[1.6] [Bug] [WorldPawn] [MentalBreak]Pawns traveling in world vehicles (e.g., hot air balloon from Alpha Vehicles - Neolithic) **intermittently disappear from the caravan mid-travel

[Eden121600401]

Describe the bug
Pawns traveling in world vehicles (e.g., hot air balloon from Alpha Vehicles - Neolithic) intermittently disappear from the caravan mid-travel.

• Sometimes all pawns arrive successfully.
• Often 1+ pawns vanish halfway (show as "lost" in caravan panel, unselectable/permanently gone).
  Root cause: Pawn in world vehicle (Map == null) triggers mental break (e.g., Psychology's "Giggling" from over-satisfaction/high mood) → VF's Patch_PawnAi.EjectPawnForMentalState → VehiclePawn.DisembarkPawn → Ext_Vehicles.SpawnPawnNearVehicle NRE (line 32-33: cell.InBounds(vehicle.Map) fails since Map=null).
  Secondary: AV_BalloonLeaving thing NRE on takeoff (effect ticks post-map unload).
  Ground vehicles work fine (have Map for eject).

To Reproduce

1. New game in RimWorld 1.6 (latest) with: Vehicle Framework (v1.6.2144), Alpha Vehicles - Neolithic (latest Steam), Psychology (for Giggling trigger; optional but reproduces faster).
2. Build hot air balloon, load 2 healthy pawns (high mood >90% to trigger Giggling, no downed/injuries).
3. Start short world travel (1-2 tiles).
4. During travel: Check caravan panel → 1+ pawns show "lost" / disappear. Dev log shows NRE in SpawnPawnNearVehicle.
   Repro rate: ~70% with high-mood pawns; 100% if Giggling triggers.

Expected behavior
Pawns complete travel without loss, even on mental break. World vehicles should skip eject/disembark (impossible on world map).

Actual behavior
NRE crashes eject → Pawn unloaded/lost forever. Travel fails intermittently.

Screenshots
(Add these if possible:)

• Caravan panel with "lost" pawns mid-travel.
• Dev log with full NRE stack (e.g., Exception ticking world pawn ... Patch_PawnAi.EjectPawnForMentalState ... SpawnPawnNearVehicle).
• Balloon takeoff with AV_BalloonLeaving error.

Additional context

• RimWorld: 1.6 (latest, Dec 2025).
• VF: v1.6.2144 (GitHub/Steam latest, Oct 2024).
• Alpha Vehicles - Neolithic: latest Steam (Aug 2023, 1.6 compat).
• CE: v1.6.7.0.0 GitHub (Sep 2025; adds JobGiver_TakeAndEquip NRE, worsens AI freeze → more breaks).
• Psychology: Enables "Giggling" mental break on extreme joy (common in travel with fine meals/wine). Stable pawns (no Giggling) succeed more often.
• Load order: Harmony > Core > HugsLib > VF > Alpha Vehicles > CE > Psychology > others.
• Tried: New saves, short trips, healthy/high-mood pawns, no draft, bedrolls/food. Issue persists (changelogs mention caravan pawns/bedrolls but not eject NRE).
• Full HugsLib log: [https://gist.github.com/HugsLibRecordKeeper/9ac2121117af7719c28088a663585704]
• Savefile: Available (repro in <10min).

Fix suggestion: In world vehicles (vehicle.Map == null), disable EjectPawnForMentalState / skip disembark. Cleanup takeoff effects on unload.
Thanks for the framework! 🚀

[Eden121600401]

