diff --git a/OpenRA.FileFormats/FieldLoader.cs b/OpenRA.FileFormats/FieldLoader.cs
index 6329ea7231..a727ebb3c6 100644
--- a/OpenRA.FileFormats/FieldLoader.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.FileFormats/FieldLoader.cs
@@ -27,6 +27,16 @@ namespace OpenRA.FileFormats
 {
 	public static class FieldLoader
 	{
+		public static Func<string,Type,string,object> InvalidValueAction = (s,t,f) =>
+		{
+			throw new InvalidOperationException("FieldLoader: Cannot parse `{0}` into `{1}.{2}` ".F(s,f,t) );
+		};
+		
+		public static Action<string,Type> UnknownFieldAction = (s,f) =>
+		{
+			throw new NotImplementedException( "FieldLoader: Missing field `{0}` on `{1}`".F( s, f.Name ) );
+		};
+		
 		public static void Load(object self, IniSection ini)
 		{
 			foreach (var x in ini)
@@ -59,22 +69,39 @@ namespace OpenRA.FileFormats
 		public static void LoadField( object self, string key, string value )
 		{
 			var field = self.GetType().GetField( key.Trim() );
-			if( field == null )
-				throw new NotImplementedException( "Missing field `{0}` on `{1}`".F( key.Trim(), self.GetType().Name ) );
-			field.SetValue( self, GetValue( field.FieldType, value ) );
-		}
 
-		public static object GetValue( Type fieldType, string x )
+			if( field == null )
+				UnknownFieldAction(key.Trim(), self.GetType());
+			else
+				field.SetValue( self, GetValue( field.Name, field.FieldType, value ) );
+		}
+				
+		public static object GetValue( string field, Type fieldType, string x )
 		{
 			if (x != null) x = x.Trim();
 			if( fieldType == typeof( int ) )
-				return int.Parse( x );
+			{
+				int res;
+				if (int.TryParse(x,out res))
+					return res;
+				return InvalidValueAction(x,fieldType, field);
+			}
 			
 			else if( fieldType == typeof( ushort ) )
-				return ushort.Parse( x );
+			{
+				ushort res;
+				if (ushort.TryParse(x,out res))
+					return res;
+				return InvalidValueAction(x,fieldType, field);
+			}
 
 			else if (fieldType == typeof(float))
-				return float.Parse(x.Replace("%","")) * (x.Contains( '%' ) ? 0.01f : 1f);
+			{
+				float res;
+				if (float.TryParse(x.Replace("%",""), out res))
+					return res * (x.Contains( '%' ) ? 0.01f : 1f);
+				return InvalidValueAction(x,fieldType, field);
+			}
 
 			else if (fieldType == typeof(string))
 				return x;
@@ -82,14 +109,21 @@ namespace OpenRA.FileFormats
 			else if (fieldType == typeof(System.Drawing.Color))
 			{
 				var parts = x.Split(',');
+				if (parts.Length != 3)
+					return InvalidValueAction(x,fieldType, field);
+				
 				return System.Drawing.Color.FromArgb(int.Parse(parts[0]), int.Parse(parts[1]), int.Parse(parts[2]));
 			}
 			
 			else if (fieldType.IsEnum)
+			{
+				if (!Enum.GetNames(fieldType).Select(a => a.ToLower()).Contains(x.ToLower()))
+					return InvalidValueAction(x,fieldType, field);
 				return Enum.Parse(fieldType, x, true);
-
+			}
+			
 			else if (fieldType == typeof(bool))
-				return ParseYesNo(x);
+				return ParseYesNo(x, fieldType, field);
 
 			else if (fieldType.IsArray)
 			{
@@ -100,7 +134,7 @@ namespace OpenRA.FileFormats
 
 				var ret = Array.CreateInstance(fieldType.GetElementType(), parts.Length);
 				for (int i = 0; i < parts.Length; i++)
-					ret.SetValue(GetValue(fieldType.GetElementType(), parts[i].Trim()), i);
+					ret.SetValue(GetValue(field, fieldType.GetElementType(), parts[i].Trim()), i);
 				return ret;
 			}
 			else if (fieldType == typeof(int2))
@@ -108,18 +142,19 @@ namespace OpenRA.FileFormats
 				var parts = x.Split(new char[] { ',' }, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries);
 				return new int2(int.Parse(parts[0]), int.Parse(parts[1]));
 			}
-			else
-				throw new InvalidOperationException("FieldLoader: don't know how to load field of type " + fieldType.ToString());
+			
+			UnknownFieldAction("[Type] {0}".F(x),fieldType);
+			return null;
 		}
 
-		static bool ParseYesNo( string p )
+		static object ParseYesNo( string p, System.Type fieldType, string field )
 		{
 			p = p.ToLowerInvariant();
 			if( p == "yes" ) return true;
 			if( p == "true" ) return true;
 			if( p == "no" ) return false;
 			if( p == "false" ) return false;
-			throw new InvalidOperationException();
+			return InvalidValueAction(p,fieldType, field);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/UserSettings.cs b/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/UserSettings.cs
index cd6db11e37..ab7745dfd7 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/UserSettings.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/GameRules/UserSettings.cs
@@ -69,6 +69,22 @@ namespace OpenRA.GameRules
 			defaults = new UserSettings();
 			SettingsFile = Game.SupportDir + "settings.yaml";
 
+			// Override settings loading to not crash
+			var err1 = FieldLoader.UnknownFieldAction;
+			var err2 = FieldLoader.InvalidValueAction;
+			
+			FieldLoader.InvalidValueAction = (s,t,f) =>
+			{
+				object ret = defaults.GetType().GetField(f).GetValue(defaults);
+				System.Console.WriteLine("FieldLoader: Cannot parse `{0}` into `{2}:{1}`; substituting default `{3}`".F(s,t.Name,f,ret) );
+				return ret;
+			};
+			
+			FieldLoader.UnknownFieldAction = (s,f) =>
+			{
+				System.Console.WriteLine( "Ignoring unknown field `{0}` on `{1}`".F( s, f.Name ) );
+			};
+			
 			if (File.Exists(SettingsFile))
 			{
 				System.Console.WriteLine("Loading settings file {0}",SettingsFile);
@@ -79,6 +95,9 @@ namespace OpenRA.GameRules
 			foreach (var f in this.GetType().GetFields())
 				if (args.Contains(f.Name))
 					OpenRA.FileFormats.FieldLoader.LoadField( this, f.Name, args.GetValue(f.Name, "") );
+			
+			FieldLoader.UnknownFieldAction = err1;
+			FieldLoader.InvalidValueAction = err2;
 		}
 		
 		public void Save()