Editing Openai/696e303b-9f9c-8001-b1df-6fcfc3f35a2c (section)

== gpt-5-2 ==
=== User: can you interpret rimworld error logs? ===
can you interpret rimworld error logs?

=== Assistant: Yep. ===
Yep. RimWorld error logs are basically the game’s diary of everything that went sideways — I can read them and translate the nonsense into “this mod is being an idiot” or “you broke load order again” 😄

What I can do for you, practically:
* Identify which mod (or mods) are throwing errors
* Tell you whether it’s harmless spam or something that will nuke your save
* Spot load order conflicts, missing dependencies, or outdated versions
* Explain cryptic stack traces in plain language
* Suggest concrete fixes: reorder, update, remove, patch, or ignore

What I need from you:
* Paste the error log text directly, or
* Upload the Player.log / output_log.txt, or
* Paste the red error spam from the in-game dev console (even partial logs help)

RimWorld errors are like smoke from an engine bay: sometimes it’s just steam, sometimes the piston is halfway through the hood. I’ll tell you which one it is and whether you can keep driving the colony or need to pull over before Randy finishes the job.

=== User: Exception in transport pods arrival action: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of a… ===
Exception in transport pods arrival action: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
[Ref B8FD10CB]
  at Verse.GenAdj.OccupiedRect (Verse.Thing t) [0x00000] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at VFEInsectoids.InsectMapGenDef+<>c__DisplayClass4_0.<DoMapGen>g__SpawnHiveSurroundings|9 (System.Collections.Generic.HashSet1[T] creepCells) [0x00149] in <9d9835457d8a4b0495896b0f32879a8c>:0 
  at VFEInsectoids.InsectMapGenDef.DoMapGen (Verse.Map map) [0x0012a] in <9d9835457d8a4b0495896b0f32879a8c>:0 
  at VFEInsectoids.MapComponentUtility_GenerateMap_Patch.Postfix (Verse.Map map) [0x00027] in <9d9835457d8a4b0495896b0f32879a8c>:0 
  at Verse.MapComponentUtility.MapGenerated (Verse.Map map) [0x00063] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
* POSTFIX UnlimitedHugs.HugsLib: Void HugsLib.Patches.MapComponentUtility_MapGenerated_Patch:MapGeneratedHook(Map map)
* POSTFIX VFEInsectoidsMod: Void VFEInsectoids.MapComponentUtility_GenerateMap_Patch:Postfix(Map map)
  at Verse.MapGenerator.GenerateMap (Verse.IntVec3 mapSize, RimWorld.Planet.MapParent parent, Verse.MapGeneratorDef mapGenerator, System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable1[T] extraGenStepDefs, System.Action1[T] extraInitBeforeContentGen, System.Boolean isPocketMap, System.Boolean stepDebugger) [0x00601] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
* POSTFIX OskarPotocki.VEF: Void VEF.Maps.VanillaExpandedFramework_MapGenerator_GenerateMap_Patch:Postfix(Map __result)
  at Verse.GetOrGenerateMapUtility.GetOrGenerateMap (RimWorld.Planet.PlanetTile tile, Verse.IntVec3 size, RimWorld.WorldObjectDef suggestedMapParentDef, System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable1[T] extraGenStepDefs, System.Boolean stepDebugger) [0x0008d] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at RimWorld.Planet.TransportersArrivalAction_VisitSite.Arrived (System.Collections.Generic.List1[T] transporters, RimWorld.Planet.PlanetTile tile) [0x0002b] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at RimWorld.Planet.TravellingTransporters.DoArrivalAction () [0x00042] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
UnityEngine.StackTraceUtility:ExtractStackTrace ()
(wrapper dynamic-method) MonoMod.Utils.DynamicMethodDefinition:Verse.Log.Error_Patch2 (string)
RimWorld.Planet.TravellingTransporters:DoArrivalAction ()
Verse.LongEventHandler:UpdateCurrentSynchronousEvent (bool&)
Verse.LongEventHandler:LongEventsUpdate (bool&)
(wrapper dynamic-method) MonoMod.Utils.DynamicMethodDefinition:Verse.Root.Update_Patch1 (Verse.Root)
Verse.Root_Play:Update ()

=== Assistant: Yep, this one’s actually pretty readable once you strip away the arcane chanting. ===
Yep, this one’s actually pretty readable once you strip away the arcane chanting.

