Troubleshooting Checklist

General Information

Troubleshooting Etiquette

While common sense should cover this already, experience shows it's not that simple, so here some basic rules and thoughts on the topic. Active troubleshooters in the RimWorld community are surprisingly few, even in some popular spaces like the RimWorld Community Discord. Usually only a handful of them are active at once, handling multiple cases daily, some of which can take hours or days of back-and-forth to resolve. Therefore time is typically in short supply. This also means, coming prepared not only increases your odds of quick, effective help - missing out to present mandatory information in your opening post can even lead to your case being ignored due to time-restraints.

Following this checklist helps to ensure your success, speeds things up, and might even fix your issue upfront, saving everyone time. General social rules apply of course, but especially if you're new to tech troubleshooting, keep the following things mind:

If you're not ready to invest your own time and effort, don't ask for help in the first place.
Nothing frustrates volunteers more than users bailing midway - it kills their motivation and hurts the community as a whole.
Don't take a troubleshooter's eventual cold or impersonal tone personally.
For them, your case it's often just another chore and the main goal is to get your game working again.
Save chit-chat, memes, and emote-spam for other channels - troubleshooting benefits from staying focused on the main issue.
Follow instructions precisely.
Troubleshooters typically have reasons (even if unexplained) to guide you to a specific goal.
Deviating from instructions given complicates things and might hurt your case.
Expect delays in the communication.
Troubleshooting often doesn't happen as live-chat but in threads on Steam, Reddit, Discord, etc. Many troubleshooter check cases only when they have time at hand, assess their complexity and then decide if they're able to directly engage with them. If you don't get any response in a while though, double-check the specific rules and instruction on site for how to handle things.

About Pirated Games

Void Archives does not condone piracy, but since the use of pirated copies can be relevant for troubleshooting, here a few words on the topic. Be aware that some communities won't help you at all with a pirated copy and experienced troubleshooters can easily spot such a version of the game being used as well. To improve your chances of getting support despite of it, follow these rules:

If a certain community bans piracy talk, don't go asking for support there - find another place that might be more liberal!
Always run the latest stable version of the game, regardless if it's pirated or not!
Be upfront and tell your troubleshooter right away that your copy is pirated - never hide it!

Ignoring those rules can cause your case being ignored or might cause other troubles for you. For more info on piracy, read HERE!

General Thoughts On Making Stable Modlists

This complex topic is covered in detail in our modlist building guide. For this checklist, here are the key aspects to remember:

Conflicts scale with mod count.
If you're new to using mods and your current list already contains 400+ mods, consider starting over, aiming for 150-200 mods at most.
When assembling a modlist, add mods in batches of ~20 at a time.
Test for start-up errors after each batch and fix issues immediately while you can still attribute them to recent additions.
Avoid multiple mods that overhaul or add similar mechanics.
They're more likely to conflict. Check mod pages for known incompatibilities/compatibilities for such overlapping mods specifically.
Avoid using Workshop collections.
They can feel convenient to use but often cause serious problems as described in our guide on the topic.
Only use mods updated for your current base game version.
Even if comments claim they still work. Until you can verify this yourself, better assume they're incompatible!
Old mods aren't automatically bad.
But they often degrade over time or are lacking explicit compatibility with other, modern mods.
Ignore Workshop popularity when deciding on mods.
It favours long-lived mods regardless of their current stability or quality.
General awareness when selecting mods.
The recent influx of vibe-coded mods brought a lot of new but poorly made mods to RimWorld. There's no good rule of thumb besides using common sense and maybe our list of such problematic mods. Sticking to mods from the same authors as other mods you're already using will increase the likelihood of cross-compatibility - avoiding badly translated mods from authors without any track-record might help you filter out some garbage. In the future we will provide more info about vetted mods of different categories here to support you with that.

Adding/Removing Mods

Removing mods from an ongoing save is generally not recommended and is almost always risky. The exact risk varies but unless you're certain a specific mod is safe to remove, always assume it will break your save. Mod-removal matters in troubleshooting for two main reasons:

If errors appear after you've removed mods from an ongoing save, the fix is almost always just to re-enable them. In that case, there's little point asking for help - the cause and solution are obvious, and you often can fix it yourself.
Sometimes a troubleshooter will ask you to remove a specific mod as a diagnostic step. Be aware that some of these requests come with the unspoken understanding that your current save may need to be abandoned anyways.

