Re: Prison Architect by Introversion
Posted: Wed Jan 14, 2015 1:58 pm
Thanks. I have k-9 patrols inside but I'll try putting them on the outside and see how that goes.
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons bring us some web forums whereupon we can gather
http://www.octopusoverlords.com/forum/
Yes it works although it isn't obvious. They do some examples in the latest Alpha video.Kelric wrote:Really annoying thing: Having a perimeter wall setup on the second tile in around the entire border (because you can't build on the first tile), then having a tunnel show up on that first tile when someone escapes. You can't fill in that first tile afterward! ARGH!
Anyway, how does time based deployment work? The concept is easy, but I can't figure out how to assign people. I certainly don't need a guard patrolling the canteen during Sleep time, but I want him there the rest of the day. He sure would be useful during my nightly shakedowns if I can figure this out (as would the guy in the workshop, and yard, and infirmary...)
Very helpful. Thank you!Rip wrote:Yes it works although it isn't obvious. They do some examples in the latest Alpha video.
Yea this is key. I shut off flow the second I start and only open it when I have beds available. I even start with minsec inmates until I unlook the tech I need and build the infrastructure to deal with riskier prisoners.Paingod wrote:I'm enjoying the game for the most part, but am struggling with a 'perfect' setup.
I keep taking in Medium Security prisoners and for the most part they stay nice and calm, but I sometimes get a big brawl and a mess. Some problems I've run into and don't know how to correct...
- There's no tutorial to guide you through the first essential steps. I only discovered Grants accidentally after days of playing, and had to re-play the Death Row intro to observe how some rooms are designed to function. Since I had no idea there were Grants and had no idea I could shut down intake flow, I was drowning rapidly each time I played.
I think they will do something on this at some point. That being said I haven't tried it but saw one prisone that had the solitary cells where you had to go through the infirmary to reach them. Most of the time when someone is hurt they will end up in the infirmary so I suspect that would get them healed during that time.[*]Doctors are time consuming and tedious to force them to pass through a cellblock to heal everyone. They do heal people within 10 squares, as expected... but I'd really really like some way to get them to patrol or respond to medical emergencies.
[*]The Doctor issue would be a non-issue if I didn't have inmates who keep getting hurt. I've got them on lockdown for fighting, and 6 of them keep getting injured even though they're by themselves in their cells.
Glad it helped. I like to put a gate across the road on the top and bottom and then put another two gates just above and below the deliveries/garbage/exports area. Then lock the edge gates open. Makes it much easier until you have remote control and guards have to open the gates. Remote control is always one of my first research priorities though. I loathe having guards rushing around opening doors. Once you can start slapping servos on all the doors/gates life becomes far more manageable.[*]I invested in a big workshop, but have a staggering 2 prisoners who can work in it. To boot, the inmates are not making License plates, but instead they're making planks. I can't find a way to change it to plates to meet the Grant requirement.
It takes some time for people to get trained for the workshop. If you have long enough work hours you can manually setup multiple classes a day. They will saw logs as long as any are available. Once all logs are gone sheet metal will be purchased for making license plates. Make sure you have an export area zoned over by deliveries and garbage. That way if there are a lot of extra logs they will get sold without being processed.
In the end wood makes better money than plates anyway, but you have to get the plates grant done before you can even start making beds.
[*]Being able to stop the flow of inmates makes it far too easy to just ride out the game and it looses challenge. Leaving the flow on makes it impossible to keep up with the intake.
I don't care for the challenge of constant flow. The challenge should really be IMHO to process prisoners through the system as safely as possible while lowering the recidivism as much as possible.
First thing is make it so it is impossible to bring anything or anyone into your prison without going through a scanner. Even the staff doors in my kitchen that leads to deliveries get scanned. No need to search items unless they set off a detector. In the same light make absolutely sure there is always a dog patrol around deliveries, that will catch the stuff the detectors won't.[*]There is a staggering amount of contraband, and prisoners get pissy when you search them. The two put together cause too many headaches. I've installed Metal Detectors on the cafeteria doors, Visitor area, and Workshop - and still in a recent shakedown I discovered a friggin' power drill in someone's cell...