Short version first: this is a VFE Insectoids bug triggered during map generation when your transport pods land. Not vanilla. Not HugsLib. Not your save. One specific mod tripped over a null object and face-planted.

Now the autopsy.

The core error is a classic:
System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object

That means some piece of code expected “a thing” and instead got nothing. Zero. Void. The cosmic shrug.

The smoking gun is here:
VFEInsectoids.InsectMapGenDef.DoMapGen

More specifically:
SpawnHiveSurroundings → GenAdj.OccupiedRect(Thing t)

GenAdj.OccupiedRect is a vanilla utility that asks: “What tiles does this thing occupy?”
But the Thing t it was given is null. So RimWorld goes “bro what thing?” and crashes that generation step.

Why it happens now
This only fires when:
* A new map is generated
* The map uses Insectoid-specific generation hooks
* Your transport pods arrive at a site (not your home map)

So what’s likely happening:
* VFE Insectoids tries to spawn or decorate a hive structure during map gen
* One of the hive-related ThingDefs fails to spawn (missing def, failed resolve, bad patch)
* The mod still assumes it exists and asks for its occupied rectangle
* Boom: null reference

Why your game didn’t instantly die
This is during arrival action, not a tick loop. RimWorld aborts the map gen step, logs the error, and usually either:
* Fails the site generation
* Dumps you back to the world map
* Or generates a half-broken site

This is not harmless red spam, but it’s also not a save-corruptor. Think “engine stall,” not “engine exploded.”

Most common real causes (ranked by probability):
# VFE Insectoids version mismatch with your RimWorld version
# Missing or outdated Vanilla Expanded Framework (VEF)
# Another mod patching insect hives / structures badly
# Landing on a site type not meant to support insect map gen (quest sites, special ruins, etc.)

Concrete fixes that actually work:
* Update VFE Insectoids and Vanilla Expanded Framework together. Treat them as inseparable twins.
* Temporarily disable only VFE Insectoids, reload, and try the pod landing again. If it works, confirmation achieved.
* If you use other mods that touch insects (biomes, factions, custom hives), test without them. One bad Harmony patch is enough to ruin the party.
* As a workaround: avoid podding into sites that generate new maps until fixed. Caravan entry often bypasses the problematic hook.

What you don’t need to worry about:
* HugsLib is just reporting the event. It’s the messenger, not the criminal.
* UnlimitedHugs didn’t cause this.
* Vanilla RimWorld isn’t at fault.

Mental model to keep:
Map generation is like setting up a stage play. VFE Insectoids told the crew “place the hive prop here,”

=== User: i cant remove VFE insectoids without making rimworld look like a GPU failure, and the mods are up to date, any other su… ===
i cant remove VFE insectoids without making rimworld look like a GPU failure, and the mods are up to date, any other suggestions?

=== Assistant: Yeah, that tracks. ===
Yeah, that tracks. VFE Insectoids is deep in the ecosystem — yanking it mid-save is like removing a rib and being surprised the lungs misbehave.

Given that everything is up to date, we switch from “update harder” to containment and bypass. Think radiation shielding, not reactor shutdown.

First, what the error really tells us in practical terms.
The crash happens only when a new map is generated, and specifically when VFE Insectoids tries to decorate that map with hive surroundings. Your existing maps are fine. Your GPU isn’t dying. The mod is just dereferencing a ghost object during map gen.

So the goal is: stop that specific code path from running, without removing the mod.

Here are the approaches that actually work in cases like this, ordered from least invasive to most surgical.
# Stop insect map generation, not insect content
VFE Insectoids has storyteller / biome / incident hooks that decide where insect maps spawn.

Go into:
* Mod settings → VFE Insectoids

Disable anything resembling:
* “Insect infestations on world sites”
* “Insect-controlled maps”
* “Insect biome events”
* “Expanded hive generation”

The names vary, but the idea is simple: keep insects in colonies, not in map gen. This often prevents InsectMapGenDef.DoMapGen from ever firing.
# Avoid transport pods → generate map path
This error is explicitly triggered by:
TransportersArrivalAction_VisitSite

That’s pods only.

