Guide to Installing Rekenchi on Linux (Using steam)
Introduction
I stumbled on a fun video yesterday while looking to install mods for Kenshi on my Cachy_OS system and I stumbled upon Slacker King’s video which I thought was funny and informative and I decided to share it here and make this
guide that explains how to install and run the RE_Kenchi mod for the game Kenshi on a Linux system, specifically using steam. The process involves locating the game files, downloading the mod, and configuring it to work with Steam and Proton compatibility layers.
Locating the Game Files
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Open Steam and find the Kenshi game in your library.
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Right-click on Kenshi, select “Manage,” then “Browse Local Files” to locate the game installation directory.
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Identify the game’s executable (.exe) file, right-click, and select “Copy Location” to get its path.
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Paste this path into a text document for future reference, as it will be needed during mod installation.
Downloading and Extracting RE_Kenchi
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Visit Nexus Mods and locate the latest RE_Kenchi file and download the file manually (slow download if not subscribed to premium) here
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Once downloaded, locate the file in your Downloads folder.
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Right-click the archive, select “Extract,” and extract it to access the installer (.exe) file.
Running Windows-Only Installer on Linux
Since RE_Kenchi’s installer is an .exe file, it won’t run natively on Linux. To bypass this:
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Open Steam, go to the “Library” menu, and click “Add a Game” at the bottom.
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Select “Add a Non-Steam Game,” browse to your Downloads folder, and select the Rekenchi installer (.exe).
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Add it to your Steam library, it will now appear under the “Other” section.
Launching and Configuring RE_Kenchi
Attempting to run the installer directly will not work. Instead, you need to configure it to run with Proton:
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Right-click the RE_Kenchi entry in Steam, go to “Properties.”
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Navigate to the “Compatibility” tab.
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Force the use of “Steam’s Proton Experimental” compatibility tool.
If Proton Experimental isn’t downloaded, Steam will automatically download it when you launch the game. -
After setting Proton, click “Play” to run RE_Kenchi. It should now detect the game files and work correctly.
Finalizing Installation and Troubleshooting
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Once installed, launch the game via Steam. RE_Kenchi should be active, and mod options will be available in the game’s menu.
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Disable unnecessary options like “Create Desktop Shortcut” or “Start Menu” entries, as they don’t function on Linux.
Hopefully this might help a few people here and thank you again Slacker King
Or just install protontricks, open the exe with it, and click Kenshi in the list of prefixes that pops up.
Thank you! When I first read about re_kenshi I wanted to install it, and did manage to find this video, but never got around to watching it. Presenting it in this way makes it very easy and it works great.
Immediately downloaded dust in the workshop after installing. Really is a drastically different experience now.
I actually just recently released a mod which is a native Linux port of SCARaw’s Engine Mesh Updater.
Kenshi is old and uses outdated meshes so updating them gives a pretty big performance increase and fixes quite a few crashes and such. This tool automatically finds and updates all workshop and regular mod’s meshes so it has to be run once everything is already installed.
Kenshi is a strange beast. I have played for almost 70 hours and build up a decent settlement, but it feels like I barely scratched the surface.
It also has a weird noob trap built in, where the “default” start is actually pretty bad, and one of the ones that as a new player sounds horrible is actually by far the easiest (that being the two slaves in Rebirth.)
Rebirth is a fun start but it’s also pretty easy and very forgiving. Just look at it as if you have 1 goal: avoid training labouring as much as possible, train anything else. Athletics and stealth probably both good starting points. Try and KO the guards. Like most things in kenshi you will fail at first but keep trying until you get better. Good athletics to outrun problems is also helpful.
Don’t have to escape the slave camp to sneak away from daily labour duties and do some personal development in a corner. Loads of locks to pick around the area too, that’s a nice skill to have…
Hope that Kenshi 2 is more of a living world, stealing the food in the kitchen is never replaced even weeks later. So save food for when you are going to escape.
Yeah, that’s more or less what I was getting at. Looking at the descriptions as a new player, being slaves sounds awful and the note about ‘Tip: Get into a cage when you spawn to avoid a beating’ makes it sound like it’s going to be a constant fight for survival, not one where any time you get injured there’s a hundred guards lining up to bandage you back to health. You basically have carte blanche to train some of the more obnoxious skills to level (e.g. assassinate, unarmed, etc.) without having to worry about getting eaten by animals or having bandits steal all of your stuff, and by the time you inevitably escape you’ll have 30+ in a lot of useful skills (or even more if you decide to stay long enough to do it). I had a really rough time on my first few characters until I tried that start, and then I played that save for 200+ hours off of the back of that free Rebirth skill training.
