Strata

My Discord: https://discord.gg/Vwh2y7qMXv
Site (no Discord): https://azraelgodking.github.io/rimworld_mods/strata.html
Roadmap: https://azraelgodking.github.io/rimworld_mods/strata-roadmap.html
Issues: https://github.com/AzraelGodKing/rimworld_mods/issues

Strata

Dig down. Build up. One colony — many floors.

Carve rock under your base, frame a roof deck above it, and let colonists treat every linked level as home. Work, food, sleep, hauling, medicine, combat, and construction commute through the shafts on their own.

Version 3 complete. RimWorld 1.6. Requires Harmony. Odyssey optional (gravship stacks only). Safe to add mid-save.
Do not run alongside AASB or MultiFloors.

Dig down

• Research digging down, build an excavated stairwell, open a full-size rock level under your map
• Deeper floors need deep excavation; extra shafts join the same level
• Thick rock roof — no drop pods, mortars, or weather from the sky
• Elevators: compact 1×1 cars (power to descend; ride up even if power fails)

Build up

• Research building up, frame a tower stairwell or tower elevator
• Opens outdoor Level +N as a roof deck — walk and build where the floor below is roofed
• Expand roofs downstairs to grow the deck; Page Up / Page Down jump floors
• See-below: look through open sky / see-through deck into the map underneath — select, float menus, live pawns

One base, many floors

Other multi-level mods leave each floor an island. Strata’s job relay treats the column as one settlement:

• Idle colonists notice mining, blueprints, hauling, and bills on other levels and walk the stairs
• Hungry / sleepy pawns find meals and beds across the stack
• Haulers deliver through shafts; force-build pulls materials from linked stockpiles
• Combined resources can sum the column for the readout and build menu
• Work & Schedule can list colonists on every linked floor
• Mental breaks, raiders, and visitors chase / commute through shafts

No micromanagement: you designate, they commute.

Cross-level combat

Pawns, turrets, and mortars can fire through open shafts and sky holes. Auto-engage keeps decks and underfloors in the fight without hopping maps by hand.

Heat, smoke, and air

• Stairwells exchange temperature — heat rises fast, cold pools below
• Buoyant gases rise through open shafts; heavy gases sink
• Optional atmosphere sim (gases default off for performance): smoke, deep gas, O₂ / CO₂ in sealed rooms
• Oxygen pumps, scrubbers, shaft exchangers, canary cages, gas overlay

Living below

Research living below for shoring, gas airlocks, ore hoists, fungus farms, sump pumps, mine lamps, bellows, lime scrubbers, deep-gas wells, and smokeless generators.

Power & pipes up the shaft

• Elevators and shaft power conduits tie grids between floors — live surplus feeds demand without a battery on every level
• Soft fluid junctions (when those mods load): Dubs Bad Hygiene, Central Heating, Rimatomics, helixien gas, Vanilla Temperature ducts, chemfuel, crude oil

Gravship stacks (Odyssey)

Ship-only stairwells open A+/B+ pockets that travel on launch and reattach on landing. Soft-compatible with Vanilla Gravship Expanded — Chapter 1. Colony dig/tower stairs cannot sit on substructure — use gravship shafts on the ship.

Events that know which way is up

Sky threats stay upstairs. Below: infestations, cave-ins, gas pockets, firestorms, deep sieges, cave breakthroughs, rich ore, burrowing raiders. World sites (collapsed mine, sealed vault, geothermal vent, sunken ruins) and optional ancient surface stairheads. Seal a stairwell to contain gas or bugs — and your own colonists.

Performance

Every level is a full map matching your map size. On large maps (300×300+), each opened floor costs real FPS. Vacant-level and background throttles help; prefer a smaller map if you dig deep. Default level cap ±2 (Unlimited off).

Tips

• Leave pillars in big halls — thick rock roofs collapse when unsupported
• Keep a stockpile near the stairs on each floor for hauling
• Stairwells cannot be torn down while anyone is still on the linked level (orphan / unlinked shafts can be cleared)
• Rename levels in the Levels tab
• Before removing the mod: bring everyone up, haul what you care about, deconstruct every stairwell

Requires Harmony. RimWorld 1.6. Odyssey optional.