Satisfactory modding on Linux

Two Arch Linux x86_64 packages that automate the Linux setup guide through command-line Project Setup:

• unreal-engine-css-bin packages the prebuilt Coffee Stain Studios (CSS) Unreal Engine under /opt/unreal-engine-css.
• satmod adds satmod setup, which installs the MSVC toolchain and Windows SDK under Wine for your user and registers the engine, and satmod run, which runs a command (such as your IDE) with that environment. satmod doctor checks the installation.

Quick start

1. Install the build tools:

   sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel github-cli python

2. Set up your accounts. These steps are manual:

   • Link your Epic Games account to your GitHub account.
   • Request access to satisfactorymodding/UnrealEngine.
   • Run gh auth login.
   • Create an Audiokinetic account. You need it later to download Wwise with wwise-cli.

   The setup guide explains each step.

3. Run bootstrap from this checkout as your ordinary user, not with sudo:

   ./scripts/bootstrap

Bootstrap asks for your sudo password once at the start, and again only if the build outlasts sudo's timeout. It adds you to the unreal-engine-css group, which can write to the engine. If it tells you to, log out and back in before you continue. Initialize your project next. See Next: Project Setup.

Running bootstrap downloads Microsoft build tools. See Licenses and terms first.

Disk space and time

• Building the engine needs about 48 GB free on the filesystem that holds this checkout, since bootstrap builds under .cache/. The installed engine takes about 30 GB under /opt.
• The Microsoft toolchain download was about 1.5 GB (5.1 GB extracted) in one run. Sizes vary.
• The first run downloads about 8 GB of engine archives and takes a long time. If you stop bootstrap, run it again: finished downloads and packages are reused.
• project init needs about 15 GB more: roughly 1.5 GB for the clone, 7 GB for the Wwise download cache, and 7 GB for the integrated Wwise plugin. One run took about five minutes on a fast connection.
• A project update that changes the Wwise version needs about 7 GB more for the new Wwise caches. The new plugin replaces the old one, so it needs no extra space. The old caches stay until you remove them.

What bootstrap does

1. Updates the engine pins to the latest CSS release with scripts/update-engine-release. A new release changes tracked files, so git status shows them as modified.
2. Builds each package with makepkg, unless a matching package is already in .cache/.
3. Installs the engine, then satmod, with sudo pacman -U.
4. Adds you to the unreal-engine-css group with sudo gpasswd, if you are not already a member.
5. Runs satmod setup as your user.

Unreal's build tools write into the engine folder, so the engine package makes /opt/unreal-engine-css writable for the unreal-engine-css group. The engine guide has the details.

Run bootstrap again to upgrade. Add --json for machine-readable output. scripts/README.md has the details.

To check for a new engine release without changing anything:

./scripts/update-engine-release --check

To rerun only the toolchain setup:

satmod setup

Run satmod doctor to check engine access, registration, and the managed environment when troubleshooting. It does not change files or start Wine.

The package guides cover manual builds. Package install hooks print reminders, and the engine hook also creates the unreal-engine-css group and gives it the engine files. Hooks never download tools, set up Wine, or change your account.

Next: Project Setup

After toolchain setup, run:

satmod project init ~/git/SatisfactoryModLoader

This clones the Starter Project, downloads the pinned wwise-cli and Wwise SDK, integrates Wwise, creates the Wwise project and Windows soundbanks under Wine, and sets audio routing. Only the Audiokinetic login needs input. For unattended runs, set WWISE_EMAIL and WWISE_PASSWORD in the environment; WWISE_USER and WWISE_PASS work too. Reruns skip completed steps. See the command details for cache paths, version pins, and --wwise-cli and --json options.

When upstream SML moves on, satmod project update ~/git/SatisfactoryModLoader fast-forwards the project and updates Wwise to the versions the new commit needs. It stops without changing anything if you have local commits or changes of your own. See update a project.

Install Rider's Unreal Project Model Mods Fix plugin, then open the project:

satmod run rider ~/git/SatisfactoryModLoader/FactoryGame.uproject

Compile with Development, Editor, and Linux selected, then open the editor. mod new and mod build can create and package mods from the CLI. The engine package already omits LiveLinkHub. The guide's optional BuildUBT.sh patch is not applied and was not needed in the verified manual build.

Manual fallback: follow the guide's Project Setup. Clone the Starter Project, run wwise-cli download and integrate-ue, create SatisfactoryModLoader_WwiseProject in Wwise Authoring, and generate Windows soundbanks. In the editor, set Root Output Path to ../SatisfactoryModLoader_WwiseProject/GeneratedSoundBanks and audio routing to Both Wwise and Unreal audio. Keep the local Config/DefaultGame.ini change out of commits sent upstream. The manual path has been verified end to end and is in daily use for mod development. The CLI path ran for real on an empty directory and matched the manual result.

If Rider shows Project 'Engine' load failed with a permission error in its UnrealBuildTool log, you are not in the unreal-engine-css group yet, or you have not logged in again since joining. Check with id and satmod doctor.

Build mods from the command line

After Project Setup, run from the Starter Project:

satmod mod new MyMod --cpp
satmod mod build MyMod

mod new creates a library mod from Alpakit's templates; omit --cpp for Blueprint only. Game-feature creation still needs the editor. mod build builds and packages a Windows client mod and copies it into the Steam install, which it detects automatically. Use --game DIR to choose the game directory, or --no-copy to package only. Both commands accept --project PATH and --json. Archives land in Saved/ArchivedPlugins/REF/REF-Windows.zip. See the CLI documentation for options, outputs, and limits. Both commands were tested on a real Starter Project: mod new --cpp followed by mod build compiled, packaged, and copied a new mod into the game, which loaded it, without opening the editor.

SML requires a mod on every player's game unless its descriptor sets RequiredOnRemote to false. A test mod left in FactoryGame/Mods therefore keeps friends without it from joining your session. Delete the mod's folder there when you are done testing.

Licenses and terms

• The engine is subject to the Unreal Engine EULA. Access to the source repository does not give you the right to redistribute it, so do not publish built engine packages.
• satmod setup downloads Microsoft tools under the Visual Studio terms and the Windows SDK terms.

Uninstall

sudo pacman -Rns satmod unreal-engine-css-bin

To keep the engine, remove only satmod.

Removing the packages leaves your toolchain, download cache, Wine prefix, environment file, ~/.unrealrc entry, and engine registration in place. The setup guide lists them.

Development

Run the tests from the repository root. They use fake tools and temporary directories, so they need no GitHub access and download nothing:

python3 -m unittest discover -s tests

Real runs of project init need the Audiokinetic login. Copy .env.example to .env, fill it in, and load it with set -a; . ./.env; set +a. Git ignores .env, and the tests never read it.

TODO.md tracks open work. MAINTAINING.md covers engine updates, publishing to the AUR, and user feedback.

License

The ISC license covers only the original recipes, scripts, tests, and documentation in this repository. The Unreal Engine, Microsoft tools, and upstream files keep their own terms.