RimWorld 1.6 Loading Times: Why Your Mod List Takes Minutes (and What Actually Helps)

Unmodded RimWorld 1.6 reaches the main menu in 4.66 seconds on Ludeon's test machines, down from 18.57 in 1.5. So why does your modded game still take minutes? This video walks through what the loading screen does, how to time your own startup with the game's verbose log, why PNG textures and XML patches cost so much, which startup mods carry a 1.6 tag (Faster Game Loading, Hyperdrive, DefLoadCache, Missile Girl, Loading Progress), which old favorites won't help, and why speed 3 lag is a tick-rate problem no loading mod can fix. PC 1.6.4871.