Ludeon Forums

As some people seem to be not sure how they should identify which of their mods causes an error, here's a mini-guide of how this could be done.

Part A: the search for the messing-up mod
1) deactivate all mods
2) start a new game
3) check for errors: no error=continue with step 4; error: start part B
4) end game
5) activate next mod
6) repeat starting at 2)

Part B: is the mod messing up on it's own, or are there conflicts with other mods ?
1) end your current game
2) deactivate the first mod in your active mod list (skip CORE of course...)
3) start new game
4) check for the error: still present = continue with 5); not present any more = continue with part C
5) end game
6) repeat starting at 2)

Part C: proofing your results
1) end current game
2) re-activate the mod that you deactivated last
3) de-activate all mods between the mods that you identified in parts A and B
4) start a new game
5) check for the error
6a) error still present: report the issues to the makers of the identified mods
6b) error "gone": you now should have understood the system of identifying error-producing mods. just let the two already identified mods be activated, and add the "between"-mods one after another until you encounter the error again. as soon as you're sure to have indentified the group of mods that causes your troubles, inform the mod makers. they surely will try to reproduce your issue.

Moving this to mods.

You are of course correct. But that method is going to take a long time if you have over a hundred mods.
Let's say you have 100 exactly, and they're manually installed (if steam installed or mixed, it's still doable, but more complicated). Throw them all in the Mods folder and load the game, enable them all. Reload. Get error? Yes? Good.

Click on the error and read the bottom part of the log, as that provides a more detailed description (which you can enlarge with the buttons on the top). When submitting bug reports, try to screenshot both the red text and the more detailed white text in full (if a log isn't an option).

Does that narrow it down? It might, but let's assume it doesn't. Move half (50) of the mods out of the Mods directory and put them somewhere safe for now. Repeat previous steps of reloading, reenabling, etc. Get an error? Good. Move out half again (25) and on and on until you no longer get the error. Stop then (obviously), and the problem mod will be in the last batch of mods you removed (hopefully you kept track of them).

This is called a binary sort or binary search or something or other.
If you have more than one error (specifically in more than one mod), things become more complicated, but the procedure is the same. Proceed until you have one less error, then rummage around in the top of the discard pile.

If you have Steam, you can probably do the same thing, but you have to navigate to the workshop content directory, which is a number (something like 294100), to find all your downloaded mods, which are also numbered directories. Having an active internet connection might make things more challenging, but disconnecting from the internet puts you in offline mode, which last time I tried, prevented  me from using my Steam mods entirely. In short, a mess.

Quote from: Deimos Rast on September 14, 2016, 06:04:01 AM
Click on the error and read the bottom part of the log, as that provides a more detailed description (which you can enlarge with the buttons on the top). When submitting bug reports, try to screenshot both the red text and the more detailed white text in full (if a log isn't an option).

You can also drag the dividing bar to change the size of both portions.
Also, the output_log.txt in *\RimWorld\RimWorldWin_Data will have those errors. Easier to copy paste those, but a screenshot might still tell a little bit more than plain text. (In relation to other things on screen than the error.)

EDIT:

Quote from: Deimos Rast on September 14, 2016, 06:04:01 AM
You are of course correct. But that method is going to take a long time if you have over a hundred mods.
Let's say you have 100 exactly, and they're manually installed (if steam installed or mixed, it's still doable, but more complicated). Throw them all in the Mods folder and load the game, enable them all. Reload. Get error? Yes? Good.

Does that narrow it down? It might, but let's assume it doesn't. Move half (50) of the mods out of the Mods directory and put them somewhere safe for now. Repeat previous steps of reloading, reenabling, etc. Get an error? Good. Move out half again (25) and on and on until you no longer get the error. Stop then (obviously), and the problem mod will be in the last batch of mods you removed (hopefully you kept track of them).

It is important to note that if you're going to use an existing save and remove mods whose assets are already in your game, you will get errors to missing links between what's in-game and what is supposed to be in the mod files.
This might prove to be distracting and/or counter-productive, especially to players less versed in RimWorld and/or modding RW.

Shouldn't disabling the mod and rebooting the game be enough?

For those who use mods a lot, go back to the newest mod, and start there. Also use common sense, it will help (2 Medical mods are more likely to conflict than a medical mod and a different one).
How I do it, is I:
1.Take note of the installed mods, make sure there's no obvious conflicts, and if I'm not running any new mods
2.Start at the mod under core, disable it (And the mods dependant on it, for example Combat Realism, and Combat Realism Defense)
3. Continue through the modlist until the problem resolves, the mod that is disabled is the culprit, knowing that you can likely figure out where the conflict is, or if the mod is broken by what it does.

Most recent mod and common sense are great places to start, yeah. But if that doesn't solve it, rather than 1-by-1, I tend to do a binary search.

• Disable half the enabled mods (that aren't known to be good), see if it solves the problem.
• If no, go to step 1.
• If yes, the enabled mods are "known good." Re-enable half the disabled mods, see if it solves the problem.
• If yes, go to step 3.
• If no, go to step 1.

Yes, I'm a dork for writing out that algorithm, but in practice it's pretty easy and intuitive - "go by halves."

Quote from: BlueWinds on September 14, 2016, 01:43:01 PM
Most recent mod and common sense are great places to start, yeah. But if that doesn't solve it, rather than 1-by-1, I tend to do a binary search.

• Disable half the enabled mods (that aren't known to be good), see if it solves the problem.
• If no, go to step 1.
• If yes, the enabled mods are "known good." Re-enable half the disabled mods, see if it solves the problem.
• If yes, go to step 3.
• If no, go to step 1.

Yes, I'm a dork for writing out that algorithm, but in practice it's pretty easy and intuitive - "go by halves."

I like how it took me a whole page to convey what you did in a few brief words, haha.  ;D

Quote from: BlueWinds on September 14, 2016, 01:43:01 PM
Most recent mod and common sense are great places to start, yeah. But if that doesn't solve it, rather than 1-by-1, I tend to do a binary search.

• Disable half the enabled mods (that aren't known to be good), see if it solves the problem.
• If no, go to step 1.
• If yes, the enabled mods are "known good." Re-enable half the disabled mods, see if it solves the problem.
• If yes, go to step 3.
• If no, go to step 1.

Yes, I'm a dork for writing out that algorithm, but in practice it's pretty easy and intuitive - "go by halves."

If you're a lazy bugger like me, though, binary searches are a pain. It saves you time, but a lot more clicking.

Quote from: BlueWinds on September 14, 2016, 01:43:01 PM
If yes, the enabled mods are "known good." Re-enable half the disabled mods, see if it solves the problem.

in some cases, especially where one mod messes with another, there ist no "known good". you are forced to test each with each other. binary search will make you go crazy then.