Darkest Dungeon Mod Manager

Small Windows Tkinter tool for sorting Darkest Dungeon mods and writing the enabled mod list into persist.game.json.

Auto-detect works best on Steam installs. Some non-Steam installs, including GOG setups, may still need manual path selection through File Paths.

Repository Status

This repository is not open source.

Code is published here for visibility and release distribution, but all rights are reserved. You may not copy, modify, redistribute, or reuse this project without prior written permission.

See LICENSE.md for the repository terms.

Quick Start

You need at least one save that has already been opened in-game once. Startup / intro-skip dungeon mods still need to be handled manually if you want that setup.

1. Run dd2.py.
2. In most cases it should find your folders on its own. If not, click Auto Detect.
3. Once it finds your mods, click Refresh Mods anytime you want to rescan for new installs, updates, or subscriptions.
4. Choose a profile from the Profile menu.
5. Click Load Profile Mods to mirror that profile's current active mod list and order in the manager.
6. Select your active mods
7. Click Patch Selected Profile to update that profile's persist.game.json.
8. Launch Darkest Dungeon.

If Auto Detect misses part of your setup, open File Paths, confirm or fill in the detected folders, save them, then click Refresh Mods.

Save Patching

Patch Selected Profile is the normal workflow.

Patch Chosen Save lets you manually pick a persist.game.json.

Patch Auto-Detected Save (Legacy) is still in the Tools menu if you need the older fallback flow.

Patch actions:

• create a timestamped backup beside the original save
• validate the patched save metadata
• write the patched data back to the default persist.game.json filename

So after patching, the game can load the save without you having to rename or move anything.

Restore

Use Restore Last Backup if you want to undo the most recent patch. The backup file remains beside the save file.

Troubleshooting

Click Check Setup to see:

• whether the mods folder is valid
• how many mods are loaded and enabled
• which profile is selected
• whether a save file was detected
• whether the save contains the expected applied_ugcs_1_0 mod block
• the most recent backup path

If setup detection fails, use File Paths to set the folders manually and Patch Chosen Save if you need to point at a save file directly.

If setup detection fails or a non-Steam install is only partially detected:

1. Click File Paths.
2. Check the populated live paths for the game install folder, active mods folder, local mods folder, Workshop mods folder, and profile save file.
3. Use Auto to fill any missing field from the current detector result.
4. Use the Browse buttons inside File Paths to manually select any folder or save file Auto Detect could not find.
5. Click Save File Paths.
6. Click Refresh Mods.
7. Re-open the profile menu or use Refresh beside the profile picker if needed.

Non-Steam note:

• Steam installs are the primary auto-detect target.
• GOG and other non-Steam installs may need File Paths even when saves are found correctly.
• Linux non-Steam saves are also checked under ~/.local/share/Red Hook Studios/Darkest/, but unusual setups may still need manual path overrides.

Notes

• The app remembers your working mod state automatically, so the old loadout import/export workflow is tucked away for now instead of being on the main UI.
• The older patch helpers are still under Tools if you ever need them.

See CHANGELOG.md for patch and release notes.

For reviewer-oriented build steps, see BUILD.md.