# When a Modded Game Crashes: Let Your Agent Investigate A crash in a modded game feels random. It almost never is. The game usually leaves evidence behind: a crash report, a log, a dump file. An AI agent can read all of it in a minute, find the line that matters, and tell you which mod to suspect and why. This guide teaches the method. It works for most PC games and with any agent. You do not need Zo. Do [Set Up Your Gaming PC for Modding with an AI Agent](https://www.classified.llc/guides/modding-setup-with-ai-agents.md) first, so your agent can see your game files and you have backups. ## Hand this guide to your AI 1. Click **Copy for your agent** at the top of this page (or download the .md) and paste it into your agent. 2. Download the checklist your agent will follow: [modding-crash-checklist.md](https://www.classified.llc/guides/kits/modding-crash-checklist.md). Save it in your modding workshop's `records` folder. 3. Right after a crash, before you relaunch the game, send this: ``` My game just crashed. Don't relaunch anything. Follow the crash checklist: first find and copy the crash report and logs somewhere safe, then read them and tell me in plain English what the game was doing when it died, which mod is most likely responsible, and how sure you are. If you're guessing, say so. ``` > **Note for AI agents:** Preserve evidence first: copy crash folders and logs before anything relaunches the game. Lead with the evidence (the exact log line or stack frame), then the conclusion, then your confidence. Do not blame a mod on circumstantial grounds like an old release date; confirm by testing. Ask before changing the user's mod list or files. ## Step 1: Save the evidence before you relaunch Some games delete their last crash report the next time they start. Mount and Blade II: Bannerlord does, for one. So the first move after any crash is to copy the evidence, before you click Play again. Places your agent should check. It can search all of them for the newest files: - the game's own folder, often a `logs` or `crashes` subfolder, - `Documents\My Games\` or `Documents\`, - `%LOCALAPPDATA%\` and `C:\ProgramData\`, - `%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps`, where Windows keeps crash dump files, - your mod loader's or mod manager's own log folder, - Windows Event Viewer, under Windows Logs, then Application. Look for "Application Error" (event 1000) around the time of the crash. Ask your agent to copy everything into a dated folder in your workshop, such as `C:\Modding\crash-archive\2026-10-18_battle-crash`, with one line about what you were doing when it crashed. That line matters more than you would think. ## Step 2: Read the timing When the crash happened says a lot about what caused it: - **During startup, before the menu.** A mod failed to load. Usually a missing requirement, a duplicate file, or a version mismatch. New items, maps, and story content usually are not loaded yet, so they are rarely the cause. - **Loading a save or starting a new game.** Mod data clashing with the save, or a mod that changes the world when a game starts. - **In the middle of play.** Something specific set it off: a particular fight, menu, or character. What you were doing is your best clue. - **After a long session.** Possibly memory. The game may have run out of RAM or video memory. Your agent can check the logs for memory warnings. ## Step 3: Let the agent read the logs and dumps Ask your agent to read each log from the bottom up. The last lines before a crash usually hold the clue. If there is a crash dump, ask it to read that too. Dump files record what the game was doing at the moment it died, including which mod's code was running. Reading them takes a free tool, and your agent can set that up. Good questions to ask: ``` What was the last thing the game did before it crashed? Which mod's code shows up in the crash? Is there a version or dependency error anywhere in the logs? ``` A real example: a game kept crashing mid-battle. The crash dump showed a dismemberment mod trying to copy a character's body model at the moment a sword hit landed. The player confirmed they had been fighting a troll from a Lord of the Rings total-conversion mod. The troll's body was not built like a human's, so the copy failed and took the game down. Reading the mod's code also showed it never cut limbs on arrow hits. The fix that night: shoot the trolls, and turn off the setting that let the player's own soldiers trigger it. ## Step 4: Know the usual suspects Most mod crashes come from a short list: 1. **A missing requirement.** Mod A needs mod B, and B is not installed or not turned on. Sometimes the requirement is not even listed on the mod page. Your agent can search a mod's files for the names of the other mods it uses. 2. **A mod that ships the game's own files.** Some mods accidentally include copies of the game's files, and the copies fight with the real ones. Your agent can list any files inside a mod that share names with the game's own. 3. **Two copies of the same shared library.** Many mods rely on common helper libraries. If two mods each bring their own copy, the game can load it twice and fall over. 4. **Load order.** Some mods must load before or after others. The readme usually says so. Ask your agent to check your order against every readme. 5. **Game version.** A mod built for a different version of the game. See the setup guide on freezing your version. 6. **Memory.** Big texture packs and high settings can run the game out of video memory. The logs often say so outright. ## Step 5: Narrow it down by halves When the logs do not name a culprit, test in halves: 1. Back up your mod list first. 2. Turn off half of your optional mods and launch. 3. If it still crashes, the problem is in the half that is still on. If not, it is in the half you turned off. 4. Repeat with the guilty half until one mod is left. With 30 mods, that takes about five launches instead of thirty. Mods that depend on each other have to stay on or off together, and your agent can work out those groups for you. Ask it to record each round in your `records` folder so you do not lose your place. ## Step 6: Prove it before you blame it The easy mistake is blaming the oldest mod, the newest mod, or the one that seems odd. A gap between two mods' release dates is not proof they clash. A crash that happens near a mod is not proof that mod caused it. Ask your agent for the evidence behind every conclusion: the log line, the crash dump, or a test where turning one thing off made the crash stop. If the evidence is thin, it should say "I think", not "it is". If you need help from the mod's author or community, have your agent write the bug report: what happened, the exact error, your game version, your mod list, and the steps that cause it. Good bug reports get answers. ## Fixes, from least to most effort - **Avoid the trigger.** Like shooting the troll instead of slashing it. - **Change a setting.** Many mods have an in-game settings menu with an option that sidesteps the problem. - **Fix the order or the duplicate.** Move a mod in the load order, or remove a duplicate file, keeping a backup of anything you remove. - **Update or swap the mod.** Look for a newer version or an alternative. - **Turn it off for this playthrough.** Some mods just do not mix with some others. ## Next - [Set Up Your Gaming PC for Modding with an AI Agent](https://www.classified.llc/guides/modding-setup-with-ai-agents.md) - [Make Mods Your Own: Read, Tweak, and Write Mod Content with an Agent](https://www.classified.llc/guides/modding-make-it-yours.md) - [Game-specific modding guides](https://www.classified.llc/modding): mod links, load orders, and real fixes for Bannerlord, Starfield, and more.