Hoo Boy, Stuff to Say-

Okay. Let me preface this with how I came to the realization: I recently got a new, portable hard drive for my computer. Some games on steam - namely ones made in renpy - can typically be played if you move them from their steam folder, so I took this chance to move my XOXO game out of its steam folder onto the hard drive to free up space...

And shockingly, for the first time, met the same error with seemingly no possible source others have had!

I moved it back to the steam folder, and it worked fine... So I did a bit of experimenting. Yes, other steam-bought renpy games worked fine if I moved them off of the steam folder. XOXO happens to be the only one I have installed presently that I've modded - and it was the only one that did not work.

Thus, I hate to say this, but there's only two possible reasons for you guys to have been having that error:

1. Less damning? You just did as I did and moved a steam install from the designated steam folder. That's fine! Just put it back where it goes.

2. You have an illegitmate, pirated copy of XOXO Droplets. That behavior seems to be hard-coded into renpy games to make them not function if they're tampered with. You can play an unmodded copy fine (I uninstalled my mod to check on how it worked on the hard drive, and it did fine), but if you try to fiddle around with a pirated renpy game, well...

While I would hardly mind if you guys pirated my own games (no, really, if you don't have the money to pay for my stuff then I don't care), I'm not comfortable with the possiblity that you guys could've been stealing from someone else who WOULD care. The best I can say for you guys is don't use this mod if you're running an illegitimate copy of XOXO.

Incidentally, I do not have an itch copy, however I have no reason to believe a legitimate itch copy would behave any differently than a legitimate steam copy, just without the caveat of needing to stay in a single place. Still, tread lightly.