Game won't load after portrait modding

[MagpieJuJu]

So I tried modding my cat, everything worked fine. Today I tried a character mod pack and now my game won't load. Reverted back to original files, still won't load. Tried a completely different protrait pack, still nothing. Did I screw myself?

[AvatarMan]

I would delete all mod associated files, and validate the game cache through steam and then try again.

Out of curiousity what character mod was it, and where did you save it to.

[Mackenzie]

Library -> right-click Stardew Valley -> Properties -> Local Files -> Verfiy Integrity of Game Cache

This should fix your issue if it's the game loading giving you an issue and not your save file being corrupt. This will remove any modifications you have installed though, and you'll need to re-install them if you so choose.

[MagpieJuJu]

Thank you very much, that fixed it! It was a "Westernized" character pack, and I had placed it in the portraits file as the instructions stated.... Maybe it's just me though since I haven't gotten any of them to work.

[Mackenzie]

Make sure your portrait mods are going here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Stardew Valley\Content\Portraits

and not here:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Stardew Valley\Content\Characters

Make sure if they are zipped or compressed to unzip them to the xnb files they are supposed to be and replace the files. Always backup the old file first if you want to be able to easily change back to it for whatever reasons.

[MagpieJuJu]

I was saving it to the right place, but you totally made me realize a dumb mistake I made. I was cutting and pasting the whole thing...well that deleted all the characters that weren't modded. Duh! No wonder it wasn't working. Thank you so much!

[Mackenzie]

You bet! ^^; Usually is helpful to retrace your steps, glad I could help.

[Jack]

Mackenzie, I've read a lot of your posts and you seem to be really knowledgeable and I could use your help (please!). I meant to change the name of my horse and after changing the coding for the horse name I can't get the game to load. I get the typical "Stardew Valley has stopped working ... ". I've read your solution here on this thread b/c it seemed to apply but I can't figure where to find "verify integrity of game cache."

And if it helps here is the "error log" I'm getting:

Message: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
InnerException:
Stack Trace: at StardewValley.Game1.Draw(GameTime gameTime)
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.DrawFrame()
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.Tick()
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.HostIdle(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.GameHost.OnIdle()
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.WindowsGameHost.RunOneFrame()
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.WindowsGameHost.ApplicationIdle(Object sender, EventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponent.FDoIdle(Int32 grfidlef)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ComponentManager.System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponentManager.FPushMessageLoop(IntPtr dwComponentID, Int32 reason, Int32 pvLoopData)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoopInner(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoop(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
at System.Windows.Forms.Application.Run(Form mainForm)
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.WindowsGameHost.Run()
at Microsoft.Xna.Framework.Game.RunGame(Boolean useBlockingRun)
at StardewValley.Program.Main(String[] args)

[Jack]

LOL! In fact it was your post that helped me to know I could even change my horse name. I'm not sure what I did wrong. Does the error log from my previous post help you at all.

Here is your post I tried to follow (https://steamcommunity.com/app/413150/discussions/0/385429254945074599/):

Step 1) Backup both your save files somewhere safe.

They can be found here: C:\Users\[User]\AppData\Roaming\StardewValley\Saves

2) For both save files for the game save you want to rename the horse in, open with a text editor. I recommend notepad++

3) Search for <characters><NPC xsi:type="Horse"><name>

4) You should see "Sebastian" without quotes just after <name>, rename it how you see fit.

5) Save the file and enjoy your renamed horse! Don't forget to do this in both save files or you could corrupt your save. Also Steam cloud sync might interfere, disabling it might be necessary.

[Mackenzie]

Hopefully you backed up your save file. All I can advise is to follow the steps and try again. This was done in a version prior to 1.1 as well, and these posts are quite a bit dated. There is no guarantee it will still work, but it should in theory.

[Jack]

k thanks

[Jack]

Well, turns out I think I deleted the original file and have been working from the copy. Somehow I must have corrupted the copy, but all I did was change my horse name. Super weird.

Do you know if there are any archives stored for the character I tried to mod?

I also created a new character and the game launches and runs just fine with the new character. But, the two previous characters I had created don't work (one of those characters was the person I modded by changing the horse name).

Character 1 - 65 hours - tried to mod horse name - won't launch - now corrupt
Character 2 - 4 hours - didn't modify at all and still won't launch - now corrupt
Character 3 - totally new as of this morning - launches and plays just fine

What the heck did i do!? LOL!