Bug/Issue Game Crashes When Saving [FIXED!!!]

Hey everyone!

Okay, so I got Stardew Valley like.. RIGHT after I saw Markiplier play it the first time. And when I got it and played it, absolutely no issues whatsoever. While other people encountered bugs or crashes, I was lucky enough to have a smooth playthrough over and over again.

However.. a couple weeks ago I made a new save file. Everythings A-OK and all, and I get to play up to the 9th of Summer in year 1 like.. yesterday or the day before.

Today however is a different story. Update 1.2 dropped and I thought "sweet, yay for new languages and bug fixes for people who need them!" And proceeded to play. I get through the day, giving a few gifts here and there, watering my crops, petting my cat, digging up stuff, fishing, and everything's alright.

I go to sleep, the banner flips from 9 to 10, annddd....

Stardew Valley has Stopped Working. Game crashes on me and I'm forced to close the program.

I cross my fingers and start it back up and nope. Did not save. I have to completely re-do Day 9. Okay, no biggie, never had issues before, lets try this again. I play through once more. Go to sleep, and... crashes once more! Well, crud.

I heard people mention about playing as administrator, so I tried that out. I dont do as much in my day this time and only some necessities such as watering crops in case this does work, and try again. Nope... even if I run the game as administrator, the game still crashes on me and my progress is wiped.

I don't use any mods what-so-ever, and I'm not even close to marrying anyone yet in this save file. I do have all three error logs, and I'll post them below. I've already bug-reported these along with posting this on reddit, so I'm hoping someone's got an answer for me or good ol' ConcernedApe can patch this new bug.

Message: There was an error generating the XML document.
InnerException: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at StardewValley.Quests.DescriptionElement.loadDescriptionElement()
at StardewValley.Quests.SlayMonsterQuest.reloadObjective()
at StardewValley.Quests.Quest.get_currentObjective()
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write116_SlayMonsterQuest(String n, String ns, SlayMonsterQuest o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write124_Quest(String n, String ns, Quest o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write131_Farmer(String n, String ns, Farmer o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write136_SaveGame(String n, String ns, SaveGame o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write137_SaveGame(Object o)
Stack Trace: at StardewValley.SaveGame.<Save>d__47.MoveNext()
at StardewValley.Menus.SaveGameMenu.update(GameTime time)
at StardewValley.Menus.ShippingMenu.update(GameTime time)
at StardewValley.Game1.Update(GameTime gameTime)
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)

Message: There was an error generating the XML document.
InnerException: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at StardewValley.Quests.DescriptionElement.loadDescriptionElement()
at StardewValley.Quests.SlayMonsterQuest.reloadObjective()
at StardewValley.Quests.Quest.get_currentObjective()
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write116_SlayMonsterQuest(String n, String ns, SlayMonsterQuest o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write124_Quest(String n, String ns, Quest o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write131_Farmer(String n, String ns, Farmer o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write136_SaveGame(String n, String ns, SaveGame o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write137_SaveGame(Object o)
Stack Trace: at StardewValley.SaveGame.<Save>d__47.MoveNext()
at StardewValley.Menus.SaveGameMenu.update(GameTime time)
at StardewValley.Menus.ShippingMenu.update(GameTime time)
at StardewValley.Game1.Update(GameTime gameTime)
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)

Message: There was an error generating the XML document.
InnerException: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at StardewValley.Quests.DescriptionElement.loadDescriptionElement()
at StardewValley.Quests.SlayMonsterQuest.reloadObjective()
at StardewValley.Quests.Quest.get_currentObjective()
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write116_SlayMonsterQuest(String n, String ns, SlayMonsterQuest o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write124_Quest(String n, String ns, Quest o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write131_Farmer(String n, String ns, Farmer o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write136_SaveGame(String n, String ns, SaveGame o, Boolean isNullable, Boolean needType)
at Microsoft.Xml.Serialization.GeneratedAssembly.XmlSerializationWriterSaveGame.Write137_SaveGame(Object o)
Stack Trace: at StardewValley.SaveGame.<Save>d__47.MoveNext()
at StardewValley.Menus.SaveGameMenu.update(GameTime time)
at StardewValley.Menus.ShippingMenu.update(GameTime time)
at StardewValley.Game1.Update(GameTime gameTime)
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)

I really wanna play my game again, it's probably my most successful save file so far, so I reaally dont wanna get rid of it... ;-;

SUPER IMPORTANT EDIT: Thanks to folks in the Stardew Valley Reddit's Discord, it turns out my game was crashing thanks to Update 1.2 doing some wonky code stuff to the "Initiation" quest!! I didn't go through any of my quests and didn't realize that would also cause the game to crash.

So, there's apparently 2 fixes:

Adding a ton of code to fix it... or just do the quest before you sleep. That, or someone mentioned removing the quest in the files somewhere.

I'm just gonna complete the quest asdfgh. STILL- my problem's been solved, YAY!

 

Same here .. my game has never crashed before, and just after the new update, it crashed right during the date change.


EDIT:
I had 3 mods in the game: easy fishing, building recolor, and female skirt. I removed them all and it fixed the crashing. I do really need the easy fishing, so I may try to put that back in at some point, and see if the game still works.

 

Oh thank god!! I was worried it was only me!

 

My girlfriend has the same issue with the exact same quest. I'm going to try editing her save file tomorrow to see if removing or completing the quest fixes it. If you want to try on your own in the meantime, the save files are found in %appdata%/roaming/StardewValley/saves. Just make sure to make a backup first!

Edit: Took a look at my own save. The quests are saved as a list of <quest> tags in the <questLog> tag. Removing just the offending quest should be straightforward.

 

What quest was it? I haven't said anything about a quest here, but if I have the same quest it might be the same problem.

 

I'm having the same problem with crashing, but when messing with the fullscreen settings. From fiddling around with it, it has no issue switching between the various modes if the zoom is at 100%, but I play at 90%, and switching between fullscreen and borderless at this zoom crashes the game for me. I've yet to try a full day to see if I'm having save crashes.

 

Mine is crashing after going to the next day and its really annoying. It only started happening once the game updated.

 

My game's crashing, too after this recent update(1.2). And it's kinda following a pattern, after i finish my day and go to sleep with my sweet waifu, it just saves and everything's fine, but on the next day, when ill go to sleep the game just crashes to my desktop, but on the next day the game saves normally. pretty weird stuff. Just hope for a hotfix soon. (sorry for any typos).

 

It's the Slay Monster quest from the error log. I didn't end up trying my quest deletion fix, my girlfriend fixed the problem by finishing the quest (and possibly by not accepting the reward until the next day, if I understood her correctly).