Hi, I’m having a critical issue running WOTC with Community Highlander v1.29. As soon as I enable Highlander (with or without Alien Hunters Plugin), the game crashes at startup with:
"Error detected attempting load of package: XComGame"
No other mods are active. Logs show missing .ini files like XComPlaylist.ini, DefaultPlaylist.ini, corrupted .upk files (GFxUI.upk, IpDrv.upk, etc.), and shader compile warnings.

I've tried:
Verifying game files
Deleting + redownloading .upk files
Resetting config/cache folders
Running with just Highlander on a clean setup
Using both AML and Steam launcher
Game works fine without Highlander. It seems enabling it corrupts or breaks core files.

System: Win 10, RTX 4070, Ryzen 7 5700X, 48GB RAM, SSD
Mods: Only Highlander + Alien Hunters Plugin
DLC: All owned
Launcher: AML (also tested Steam)
Sorry for the long message, and thank you very much for your attention!

@burrik
I think it's that usually a trooper can only carry one grenade-type object, and one special ammo

What do these strings in xcomgame.ini do? Can't find anything anywhere regarding how they affect gameplay - what is unique items rule?

;GrenadeRespectUniqueRule=false ; Set to true to make grenade slot respect unique items rule.
;AmmoSlotBypassUniqueRule=false ; Set to true to make ammo slot ignore unique items rule.

F YOU'RE NEW TO THE GAME AND YOUR GAME IS CRASHING WITH THIS, TRY THIS FIRST:

Make sure you're actually trying to play War of the Chosen, instead of X-Com 2. In the dropdown menu when you launch the game, choose "Play War of the Chosen" instead of "Play X-Com 2". WOTC is the same game as X-Com 2, but with the extra content interwoven in the original. It took me an embarassing amount of time to find this out, but I blame Firaxis for not explaining this properly to people that weren't playing the game at launch and laying the options so confusingly.

Yeah I've had to disable the music mod because I can't figure out why the DOUBLE music playing bug comes from. But many say its LWOTC doing it but I just thought maybe its tied into this mod also which is a requirement I believe.

No, that issue is intrinsic to music mods.

I noticed this mod changes the XComTacticalSoundManager.uc file and was wondering if this was the reason why pretty much all music mods can't work correctly? (often playing double audio)

@EvilBob22 - I'm not sure which version I have installed at the moment but it's unlikely to be as up-to-date. I'm planning to start a new playthrough fairly soon, so that should a good time to upgrade.

@Scroller If you don't have version 1.6 yet, you should upgrade. It does the initial mod check in 1/10 the time of the older ones.

@Bepis - You're welcome. I've had the AML installed for ages and I don't have a link for it (I should probably favourite it some point), so thanks to EvilBob22 for posting that.

@Bepis In case you haven't found it yet: https://github.com/X2CommunityCore/xcom2-launcher

@scroller - massive massive thank you, greatly appreciated man. Ill try find the link for the AML - i saw a reddit thread about it but I didnt see any link. If you have one at hand and wouldnt mind sharing, that would be incredible! Thank you again though!!!

@Bepis - The changes and framework that this mod includes are 'under the hood', so they may not be obvious (particularly if you're new to WOTC). The additional functionality is accessed by mods that utilise its framework.

With regard to the other mods not showing, are you using the base game launcher or the Alternative Mod Launcher (AML)? The former isn't great and can fail to load mods properly. If you really want to have mods in your game, then the AML would be the way to go. You can find links to download it in numerous threads on Steam.

With the AML installed, you'll find it much easier to set your game up and see if there are any conflicts or missing dependencies. If you already have the AML, then there may be some other problem with the mods but figuring out the reasons will depend on which mods you've installed.

Hey, new to this community. I just purchased WOTC and saw that I need this mod to run other mods. I don't understand how to make it work though so any advice would be appreciated. I have Highlander installed but it doesn't seem to do anything? I see its on as it is in the bottom right of my screen, but should I have a new mod menu? If so, how do I open that? I installed other mods which needed the support of Highlander, but they don't show. ANY help would be great, its really frustrating me.

I don't think there is a "full" list of all the bugs fixed, this mod fixes so many... but everything is fully detailed/documented (in one form or another) on the github pages:
https://github.com/X2CommunityCore/X2WOTCCommunityHighlander

What bugs does it fix?

Not from the highlander............

(( .... but possibly an encounter list issue with one of the Requiem mods. The author, Reshii is aware and trying to fix. ))

Would the latest update affect Lily Shen's Spark DLC mission in anyway? Suddenly getting a pair of advent troopers in the beginning of the mission.

