Game crashes almost immediately after opening

[NoverLeaf]

Disclaimers

• I have searched the issue tracker to check if the issue has already been reported.
• My issue happened while using mods.

What happened?

As the title states, my game will open, show the beginning loading screen for a few seconds, then immediately crash.
I have tried to verify my files, restart my computer, 100% removing the files and redownloading the game, updating my drivers, and even factory resetting my entire computer at one point. Nothing has worked.
The only time I can manage to get the game to run is by playing on the macos compatible version (I'm on windows 11) which hasn't been updated since 2022. I have the required specs to play barotramua comfortably on my pc so I'm really stumped at how on every other version no matter what I do it always crashes on startup.
I've tried looking for similar issues but nobody seems to have the same issue, or the advice has already been followed and hasn't worked. This is a really fun game and it sucks that I can't play with anyone.

Reproduction steps

1. Press play on steam 2. Wait for the loading screen to pop up 3. A few seconds after, the game will force itself closed and bring up the crash report

Bug prevalence

Happens every time I play

Single player or multiplayer?

Happens outside single player or multiplayer game modes (e.g. game launches on startup, something broken in the main menu)

-

No response

Version

v1.11.5.0 (Winter Update 2025 Hotfix 1)

-

(along with the unstable version and previous version)

Which operating system did you encounter this bug on?

Windows

Relevant error messages and crash reports

Barotrauma Client crash report (generated on 02/13/2026 14:04:18)

Barotrauma seems to have crashed. Sorry for the inconvenience! 

To prevent further startup errors, installed mods will be disabled the next time you launch the game.

0FD9EDB1CE253EAAFED93363C6760E10

Game version 1.11.5.0 (ReleaseWindows, branch release/winter-update-hotfix-1, revision e2b6b5d6e6)
Graphics mode: 1920x1080 (BorderlessWindowed)
VSync ON
Language: English
Selected content packages: None
Level seed: no level loaded
Loaded submarine: None
Selected screen: None

System info:
    Operating system: Microsoft Windows NT 10.0.26200.0 64 bit
    GPU name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
    Display mode: {Width:1920 Height:1080 Format:Color AspectRatio:1.7777778}
    GPU status: Normal

Exception: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. (System.NullReferenceException)
Target site: Void Load()
Stack trace: 
   at Barotrauma.GameMain.Load() in <DEV>\Barotrauma\BarotraumaClient\ClientSource\GameMain.cs:line 534

Last debug messages:
[02/13/2026 14:04:18] Attempting to open ALC device "OpenAL Soft on Speakers (OW810)"
[02/13/2026 14:04:18] Failed to load file "Content/Map/Outposts/Husk_G2.sub" of type "OutpostModule": Destination is too short. (Parameter 'destination')
   at System.String.ReplaceHelper(Int32 oldValueLength, String newValue, ReadOnlySpan`1 indices)
   at System.String.Replace(String oldValue, String newValue)
   at Barotrauma.ToolBox.CleanUpPathCrossPlatform(String path, Boolean correctFilenameCase, String directory) in <DEV>\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\Utils\ToolBox.cs:line 611
   at Barotrauma.ContentPath.get_Value() in <DEV>\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\ContentManagement\ContentPath.cs:line 65
   at Barotrauma.ContentFile.CreateFromXElement(ContentPackage contentPackage, XElement element) in <DEV>\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\ContentManagement\ContentFile\ContentFile.cs:line 108
[02/13/2026 14:04:18] Failed to load file "Content/Map/Outposts/Husk_G1.sub" of type "OutpostModule": Destination is too short. (Parameter 'destination')
   at System.String.ReplaceHelper(Int32 oldValueLength, String newValue, ReadOnlySpan`1 indices)
   at System.String.Replace(String oldValue, String newValue)
   at Barotrauma.ToolBox.CleanUpPathCrossPlatform(String path, Boolean correctFilenameCase, String directory) in <DEV>\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\Utils\ToolBox.cs:line 611
   at Barotrauma.ContentPath.get_Value() in <DEV>\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\ContentManagement\ContentPath.cs:line 65
   at Barotrauma.ContentFile.CreateFromXElement(ContentPackage contentPackage, XElement element) in <DEV>\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\ContentManagement\ContentFile\ContentFile.cs:line 108

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

Where is it installed?

