Official GuideCurrent

Crash and Freeze Triage

A first-response guide for separating crashes, hangs, repeated freezes, loading failures, and interface problems before changing the install.

Updated 2026-09-01Last tested 2026-09-01Difficulty: beginner
On this page
  1. Identify the failure first
  2. If the game closes to desktop
  3. If the game freezes but stays open
  4. If loading never finishes
  5. Return to a supported baseline
  6. What to include in a report

Identify the failure first

Do not use “crash” to describe every failure. The symptom determines what evidence matters.

What happens Treat it as
Game closes to desktop Crash or CTD
Game stays open but never responds Hang or freeze
Game pauses repeatedly and resumes Stutter or periodic freeze
Loading screen never completes Load failure
Only a menu stops working UI or input problem
Game never reaches the main menu Startup failure

If the game closes to desktop

Record:

  • where you were
  • what you were doing
  • whether it happens every time
  • whether extra mods were added
  • whether a crash log was created

A repeatable crash at the same action or location is usually more useful than a crash that happened once after several hours.

If the game freezes but stays open

Wait long enough to determine whether it recovers. If it repeatedly freezes and resumes at a regular interval, do not immediately lower graphics settings. Periodic stalls can come from logging, scripts, storage, background scanning, or a broken system repeatedly retrying work.

See Performance Basics for the performance-side checks.

If loading never finishes

Check whether the failure affects:

  1. only one save
  2. every save
  3. only a new game
  4. the game before the main menu

Those are different failure classes. Do not delete saves or reinstall the full modlist until you know which class you are dealing with.

Return to a supported baseline

When extra mods or manual file edits are involved, reproduce the issue on the supported Fallen World configuration before reporting it as a Fallen World bug.

What to include in a report

Use Report a Problem on the relevant wiki page for documentation errors. For a game bug, include the exact symptom, reproduction steps, extra modifications, and any relevant logs through the project’s supported bug-report process.