Workarounds that dodge the bug:
* Enter sites via caravan
* Use drop pods to edge instead of center (if using mods that allow it)
* Land once with dev mode off, then re-enable it

It’s stupid, but RimWorld is full of stupid that works.
# Force a clean map generation context
Sometimes the null comes from leftover world objects.

Try:
* Save → exit to desktop (not main menu)
* Reload the game
* Immediately attempt the pod landing

This clears static caches used during map gen. RimWorld leaks state like a sieve.
# Turn off VFE Insectoids map hooks via dev tools
This is the nerdy-but-effective one.

Enable Dev Mode → open the debug actions menu → look for anything like:
* “Disable insect map generation”
* “Clear map components”
* “Regenerate world”

If available, toggle it before podding in.

Not all builds expose this, but when they do, it’s gold.
# Soft-disable the broken defs (safe, but spicy)
If you’re comfortable editing XML:

Inside VFE Insectoids, one of the hive-related ThingDefs is failing to spawn. You can:
* Temporarily comment out hive surroundings / creep structure defs
* Leave the core insects intact

This avoids the null without uninstalling the mod. It’s ugly, but stable.

Make a backup first. Always.

What this is NOT
* Not a GPU issue
* Not corruption
* Not you “doing RimWorld wrong”
* Not something updates alone will fix until the mod author guards against nulls properly

Mental model:
The mod is asking “what tiles does this thing occupy?”
The thing never spawned.
The mod didn’t check.
RimWorld shrugged and wrote a poem about it in red text.

If you want, you can paste your mod list (order matters) or say what kind of site you’re podding into, and I can usually pinpoint which interaction is poisoning the hive spawn.

=== User: ok for full disclore i did tamper with mods of this save i removed pawnmorpher and humanoid alien races. ===
ok for full disclore i did tamper with mods of this save (i removed pawnmorpher and humanoid alien races. im going to keep feeding you error logs

=== Assistant: Alright, that disclosure actually helps a lot — thanks for not pretending the universe did this unprovoked 😄 ===
Alright, that disclosure actually helps a lot — thanks for not pretending the universe did this unprovoked 😄
Removing Pawnmorpher and Humanoid Alien Races (HAR) mid-save is basically telling RimWorld: “forget half the ontology you were born with.” The game will run, but ghosts remain.

Important framing first, so we don’t chase the wrong demon:

This is no longer “a clean VFE Insectoids bug.”
This is residual references to defs that no longer exist, and VFE Insectoids is just the unlucky mod that touches them during map generation.

Think of it like ripping out a database table while the app is live. Nothing explodes immediately, but the next query returns null and everything downstream screams.

Now, what that implies practically.

Pawnmorpher and HAR both:
* Inject custom ThingDefs, PawnKinds, hediffs, map components
* Patch map generation
* Add race-based logic that other mods happily hook into

When you removed them:
* Old world objects may still reference alien races
* Cached defs can exist in saves but not in memory
* Map gen steps that expect “a thing” get null instead

That lines up perfectly with:
GenAdj.OccupiedRect(Thing t) receiving nothing.

So here’s how we proceed efficiently.

===== 1. Error spam is expected. We care about repeatable errors tied to actions. =====
# We treat this save as salvageable but contaminated.
# We don’t try to “fix everything,” only the blockers.

Feeding logs is exactly the right move.

===== Before the next log flood: =====
* Enable Dev Mode
* Open the debug log window
* Click: - “Clear log” - “Clear cached data” (if present)
* Save → quit to desktop → reload

This gives us cleaner signals.

===== When you paste the next ones, I’ll mentally sort them into buckets: =====
* Missing Def / Could not resolve reference These are leftovers from Pawnmorpher / HAR. Usually ignorable unless they appear during map gen.
* NullReference during MapGenerated / DoMapGen These are fatal to world interactions. We focus here.
* Red text on every tick Annoying but survivable.