Second thing keep in mind that contraband can be thrown over the perimeter. this is the biggest reason I start my game with a perimeter fence that will be upgraded to a perimeter wall as I progress. Second make it so that any outside areas within throwing distance of the perimeter are staff only. The only occasion my prisoner have to get anywhere near the perimeter is in the deliveries are WHEN I decide to let them there. I usually keep that staff only as well but sometimes things like uniforms won't get picked up right unless you allow prisoners out there.No need dog patrol and detectors at every entrance will handle screening out contraband.[*]I want a way to automate things like searching every box and package that comes into the delivery area. I've got guards who just wander around there, and I can't hover there to constantly repeat search orders.
Zone the area on the other side of the door as staff only and they shouldn't let them through. If the area on both sides of the door allows inmates there is no reason not to let them through.[*]Prisoners will 'sneak' through Staff Only doors sometimes. While they comically run out to "freedom" and discover the entire lot is covered by a fence, I'd love to know why my staff are letting inmates out there.
I adjust mine as well. Mostly to make sure that more offenses result in a person/cell search but I did increase some punishments slightly. Note if you have a particularly unruly convict you can manually punish them with some really long stints in solitary.[*]The default lockdown and solitary times seemed really flimsy, so I cranked them up to a day for the worst offenses. I have absolutely no idea if this makes things better or worse.[/list]
Very helpful. Thank you!Rip wrote:Yes it works although it isn't obvious. They do some examples in the latest Alpha video.
After seeing that video, it's clear I'm a n00b. I was using the Road Gate as the main entrance to my prison. Using it to block the road is a much more elegant solution and I love the way it looks.
They have somewhat. Some of the real badass prisoners can run you ragged.Citizen wrote:I'm waiting for some AI enhancements to the prisoners. I purchased at something like alpha 7 so things are a little stale for me. I feel like they are adding lots of cool stuff, but prisoners are just too easy to manage and or lockdown for 23 hours a day. I want to see them be a little more cunning and be more violent towards each other - maybe even develop grudges toward particular guards...gang implementation...idk...stuff like that.
I had one of those once - got into two or three fights in less than a day. Somehow he died in solitary that night.Rip wrote:Some of the real badass prisoners can run you ragged.
Maybe I have been extraordinarily lucky, but I run a Shakedown search every single night and the prisoners are okay with it. I wait until right after they go to sleep and then search the whole prison. It also seems like a good time to summon informants to an office to get more data from them. By the time everyone wakes up the informants are back in their cells, the contraband is gone, people are in solitary, and showers / bathrooms / breakfast put the guys back in a good mood.Paingod wrote:[*]There is a staggering amount of contraband, and prisoners get pissy when you search them. The two put together cause too many headaches. I've installed Metal Detectors on the cafeteria doors, Visitor area, and Workshop - and still in a recent shakedown I discovered a friggin' power drill in someone's cell...
Yeah - I don't do shakedowns, but I do search cell blocks each day now while everyone's out in the Yard or eating. My problem was being a dick about it ... "Tough shit, bud. This is jail. I'm going to need you to squat and cough now." ... as someone who worked in a jail for a while, we were never sneaky about searches and it was never fun for inmates. That's just how jail is. Now I have to avoid hurting this murderous precious little snowflake's feelings by pulling his raisin mead out of the toilet with him watching.Kelric wrote:Maybe I have been extraordinarily lucky, but I run a Shakedown search every single night and the prisoners are okay with it. I wait until right after they go to sleep and then search the whole prison. It also seems like a good time to summon informants to an office to get more data from them. By the time everyone wakes up the informants are back in their cells, the contraband is gone, people are in solitary, and showers / bathrooms / breakfast put the guys back in a good mood.Paingod wrote:[*]There is a staggering amount of contraband, and prisoners get pissy when you search them. The two put together cause too many headaches. I've installed Metal Detectors on the cafeteria doors, Visitor area, and Workshop - and still in a recent shakedown I discovered a friggin' power drill in someone's cell...
Paingod wrote:I find the game interesting and fun in a fairly Zen way - it's not stressful once you understand the mechanics and methods to use.
