Linux GPU out of memory crash on startup

[SiBaz]

Game Version​

2026.11.10.5801

Operating System​

Ubuntu 24LTS

Hardware​

- GPU / Driver Version: ?
- CPU: ?
- RAM: ?

Install Location​

~/ksa_linux_v2026.11.10.5801/KSA

What's Happening?​

On start up, if I attempt to start with the default Graphics settings, it crashes with
16:25:05 ERROR Unhandled exception System.Exception: Vma Failed to create image 'Exhaust Blur Mip Temp.Color' (960x600x1, R16G16B16A16SFloat, mips 3,
samples _1Bit): ErrorOutOfDeviceMemory
If I reduce the graphics quality levels down, the game runs fine. So this is just a suggestion to handle the Out of Memory issue better. I've had this on other games and its frustrating, as a software Dev myself, as I assume work stations have lots of memory. Please attempt to handle failure better. Suggest simply going back to the start, and suggesting reduced graphics settings. Ideally with some guestimate about settings levels and the ultimate memory usage.

Reproduction Rate​

Every time (until I reduce the graphics quality)

Already Tried​

Like I said, it works fine if I reduce the graphics quality (I only tried reducing it to the minimum, and that seems to work fine)

Logs​

Hopefully this is the helpful bit:-

16:24:11 INFO loaded settings from /home/sbazley/Documents/My Games/Kitten Space Agency/settings.toml

16:24:11 DEBUG Found dedicated compute queue family at index 2
16:24:11 DEBUG Found dedicated transfer queue family at index 1
16:24:11 DEBUG Multi view supported: True
16:24:11 INFO Present wait supported: True
16:24:11 DEBUG Ray query acceleration structure support:True
16:24:12 INFO HDR formats offered: scRGB False, HDR10 no
16:24:12 INFO Swapchain created with 3 images at 1920x1200 (surface current 1920x1200, min 1920x1200, max 1920x1200, window 1920x1200, framebuffer 19
20x1200, present FifoKHR, format B8G8R8A8UNorm SRGBNonlinearKHR)
16:24:12 DEBUG No pipeline cache at '/home/sbazley/Documents/My Games/Kitten Space Agency/PipelineCache.bin', starting empty

16:24:12 INFO Device push constant limit: 256 bytes (128 bytes of headroom over the largest 128-byte block)

16:24:12 DEBUG Kitten Space Agency (KSA) v2026.11.10.5801 initialized
16:24:12 INFO boot stage 'SerializerWarm' 0.4 ms
16:24:13 INFO found mod 'Core'
16:24:13 INFO boot stage 'PrepareAll' 812.4 ms
16:24:13 INFO Reading: Read 824.1 ms; loading frames drawn: 26, serializers built: 0
16:24:14 INFO registered language 'English (United States)'
16:24:14 INFO boot stage 'Preload' 791.5 ms
16:24:14 INFO Pre-Loading: PrePass 164.4 ms, Deserialize 132.1 ms, Register 33.9 ms, Load 27.9 ms, RegisterLoaded 4.8 ms, ResolveDataRefs 40.6 ms, Re
solveKeyRefs 13.8 ms, OnDataLoad 221.6 ms, PostLoad 56.7 ms; loading frames drawn: 20, serializers built: 0
16:24:34 INFO registered language 'English (United States)'
16:24:41 INFO boot stage 'LoadAll' 18042.0 ms
16:24:41 INFO Loading: PrePass 571.0 ms, Deserialize 392.1 ms, Register 88.2 ms, Load 16461.3 ms, RegisterLoaded 28.3 ms, ResolveDataRefs 142.1 ms, R
esolveKeyRefs 179.7 ms, OnDataLoad 115.5 ms, PostLoad 45.4 ms; loading frames drawn: 1048, serializers built: 0
16:24:45 INFO boot stage 'Bind' 4179.6 ms
16:24:46 INFO loading star binary 'stars_20byte.bin'
16:24:46 INFO loading star binary 'stars_20byte.bin'
16:24:46 DEBUG loading 100597 star binaries from 'Content/Core/stars_20byte.bin'
16:24:53 INFO boot stage 'StreamedTextures' 7318.1 ms
16:24:53 INFO Streaming: Read 7317.5 ms; loading frames drawn: 440, serializers built: 0
16:24:53 INFO instantiated 'Sol' system
16:24:54 INFO 'Sol' hides 0 sky stars within 0.0000 pc
16:24:54 INFO following celestial 'Rocket'
16:24:54 INFO set simulation speed to x1
16:24:54 INFO set map camera to azimuth 2.88, elevation 0.47, distancePower 3635076.00
16:24:54 INFO set camera mode to 'Map'
16:24:54 INFO set map camera to azimuth 2.88, elevation 0.47, distancePower 3635076.00
16:24:54 INFO set camera mode to 'Map'
16:24:54 INFO set orbit camera to azimuth -4.83, elevation -0.41, distancePower 2.85
16:24:54 INFO set camera mode to 'Orbit'
16:24:57 INFO Planet renderer procedural modifier pipelines build in: 407ms
16:24:57 INFO Ecotype Tree: built 0 collider shapes and 48 compounds across 3 objects and 16 scales
16:24:57 INFO Ecotype SmallTree: built 0 collider shapes and 48 compounds across 3 objects and 16 scales