If I see repeated references to:
* Alien races
* PawnKinds that no longer exist
* Morph hediffs
* CompProperties that aren’t loaded

…then we know exactly which corpses are still twitching.

===== There is a nonzero chance this save can be stabilized only by reinstalling HAR without using it, just to satisfy references. =====

That doesn’t mean re-enabling alien races in gameplay — just loading the framework so nulls stop happening.

Same deal with Pawnmorpher, though that one is nastier.

We won’t jump to that yet. We diagnose first.

Go ahead and paste the next error log.
We’ll keep stripping the save down until only intentional chaos remains.

=== User: Exception ticking Grave343351 at 110, 0, 105: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of… ===
Exception ticking Grave343351 (at (110, 0, 105)): System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
[Ref E73B9B33] Duplicate stacktrace, see ref for original
UnityEngine.StackTraceUtility:ExtractStackTrace ()
(wrapper dynamic-method) MonoMod.Utils.DynamicMethodDefinition:Verse.Log.Error_Patch2 (string)
Verse.TickList:Tick ()
(wrapper dynamic-method) MonoMod.Utils.DynamicMethodDefinition:Verse.TickManager.DoSingleTick_Patch1 (Verse.TickManager)
Verse.TickManager:TickManagerUpdate ()
Verse.Game:UpdatePlay ()
Verse.Root_Play:Update ()

=== Assistant: Yep, this one’s very clear — and it actually confirms the Pawnmorpher / HAR removal fallout. ===
Yep, this one’s very clear — and it actually confirms the Pawnmorpher / HAR removal fallout.

What’s happening, in human terms:

Exception ticking Grave343351

RimWorld is trying to tick a specific grave every game tick. Graves tick because they may:
* Contain a corpse
* Track decay
* Track ideology thoughts
* Interact with rituals, memories, or comps added by mods

Inside that grave is something that no longer exists as a valid object. Usually:
* A corpse of a pawn whose race def is gone (HAR classic)
* A corpse with Pawnmorpher hediffs that no longer resolve
* A comp attached to the corpse that was defined by a removed mod

So when the grave asks: “Hey, corpse, how are you decomposing today?”
The corpse answers by not existing at all.
Null reference. Every tick. Forever.

This is not dangerous to the save structurally, but it will spam errors and can tank performance over time.

Now the practical fix — and this one is mercifully simple.

===== Delete the offending grave. =====

Steps:
# Enable Dev Mode
# Open the debug actions menu
# Use “Destroy” or “Destroy (force)”
# Click the grave at (110, 0, 105)

That instantly removes the ticking object and the error should stop immediately.

Lore-wise: the colony quietly pretends they lost track of that burial. RimWorld shrugs and moves on.

===== If you want to preserve something: =====
* Open the grave
* If possible, remove the corpse
* Then destroy the corpse with dev tools
* Leave the empty grave

This sometimes works, sometimes the UI itself errors — depends how broken the corpse is.

===== If you start seeing: =====
Exception ticking GraveXXXXX
over and over with different IDs, then you have multiple corrupted burials.

At that point:
* Use dev mode → “Destroy all graves” (if available), or
* Manually delete the affected ones as they error

Not pretty, but effective.

===== Just for understanding, not saying you must: =====

The corpse likely references a race like Alien_RaceDef_Something.
Reinstalling HAR would make that reference valid again, so the grave can tick normally.

You’ve chosen the purge-the-evidence route instead, which is totally valid.

===== - This error is localized (one object) =====
* It is not spreading
* It is 100% consistent with removed mods
* Fixing it does not require a new save

Think of this save as haunted by a few unresolved ghosts. Exorcism works better than archaeology here.

Go ahead and delete the grave, then feed me the next error log if anything else screams.

