Diagnostics & Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Guide

Diagnose assembly loading errors, inspect runtime game logs, resolve mod conflicts, and fix common configuration issues in Railroader.

Quick 3-Point Checklist

Are you running Railroader 0.6.0+ Experimental?

Map Enhancer 2.0 requires the 0.6+ native mod architecture and is incompatible with 0.5.x releases.

Is Info.json directly inside reaper-map-enhancer?

Check for double-nested folders created by generic unzip tools.

Did you delete any old 'vanguard-map-enhancer' folder?

Having both mod folders active causes duplicate Harmony injection crashes.

Inspecting Game Logs (Player.log)

When Railroader starts, Unity writes a complete diagnostic log of every loaded mod, assembly binding, and unhandled exception to Player.log.

Windows Log Path

%USERPROFILE%\AppData\LocalLow\Giraffe Lab LLC\Railroader\Player.log

Steam Deck / Linux Proton Log Path

~/.steam/steam/steamapps/compatdata/1683150/pfx/drive_c/users/steamuser/AppData/LocalLow/Giraffe Lab LLC/Railroader/Player.log

Useful PowerShell Diagnostics Commands

Read the last 100 log lines:

Get-Content "$env:USERPROFILE\AppData\LocalLow\Giraffe Lab LLC\Railroader\Player.log" -Tail 100

Filter for Map Enhancer events and errors:

Select-String -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\AppData\LocalLow\Giraffe Lab LLC\Railroader\Player.log" -Pattern "MapEnhancer|ModAssembly|TypeLoad|Harmony"

Common Failure Modes & Fixes

1. Mod Does Not Appear in Game (Esc > Mods)

Folder Structure

Symptom:

You extracted the mod into your Mods folder, but when launching Railroader, Map Enhancer does not appear anywhere in the Mods list.

Root Cause:

The ZIP was extracted with a nested duplicate subfolder (e.g. Mods\reaper-map-enhancer\reaper-map-enhancer\Info.json). Railroader's loader only scans one level deep for Info.json.

Resolution:

Open your Documents\Railroader\Mods\reaper-map-enhancer folder and ensure Info.json and MapEnhancer.dll sit directly inside it, not inside a secondary nested subfolder.

✅ Documents\Railroader\Mods\reaper-map-enhancer\Info.json

❌ Documents\Railroader\Mods\reaper-map-enhancer\reaper-map-enhancer\Info.json

2. Game Crashes or Shows Duplicate UI (Legacy Conflict)

Mod Conflict

Symptom:

The game crashes during world load, throws duplicate Harmony hook exceptions, or displays two conflicting map toolbar icons.

Root Cause:

An older version of Vanguard's original Map Enhancer (vanguard-map-enhancer or MapEnhancer) is still present in your Mods folder alongside the 2.0 release.

Resolution:

Completely delete the obsolete 'vanguard-map-enhancer' directory from your Documents\Railroader\Mods folder. Map Enhancer 2.0 contains the complete codebase and replaces earlier releases entirely.

✅ Keep ONLY: Documents\Railroader\Mods\reaper-map-enhancer\

❌ Delete: Documents\Railroader\Mods\vanguard-map-enhancer\

3. "Can't enable: Malformed required dependency"

Version Constraint

Symptom:

The in-game Mod Manager displays: "Can't enable: Malformed required dependency 'rr/game >= 0.6.0': Failed to parse version constraint '>='".

Root Cause:

In Railroader 0.6's mod loader parser, dependency constraints must not have spaces between the comparison operator and version number (e.g., '>= 0.6.0' instead of '>=0.6.0').

Resolution:

Update to official release v2.0.14 or later, which correctly specifies 'rr/game >=0.6.0' in Info.json.

✅ "dependencies": { "required": [ "rr/game >=0.6.0" ] }

❌ "dependencies": { "required": [ "rr/game >= 0.6.0" ] }

4. TypeLoadException / Assembly Binding Failure on 0Harmony

Assembly Binding

Symptom:

Player.log reports: "Could not load type of field 'Loader:<HarmonyInstance>' due to: Could not load file or assembly '0Harmony'".

Root Cause:

The bundled 0Harmony.dll was either omitted during extraction or an incompatible version of Harmony was loaded into the AppDomain prior to Map Enhancer initialization.

Resolution:

Confirm that 0Harmony.dll (approx 2.1 MB) is present directly inside your reaper-map-enhancer mod directory. Map Enhancer automatically pre-resolves Harmony before patching.

✅ reaper-map-enhancer\0Harmony.dll must exist alongside MapEnhancer.dll

5. Map Shortcut (Z) Does Not Open or Map Won't Toggle

Keybindings

Symptom:

Pressing the default key 'Z' does not toggle the map window, or the overlay toolbar does not appear.

Root Cause:

Keybinding conflict with another mod, or custom settings configured in settings.json overriding the default key.

Resolution:

Press 'M' (or 'Ctrl+M') to open the Map Enhancer Settings window directly. Verify your Key Binding for 'Map Toggle'. You can also delete settings.json to reset all keybindings to defaults.

✅ Default toggle: Z | Settings window toggle: Ctrl+M

6. ModDev vs. Mods Folder Precedence

Environment

Symptom:

Changes or newly downloaded versions do not take effect when starting the game.

Root Cause:

Railroader scans both the 'Mods' and 'ModDev' directories. If a version exists in both folders, an older version may take precedence or cause dual assembly loads.

Resolution:

Deploy Map Enhancer into only ONE location: either Documents\Railroader\Mods (recommended for players) OR Documents\Railroader\ModDev (for modders), but not both.

✅ Use either Mods OR ModDev, never both simultaneously.

Still Experiencing an Issue?

If your problem is not covered in this guide, report the issue on GitHub or reach out through community channels. Please include the following details so we can assist promptly:

Exact Railroader version (e.g., 0.6.1 Experimental)
Map Enhancer version (e.g., v2.0.14)
The relevant error snippet from Player.log
List of other installed mods

Open an Issue on GitHub Review Installation Steps