[NoverLeaf]

my main c drive, i don't have anywhere else to install it

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

Could it be this? #15931 (reply in thread)
That guy doesn't know why it's bugged either
best guess is that game isn't permitted to access its files for some reason or the path to game folder is funny

[NoverLeaf]

that does seem similar, but i double checked and the files seem to be there and properly pathed, as for the permission thing that shouldn't be a problem because ive tried running it as an administrator multiple times and it's still crashed, unless there's some other way I missed

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

So, you only been able to play macos-compatible from 2022?
And you tried unstable / previous / current and none of them works?

i'm affraid that the error is too poorly logged to debug it

You can try using other versions from here and find the first broken one
but this might take months or years
also super old versions might crash due to web api changes, try running them offline

[NoverLeaf]

i just wanted to update, I found the last working version for me was the 25th of April 2025. Which i think was version 1.8.8.0. It's not a perfect fix, but at least me and whatever friends i can force to use this version can experience more, thank you again.

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

Good jop, that was fast

It seems that in next v1.9.6.0 (Summer Update 2025) devs upgraded game to Net 8

• Upgraded to .NET 8. This should not cause any noticeable changes, aside from perhaps very minor performance improvements. Allows code mods to use C# 12 features.

I have tried to factory resetting my entire computer

Did you install lastest net runtime after that? Have you tried installing exactly Net 8 runtime, i believe you can get them here

[NoverLeaf]

ah that was something i've never done before but i just tried both net 8 and 10 and neither made the main version work, thanks for the suggestion though

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

nevermind, now i'm also getting Error while loading the core content package "Vanilla": Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
on v1.8.8.1 28 April 2025 – 09:20:24 UTC

[NoverLeaf]

oh no I'm sorry, the 28 April – 09:20:24 UTC is the last one that works for me, none of the unstable ones download, and the next stable one is 13 June 2025 – 10:54:38 UTC which doesn't work

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

So, funny thing, i tried multiple versions around that and i can't launch any of them
i'm getting "can't load xml file" with random files, their content is indeed corrupted

Could this be something like steam cdn database corruption?

Sry for inconvenience again, but could you zip and send here those Failed to load file "Content/Map/Outposts/Husk_G2.sub" Failed to load file "Content/Map/Outposts/Husk_G1.sub" from current version?

They should look like this Husk subs.zip
sub files are in fact xml inside a zip archive, you can unzip it and open it in any text editor

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

yeah, it's the main c# ide

Basically you install visual studio
download barotrauma code from main page, e.g. in zip archive
copy paste Content folder from steam version into Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared
Open windows solution
Unload EosInterface.Implementation project because it doens't compile with it for whatever reason

And then it should just build

Then you can launch it in debug mode, put break points, inspect vars etc

I'm not exactly expert in VS debugging, if you have discord you can ask Mal Factory in luatrauma discord, he's the dev, he should know
https://discord.com/invite/f9zvNNuxu9

[NoverLeaf]

so, they were nice enough to show me how to set it up but i don't really know how to even go about reading it, or if i even did it right, does this mean anything to you?

System.IO.FileNotFoundException
HResult=0x80070002
Message=Could not find file 'C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\bin\DebugWindows\net8.0\Content\Effects\waterbump.png'.
Source=System.Private.CoreLib
StackTrace:
at Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles.SafeFileHandle.CreateFile(String fullPath, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, FileOptions options)
at Microsoft.Win32.SafeHandles.SafeFileHandle.Open(String fullPath, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, FileOptions options, Int64 preallocationSize, Nullable1 unixCreateMode) at System.IO.Strategies.OSFileStreamStrategy..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, FileOptions options, Int64 preallocationSize, Nullable1 unixCreateMode)
at System.IO.Strategies.FileStreamHelpers.ChooseStrategyCore(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, FileOptions options, Int64 preallocationSize, Nullable1 unixCreateMode) at System.IO.File.Open(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share) at Barotrauma.IO.File.Open(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Nullable1 share, Boolean catchUnauthorizedAccessExceptions) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\Utils\SafeIO.cs:line 549
at Barotrauma.IO.File.OpenRead(String path, Boolean catchUnauthorizedAccessExceptions) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\Utils\SafeIO.cs:line 561
at Barotrauma.TextureLoader.FromFile(String path, Boolean compress, Boolean mipmap, ContentPackage contentPackage) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaClient\ClientSource\Utils\TextureLoader.cs:line 156
at Barotrauma.WaterRenderer..ctor(GraphicsDevice graphicsDevice) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaClient\ClientSource\Map\Levels\WaterRenderer.cs:line 71
at Barotrauma.GameMain.LoadContent() in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaClient\ClientSource\GameMain.cs:line 456
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Initialize() in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Libraries\MonoGame.Framework\Src\MonoGame.Framework\Game.cs:line 551
at Barotrauma.GameMain.Initialize() in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaClient\ClientSource\GameMain.cs:line 424
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.DoInitialize() in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Libraries\MonoGame.Framework\Src\MonoGame.Framework\Game.cs:line 678
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Run(GameRunBehavior runBehavior) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Libraries\MonoGame.Framework\Src\MonoGame.Framework\Game.cs:line 381
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Run() in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Libraries\MonoGame.Framework\Src\MonoGame.Framework\Game.cs:line 367
at Barotrauma.Program.Main(String[] args) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaClient\ClientSource\Program.cs:line 61