=== User: Exception from long event: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object ===
Exception from long event: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
[Ref CE0D8506]
  at Verse.GenAdj.OccupiedRect (Verse.Thing t) [0x00000] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at VFEInsectoids.InsectMapGenDef+<>c__DisplayClass4_0.<DoMapGen>g__SpawnHiveSurroundings|9 (System.Collections.Generic.HashSet1[T] creepCells) [0x00149] in <9d9835457d8a4b0495896b0f32879a8c>:0 
  at VFEInsectoids.InsectMapGenDef.DoMapGen (Verse.Map map) [0x0012a] in <9d9835457d8a4b0495896b0f32879a8c>:0 
  at VFEInsectoids.MapComponentUtility_GenerateMap_Patch.Postfix (Verse.Map map) [0x00027] in <9d9835457d8a4b0495896b0f32879a8c>:0 
  at Verse.MapComponentUtility.MapGenerated (Verse.Map map) [0x00063] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
* POSTFIX UnlimitedHugs.HugsLib: Void HugsLib.Patches.MapComponentUtility_MapGenerated_Patch:MapGeneratedHook(Map map)
* POSTFIX VFEInsectoidsMod: Void VFEInsectoids.MapComponentUtility_GenerateMap_Patch:Postfix(Map map)
  at Verse.MapGenerator.GenerateMap (Verse.IntVec3 mapSize, RimWorld.Planet.MapParent parent, Verse.MapGeneratorDef mapGenerator, System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable1[T] extraGenStepDefs, System.Action1[T] extraInitBeforeContentGen, System.Boolean isPocketMap, System.Boolean stepDebugger) [0x00601] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
* POSTFIX OskarPotocki.VEF: Void VEF.Maps.VanillaExpandedFramework_MapGenerator_GenerateMap_Patch:Postfix(Map __result)
  at Verse.GetOrGenerateMapUtility.GetOrGenerateMap (RimWorld.Planet.PlanetTile tile, Verse.IntVec3 size, RimWorld.WorldObjectDef suggestedMapParentDef, System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable1[T] extraGenStepDefs, System.Boolean stepDebugger) [0x0008d] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at RimWorld.Planet.WorldObject.<GetGizmos>b__111_2 () [0x00021] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at Verse.LongEventHandler.UpdateCurrentSynchronousEvent (System.Boolean& sceneChanged) [0x0001d] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
UnityEngine.StackTraceUtility:ExtractStackTrace ()
(wrapper dynamic-method) MonoMod.Utils.DynamicMethodDefinition:Verse.Log.Error_Patch2 (string)
Verse.LongEventHandler:UpdateCurrentSynchronousEvent (bool&)
Verse.LongEventHandler:LongEventsUpdate (bool&)
(wrapper dynamic-method) MonoMod.Utils.DynamicMethodDefinition:Verse.Root.Update_Patch1 (Verse.Root)
Verse.Root_Play:Update ()

Root level exception in Update(): System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
[Ref 956D511A]
  at Verse.MapDrawer.Dispose () [0x00008] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at Verse.Map.Dispose () [0x00137] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at Verse.Game.Dispose () [0x00010] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at Verse.GenScene.GoToMainMenu () [0x0000e] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at Verse.GameAndMapInitExceptionHandlers.ErrorWhileGeneratingMap (System.Exception e) [0x00028] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at Verse.LongEventHandler.UpdateCurrentSynchronousEvent (System.Boolean& sceneChanged) [0x000ad] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at Verse.LongEventHandler.LongEventsUpdate (System.Boolean& sceneChanged) [0x00030] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at Verse.Root.Update () [0x00033] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
* POSTFIX UnlimitedHugs.HugsLib: Void HugsLib.Patches.Root_Patch:UpdateHook()
UnityEngine.StackTraceUtility:ExtractStackTrace ()
(wrapper dynamic-method) MonoMod.Utils.DynamicMethodDefinition:Verse.Log.Error_Patch2 (string)
(wrapper dynamic-method) MonoMod.Utils.DynamicMethodDefinition:Verse.Root.Update_Patch1 (Verse.Root)
Verse.Root_Play:Update ()

