Troubleshooting

Microlandia applies sensible GPU defaults automatically, but some systems need extra flags. This page lists the available launch options and common fixes.

Linux

The game automatically applies sandbox, GPU, EGL, and display-server flags on Linux — no manual configuration is needed for most setups. If you run into issues, these optional flags can help:

FlagEffect
--force-wayland Use native Wayland instead of the default X11/Xwayland.
--disable-vsync Disable GPU vsync. May cause tearing but can improve input latency.
--disable-gpu-compositing Disable all GPU compositing. Fixes most GPU issues but is slower.
--disable-gpu Disable GPU hardware acceleration entirely. Use when the game won't start due to GPU/driver errors.
--software-rendering Force software rendering (SwiftShader). Last resort — very slow, but works on any system.
--experimental-hid Enable experimental Node HID gamepad fallback (for controllers not detected via the standard API).

Windows

FlagEffect
--disable-direct-composition Disable DirectComposition. Fixes Steam overlay appearing white.
--disable-direct-composition-video-overlays Targeted fix for overlay-related GPU crashes (e.g. OnOverlayCapsChanged).
--disable-gpu-compositing Disable all GPU compositing. Fixes most GPU issues but is slower.
--disable-gpu Disable GPU hardware acceleration entirely. Use when the game won't start due to GPU/driver errors.
--use-angle=gl Force OpenGL backend instead of D3D11. Can fix WebGL2 errors on systems where the default ANGLE/D3D path fails.
--software-rendering Force software rendering (SwiftShader). Last resort — very slow, but works on any system.
--disable-vsync Disable GPU vsync. May cause tearing but can improve input latency.

macOS

FlagEffect
--disable-vsync Disable GPU vsync. May cause tearing but can improve input latency.

How to set launch options

Steam

  1. Right-click Microlandia in your Steam library → Properties
  2. In the General tab, find Launch Options
  3. Type the flags you want, e.g. --disable-vsync --force-wayland

Standalone (itch.io / direct download)

Pass flags directly when launching from a terminal: 

./run.sh --disable-vsync --force-wayland

On Windows, you can create a shortcut and add flags to the target field.

Common issues

Black screen on launch / "WebGL2 not available"

This usually means the GPU driver can't create a WebGL2 context. Try these in order:

  1. Update your graphics drivers to the latest version.
  2. Try --use-angle=gl to bypass the default D3D11 path (Windows).
  3. Try --disable-gpu-compositing to disable GPU compositing.
  4. Try --disable-gpu to disable GPU acceleration entirely.
  5. As a last resort, try --software-rendering (very slow but works on any system).

Game crashes on launch (GPU error)

Try --disable-gpu-compositing to rule out GPU compositing issues. If that fixes it, try the more targeted --disable-direct-composition-video-overlays (Windows) to keep GPU acceleration while avoiding the specific crash.

Steam overlay appears white or doesn't render (Windows)

Use --disable-direct-composition. This is applied automatically when launching via Steam, but may need to be set manually if you're using a non-standard launch configuration.

Steam overlay doesn't appear (Linux)

The game defaults to X11 and system EGL on Linux, which should enable Steam's overlay hooks. If you're using --force-wayland, the overlay may not work — try removing that flag.

Display/rendering glitches on Wayland

The game defaults to X11 (via Xwayland) for consistent GL behavior. If you want native Wayland, pass --force-wayland, but be aware this is less tested.

Controller not detected

Try --experimental-hid to enable the fallback HID gamepad detection. This can help with controllers that aren't recognized by the standard browser Gamepad API.

City backups

Microlandia automatically saves up to 10 rolling backups of each city. If a save becomes corrupted or you want to revert, you can restore from a backup.

Backup locations

PlatformPath
Windows %APPDATA%\Microlandia\backups\
macOS ~/Library/Application Support/Microlandia/backups/
Linux ~/.microlandia/backups/

Backup files are named <city-id>.<timestamp>.microlandia, sorted newest-first by the timestamp.

Restoring a backup

  1. Close the game.
  2. Open the backups folder for your platform (see above).
  3. Find the backup you want — pick the most recent file whose timestamp predates the problem.
  4. Copy it into the db folder (same parent directory, sibling of backups) and rename it to match the original city file (remove the timestamp portion).
  5. Relaunch the game.

Still stuck?

Join our Discord and describe your issue — we're happy to help.