Graves and rot

[WabbaCat]

How are people handling this?
I just lined up my first graveyard area for my new game, but it seems like as per usual... corpses will pile up faster than they go away.
(and in graves, they take so long that I am not sure if they ever actually go away even tho it sounds like they are supposed to)

People make a super massive 500+ grave area just to handle this? Transport pods? I can't imagine feeding them to wild animals, your own animals, or dumping them in the nearest lake are any good anymore.
I suppose cremation is still an option, yet that involves a heavy amount of handling said corpses and getting rot stench, right?

[Steelfleece]

A few mods add mass graves. I know it'll make your base look like a war crime site, but this is RimWorld so it probably is.

[PolecatEZ]

You have 2 easy ways to deal.

First is simply the incinerator. During post-combat cleanup, turn your hauling priorities up on your pawns so they keep the ovens going.

Second is to make a stone building (open roof optional), pile the corpses up, leave the door set to open and forbid it. Then start firing molotovs or incinerator guns in the room (or the new fire breath works also). Let the corpses burn, un-forbid the door, and fill it up again.

Before this, I try to find some water (preferably running) and set that as the dumping zone. Corpses rot faster there. Running water + outdoors + no roof means 4-5 points of decay/day. Animals may come by and take a bit, making the process faster.

Another way is to butcher them and turn them into fuel, kibble, or chow for your prisoners. A pen full of pigs or boars will make fresh corpses disappear pretty quick as well.

[martindirt]

Drop the corpses at the entrance of your kill box, or In a maze leading to your colony. Let the raiders smell the stink. Underground tunnels are better.
Forbid that area for your colonists, let the slaves do the dirty job.

[Aranador]

Same way i always did - burn the bodies in a crematorium.

[martindirt]

Originally posted by Aranador:

Same way i always did - burn the bodies in a crematorium.

Waste of good "roadsigns". 🤣

[Astasia]

Originally posted by WabbaCat:

(and in graves, they take so long that I am not sure if they ever actually go away even tho it sounds like they are supposed to)

They don't, and aren't supposed to. The body desiccates down to bone, but never deteriorates because it's protected from the elements. The point of graves is to keep bodies around, generally to remember them. Throw a body into some shallow water or marsh and it will be gone pretty quickly, or instantly dispose of it in a crematorium. Rot stench doesn't begin until a body starts rotting, you can clean up most threats without it becoming an issue. Manhunting animals though can create a problem, but you are probably going to want to deal with the rot stink briefly to get rid of them anyway.

[Grishnerf]

all the friendly people building 100's of graves for raiders :D

just place a stockpile for corpses in front of you entrance area and let the elements handle them.
even burning them in an incinerator takes to long imo.

[HunterSilver]

Originally posted by WabbaCat:

How are people handling this?

Corpse dumping stockpiles in rivers will quickly decay bodies and skeletal remains.
Dump them in Fireproof rooms (usually made of stone) and toss a molotov in there.
Animals such as dogs, pigs, etc. will happily chow down on bodies for nutrients.
Setup a crematorium and a body dumping pile next to it.
Load them onto a caravan and dump them onto the world map.
Etc. etc. etc.

You have a lot of choices.

[Steelfleece]

Originally posted by Grishnerf:

all the friendly people building 100's of graves for raiders :D

just place a stockpile for corpses in front of you entrance area and let the elements handle them.
even burning them in an incinerator takes to long imo.

I'll often make a graveyard outside my base when doing a single-colonist game. Usually smaller raids so it isn't as daunting to bury them all - but still, can wind up with hundreds of graves. You'd think further raiders would see the huge graveyard with potentially some of their ancestors in it and think twice, but nope. They get buried the next day too.

Just added one of those mass grave mods, to make it quicker and easier. I like being a good person but sometimes it's so inconvenient.

...Granted, it's a bit easier when the trained animals or hauler drones bury them for you, but someone still has to dig the hole.

[Markus Reese]

A few others answered. Late game if there is massive numbers and I got molotovs etc, I will make a large stone room to drop the bodies in, then burn it when full.

Two other options though? With the curtains, one can make for meat eating animals, a corpse freezer. I once fed pigs entirely off this. Having the curtain room a freezer.

Third option I do? I will set up the dumping stockpile on water that is on the map. Especially if there is any marshy areas. Marshes will break down bodies fast.

[WabbaCat]

yea,... playing around with it it seems I was worrying about the corpse rot over nothing. Like others said, it doesnt really make one change what we were already doing that much...
Just end up wanting to get them moved sooner rather than later.

The corpse stink doesn't cling more than a few seconds I guess. So no real need to worry about lung rot unless I am intentionally bathing my colonists in corpses? lol

[Astasia]

My initial observations is that it's partially based on body size of the corpse. Moving corpses of small rotting creatures around and walking by them isn't really an issue. I had a manhunting elephants event and one of my colonists got very serious exposure to it that took several days to go away. I think she was cleaning the blood under the pile of dead elephants for a few moments, which was something frequently done in previous manhunter events with no issues.

[JE55BUNN1]

A burn room, as per the above, is ideal.

Also, allow your pets access, so they can nibble.

Burn rooms are good for removing rotting animal corpse(s), tainted clothing, drugs etc too.

[WabbaCat]

If I got the time to dedicate a burn room, over a lakeside dump... then I usually go transport pods instead.
:)

[Androzin]

At this point I make my idealogy okay with eating human meat, and just turn all the bodies into nutrient paste. You get to a point where its too much and you can either cremate all of them or just eat them. My colony was running out of food so I just chose to eat all of them.

You can get yourself a colonist whose sole job is being an undertaker or you can go full cannibal.