Paralives Field GuideParalives Field Guide

Save-safe fix

Fix Paralives crashing on startup & mid-game

If Paralives crashes on startup, when starting a new game, on save, or mid-session, work through this checklist in order. Save-safe — no console required.

Platform:
PC / Mac / Steam Deck
Last verified:
2026-05-27

Symptoms

  • Crash at the studio splash screen on startup
  • Crash or Unity error before the main menu loads
  • Hard freeze when opening build mode
  • Crash when saving from the main menu
  • Black screen after loading a household

Fix by when it crashes

Crashing on startup / at launch

A crash before the main menu is almost always drivers, a broken install, or an overlay injecting too early. Update your GPU drivers, verify Steam files, run Paralives as administrator, and disable Steam / Discord / MSI Afterburner overlays. On a Unity error at launch, delete the config so the game rebuilds it (see the checklist).

Crashing on a new game or in the Paramaker

If it only crashes when starting a new game or editing a Para, a Workshop mod or corrupt custom content is the usual cause. Disable all mods, restart, and reproduce; re-enable in halves to find the culprit. A fresh save without mods loading cleanly confirms it.

Freezing or crashing mid-session

Mid-game hard freezes point at memory pressure or an unstable framerate. Cap the framerate at 60 fps, lower shadow distance, close background apps to free RAM, and keep the game on an SSD. Autosave often so a freeze never costs a household.

Back up your save first

Before any deep fix, duplicate your save from the load-game menu (or copy the whole .saved folder out of MySavedGames.mod). Startup crash loops and Unity errors can touch save data, so a backup means a bad fix never loses your family.

Try in order

  1. 1Verify Steam files: Steam → right-click Paralives → Properties → Installed Files → Verify integrity. Fixes most startup crashes.
  2. 2Update GPU drivers. Nvidia: GeForce Experience; AMD: Adrenalin; Intel Arc: Driver Assistant.
  3. 3Run Paralives as administrator and allow it through your firewall / antivirus — a common cause of crash-on-launch.
  4. 4For a Unity error on startup, delete the config folder at C:/Users/[you]/AppData/LocalLow/Paralives/Paralives so the game regenerates clean settings — but keep the MySavedGames.mod subfolder, that's where your saves live.
  5. 5Disable all Workshop mods, restart, reproduce. If stable, re-enable in halves to bisect the bad mod (fixes new-game and Paramaker crashes).
  6. 6Turn off Steam overlay (Settings → In-Game → uncheck 'Enable the Steam overlay while in-game') and any Discord/Afterburner overlay.
  7. 7Cap framerate at 60 fps in Paralives graphics settings; uncap can crash on older drivers.

If it still happens

Collect the crash log from C:/Users/[you]/AppData/LocalLow/Paralives/Paralives/Player.log and attach it to a Discord #bug-reports thread.

Report on the Paralives Discord →