16:24:57 INFO Ecotype Shrub: built 0 collider shapes and 48 compounds across 3 objects and 16 scales

16:24:57 INFO Ecotype Rocks: built 0 collider shapes and 112 compounds across 7 objects and 16 scales

16:24:57 INFO Ecotype LargerRocks: built 0 collider shapes and 112 compounds across 7 objects and 16 scales

16:24:57 INFO Ecotype SmallerRocks: built 0 collider shapes and 112 compounds across 7 objects and 16 scales

16:24:57 INFO Ecotype Rocks: built 0 collider shapes and 112 compounds across 7 objects and 16 scales

16:24:57 INFO Ecotype LargerRocks: built 0 collider shapes and 112 compounds across 7 objects and 16 scales

16:24:57 INFO Ecotype SmallerRocks: built 0 collider shapes and 112 compounds across 7 objects and 16 scales

16:24:57 INFO Building ground clutter compute pipelines...
16:24:58 INFO Ground clutter compute pipelines built in 1358 ms
16:24:58 INFO Ecotype: Grass VRAM Usage: 14 Mb.
16:24:58 INFO Ecotype: Tree VRAM Usage: 200 Mb.
16:24:59 INFO Ecotype: SmallTree VRAM Usage: 21 Mb.
16:24:59 INFO Ecotype: Shrub VRAM Usage: 63 Mb.
16:24:59 INFO Ecotype: Rocks VRAM Usage: 27 Mb.
16:24:59 INFO Ecotype: LargerRocks VRAM Usage: 27 Mb.
16:24:59 INFO Ecotype: SmallerRocks VRAM Usage: 15 Mb.
16:25:00 INFO Ecotype: Rocks VRAM Usage: 63 Mb.
16:25:00 INFO Ecotype: LargerRocks VRAM Usage: 145 Mb.
16:25:00 INFO Ecotype: SmallerRocks VRAM Usage: 15 Mb.
16:25:00 INFO Ground clutter ecotype render data built in 1775 ms
16:25:00 INFO PlanetTessellation VRAM usage: 105 MB
16:25:01 INFO Current ring maximum meshes instances: 111265, impostor instances: 990608, VRAM usage: 23 MB.
16:25:05 ERROR Unhandled exception System.Exception: Vma Failed to create image 'Exhaust Blur Mip Temp.Color' (960x600x1, R16G16B16A16SFloat, mips 3,
samples _1Bit): ErrorOutOfDeviceMemory
at KSA.KsaVmaAllocator.AllocateImage(String& name, VkImageCreateInfo& imageCreateInfo, CreateInfo& allocateCreateInfo)
at KSA.Rendering.RenderImage.CreateTexture(Int32 inWidth, Int32 inHeight)
at KSA.Rendering.RenderTarget.CreateColorImage(IVulkanContext inContext, String inName, VkExtent2D inExtent, VkFormat inFormat, Int32 inMipLevels)
at KSA.Rendering.RenderTarget..ctor(IVulkanContext inContext, String inName, VkExtent2D inExtent, VkFormat inColorFormat, VkFormat inDepthFormat, I
nt32 inMipLevels, VkSampleCountFlags inSamples, Boolean inPreserveMultisampleAttachments)
at KSA.ExhaustBlurMipGenerator.RebuildResources(RenderTarget colorCopyTarget, VkSampler pointClampSampler, VkSampler linearClampSampler)
at KSA.VolumetricExhaustRenderer.CreateRenderTargets()
at KSA.VolumetricExhaustRenderer.RebuildFrameResources(RenderTarget mainTarget, RenderTarget transparenciesColor, RenderTarget transparenciesTransm
ittance, RenderTarget colorCopyTarget)
at KSA.VolumetricExhaustRenderer..ctor(Renderer inRenderer, Int32 inFrameCount, Camera inCamera, RenderTarget mainTarget, GpuTextureSystem inTextur
