Getting rid of collapsed rocks without having a roof collapse?

[-M-]

Hey all. So I just had two colonists die from two separate roof collapses - they both happened while they were mining. I don't get it, though. Looking at the zoning area, if I try the "remove roof area" tool, it doesn't show any roof in the area where the collapse happened. But now I have these collapsed rocks on the ground, and I'm afraid that if I try mining them to get rid of them, another mysterious roof collapse will happen and kill whatever colonist is there. What am I supposed to do to ensure that these collapses don't happen?

[BlackSmokeDMax]

Look in lower right of main window... you'll see a button for "show roofs"

When you turn that on, you'll see all the current roofs in the game, not just the designations.

The bright green you see are thin roofs, these can be removed.

The dim green you see are "overhead mountain"roof tiles. These can not be removed, they will continuously collapse, unless supported, but will always stay as a roof tile. (without mods or dev mode)

[Astasia]

You are running into what is known as thick roof, or "overhead mountain." It can not be removed with the remove roof tool and there is no way to stop it from collapsing without providing enough roof support. You need some sort of wall or support no more than 6 tiles away to prevent collapse.

You can see all types of roof by using the show roofs toggle on the bottom right of the screen. Thin and thick roofs have a different shade to them.

[GeneralVeers]

Originally posted by Yeetza:

But now I have these collapsed rocks on the ground, and I'm afraid that if I try mining them to get rid of them, another mysterious roof collapse will happen and kill whatever colonist is there. What am I supposed to do to ensure that these collapses don't happen?

A roof collapse occurs in a tile that doesn't have a supporting wall within six tiles of it. So put up a 1x1 wall next to the collapsed section, then you can clear it safely. However, if you remove that 1x1 wall without putting up other permanent walls within 6 tiles, the section will collapse again.

[M.K.]

Originally posted by Yeetza:

... Looking at the zoning area, if I try the "remove roof area" tool,

If you believe that "remove roof" should instantly vanish an overhead mountain range, then you should be REALLY CAREFUL with using the "remove flooring" tool.
The people in China would get upset!

[Bearable]

make some braces so that the collapsed rocks wont destroy your colonists.
you can do this by making a wall 7 blocks or less apart from each other any more and you'll get a cave in.

[BlackSmokeDMax]

Originally posted by Bearable:

make some braces so that the collapsed rocks wont destroy your colonists.
you can do this by making a wall 7 blocks or less apart from each other any more and you'll get a cave in.

Walls can have 12 empty spaces between (this still leaves each tile between at the maximum 6 or less from any wall) without collapse.