Summary

  • Wine 11.6 adds DLL load-order heuristics so third-party mod DLLs load automatically, easing game modding.
  • The update revives an Android driver, hinting at future Android app/game support via Wine.
  • Wine 11.6 also adds VBScript fixes and many bug tweaks; Proton may adopt these improvements.

When we talk about how far Linux has come in PC gaming, we often focus on performance and compatibility. After all, it's easy to get excited when CachyOS starts taking wins over Windows 11 in some big titles. However, there are still issues with getting mods to work with your games on Linux, especially if they require DLLs.

Fortunately, there's good news for people who enjoy tweaking their games to their liking but find Linux a little too restrictive. The newest version of Wine is adding support for changing DLL load orders, and if all goes well, we should eventually see it arrive on Valve's Proton, too.

Wine 11.6 makes modding games with DLLs easier

Plus, Android seems to be making a return

As spotted by GamingOnLinux, Wine 11.6 has just been released. This new version includes a ton of tweaks and bug fixes, so if you're using Wine to run Windows-based apps on your Linux device, it's well worth updating your app to enjoy all the new changes.

Right at the top of the changelog are these spotlight tweaks:

  • Beginnings of a revival of the Android driver.
  • DLL load order heuristics to better support game mods.
  • More VBScript compatibility fixes.
  • Various bug fixes.

The revival of the Android driver sounds interesting in itself; perhaps we'll eventually have Android games and apps running off Wine. It still seems to be a work in progress, so we likely won't see any tangible results for a little while as people work hard to get it working.

As for things we can use, there's the second spotlight feature related to DLLs. Some mods and fixes for games require a custom DLL, which right now requires a bit of finagling to get working with Wine. Now, with Wine 11.6, the app will scan all the DLLs included with a game, and if it spots any that do not have Microsoft's name on them (i.e., third-party DLLs), it automatically uses them over the default.

This should hopefully make modding games easier, and given how Wine is upstream from Proton, we may even see Valve adopt this tech for its own software too — here's hoping.