After many tries and troubles after buying this game in Alpha 29, I have discovered some general recommendations for the game. I can't speak for anyone else's experiences, but I will give ratios that can and should help others with the workload a prison goes under.
Using the "small" plot of land and MAXIMIZING squares for use, I find that...
- I can fit 160 prisoners (mixed) in my prison safely, marked by the counter in the top center of the game. I have 21 solitarys; 14 minimal solitary (bed/toilet) and 7 supermax troublemaker shut you down
- Guard responsiveness to tasks are reasonable if 1/4th of your prisoner capacity is guards (40). I don't use armed guards, and one dog at the visitor tables.
- Janitor responsiveness, including attention to laundry, is 1/8th (20) (and max my laundry and cleaning cupboard with 9 prisoner workers each)
- 1 cook for every cooker and 1 fridge for every 2 cookers. This is documented on the wiki. I hire 20 cooks for 20 cookers for 10 fridges.
- 2 eating timeslots, morning and evening meals. Evening is a 2-hour meal. Meal Variety/Quantity is the Architect's own choice.
- Enough free-time so your prisoners can address their needs for Family, Exercise, Bladder/Bowels, Religion, Literacy, Hygiene, etc etc
Not all prisoners will need all needs every day cycle. During the night I'll run through the prison cells and search cells who have an alcoholic or drug need, trying to curb them of that nasty habit. And since my new prison builds with the initial $30k grant don't offer a large startup, I blend Protective Custody with everybody else. Just get your guards in the right spot at the right time. That's a task for you all. There are 24 simulated hours in the day cycle, as us humans are used to. Don't you sleep 1/3 of the day, work 1/3 of the day and have only 1/3 of your day left for free-time?