I've gone as far as 196 (221 cap) inmates and everything was running smooth. I let in a handful of Max prisoners as a test in their own corner of my jail and they were well behaved and didn't cause problems despite having terrible traits like Cop Killer and being in jail for Murder, Murder, and Murder. The bulk of my income is due to my workshop, with jail expenses only just breaking even from prisoner income.
Unfortunately, it seems that there's little challenge left once you can build a prison with $900,000 in starting capital. Bigger, better, more expensive, and more lucrative - but mechanically identical to smaller scales. I'm probably done with this for a while and will come back as new things are added.
I suppose my tips for new players in the Alpha 28 build would be:Spoiler:
Phone Monitoring is something I've only tried once and it didn't seem to accomplish anything. Maybe I wasn't doing it right.Rip wrote:I would agree with all except to suggest using NSA level phone monitoring over snitches. You get the same info without putting the life of the snitches in jeopardy.
I would also add use remote servos on doors that get opened and closed a lot to save your guards for more important duties.
Pretty much the same with phones. For every officer monitoring you will see the colored wire scanning. When he is listening to a call it will stay lit. Provides the same information you can get from informants....without the risk.Paingod wrote:Phone Monitoring is something I've only tried once and it didn't seem to accomplish anything. Maybe I wasn't doing it right.Rip wrote:I would agree with all except to suggest using NSA level phone monitoring over snitches. You get the same info without putting the life of the snitches in jeopardy.
I would also add use remote servos on doors that get opened and closed a lot to save your guards for more important duties.
I totally forgot the Remote doors. That is insanely valuable. The thing I had to learn was that a connection from the door to the controller does nothing. From the controller to the door works correctly. The wire actually shows the flow of data.
I get riots and fights if I bring in a lot of inmates too rapidly and don't give the last batch a chance to settle in for a day or two. I also get riots if needs go unattended too long... it tends to come down to scheduling activities to keep them balanced.naednek wrote:I guess I'm still doing something wrong because I keep getting fights like it's a bunch of brats in a preschool
Never seen tunnels revealed by anything other than a guard finding them or them showing up when I dismantle a toilet.Unagi wrote:Have any of you seen Tunnels revealed by Informants?
(My current strategy is to just re-install cell toilets maybe once a week)
Also, in the "CI" screen, the lower half seems to always read: "Coverage: 0%" while, above, in the part where it lists your informants they are sitting up there with a range of 70-100% coverage....
I'm just not clear what that lower half is there for really... and how to make it say something other than 0%.
Small story:
My current prison holds just over 100 prisoners, and I've been keeping them MIN security.... Last night I started to transition into accepting Normal Security prisoners.... and OH MY... Suddenly I have a couple TOUGH - INSTIGATORS and other bad-guys.... and wouldn't you know it.... Someone in the group went and killed each and every SNITCH in the prison.
On another note... I feel like dressing my Protective Status prisoners in bright yellow undermines my goal.
and, RIP - have you or have you not yet checked out RimWorld ???
Sure but what does that matter? Not like you can go pick them up before a prisoner does. The objective with throw-ins is to build a prison where they aren't possible.Paingod wrote:Gotta put those Yellow Jumpsuits in a safe zone where no one but them can go.
Footnote: Alpha 28 patch notes seem to start that it requires an active Informant for the Phone Tap "throw ins" to show up.
I mistook that to mean "the phone tap doesn't throw in info unless you have an active informant"Rip wrote:Sure but what does that matter? Not like you can go pick them up before a prisoner does. The objective with throw-ins is to build a prison where they aren't possible.
It's so you don't need a guard to come over to unlock it if someone like a janitor needs to get in there. I've found them to be heaven sent, since it means I can put my guards to better use.Kelric wrote:What is the point of a remote door if it also requires a servo and connection to the door control? A jail door or solitary door do the same job, right?
A jail door with a servo attached does the same thing, though.jztemple2 wrote:It's so you don't need a guard to come over to unlock it if someone like a janitor needs to get in there. I've found them to be heaven sent, since it means I can put my guards to better use.Kelric wrote:What is the point of a remote door if it also requires a servo and connection to the door control? A jail door or solitary door do the same job, right?
