Wilderlands Stable Deep Strata

Wilderlands Stable Deep Strata

NOTICE: This mod has been overhauled and moved to a new mod project:

Wilderlands The Weight Below

Stable Deep Strata will no longer be developed, but I'm leaving it on the modDB in case anyone finds it useful in its current form.

 

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Cave Stability Mechanics

This mod reworks underground cave-in behavior to make mining and underground building feel more natural and predictable.

Primariy feature of this mod: A vertical rock-cover safety check has been added that prevents/reduces collapses when a sufficient amount of solid stone exists overhead, so deep intact formations are less likely to fail from minor mining.

Different rock types behave differently:

• Softer sedimentary rock (chalk, shale, claystone, etc.) gains instability more easily.
• Dense hard rock (granite, basalt, obsidian, etc.) resists instability and requires more undermining before failure.
• Some rocks like sandstone and limestone can maintain larger unsupported spans before collapsing.

Additional details that might be helpful:

•  Collapse chance is probability-based, meaning unstable stone does not always fail immediately. The more unstable a block becomes, the more likely it is to give way when disturbed, and some rock types are now much less prone to collapse than others. You will see some rock types that can have 100% instability and still resist collapse. But I'd not count on it. It basically creates a feature where certain types of stone are much safer to mine in, while other types are much more dangerous. No rock type is safe, however.
•  Instability can spread slightly into neighboring blocks, creating localized weak zones, but collapse no longer cascades unrealistically through entire stable formations. Well-supported rock should stay intact, while undermined sections become dangerous over time.
•  When a collapse does occur, each block takes its own stability into account and, as long as it is not unconnected from other blocks, may resist the collapse.

 

In short:

• Mine carefully and watch unsupported ceilings, especially if that ceiling is the floor of a higher cave.
• Rock type matters
• Cave-ins are more localized, rather than random chain reactions over large areas (Looking at you, Wilderlands Caves System).