The game closes when a save loads

If the game closes while a save loads, the mod can skip what it restores at the next start. This page says what the mod does by itself and what you can do.

What the mod does by itself (load guard)#

The mod keeps one small file, runtime/load-guard.json.

1. When a load begins (the new V attaches, or the old V detaches for a load) the file says loading, before any restored state is applied.
2. When V is in the world, the party restore has finished and the game has stayed up for 45 seconds, the file says idle and the count of closed loads goes back to 0. A normal quit in the middle of a load also writes idle.
3. If the next start finds loading, the game closed in the last load. That session skips every restore step: the last party is not invited again, outfit and look changes do not run, housemates are not placed at home, no quest stage is armed, no ambush squad is planned. All files stay where they are. One notice in gameplay says so.
4. The session after that tries the restore once more (a skipped session that ends well does not clear the count). If the game closes again, that is two closed loads in a row: the restored state files are renamed to <name>.quarantined in runtime/ (party-restore, outfit-rotation, ambush-state, housemates), the service moves its durable copies to <data folder>\game-state\quarantine\, and the session skips again. Nothing is deleted.
5. A restoring load that ends well clears everything.

Limits: the guard starts when V attaches. A game that closes earlier in the loading screen is not seen by it, and one that closes in the main menu is not a load. A game closed by force (Task Manager) in the middle of a load counts as a closed load once, which costs one skipped restore.

What the player can do today#

Then do these in order, and start the game after each step to see whether loading works.

1. Move the files the mod wrote. They are in the mod's runtime folder. Delete party-restore.json, party-restore-command.json, outfit-rotation.json, ambush-state.json, housemates.json and load-guard.json. Then delete the same names (the first four of them plus load-guard.json) in %LOCALAPPDATA%\AiNpcCyberpunkMod\data\game-state\, because the service puts a copy back when a file is missing.
   • Vortex: the folder is <game folder>\bin\x64\plugins\cyber_engine_tweaks\mods\AiNpcCyberpunkMod\runtime. Vortex has no Overwrite folder: a file the mod creates lies in the game folder itself. Delete the files there. If Vortex shows an "external changes" box afterwards, choose to keep the mod as it is.
   • Mod Organizer 2: close the game, then in the mod list scroll to the bottom and open Overwrite (right-click it and choose Open in Explorer). Open bin\x64\plugins\cyber_engine_tweaks\mods\AiNpcCyberpunkMod\runtime inside it and delete the same files. Anything else in Overwrite that belongs to the mod's runtime folder can go too, the mod makes it again. Files of other mods stay.
2. Clear the script cache. Delete the folder <game folder>\r6\cache\modded (with MO2, the same path inside Overwrite as well). The game builds it again at the next start, which takes a little longer once.
3. Save a report. If it still closes, start the game, wait at the main menu, open Companion Manager > Privacy and help > Help and support and choose Save report, then share the file on the mod Discord. The report carries the files above, the guard's state, the newest folder of the game's own crash reports and the CET, redscript and RED4ext logs. If the game cannot reach the main menu, send the same files by hand: the runtime folder's load-guard.json, the newest folder in %LOCALAPPDATA%\REDEngine\ReportQueue, bin\x64\plugins\cyber_engine_tweaks\cyber_engine_tweaks.log and the newest file in <game folder>\red4ext\logs.