Exception in RimWorld.Planet.WorldPawns.WorldPawnsTick: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
[Ref 82641284]
at Vehicles.Ext_Vehicles+<>c__DisplayClass0_0.b__0 (Verse.IntVec3 cell) [0x00000] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0
at System.Linq.Enumerable+WhereEnumerableIterator1[TSource].ToList () [0x0001b] in <1f993cbf88314b1baa1e10ca917bdc64>:0 at System.Linq.Enumerable.ToList[TSource] (System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable1[T] source) [0x0001f] in <1f993cbf88314b1baa1e10ca917bdc64>:0
at Verse.GenCollection.TryRandomElement[T] (System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable1[T] source, T& result) [0x00029] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Vehicles.Ext_Vehicles.SpawnPawnNearVehicle (Vehicles.VehiclePawn vehicle, Verse.Pawn pawn) [0x00038] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Vehicles.VehiclePawn.DisembarkPawn (Verse.Pawn pawn) [0x0003a] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 - POSTFIX VanillaVehiclesExpanded.Mod: Void VanillaVehiclesExpanded.VehiclePawn_DisembarkPawn_Pawn:Postfix(VehiclePawn __instance, Pawn pawn) at Vehicles.Patch_PawnAi.EjectPawnForMentalState (Verse.MentalStateDef stateDef, Verse.Pawn ___pawn) [0x00052] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Verse.AI.MentalStateHandler.TryStartMentalState (Verse.MentalStateDef stateDef, System.String reason, System.Boolean forced, System.Boolean forceWake, System.Boolean causedByMood, Verse.Pawn otherPawn, System.Boolean transitionSilently, System.Boolean causedByDamage, System.Boolean causedByPsycast) [0x00044] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 - TRANSPILER net.pardeike.rimworld.lib.harmony: IEnumerable1 VisualExceptions.ExceptionsAndActivatorHandler:Transpiler(IEnumerable1 instructions, MethodBase original) - PREFIX VPEPuppeteerMod: Boolean VPEPuppeteer.MentalStateHandler_TryStartMentalState_Patch:Prefix(Pawn ___pawn) - PREFIX seekiworks_GiverTheColonyHelper.HarmonyPatch: Void seekiworks_GiverTheColonyHelper.Patch_MentalStateHandler:TryRemoveDirectRelation_Prefix(Pawn ___pawn, MentalStateDef& stateDef) - PREFIX SmashPhil.VehicleFramework: Void Vehicles.Patch_PawnAi:EjectPawnForMentalState(MentalStateDef stateDef, Pawn ___pawn) - PREFIX VFEPirates.Mod: Boolean VFEPirates.MentalStateHandler_TryStartMentalState_Patch:Prefix(Pawn ___pawn, Boolean& __result) - PREFIX BrainwashMod: Boolean Brainwash.MentalStateHandler_Patch:Prefix(Pawn ___pawn, Boolean& __result) - PREFIX Orion.Hospitality: Boolean Hospitality.Patches.MentalStateHandler_Patch+TryStartMentalState:Prefix(Pawn ___pawn) - PREFIX OskarPotocki.VanillaSocialInteractionsExpanded: Boolean VanillaSocialInteractionsExpanded.TryStartMentalState_Patch:Prefix(MentalStateHandler __instance, Pawn ___pawn, Boolean __result, MentalStateDef stateDef, String reason, Boolean forceWake, Boolean causedByMood, Pawn otherPawn, Boolean transitionSilently, Boolean causedByDamage, Boolean causedByPsycast) - PREFIX OskarPotocki.VanillaTraitsExpanded: Boolean VanillaTraitsExpanded.Patch_TryStartMentalState:Prefix(Pawn ___pawn, Boolean& __result, MentalStateDef stateDef, String reason, Boolean forceWake, Boolean causedByMood, Pawn otherPawn, Boolean transitionSilently) - PREFIX Ariandel.MiliraImperiumHarmonyPatch: Boolean MiliraImperium.Patch_TryStartMentalState_9:Prefix(MentalStateHandler __instance, Boolean& __result, MentalStateDef stateDef, String reason, Boolean forced, Boolean forceWake, Boolean causedByMood, Pawn otherPawn, Boolean transitionSilently, Boolean causedByDamage, Boolean causedByPsycast) - POSTFIX RunAndGun: Void RunAndGun.Harmony.MentalStateHandler_TryStartMentalState:Postfix(MentalStateHandler __instance, MentalStateDef stateDef, Pawn& ___pawn) - POSTFIX VPEPuppeteerMod: Void VPEPuppeteer.MentalStateHandler_TryStartMentalState_Patch:Postfix(Pawn ___pawn, MentalStateDef stateDef, String reason, Boolean forced, Boolean forceWake, Boolean causedByMood, Pawn otherPawn, Boolean transitionSilently, Boolean causedByDamage, Boolean causedByPsycast, Boolean __result) - POSTFIX cj.rimtalk: Void RimTalk.Patch.MentalStatePatch:Postfix(Pawn ___pawn, MentalStateDef stateDef, Boolean __result) - POSTFIX SimsTraitsMod: Void SimsTraits.MentalStateHandler_TryStartMentalState_Patch:Postfix(Pawn ___pawn, Boolean __result) - POSTFIX OskarPotocki.VanillaSocialInteractionsExpanded: Void VanillaSocialInteractionsExpanded.TryStartMentalState_Patch:Postfix(MentalStateHandler __instance, Pawn ___pawn, Boolean __result, MentalStateDef stateDef, String reason, Boolean forceWake, Boolean causedByMood, Pawn otherPawn, Boolean transitionSilently) at Verse.AI.MentalFitGenerator.TickInterval (System.Int32 delta) [0x00090] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.AI.Pawn_MindState.MindStateTickInterval (System.Int32 delta) [0x00042] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.Pawn.TickInterval (System.Int32 delta) [0x000a5] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.Thing.DoTick () [0x000eb] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.ThingOwner.DoTick () [0x0001c] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Vehicles.VehicleRoleHandler.DoTick () [0x00000] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Vehicles.VehiclePawn.TickHandlers () [0x00016] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Vehicles.VehiclePawn.BaseTickOptimized () [0x0002e] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Vehicles.VehiclePawn.Tick () [0x00000] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Verse.Thing.DoTick () [0x0007b] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at RimWorld.Planet.WorldPawns.WorldPawnsTick () [0x00039] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 - TRANSPILER net.pardeike.rimworld.lib.harmony: IEnumerable1 VisualExceptions.ExceptionsAndActivatorHandler:Transpiler(IEnumerable`1 instructions, MethodBase original)