eSystem, RenderTarget transparenciesColor, RenderTarget transparenciesTransmittance, IRenderPassInfo offscreenPass, RenderTarget colorCopyTarget, Clou
dRenderer cloudRenderer)
at KSA.Program..ctor(IReadOnlyList`1 inArgs)
at KSA.Program.Main(String[] inArgs).
Problem launching createdump (may not have execute permissions): execve(/home/sbazley/ksa_linux_v2026.11.10.5801/createdump) FAILED Permission denied
(13)
16:25:44 WARN Last chance dump: Failed Could not find file '/home/sbazley/Documents/My Games/Kitten Space Agency/crashdumps/LastChance/KittenSpaceAge
ncy.261111-162410.439441.20261111_162505_921.dmp.partial'..
Unhandled exception. System.Exception: Vma Failed to create image 'Exhaust Blur Mip Temp.Color' (960x600x1, R16G16B16A16SFloat, mips 3, samples _1Bit)
: ErrorOutOfDeviceMemory
at KSA.KsaVmaAllocator.AllocateImage(String& name, VkImageCreateInfo& imageCreateInfo, CreateInfo& allocateCreateInfo)
at KSA.Rendering.RenderImage.CreateTexture(Int32 inWidth, Int32 inHeight)
at KSA.Rendering.RenderTarget.CreateColorImage(IVulkanContext inContext, String inName, VkExtent2D inExtent, VkFormat inFormat, Int32 inMipLevels)
at KSA.Rendering.RenderTarget..ctor(IVulkanContext inContext, String inName, VkExtent2D inExtent, VkFormat inColorFormat, VkFormat inDepthFormat, I
nt32 inMipLevels, VkSampleCountFlags inSamples, Boolean inPreserveMultisampleAttachments)
at KSA.ExhaustBlurMipGenerator.RebuildResources(RenderTarget colorCopyTarget, VkSampler pointClampSampler, VkSampler linearClampSampler)
at KSA.VolumetricExhaustRenderer.CreateRenderTargets()
at KSA.VolumetricExhaustRenderer.RebuildFrameResources(RenderTarget mainTarget, RenderTarget transparenciesColor, RenderTarget transparenciesTransm
ittance, RenderTarget colorCopyTarget)
at KSA.VolumetricExhaustRenderer..ctor(Renderer inRenderer, Int32 inFrameCount, Camera inCamera, RenderTarget mainTarget, GpuTextureSystem inTextur
eSystem, RenderTarget transparenciesColor, RenderTarget transparenciesTransmittance, IRenderPassInfo offscreenPass, RenderTarget colorCopyTarget, Clou
dRenderer cloudRenderer)
at KSA.Program..ctor(IReadOnlyList`1 inArgs)
at KSA.Program.Main(String[] inArgs)
Aborted (core dumped)

 

[Kiwi Shark]

This is currently the intended behavior and is the nature of KSA loading what it needs into VRAM. If the game didn't crash then it would be trying to swap VRAM and would run as an unplayable slideshow.

As an early pre-alpha this kind of technical groundwork is part of the process and with the broad-enough pool of hardware that supports moderate settings it isn't a major focus right now compared to the game fundamentals.

 

[SiBaz]

Yea, that makes sense. I'm not saying it should page and function, but just fail nicely. I guess put a pin in it as a future behaviour issue. I get its not a major focus, I was just asking for it to go on the road map. Thanks