Sharing Your Log

The most crucial part of troubleshooting any RimWorld issue is giving potential troubleshooters all the necessary info about your case. There are almost zero cases where providing a full log isn't essential or at least helpful - and it only takes you seconds. Not attaching your log immediately to your case can drastically lower your chances of getting help and might prolong the process -  so don't wait to be asked for one!

There are two main log types: the game's Player.log (always generated, available even from outside the game or after crashes) and the Hugslog (via mod, showing the full log but with extra details and benefits). Always provide a full Hugslog whenever possible; otherwise, use the Player.log in combination with your modlist (more on that later!)

The Player.log-file is constantly written by the game itself in your user folder. It logs internal errors, debugging info, and basic hardware/system details. Each launch overwrites the file, renaming it to Player-prev.log as backup - so you always have logs of your current/last and second to last session available. When troubleshooting, make sure share the correct file from the session the issue in question happened. Don't accidentally send the wrong one!

Don't bother too much with reading your log mid-crisis if you're not used to it, it might not make much sense to you anyways - save that for an eventual deep-dive later and keep in mind that your Player.log is your fallback when more detailed options like a Hugslog aren't available. It's also vital for crashes (before reaching the main menu at all), often including the crash-stacktrace to pinpoint the cause.

Due to reduced information compared to potentially more verbose log-sharing methods, always pair your Player.log with your modlist: The log lists your modlist only in certain situations, so make sure to attach your ModsConfig.xml to give your troubleshooter necessary, additional context!

Most file-hosting sites technically work to share your logs, but many are region-blocked, get shut down overnight, or mangle logs with aggressive filters and bad formatting (line-wrap issues, censored words in stack traces). That can turn what is an otherwise simple step in any troubleshoot into a real bother. When in doubt, stick to a proven option that at least displays raw text cleanly. And always keep in mind that troubleshooters can ignore posts using problematic services - the logs could be borderline impossible to read/parse, they could be from regions which have those sites ISP-blocked, etc.

Additionally you always want to open/click your link at least once and double-check if it's actually set to be publicly accessible!

Some file-hoster options that Void Archives recommends:

• Gist (Github)
  The direct text-hosting service by Github and the same way Hugslib itself uploads and shares its logs. Because of that it should be the preferred method overall. The main downside here is that you need a (luckily, completely free) Github Account to use it.

• Pastemyst
  A simple and quick service usable without prior registration. Its main purpose is for sharing code but the readability of RimWorld logs is still good enough. Ideally select 'Plain Text' in the language selection before uploading.

• Pastes.io
  PSA: Still needs testing how well it handles RimWorld logs specifically!

• JustPaste.it
  PSA: Still needs testing how well it handles RimWorld logs specifically!

• dpaste.org
  PSA: Still needs testing how well it handles RimWorld logs specifically!

• paste.rs
  PSA: Still needs testing how well it handles RimWorld logs specifically!

• Pastebin
  Since issues with Pastebin have been coming up more and more again, this option is not recommended anymore!