[Eden121600401]

Exception in Verse.TickList.Tick: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
[Ref 99795B69]
at Vehicles.Ext_Vehicles+<>c__DisplayClass0_0.b__0 (Verse.IntVec3 cell) [0x00000] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0
at System.Linq.Enumerable+WhereEnumerableIterator1[TSource].ToList () [0x0001b] in <1f993cbf88314b1baa1e10ca917bdc64>:0 at System.Linq.Enumerable.ToList[TSource] (System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable1[T] source) [0x0001f] in <1f993cbf88314b1baa1e10ca917bdc64>:0
at Verse.GenCollection.TryRandomElement[T] (System.Collections.Generic.IEnumerable1[T] source, T& result) [0x00029] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Vehicles.Ext_Vehicles.SpawnPawnNearVehicle (Vehicles.VehiclePawn vehicle, Verse.Pawn pawn) [0x00038] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Vehicles.VehiclePawn.DisembarkPawn (Verse.Pawn pawn) [0x0003a] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 - POSTFIX VanillaVehiclesExpanded.Mod: Void VanillaVehiclesExpanded.VehiclePawn_DisembarkPawn_Pawn:Postfix(VehiclePawn __instance, Pawn pawn) at Vehicles.Patch_PawnAi.EjectPawnForMentalState (Verse.MentalStateDef stateDef, Verse.Pawn ___pawn) [0x00052] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Verse.AI.MentalStateHandler.TryStartMentalState (Verse.MentalStateDef stateDef, System.String reason, System.Boolean forced, System.Boolean forceWake, System.Boolean causedByMood, Verse.Pawn otherPawn, System.Boolean transitionSilently, System.Boolean causedByDamage, System.Boolean causedByPsycast) [0x00044] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 - TRANSPILER net.pardeike.rimworld.lib.harmony: IEnumerable1 VisualExceptions.ExceptionsAndActivatorHandler:Transpiler(IEnumerable1 instructions, MethodBase original) - PREFIX VPEPuppeteerMod: Boolean VPEPuppeteer.MentalStateHandler_TryStartMentalState_Patch:Prefix(Pawn ___pawn) - PREFIX seekiworks_GiverTheColonyHelper.HarmonyPatch: Void seekiworks_GiverTheColonyHelper.Patch_MentalStateHandler:TryRemoveDirectRelation_Prefix(Pawn ___pawn, MentalStateDef& stateDef) - PREFIX SmashPhil.VehicleFramework: Void Vehicles.Patch_PawnAi:EjectPawnForMentalState(MentalStateDef stateDef, Pawn ___pawn) - PREFIX VFEPirates.Mod: Boolean VFEPirates.MentalStateHandler_TryStartMentalState_Patch:Prefix(Pawn ___pawn, Boolean& __result) - PREFIX BrainwashMod: Boolean Brainwash.MentalStateHandler_Patch:Prefix(Pawn ___pawn, Boolean& __result) - PREFIX Orion.Hospitality: Boolean Hospitality.Patches.MentalStateHandler_Patch+TryStartMentalState:Prefix(Pawn ___pawn) - PREFIX OskarPotocki.VanillaSocialInteractionsExpanded: Boolean VanillaSocialInteractionsExpanded.TryStartMentalState_Patch:Prefix(MentalStateHandler __instance, Pawn ___pawn, Boolean __result, MentalStateDef stateDef, String reason, Boolean forceWake, Boolean causedByMood, Pawn otherPawn, Boolean transitionSilently, Boolean causedByDamage, Boolean causedByPsycast) - PREFIX OskarPotocki.VanillaTraitsExpanded: Boolean VanillaTraitsExpanded.Patch_TryStartMentalState:Prefix(Pawn ___pawn, Boolean& __result, MentalStateDef stateDef, String reason, Boolean forceWake, Boolean causedByMood, Pawn otherPawn, Boolean transitionSilently) - PREFIX Ariandel.MiliraImperiumHarmonyPatch: Boolean