and then its a bunch of logs with 
Could not regenerate layer Verse.SectionLayer_FogOfWar: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
[Ref 1C752BDE]
  at Unity.Collections.LowLevel.Unsafe.UnsafeBitArray.IsSet (System.Int32 pos) [0x00000] in <ea1ea3bfde9945a5b93b0708382e9109>:0 
  at Unity.Collections.NativeBitArray.IsSet (System.Int32 pos) [0x00000] in <ea1ea3bfde9945a5b93b0708382e9109>:0 
  at Verse.SectionLayer_FogOfWar.Regenerate () [0x000a9] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
  at Verse.Section.RegenerateAllLayers () [0x00033] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 
UnityEngine.StackTraceUtility:ExtractStackTrace ()
(wrapper dynamic-method) MonoMod.Utils.DynamicMethodDefinition:Verse.Log.Error_Patch2 (string)
Verse.Section:RegenerateAllLayers ()
Verse.MapDrawer:RegenerateEverythingNow ()
Verse.Map:<FinalizeInit>b__200_0 ()
Verse.LongEventHandler:ExecuteToExecuteWhenFinished ()
Verse.LongEventHandler:UpdateCurrentSynchronousEvent (bool&)
Verse.LongEventHandler:LongEventsUpdate (bool&)
(wrapper dynamic-method) MonoMod.Utils.DynamicMethodDefinition:Verse.Root.Update_Patch1 (Verse.Root)
Verse.Root_Play:Update ()
 except its every single object on the map

=== Assistant: Yeah… this is the moment where RimWorld stops being “haunted” and starts being structurally unsound. ===
Yeah… this is the moment where RimWorld stops being “haunted” and starts being structurally unsound. The logs you pasted are all different screams from the same wound.

Let’s translate what just happened, cleanly and without sugarcoating.

==== This line is the root cause again: ====

GenAdj.OccupiedRect(Thing t) → Thing t == null
inside
VFEInsectoids.InsectMapGenDef.DoMapGen

Everything after that is collateral damage.

Here’s the sequence in plain terms:
# You try to generate or enter a map (world site, quest, whatever).
# VFE Insectoids runs its map-generation hook.
# It tries to spawn hive surroundings.
# One of the Things it expects to exist does not (thanks to removed mods / missing defs).
# Map generation partially completes, then crashes.
# RimWorld now has a half-born map.
# The engine tries to clean up.
# Cleanup itself crashes because the map is internally inconsistent.
# Fog of war, sections, drawers — all try to read arrays that were never initialized.
# Every object on the map errors because the map itself is invalid.

That’s why you’re seeing:
* MapDrawer.Dispose() crashing
* Fog of War exploding
* Errors “for every single object”

This is not many bugs.
This is one bug poisoning the entire map lifecycle.

==== You cannot fix this with dev-mode deletes alone. ====

The map never finished generating. You’re standing on a floor that was never poured.

So the strategy changes.

==== ### ====

Re-enable Humanoid Alien Races, even if you never use it.

Not Pawnmorpher yet. Just HAR.

Why this works:
* HAR defines base race infrastructure
* Other mods (including VE stuff) assume those defs exist
* Your save still references alien race types somewhere
* Right now those references resolve to null

You don’t need alien pawns.
You just need the definitions to exist so map gen stops returning null.

This is the “load the missing DLL so the program stops crashing” fix.

After enabling HAR:
* Load save
* Do not generate new maps immediately
* Save, quit, reload
* Then try entering a site again

If the insect map gen stops crashing, you’ve confirmed the diagnosis.

===== If you absolutely refuse to load HAR: =====
* Go to VFE Insectoids mod settings
* Disable anything related to: - World map insects - Insect-controlled sites - Insect map generation - Hive surroundings

You’re trying to stop InsectMapGenDef.DoMapGen from ever running.

This keeps the mod loaded (so existing stuff doesn’t explode) but prevents the broken code path.

This works sometimes. Not guaranteed.

===== Inside VFE Insectoids: =====
* Locate hive surroundings / creep / structure ThingDefs
* Temporarily remove or comment them out
* Leave insects and factions intact

This forces SpawnHiveSurroundings to spawn nothing, avoiding the null.

It’s ugly. It’s effective. Backup first.

===== This save has crossed from “recoverable with cleanup” into “recoverable only by restoring dependencies”. =====

Removing Pawnmorpher and HAR mid-save didn’t break things instantly — it delayed the explosion until map generation touched those ghosts.

That explosion just happened.

==== - Don’t keep trying to enter that map — it’s already invalid. ====
* Don’t delete random objects hoping it stabilizes.
* Don’t assume “one more error log” will reveal a different culprit. It won’t.

