The RimWorld 1.6 update — with gravships and space travel — reshaped not only the game itself but thousands of mod collections: some players were up and running instantly, others faced a wall of red icons in the mod menu. Enough time has passed for the dust to settle: most popular mods have been updated, abandoned projects have forks, and the typical upgrade problems are well known and solvable. Here is what actually broke on 1.6, which libraries to update first, and which mods are ready to play right now.
What changed in 1.6 and why mods break
Version 1.6 added gravships, new biomes and mechanics — along with significant changes under the hood. Any mod that reaches into the game's internals — patching methods, rewriting UI or simulation — is tied to a specific code layout. When that layout changes, a mod either honestly refuses to start or silently misbehaves. That is why after a major update the first casualties are not content mods but the libraries that dozens of other mods stand on.
What broke after the update
- Outdated libraries: old versions of Harmony, HugsLib and Vanilla Expanded Framework throw red errors on launch.
- Mods built for 1.5: the game flags them with a version-mismatch warning — some work, but most require an update.
- Abandoned mods: the author stopped maintaining the project — look for community forks with the «(Continued)» suffix.
- Translations tied to the old XML structure: when the original updates, translations often break and wait for a new version.
- Whole collections: even with every mod updated, an outdated load order can conflict — rebuild your list from scratch.
Before updating your collection, copy the Mods and Saves folders from the game directory. Rolling back with your saves intact takes a couple of minutes instead of an evening of recovery.
Libraries: update these first
The foundation of any collection is its libraries, and they must be updated before everything else. Harmony is the engine patcher that nine out of ten mods require. Vanilla Expanded Framework powers the entire Vanilla Expanded line. HugsLib is the backbone for dozens of gameplay mods, and Humanoid Alien Races is mandatory for alien species mods. An outdated library takes down not one mod but the entire stack built on top of it: update the foundation first, then everything else.
Top updated mods for 1.6
Performance mods are the first thing to refresh: Performance Fish, RocketMan and TicksPerSecond all work correctly on 1.6. Together they speed up loading, reduce FPS drops in large colonies and make 3x speed comfortable even with a long mod list.
Quality of life and UI: Achtung! gives you fine control over colonist orders, Allow Tool speeds up allow/forbid marking, RimHUD redesigns the character panel, Pick Up And Haul fixes hauling logistics, while Dubs Mint Menus and Loading Progress make menus and loading screens nicer.
Content and gameplay: Vanilla Furniture Expanded adds furniture in the signature style, Combat Extended rewrites the combat system, Common Sense teaches colonists common sense, and Smarter Construction brings order to construction sites. Every mod listed here is already updated for 1.6 — safe to include in a new collection.
Harmony
от Brrainz
Harmony — общая библиотека патчей, которую использует большинство модов RimWorld.
Vanilla Expanded Framework
от Orion, Sarg Bjornson +4
Ядро-библиотека Vanilla Expanded: общий код для всей серии модов VE. Обязателен для многих из них.
Performance Fish
от Michael
Набор патчей производительности от Bradson: стабильный FPS и быстрый тик даже в поздней игре.
How to check mod compatibility
- 1Open the mod's page on our site — each version lists available files and the update date.
- 2On the Steam Workshop page, check the supported-version badges and recent comments.
- 3Enable the mod in game: a red icon in the mod menu means incompatibility or a missing library.
- 4Read the author's requirements — if the mod depends on libraries, they must be from the same generation.
If a mod never got updated
- Search the Workshop for the same mod with a «(Continued)» suffix — the community regularly picks up abandoned projects.
- Look for an alternative in the RimWorld mod catalog: functional duplicates of popular mods almost always exist.
- Check the original's page: authors often leave a link to the successor in the description.
- Do not enable a broken mod hoping for the best — one stuck patch can crash the whole game.
Your 1.6 collection is ready — now tune it. For proper installation read our installation guide, load order — in the load order guide, troubleshooting — in the errors and conflicts guide. And if you want a two-player colony, our RimWorld multiplayer guide will get co-op running in ten minutes.