MiliraImperium.Patch_TryStartMentalState_9:Prefix(MentalStateHandler __instance, Boolean& __result, MentalStateDef stateDef, String reason, Boolean forced, Boolean forceWake, Boolean causedByMood, Pawn otherPawn, Boolean transitionSilently, Boolean causedByDamage, Boolean causedByPsycast) - POSTFIX RunAndGun: Void RunAndGun.Harmony.MentalStateHandler_TryStartMentalState:Postfix(MentalStateHandler __instance, MentalStateDef stateDef, Pawn& ___pawn) - POSTFIX VPEPuppeteerMod: Void VPEPuppeteer.MentalStateHandler_TryStartMentalState_Patch:Postfix(Pawn ___pawn, MentalStateDef stateDef, String reason, Boolean forced, Boolean forceWake, Boolean causedByMood, Pawn otherPawn, Boolean transitionSilently, Boolean causedByDamage, Boolean causedByPsycast, Boolean __result) - POSTFIX cj.rimtalk: Void RimTalk.Patch.MentalStatePatch:Postfix(Pawn ___pawn, MentalStateDef stateDef, Boolean __result) - POSTFIX SimsTraitsMod: Void SimsTraits.MentalStateHandler_TryStartMentalState_Patch:Postfix(Pawn ___pawn, Boolean __result) - POSTFIX OskarPotocki.VanillaSocialInteractionsExpanded: Void VanillaSocialInteractionsExpanded.TryStartMentalState_Patch:Postfix(MentalStateHandler __instance, Pawn ___pawn, Boolean __result, MentalStateDef stateDef, String reason, Boolean forceWake, Boolean causedByMood, Pawn otherPawn, Boolean transitionSilently) at Verse.AI.MentalFitGenerator.TickInterval (System.Int32 delta) [0x00090] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.AI.Pawn_MindState.MindStateTickInterval (System.Int32 delta) [0x00042] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.Pawn.TickInterval (System.Int32 delta) [0x000a5] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.Thing.DoTick () [0x000eb] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.ThingOwner.DoTick () [0x0001c] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Vehicles.VehicleRoleHandler.DoTick () [0x00000] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Vehicles.VehiclePawn.TickHandlers () [0x00016] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Vehicles.VehiclePawn.BaseTickOptimized () [0x0002e] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Vehicles.VehiclePawn.Tick () [0x00000] in <81bfdc99d8ad42e184702f73e7836b4a>:0 at Verse.Thing.DoTick () [0x0007b] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.ThingOwner.DoTick () [0x0001c] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.Thing.DoTick () [0x0022c] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 at Verse.TickList.Tick () [0x00157] in <46372f5dadbf4af8939e608076251180>:0 - TRANSPILER net.pardeike.rimworld.lib.harmony: IEnumerable1 VisualExceptions.ExceptionsAndActivatorHandler:Transpiler(IEnumerable`1 instructions, MethodBase original)

[Eden121600401]

Suggested Fix:

For world/air vehicles (vehicle.Map == null):

• Skip mental eject entirely — pawns can't safely disembark mid-air/world anyway. Let the break run its course harmlessly (no damage to others in vehicle).
• Or: Safe fallback — suppress the break, reset mood, or queue a "recover on arrival" job.
• Bonus: Ensure takeoff effects (e.g., AV_BalloonLeaving) are fully cleaned on map unload to avoid tick NREs.

This would make air travel 100% reliable! Ground vehicles can keep eject as-is.

Appreciate any thoughts or if you need more details/mods/save. Keep up the awesome work! 🚀🛩️