[Suggestion] Zoning Rooms before building Foundation

[sixgunninja]

I'd like to be able to put down Rooms before building the Foundation of a building so its easier to plan ahead. This would help in 2 different ways.

1. Buildings: Cell Blocks and other places that have specific requirements as to Dimensions its easy to end up with a building that ends in half the space needed for a Cell or an Office. If you could mark out Cells beforehand, then you just drag the foundation around it and presto, no need to resize the building to add that one more cell or draw the building out on graph paper before hand.

2. Long Term Planning: In the first couple of days you dont have the resources or the capital to build Medical Centers or other things that you'll need eventually. This leads to a rather haphazard prison build as you need it without any long term planning of where things would go. I for one would like to eventually have my Holding Cells and Medical in the same building (just makes sense to me) and I know I'll eventually need more than one Office. Zoning rooms on empty ground would allow you to plan for later in the game when you need to expand that Admin Building.

Thoughts?

[motoryogurt]

I can certainly see the benefit in that.

A simpler solution might be some sort of "Architect Tool" that would allow you to mark the map up for planning purposes. Basically it would just lay down an easily erasable bright color on the square/squares. If they got fancy they could allow you to type in some text for notes to.

[xyzyxx]

Seconded!

I can certainly see the benefit in that.

A simpler solution might be some sort of "Architect Tool" that would allow you to mark the map up for planning purposes.

That's essentially what "designating a room" currently does :p
We just want the option to do it for buildings that aren't built yet.

[motoryogurt]

Seconded!

I can certainly see the benefit in that.

A simpler solution might be some sort of "Architect Tool" that would allow you to mark the map up for planning purposes.

That's essentially what "designating a room" currently does :p
We just want the option to do it for buildings that aren't built yet.

Well sort of. But I see what your getting at.

So just started a new prison and for a bit of a work around this is what I've been doing.

Set game speed to pause. Then use one of the wall tools (or fence/paving stone/whatever) and map out space planning with that. Once you think you've got it right drag you building over it all unpause and up goes your building.
So far it seems the jobs you mapped it out with go away so then just go in and lay down the room stuff like you planned.

Toggling into slow mode from pause will help clear a plan when you want to erase something you've marked.

A little clunky but works for now.