My fault, I misunderstood your question. According to the Developer's Wiki:Kelric wrote:A jail door with a servo attached does the same thing, though.jztemple2 wrote:It's so you don't need a guard to come over to unlock it if someone like a janitor needs to get in there. I've found them to be heaven sent, since it means I can put my guards to better use.Kelric wrote:What is the point of a remote door if it also requires a servo and connection to the door control? A jail door or solitary door do the same job, right?
So this means (I think), while the other types of doors can be opened by an attached servo *or* by key, the Remote Door can *only* be opened by servo. This prevents rioting prisoners from taking keys and opening the Remote Door.The Remote Door was introduced in Alpha 23. Its main use is to relive guards by allowing the player to remotely open a door using a Door Control System. However the door can only be opened from the connected Door Control System, it is not possible to open a Remote Door with a jail key.
One can create prisons where their guards can't get back to the control room without a guard in the control room using just those remote doors (easily).jztemple2 wrote:It's so you don't need a guard to come over to unlock it if someone like a janitor needs to get in there. I've found them to be heaven sent, since it means I can put my guards to better use.Kelric wrote:What is the point of a remote door if it also requires a servo and connection to the door control? A jail door or solitary door do the same job, right?
Just when you've designed a prison to minimize contraband, they toss in a whole new way to let it in.Rip wrote:The also added a mail room and the problems and benefits such a thing naturally brings.
= Gangs
Some prisoners will now have gang allegiences upon entering your prison. This can make those prisoners much harder to deal with, as they will work to defend each other during trouble.
This is an optional feature, enabled by ticking the new "Gangs" tickbox in the New Map screen.
(Nb. You can also hack gangs into an existing prison by adding 'EnabledGangs true' to the top of the .prison file)
More dangerous / higher security prisoners are more likely to be gang members.
Gang members can be identified visually by their full body tattoos
Gang members will always come to the aid of their fellow gang member when fights break out.
This includes coming to the aid of a fellow gang member involved in a fight with guards.
Gang members more likely to try to steal weapons, and more likely to carry them rather than stash them.
Gang members will not participate in any voluntary reform programs
Gang members will not work for the prison
New view : Intelligence => Gangs. Highlights all known gang members and shows the total number of members of each gang.
Nb. This is part 1 of a larger feature.
= New room: Shop
Requires shelves and a shop front. The shop front should go on a wall such that prisoners can acces the shop front from a corridoor.
Shop goods will be brought into the prison in the usual way, and taken to the shop.
Prisoners can work in the shop, and will unpack the boxes of goods onto the shelves.
Prisoners can buy items from the shop to help with their needs:
Soap, shampoo etc for Hygene
Towels, blankets etc for Comfort
Magazines for entertainment
Snacks for Hunger
All prisoners are now paid a fixed wage of 50 cents per hour when working for the prison
Items in the shop cost $5 each
Prisoner wages and shop takings are now shown in the daily cashflow report (updated at midnight)
Prisoners are more inclined to participate in voluntary training programs, and will concentrate harder, when there is a shop on site. (They want to earn that wage to buy things for themselves).
The shop is a potential source of smuggled contraband
= Asian language support
The game now supports asian character sets, paving the way for translations into
Japanese
Chinese
Korean
etc
- Mail room (continued)
Fixed: Mail satchels would be endlessly delivered in certain circumstances
You can now dump mail satchels if you end up with too many
- Escape tunnels (continued):
Each member of a dig team now brings diminishing returns to the overall speed of digging. This represents the fact that (say) 10 prisoners just couldn't dig all at once in one square. Previously 4 prisoners would dig four times faster than just 1 prisoner. it will now take 4 prisoners to dig twice as fast as just 1 prisoner It will take 11 prisoners to dig three times as fast as just 1 prisoner
Searching a toilet manually will now reveal any escape tunnels. Nb this requires you specifically search the toilet itself, and does not apply if the toilet is searched as part of a "search cell" or "search cell block" order
Conventional fences no longer slow diggers down
- The research screen now flashes a warning if you are attempting to research an item, but are missing the neccesary Administrator, or he does not have an office
- Emergency services personel no longer need to rest in a staff room
- More prisoner faces added to the sprite bank, for greater variety
= BUG FIXES
0003270: [Control & User Interface] Flashing Yellow area in deployment screen not explained
0004990: [Gameplay] Basic Detention Center fails to recognize completed rooms if other rooms are incomplete
0003318: [AI & Behaviour] Delivery Trucks fail to stop and unload (when delivery zone at bottom of the map)
0006493: [AI & Behaviour] prisoners use the same seat/phone/shower etc
0007248: [Mod System] Special Characters prevent mods from work
0008666: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners reading books will stop following regime and freeze up unable to fulfill needs.