The culprit is already named and keeps showing up in the same line like a bad tattoo.

==== You removed the skeleton (HAR), ====
kept the muscles (mods depending on it),
and now you’re surprised walking causes faceplants.

Reinstalling the skeleton doesn’t mean you like skeletons.
It just means physics resumes working.

If you want, tell me:
* Whether you’re willing to re-enable HAR
* Or if you want help disabling VFE Insectoids’ map gen at the XML level

Either way, this is containable — but not by ignoring the missing bones anymore.

=== User: this worked thank you ===
this worked thank you

=== Assistant: Hell yeah — nice, that’s the best possible outcome 👍 ===
Hell yeah — nice, that’s the best possible outcome 👍

What you just did was basically restore a missing load-bearing beam. You didn’t “re-add alien races,” you just put the type system back where RimWorld expects it to be, so all the mods that were blindly poking at those defs stopped grabbing null and falling over.

A few practical notes so this stays stable:
* Keep HAR loaded for this save. You can ignore it forever, just don’t remove it again mid-run.
* You do not need to re-enable Pawnmorpher unless you start seeing errors explicitly naming it. Different beast, much messier.
* If you ever prune mods again, treat HAR like a standard library, not a content mod. Removing it is like deleting std::vector and hoping C++ vibes its way through.

What’s satisfying here is that the symptoms looked like:
* VFE Insectoids exploding
* Fog of war melting
* MapDrawer having a panic attack
* “Every object on the map” error spam

…but the cause was just: missing definitions during map gen. Classic software failure mode. One null at birth, and the whole organism never forms correctly.

If anything else crops up, you now know the pattern:
* Local ticking error → delete the object
* Map generation error → suspect missing defs / removed frameworks
* VE mods screaming → check their assumptions, not their code quality

Glad this one landed cleanly. Enjoy your now-non-quantum RimWorld.

=== User: its weird though, i played for 10-20h after removing and it went fine other than the morphed pawns missing which i expe… ===
its weird though, i played for 10-20h after removing and it went fine other than the morphed pawns missing (which i expected)

=== Assistant: Not weird at all, actually. ===
Not weird at all, actually. It feels weird, but it’s textbook delayed-failure behavior. RimWorld didn’t forgive you — it just hadn’t noticed yet.

Here’s the mental model that makes it click.

When you removed Pawnmorpher and HAR, you didn’t blow up the save. You created dangling references. Think of them like dead hyperlinks in a book: harmless until you try to turn to that page.

For 10–20 hours, you stayed inside parts of the game that never followed those links.

Your home map was already generated.
Your pawns already existed.
Your routines stayed inside a stable bubble.

So the engine kept humming.

Then you did something that forces the game to re-interpret the world from scratch:
generating a new map.

Map generation is RimWorld going back to first principles. It asks questions like:
“What factions exist?”
“What races are valid?”
“What structures can spawn here?”
“What comps attach to this thing?”

That’s when it tripped over the missing bones.

It’s like removing a type definition in a programming language. Code that’s already compiled keeps running. The moment you try to compile something new, the compiler finally screams.

Same with the graves earlier. Those only broke when the game ticked them. Until then, they were inert.

Another analogy: you removed a part from a car that’s only used when reversing uphill in the rain. You drove for hours on highways thinking everything was fine. Then you hit that exact condition and suddenly the transmission tried to become abstract art.

RimWorld is especially prone to this because:
* Saves serialize references, not values
* Mods patch behavior lazily
* Many systems only activate on specific events (map gen, ticking, disposal)

So the delay wasn’t mercy. It was latency.

The good news is this actually means your save was mostly intact. If it were hard-corrupted, it would’ve detonated immediately on load.

You did the right thing by noticing the pattern, feeding logs, and fixing the root cause instead of chasing the symptoms. That’s real debugging, not superstition.

Going forward, the rule of thumb is brutal but reliable:
* Removing content mods mid-save is usually fine
* Removing framework mods is like pulling rebar out of concrete and hoping vibes hold the bridge up

Now you know exactly where that line is — and you crossed it once without falling, which is honestly kind of impressive.