In Rimworld building is one of the foundations of your gameplay. Designing and creating a colony is something you will do the whole game. With so many different options it can be a little confusing figuring everything out. Generally you won’t need to manually build roofs. There are some moments when you will need to build a roof somewhere. This guide will show you how.
How to Build a Roof in Rimworld
By default when you create a room in Rimworld, your colonists will automatically build a roof. This is done once all of the walls are connected. If you wish to build a roof area manually follow these steps:
- Select the Architect menu from the bottom of the screen
- Select the Zone set of options from this menu
- Now under this menu, select the option Build roof area
- Choose an area in your colony where you wish to build a roof
- A colonist will now come and build the roof when it is prioritized
Note that to build a roof you will have to have some walls to support it. Without supports, roofs will eventually collapse. Make sure you have a colonist assigned to construction. If there aren’t any colonists assigned to construction, nobody will be able to build the roof. Building roofs does not consume any resources at all.
Why Would I Build a Roof?
Most players in Rimworld probably won’t even use the Build roof area feature. Generally when a building is completed and the walls are filled in the colonists will automatically build a roof. There are some ther good reasons to build a roof though. One of the best reasons to build a manual roof is to protect your shooters from disadvantages of weather. If your character is shooting in poor weather such as rain, their accuracy will be lowered. If you place them under cover to shoot at foes they will have a better accuracy. See the image below for an idea of a small defensive shooting area.
As you can see in the image above, there are sandbags placed to protect shooters from incoming bullets. There are also 2 wall structures there. This is because roofs have to be built on some kind of support. They cannot be built on top of sandbags. With this small defensive area, my colonists will not be exposed to adverse weather effects.
Protection From Events
Sometimes random events happen in Rimworld. Although there are some positive events that take place there are more often than not negative ones. One of the worst events if not managed properly is the toxic fallout event. In this event, every colonist and creature will be effected by toxic buildup when outside. This can me completely mitigated by creating pathways using roof areas. If you cover the entire walking area of your colonists with a roof, they won’t be negatively affected by the toxic fallout.
All you will need to do is make sure you have a decent food supply. If you have enough to support your colony just connect every room with roofs. You just need to have a support every few tiles in order to build a roof. After you have built your series of roofs, change the allowed area of your colonists and only paint the areas that area roofed.
How to See Roofs in Rimworld
You can press a button on the overlay to see where roofs are currently in Rimworld. If you move your gaze to the bottom right of the screen you will see some small symbols. These are a range of visibility options. One of these options gives you the ability to see where roofs exist on your map. This will include roofs that you have personally built and others that were already on the map. Press the small icon that looks like a little house with a roof to toggle this option on or off. See the image below.
As you can see in the image above, roofs will be outlined in green. You can use this option to make sure your colonists don’t tunnel into a mountain and drop the roof on themselves. This is also great for planning your toxic fallout roof plan.
How to Remove Roofs
You also have the option to remove roofs in Rimworld. Sometimes you may not want an area to be roofed in. Even if you have built a room in you may want a little courtyard in your base. To remove a roof in Rimworld follow these steps:
- Open the Architect menu at the bottom of the screen
- Select the Zone heading
- Look for the option Remove roof area (or just press J)
- Select the roof area you want to be removed
- Wait for your colonists to remove the roof area
Removing roofs can be a great idea for creating courtyards inside a base as aforementioned. You can also remove roofs as a quick way to exhaust the heat from a room that may be on fire.