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

=== 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.