Mind having a look at my prison?

[RoyBread]

I've made what I think is a pretty decent prison but I'm sure there are still ways to improve it, especially after the new update, so I'm wondering if anybody's mind having a look at it and give me their thoughts.
I want to avoid designs that give it anymore of a "video gamy" look; such as placing a fence around the entire outer rim of the map.

Here's the save file: https://www.mediafire.com/?gna7liujo1xvkow
Sorry about the lack of screenshots. I started down that road but quickly came to realize it was too much to show off properly that way.

(The solitary cells are only there because the policy settings reset every time the game is loaded)

[RoyBread]

Here's a screenshot that'll (hopefully) show off the general idea behind the prison.

[blipadouzi]

Looks great... I like where you've placed the showers... I do that as well.

I really like your "pentagon" style common area.

[Drakexz]

I've loaded it and within 5 minutes a riot with 13 death started. (only ended because i've "bought" a few more guards).

I'd call your prison badly organized. Why did you split up all your rooms into so many small ones?
8 x imfirmary? 4 x visitation?
You'll never ever need as many visitation tables or medical beds. And btw, the doctors are stupid, they might let a patient die in the other room just because they don't get close to it.

And why is the canteen at the other side of the prison? Ever thought about the long walkway?
You might want to get rid of the armed guards. They are not necessary.

Oh and btw, you didn't assign any prisoners to your workshops.

There's much more, you should better start over and try it with a different layout.

[RoyBread]

That's funny. I've never had a riot in this prison and I kept playing after posting this
The rooms are split up to allow for direct walkways from all four (planned) directions.
The unnecessary rooms are there because they'll come in handy once I expand the prison with two more prison buildings. Food is going to become a big issue at that point, however, so I'll likely have to redesign it; making the outer perimeter into the kitchen despite it placing my chefs closer to danger.

As for the canteen, good point. I just put it there thinking it'd be safer to have more space between it and the administrative building since it's where fights tend to break out, but as you say, chefs will waste less time carrying food if i switch the canteen and yards places. I'll try it and see how it works.

The armed guards are very necessary. Remove them for 10 seconds and the entire western prison complex goes up in flames (metaphorically speaking).
The reason I removed the workshop assignments was because I'm already making plenty of money and wish to focus on reform programs instead.

Thanks.

[Drakexz]

If you prison is well planned, you don't need any armed guards.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =296374975 (old screenshot)
This is my prison and i don't have any armed guards in it. Its not focused on design, more on efficiency and profit.
I got 99% max security / 1% mid security prisoners (around 1200 total) and had only 1 riot so far but zero escapes.
The Prisoners are all happy and therefore i got only very few incidents.


However i've built the guard lockers just in case i need armed guards.

[RoyBread]

I started this prison wanting to create a kind of prison where the staff and prisoners interact as little as possible. Kind of like a "big brother" kind of prison where a bunch of guards sit in a safe place and watch everything, only entering the prisoners space when absolutely necessary.

I've diverged a bit from that to get it running more efficiently, but would still like to stick with the theme as much as i can, visually and functionally.

[Drakexz]

Just as a proof of concept, here's your prison with some modifications:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qdhdel4ipsfy0 ... rison?dl=0
- locked / unlocked many doors
- added 2 offices for your psychologists (8 offices actually needed)
- changed the timetable a lot
- changed the punishement
- removed all the armed guards
- replaced them with some more normal guards
- added a morgue
- changed some of the partol walkways
- added a dog patrol at the deliveries (helps to find drugs before they get into the prison)
- removed visitation and infirmary rooms
- scheduled tazer training for the new guards
- assigned prisoners to the workshop
- removed all the little storage rooms (so the workmen don't have to walk so far)
- removed all the crates around the prison
- i think a few more things i just dont remember right now.
- modified the solitary cells (they are supposed to think about their actions and not read a book, take a shower or sleep)

Snitches still die pretty quick, but tbh i don't care.

[ble210]

It looks very efficient, but has no soul. Showers in the hallways? That's pretty gamey.

[RoyBread]

Thanks for the help. I implemented some of your changes to my own save file and things seem to have improved.
Moving the canteen also seems to have helped.
I've stopped random acts of violence by having all volatile prisoners sentenced to death by starvation in 1x1 solitude cells.
Still need a better solution for dealing with tunnel digging.

I'm not sure I fully understand the timetable changes though. Does adding an hour of lockdown really do anything productive?
I've given up on changing punishments because they reset every time the game is loaded.
The shrinks remain without offices. I've never had a prisoner pass the behavioral therapy, so I just let them do AA meetings instead.

As for showers in the hallways, well, it just seems like a waste to not use all that space for something. Maybe real prisons should follow suit.
Overall I don't consider it all that bad since it kinda fits with the theme i was going for, but there are certainly more charming prisons around.

[Drakexz]

The 1 hour lockdown is something from my prison. You can change it to what ever you want if it works for you.
I had it set to freetime, but the prisoners are dumb. They need to pee / poo but don't go back into their cell. So i've set 1 hour lockdown so they have to go back back to their cells to satisfy their needs.