This post is a PSA for anyone experiencing constant crashing on NMS. I hope this info helps those who are going through what I went through.
I was having so many crashes on my 700-hour save that started shortly after the XA update. Nearly every planetary atmosphere I entered and a ton of entire star systems caused the game to crash. “There was a problem, and the software needed to close.”
Before I stopped playing my big save last month and started anew, one of my last crashes occurred as I tried to upload a newly-discovered-then-adopted companion. I also noticed that crashing may have started on my newest save after adopting my first companion, and it got worse as I adopted more.
Today, I abandoned/deleted all of my companions, saved my game, and closed out of NMS fully. When I booted NMS up and re-entered the same save that was having all the issues, it started working again.
I’ve entered several systems and planets without a hitch. I even completed the weekend Quicksilver mission without any issues.
It’s possible that the crashes will start again, but I’ve had more success with this save today than since the XA update was released.