New Balance Installation

This guide describes how to install and run the New Balance Mod for Gothic II on Linux (Ubuntu 24.04.x) using the Steam version of the game.

Prerequisites

• Steam
• Gothic II (Steam version)
• Ubuntu 24.04.3 (or compatible)
• protontricks (Flatpak version from Flathub)
• New Balance Mod
• New Balance Scripts
• Wine
• Winetricks

1. Install Gothic II (Steam version)

1. Right-click on the game in your library and select Properties.
2. Open the Game Versions & Betas tab.
3. Select Default Public Version version.
4. Then go to Compatibility tab.
5. Check Force the use of a specific Steam Play compatibility tool.
6. Change the Proton version to Proton 8.0-5.
7. Install game.

Recommended: Disable the Steam Overlay

2. Create and configure wine prefix

I will use and configure the default Wine prefix, which is located in the home directory.
For proper operation, it is recommended to remove the .wine directory so everything is installed cleanly.

If you already use the default Wine prefix for other games, consider creating a separate Wine prefix instead.

1. Open a terminal and run:

    winecfg
   

   This command will create a new, clean Wine prefix if it does not already exist.

2. Set the Windows version to Windows 10, then click apply and OK.

3. Install New Balance

With a clean Wine prefix ready, we can install the mod. New Balance is distributed with its own .exe installer, so Wine is required.

1. Navigate to the directory containing NewBalanceMod.exe and .bin files.
2. Open a terminal and run:

    wine NewBalanceMod.exe
   

3. Select folder with Gothic II.
4. In the installer options, enable Visual C++ Redistributable and base settings (In my case, I didn’t install DX11).

4. Install Union

At this point, the mod itself should be installed correctly. However, on Linux the installer does not install Union automatically, which is required for the mod to work.

Fortunately, the installer provides the Union executable, so we can install it manually. Before doing so, Wine needs an additional component: .NET Framework 4.8.

1. Open a terminal and run:

    winetricks -q dotnet48
   

2. Go to the main folder with Gothic II.
3. Open the _backupFiles directory.
4. Open a terminal and run:

    wine Union_1_0m.exe
   

   If you encounter an error after selecting the language and clicking Continue, simply close the error window and run the command again. Eventually, the installer should display the window for selecting the game directory.

5. Select the Gothic II directory.

   Important:

   Make sure the installation path is correct. It should not start with C:\ (as on Windows).
   Instead, for example it should start with a Z:\. You can verify that Union was installed correctly by checking whether Union - uninstall.exe appears in the Gothic II directory.

6. If prompted to choose the game version, select Gothic II NOTR.

5. Install directmusic

1. Open a terminal and run:

    flatpak run com.github.Matoking.protontricks 39510 directmusic
   

6. Remove SystemPack.ini

1. Open the game folder and navigate to the system directory.
2. Delete SystemPack.ini

7. Modify user.reg

1. Go to the compatdata folder inside your steamapps directory: ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/39510/pfx
2. Open user.reg with a text editor.
3. Locate the subsection [Software\\Wine\\DllOverrides]
4. Find and remove the following line: "dsound"="native,builtin"

8. Copy New Balance Scripts

Now you can copy the New Balance Scripts (English, Polish, or any other language you prefer) and paste to the game folder.

Important:

Do not copy the entire directory at once. Due to case sensitivity differences on Linux, some files may not be overwritten correctly. Instead, copy individual files into their appropriate target directories.

9. Launch the game via Steam

Launch game through Steam. The game should now start and work correctly.

For better performance, you can enable full screen mode in the in-game settings.

_{Last updated: 02.02.2026 by: Yorick0499}