0008916: [AI & Behaviour] Mail Room keeps ordering more Mail Satchels
0007670: [Control & User Interface] Spelling of bureaucratic in Chapel Description
0003271: [Gameplay] Clone Tool + Water
0007630: [AI & Behaviour] Gardeners and other AI vibrate when in 3x speed mode
0006067: [Gameplay] Prisoners are tunneling too fast (through perimeter wall)
0001166: [Gameplay] Guards wont take prisoners to Solitary Confinement, prisoner stuck in limbo
0008714: [AI & Behaviour] Some dump jobs are never done
0008766: [AI & Behaviour] Empty Parole Program slots not being filled despite long queue of eligible prisoners
0005953: [Graphics] Uniform's are sometimes under the bed
0006142: [Graphics] Render issues when stacking drains with other items
0008750: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners do not leave Transport Bus if reception is full of laundry
0005453: [Gameplay] Power Switch + Cctv Monitor = UNLIMITED VISIBIlITY!
0008996: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoner released during shower leaves naked
0000665: [Gameplay] pausing stops the limit-check for daily spending
0008034: [AI & Behaviour] Chefs Don't Cook
0008129: [Graphics] Death Row font too dark
0006952: [AI & Behaviour] In large prisons suboptimal transport job causes death of overdosing prisoners during transportation to infirmary
0005830: [Gameplay] Bureaucracy research never finishes if started during pause after firing warden
0002935: [Gameplay] Guard dogs kill prisoners
0007920: [AI & Behaviour] Unconscious dog and dead handler
0006228: [AI & Behaviour] Dog handlers can't get tazers anymore, but research says they can
0009032: [AI & Behaviour] Dead guards in hearse still have flashlight on
0003311: [AI & Behaviour] Guards escorting prisoners to from their cell to the same cell over and over
0008135: [AI & Behaviour] Dirty trays are being stacked outside canteen (in a remote solitary cell, for example)
0007151: [Gameplay] Truck drivers can be sacked
0006966: [AI & Behaviour] 0 demand for meals in the second hour of Eat
0003132: [Gameplay] Sometimes contraband is listed as "None"
0007437: [AI & Behaviour] Cooks Not Cooking
0007933: [Other] cooks wont cook (Cellblock assigned to non-canteen in logistics)
0008904: [AI & Behaviour] Laundry without door breaks near-by rooms
0008624: [AI & Behaviour] Riot Police get tired
0007675: [Graphics] Altar not displaying properly against a wall
0008988: [Save & Load] Last Game Save causes a Crash to Steam Client
0008946: [Gameplay] Library Books keep coming
45 hours here. I'm also going to wait a while. It's a fun game but I learned all I could up to the second to last update. Just going to let them continue adding to it for a while now.jztemple2 wrote:I have 78 hours in PA already, so I'm waiting for it to leave Early Access, so I don't completely burn out on it.
You can turn off prisoner arrival so you don't have to be rushed. You won't be getting the income from them but the money from grants should be enough to get you started. Then when the prison is ready, turn back on prisoner acceptance.baelthazar wrote:I am so terrible at this game. Any tips for how to lay out the initial buildings so you have what you need but don't lose all your money? Do you guys hire a ton more workers to get this done before the prisoners arrive? I guess I need a "getting started" page, despite having played this since the beginning!