@Sarge
Cool, glad you worked it out

@Dragon32 Just found out it was 2 new weapons i downloaded, but they are blocked as they are ported from another game.

@Sarge
Clear your user config. files.

Try with just the Highlander active and it'll load. Then it's a case of finding the culprit.

Lots of good info:
https://old.reddit.com/r/xcom2mods/wiki/mod_troubleshooting

Xcom 2 wotc worked perfect for me with some weapons and armor mods, trying to use highlander the game locks up on start up, i was trying to use the new promotion screen, which requires highlander, as stated game works fine without Highlander but once unabled game locks up. Any idea's?

@Sest
If you subscribe to the beta then unsubscribe from the main version, apparently just having them installed on the same PC can get screwy.

(I don't see the behaviour you describe)

Hi guys,
In AML 1.5.1, any mod needing Highlander 1.29 all show up as the mod isn't installed.
I have tried using either the Beta or the stable version; neither is recognized by them.
I've tried resubbing the mods as well, not working.

Not sure if it's the problem with AML or Highlander.

Non-exhaustive list: {LINK REMOVED}https://x2communitycore.github.io/X2WOTCCommunityHighlander/Bugfixes/

what bugs does this mod fix?

this is alien tech

This is great!

Yes! was exactly that, thank you very much!

It probably means you are using an older version of the Alien Hunters DLC Highlander mod . Try unsubscribing and resubscribing to that mod to force an update.

Hello all!

I just installed the new version of this mod for LWoTC, but in the main menu appers this warning in yellow: "-DLC_2 V1.26.3 (ed92b4)"

What it means? I have all DLC installed.

Thank you

If there is one mod you should ever use, it's this one. It fixes so many bugs. Yes, you should always be using Alternative Mod Launcher while playing XCOM 2 with mods.

Do i need to use this mod with only better chosen and militia for exemple?
I don't want to have 785 mods.

And after enabled the mods, can we start the game normaly or do we have the obligation to open it via the mod menu? (New mod launcher)

@hottt3
Check the change log via the Change Notes tab

Thanks for your work! So I don't need this mod anymore, right? https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1135867452

@StreamLined Amazing fix, worked for me as well. Didn't update to the beta version of the AML though, all I did was enable Run as Admin, and it fixed the problem for me. Thanks a bunch!

@StreamLined thank you so much! I kept CTD every time I ran the game with ANY mods enabled. Your tip on updating to the beta build fixed the issue!

To anyone having issues with crashing on start or on new game. If your using Alternative mod launcher 1.5.1 (the most recent stable release) Try upgrading it to the 1.6 beta, that solved my issues. Also if you are running AML as admin you might need to make sure you're also running steam as admin, I'm unsure why but an AML popup stated it was important. I apologize if this is an unnecessary comment, but after spending the last 2 days trying to fix these issues myself I felt I should report this just in case.

I Wish one day this can be implemented on Xcom 2 Collection Mobile..

Just seeing if it was a known or common issue. Since it appears to not be the case, I guess I'll just have to trial/error my way to see which mod(s) are causing the issue. There were some cosmetic mods that didn't work until I subscribed to this mod.

Or just a poorly coded mod that needs Highlander to do its thing.

I very much doubt the Highlander on it's own is causing your lag issue. More likely to be a mod-conflict with another mod.

I am having a problem where this mod causes the game to take several seconds to enact orders I give on the battlefield. For example, I tell a soldier to move, and it can take up to 10 seconds before he starts moving. It is only with this mod as well, as I have tested without the mod and it worked just fine.

@Parasocial femboy
Yes. Click on "X2CommunityCore's Workshop" at the top of the page to find all a mod author's Workshop mods.

Is there a non Wotc version?

Nobody can see your fork unless you make a Pull Request, though I struggle to imagine what kind of change to a mod project would have any effect whatseoever on its interaction with AML.

They don't need to implement your fix as the mod isn't broken ...

... is what they are trying to tell you.

Also can confirm not broken for me either, was playing with this perfectly fine earlier today, launched through AML

I was merely stating where I posted the fix. If the authors of this mod want to implement it, they are able to. I've thankfully forked it anyway so it's moot, now. The fixed version is on github as a fork.

@link500 - I've never had a problem with this mod,so I don't need to check github ... "friend".

There is nothing to "fix", Highlander works fine with or without AML, as it always did. Whatever issues you may be experiencing are either the result of game's quirks (like sometimes failing to load the Highlander if Steam family sharing is enabled) or user error.

Refer to troubleshooting articles linked above if you experience issues.