 on my setup) and you should see a fists icon. Then open the inventory (Y button on my setup) and you should see a wallet and a keyring. If you do not see these, you have entered the launch argument in step 9 incorrectly. Repeat step 9 and try another new game.

We're almost there. Quit the game and boot back into desktop mode. Open the VTMB installation folder through steam. Open the CQM\dlls folder, where you will find 4 dll files as shown below.


Rename vampire.dll to vampire-old.dll, then rename vampire.dll.d2d to vampire.dll as shown here.


Copy all 4 dll files, navigate back to the VTMB installation folder, then enter Vampire\dlls and paste all 4 dll files there. A "File already exists" menu will appear - click "overwrite".


The folder should then look like the below.


If you don't do this step, the game will randomly crash at loading screens when moving between areas or loading a game. It is incredibly annoying. I don't know why this fix works, but it does.

Disable logos on startup: Head back to the VTMB folder and navigate to Vampire\media. Delete or rename all four of the files here and the game will boot straight to the main menu. This was a godsend when working out all the steps for this guide :P


Increase FOV: The game's original FOV is a bit small for me. To fix this, head back to the VTMB folder, open CQM\cfg and open autoexec.cfg in a text editor. The default one for Proton is called Kate. At the bottom, add a new line containing "default_fov 95" (without quotes).


You can set this to whatever value you want (95 vs default shown below). Save and close.


Tweak Settings: Especially with increased FOV, the framerate can suffer a bit in quest hubs when there are a lot of NPCs around. To alleviate this and improve battery life, open the game, go to Options -> Visual, and set the "Shadows" to "Soft". Shadow Count, Geometric Detail and Particles can be set to max, and Combat Effects can be enabled. I also tick "Widescreen" under "Video", but I am not sure it does anything. Still, can't hurt.


If you followed these steps exactly as given, you should now have this classic game running perfectly with the Clan Quest Mod on the Deck. Enjoy!

The above steps probably work for installing most/all mods. I tested them with Antitribu 1.1, VTM The Final Nights 1.61 (see note below), and the Unofficial Patch 11.4.

In all cases, you simply install the mod using ProtonTricks as described in step 6, and give it the installation path as described in step 7. Once the mod is installed, you must open the game properties in Steam, and change the bit after -game to reflect the mod's folder in the VTMB folder. For example, Antitribu 1.1 puts a folder called Antitribu_Mod in your VTMB installation folder, so you must change the launch options to the following:


For The Final Nights the folder is tfn, and for the unofficial patch the folder is Unofficial_Patch.

The rest of the launch options must be kept the same. The game must also still use Proton-6.21-GE-2 as described in step 10 for the controls to work. The tweaks in steps 14, 15 and 16 will also work with any mod.

The one thing I am not sure about is copying the dlls over as shown in step 13, since different mods have different numbers of dlls. If you are running a mod other than CQM and experience random crashes on loading screens, you could try copying the dlls from the game's respective dll folder (For example Antitribu_Mod\dlls) into the Vampire\dlls folder and overwriting contents. If this doesn't work, try installing CQM and following step 13 exactly, so that you use those dlls instead. I wish I could be more clear on this, but I have no idea why that fix works in the first place. If any of you know what is going on here, please let me know in the comments.

Note on Final Nights: VTM Final Nights could not see the hidden/system folders necessary to install directly into the VTMB folder, so I installed it in a folder called Final_Nights on the desktop instead, then copied the contents of this folder (not the folder itself) into my VTMB folder, clicking "Write Into" and "Overwrite" as necessary, with "Apply to all" ticked. After this, it worked as normal when I added "tfn" to the launch arguments in place of CQM. VTM Final Nights specifically asks for a fresh install of VTMB to install over, and I did not do this, but I probably would if I was going to play it properly in case it really is necessary.