When in doubt, just ask for clarification first. You can always add back removed mods later once the real issue is resolved. Troubleshooters often tell you to remove certain suspects to narrow down the culprit faster, not necessarily because they don't want you to use those mods in general. For similar reasons you should never add or remove mods uninstructed while being in the process of troubleshooting, which can be highly confusing and counter-productive to the process.

Preparations

Verify Your Game Files & Game Version

Steam can sometimes mess up updates, so ideally start troubleshooting by verifying file integrity for the basegame and your mods. At minimum, use Steam's "Verify Integrity of Game Files" feature. Ideally though, delete the game- and mod-folders manually, before reinstalling RimWorld and your mods for a true clean slate approach.

Also double-check you're using the latest stable version of the game. Users tend to forget to opt-out of the unstable branch after use and (unknowingly) running an outdated version of the game on Steam can hint further issues and can even explain random mod errors.

Specifically when using mods you have to use the latest stable version of the game - anything else will typically cause gamebreaking issues. This of course applies to other versions of the game - not bought on Steam - as well. Different storefronts might need a different approach to clean things up, but the general idea applies to all of them just the same!

When you get start-up errors it also can be helpful to clean-up your mod-config files. It's a situational but recommended step whenever you overhaul your modlist and start a new save/playthrough. It prevents cases of mods breaking their own configs after an update or referencing other mod's content even after those being removed. Well-made mods should clean up such deprecated references, but in practice often don't. If you're dealing more with in-game errors though, you might want to skip this step and only come back to it whenever you get instructed to do so.

Check Your Loadorder

Correct loadorder is a complex topic covered in detail here. But while it's essential for a stable setup, the exact placement of every mod matters far less than many assume. Older RimWorld versions were stricter, but Ludeon gave modders tools to handle loadorder themselves - these days, mods lacking necessary rules are more the exception, not the norm.

This topic doesn't have to concern average mod-users much though due to the general recommendation being to use mod managers like RimSort to begin with. They're far more accurate than manual sorting, user-friendly, and packed with other tools and features benefiting not only troubleshooting. Better to get comfortable using them early, even before a troubleshooter might suggest you should start using one.

To prepare for your troubleshoot just run auto-sort with your mod manager while using its latest available rule database provided. Troubleshooters will handle any potentially remaining loadorder-issues and tell you how to fix them in the process anyways.

Remove Overly Verbose Mods

Many mods can clutter your log with excessive or redundant entries. In some extreme cases, this "spam" can even exceed the default 10,000-line limit, which requires special Hugslib or Standalone Publisher settings to deal with. Even some otherwise helpful mods can become counterproductive during standard troubleshooting. To keep your logs as clean and readable as possible, remove especially verbose mods before generating a log and also make sure to disable the rarely helpful "Verbose Logging" feature in the basegame settings.

There is no exhaustive list of verbose mods, but some known examples can be found here. When in doubt, remove only those considered safe to disable mid-save. Cleaning the log might be helpful but not that critical. Mods removed for their verbosity can of course be enabled again after the troubleshoot concluded. Never add or remove mods mid-troubleshooting though, unless specifically instructed!

Add Helpful Mods For Troubleshooting

In addition to removing verbose mods, consider adding mods that improve your troubleshooting-experience before generating a log. These are optional but often helpful - adding more infomation to your log, enhancing error-stacktraces, etc. If you're unsure if you will benefit from them, better wait for someone request you add them though.

Identify Common Errors Yourself

While waiting for a troubleshooter to respond - or even before posting - you may find it helpful to review your own log. It can feel overwhelming at first, but becoming acquainted with the format and layout can be beneficial. There's no good way to cover everything potentially relevant in your log, but as a general overview we have this collection of known types of issues for you to check out!

Many common issues (e.g., duplicate mods, out-of-memory crashes) appear clearly in the log and may already have known solutions in our News Flash section or individual guides. In some cases, you can easily resolve your problem yourself without further assistance. Worst case - even if you can't fully understand the log - attempting to do so shows initiative and will always be appreciated by troubleshooters.

Asking For Help

Describe Your Issue

Most RimWorld troubleshoots focus on a complete Player.log (or HugsLog) to begin with. Providing a description of your issue is still important, but in many cases actually more of a secondary concern. An experienced troubleshooter will be able to gather more information about your situation from said log than potentially your explanation.