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

You probably didn't copy paste content folder
Barotrauma is like half open source, c# code is public but xml content is delivered only through steam
You need to copy Content folder from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Barotrauma\Content
to C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared
As in contributing guide https://github.com/FakeFishGames/Barotrauma/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md
And compile again

[NoverLeaf]

ahh okay, ill try that

[NoverLeaf]

you were definitely right about it being some path issue, but i'm not quite sure how to go about finding a solution

System.ArgumentException
HResult=0x80070057
Message=Null character in path. (Parameter 'path')
Source=System.Private.CoreLib
StackTrace:
at System.IO.Path.GetFullPath(String path)
at System.IO.Strategies.OSFileStreamStrategy..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, FileOptions options, Int64 preallocationSize, Nullable1 unixCreateMode) at System.IO.Strategies.FileStreamHelpers.ChooseStrategyCore(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, FileOptions options, Int64 preallocationSize, Nullable1 unixCreateMode)
at System.IO.StreamReader.ValidateArgsAndOpenPath(String path, Encoding encoding, Int32 bufferSize)
at System.IO.File.ReadAllText(String path, Encoding encoding)
at Barotrauma.IO.File.ReadAllText(String path, Encoding encoding, Boolean catchUnauthorizedAccessExceptions) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaClient..\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\Utils\SafeIO.cs:line 646
at Barotrauma.Md5Hash.CalculateForFile(String path, StringHashOptions options) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\Utils\Md5Hash.cs:line 120
at Barotrauma.ContentFile.CalculateHash() in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\ContentManagement\ContentFile\ContentFile.cs:line 147
at Barotrauma.ContentFile..ctor(ContentPackage contentPackage, ContentPath path) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\ContentManagement\ContentFile\ContentFile.cs:line 133
at Barotrauma.GenericPrefabFile`1..ctor(ContentPackage contentPackage, ContentPath path) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\ContentManagement\ContentFile\GenericPrefabFile.cs:line 8
at Barotrauma.ItemFile..ctor(ContentPackage contentPackage, ContentPath path) in C:\Users\poiso\Downloads\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma-master\Barotrauma\BarotraumaShared\SharedSource\ContentManagement\ContentFile\ItemFile.cs:line 8
at System.Reflection.MethodBaseInvoker.InvokeWithFewArgs(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture)

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

idk, that path looks legit, is there like hidden null character somewhere?
Or it's some bug in ReadAllText?

[NoverLeaf]

okay well i spent the last couple hours trying to get ubuntu to work but the VM runs super slowly and then then i run into some error with ubuntu so it doesnt install properly, i think ill try that windows thing but im pretty close to just factory resetting out of desperation
these barotrauma public servers better be worth it if i can even get the current version to run some day

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

Windows takes even more resources, i guess it's just wont work
You can't play from VM anyway because it can't use gpu, it'll try to use cpu for it and it'll be 1fps

did you just check your hardware?

[NoverLeaf]

im kinda confused as to what you mean by checking my hardware? like running scans and updates and stuff? i've already been trying

[SomeRandomNoobKekeke]

Idk

have you tried Windows Memory Diagnostic

[NoverLeaf]

thank you, i actually never tried that one before, but even after running that it found nothing and the game wont run
i'm a lost cause here lol, thank you again for all your help, you've been great