Additional material (screenshots, videos, save files) can be needed at times, but your troubleshooter will typically ask you to provide them if it shows to be necessary. So don't overcomplicate the situation for yourself by gathering potentially unnecessary bits of information upfront. Some details that might be worth mentioning are:

When the issue started:
(directly from starting the game, mid-save, after adding/removing mods, etc.)
The general behaviour of the game:
(crashes, freezes, errors, etc.)
Any other details you consider highly relevant to your case.

Share Your Log

As previous topics should made clear by now, always provide a full log ASAP - it's the single most critical part of troubleshooting. Our in-depth guide covers this topic fully, but here are the essential ways based on your situation:

Errors in-game, but game generally accessible:
Share a full Hugslog.
Issues that make a Hugslog impossible but loading to the main menu works:
Generate a Hugslog on the main menu, then reproduce the issue and add your Player.log afterwards.
No Hugslog possible at all (startup crash, game hangs, etc.):
Share your Player.log + modlist (shared via your mod manager or optionally your ModsConfig.xml-file).

Consult the full guide whenever you encounter any issues or questions. Never skip this step - even if you assume your log doesn't even contain any errors. Your log can contain other information necessary for a troubleshoot and not providing a log from the get-go might cause potential troubleshooters to outright ignore your case!

Engaging With The Troubleshooting Process

Since every case is unique, there's no single set of steps we can list here - but the troubleshooter who picks up your case will guide and instruct you individually anyways. As always, apply what you've learned from this guide - especially to follow your troubleshooter's instructions precisely. Depending on the problem, they may ask you to provide further info or do some tasks like:

Do a file-search to track down individual error sources
Add or remove mods to isolate the culprit
Use the "binary search" (or; 50/50) method when it makes sense

They might also send you elsewhere if it’s clearly not a general mod issue - for example, to Ludeon's Official Dev Discord for vanilla-game bugs, the dedicated community of a specific multiplayer mod (those mods are special cases best handled by the people who made them) or to more performance-oriented communities if it applies to your case.

After the troubleshooter asks you to make some changes, you might also provide a fresh log after applying them. It only takes a few seconds, and up-to-date logs are always helpful. (Just don’t spam a new one after every single tiny tweak.)

Special Troubleshooting Cases

Aside from typical game-errors, some issues might seem like regular troubleshooting problems but are often better approached differently. There's no perfect way to list all these edge cases - but just applying common sense should do the trick! Some such examples are:

The game crashing due to low system memory, often easily fixed by following our out-of-memory crashes guide.
Performance problems can sometimes overlap with regular error troubleshooting, but they're more often solved through improving your mod-selection in general and avoiding known, problematic mods.
More gameplay-related issues (unable to find how to access certain features, etc.) are also no good reason to make a dedicated thread/post. Asking users in more generic channels about it can often solve them already.

Specifically performance-related questions are best discussed on Dubs' own Discord Server which is the primary place to talk about this topic. Members there are also the most familiar with the use of tools like Dubs' Performance Analyzer, which is often too complex for general communities to deal with it.

Helpful Tools

Check Your Modlist For Known Issues With JuMLi

Less suited for actual troubleshoots and more a way to get some recommendations about your selection of mods - either about their reliability or potentially known performance-issues - sysrqmagician made an online tool that lets you scan your modlist for known problematic mods, called Judge My List - or JuMLi for short.

In essence it's the culmination of prior projects collecting info about mods, often referred to as "shit-lists" and is based on cumulated knowledge and information of those lists, troubleshooters, modders and generally people active in the performance-focussed parts of the RimWorld community. It might suffer from the same issues as prior projects though, which are mostly related to up-to-dateness and the amount of maintenance that goes into it, but otherwise it might be a good first check-up to find some well-known troublemaker mods!

Final Words

Misc. Info

WIP

Links & Communities

Ludeon's Dev Discord
In the case of errors with an unmodded game, the only solution is usually to report it as bug to the developer directly. Make sure to follow the exact instructions how to report bugs there, otherwise it's highly likely your case will be ignored and closed!
RimWorld Community Discord
Troubleshooting here happens only in the #troubleshooting channel of the server. Pay attention to the READ BEFORE POSTING YOUR GAME ISSUES post and follow their specific rules laid out there. If you've provided the mandatory log and a short description of your case and don't get any response within like 24h, feel free to ping the @troubleshooter role to get attention - don't try to 'push' your thread by randomly posting things, that simply won't work with how the channel is set up!
Dubs Mods Discord
The server is rather liberal with which channel to choose, but please pick the one that sounds the most fitting one. Troubleshooting errors goes to #general-troubleshooting - performance questions are better ask in #performance-help-check-pins instead.