[Suggestion] Psychiatric Ward

[geradon]

Hello,

I've read a lot about the game in this forum, but maybe not *everything* everyone has suggested. So, sorry if it has.

What about a Psychiatric Ward ? Prisons have them, and they are isolated from the rest. So it would lead to 4 types of inmates : High, Medium, Low and Sick. Maybe even Sick High, Sick Medium and Sick Low.

Sorry if it has been mentioned before (but I can't see it in the sum-up list).

[xander]

First, please have a look at this thread. Specifically, it is easier to keep track of what is going on if each thread contains only one idea or suggestion, rather than several.

What about a Psycho Ward ? Prisons have them, and they are isolated from the rest. So it would lead to 4 types of inmates : High, Medium, Low and Psycho. Maybe even Psycho High, Psycho Medium and Psycho Low.

Can you expand upon this, please?

Currently, prisons have a bunch of hidden characteristics (in addition to the needs that we can see using the psychologist) that have an effect on how likely they are to commit acts of violence or to escape. It seems to me that there are already prisoners that are, in terms of gameplay, more psychotic than others. These tend to be the maximum security prisoners. What characteristics would "psycho" prisoners have that differ from the current status quo?

What about Multi Floor ? Prisons in PA are 2D, what about the ability to get upward (and downward) ?

This has been suggested many, many times before, and always seems to lead to a flame war. Can we please just pretend that geradon didn't say this? Please?

xander

[geradon]

What about a Psycho Ward ? Prisons have them, and they are isolated from the rest. So it would lead to 4 types of inmates : High, Medium, Low and Psycho. Maybe even Psycho High, Psycho Medium and Psycho Low.

Can you expand upon this, please?

Currently, prisons have a bunch of hidden characteristics (in addition to the needs that we can see using the psychologist) that have an effect on how likely they are to commit acts of violence or to escape. It seems to me that there are already prisoners that are, in terms of gameplay, more psychotic than others. These tend to be the maximum security prisoners. What characteristics would "psycho" prisoners have that differ from the current status quo?

xander

The difference I see is that inmates are in prison for a reason that makes them "bad" in a way, maybe "mad" in some cases. So in the game, the "madness" is related to what they did and how they deal with prison.

But psychiatric wards in prisons, as far as I know, are for people who are "sick" regardless of what they did as a crime. Let's say a schizophrenic stole food and got arrested, put in prison ; he would be a "sick" perso doing a "low" crime, and so placed into a specific ward for people who are sick -- I mean, you cannot put him into a High Security for stealing food, only because he is psychotic.

[geradon]

Sorry for my english, I rephrased the whole stuff : I thought "Psycho" meant Psychiatric. My bad.

So, what about a psychiatric ward, based on the explanation I gave above ?

[xander]

Again, how is this reflected in the game mechanics? I still don't understand what you would change, other than to add some flavor text to the profiles of certain inmates.

xander

[christopher1006]

Perhaps other prisoners may attack or leave out prisoners with mental issues which combined with a lowered boiling point could make them go on a rampage. A psychiatric ward could have the ability to reduce the needs that a prisoner cannot satisfy without being in danger to themselves or to others.

[Spectre Incarnate]

I'm waiting patiently for this, also. A psychiatric ward or even just a general medical ward for those with mental and chronic conditions would be fascinating to explore the nuances that come with that territory. I'm sure it'll come eventually, as it'd be kind of silly to leave it out. I still think a prison is a lot more like a mental hospital than people realize. In fact, that's what they were in the past, as mental hospitals and prisons weren't very distinguishable from one another... and still aren't, really.

And, as has been said several times before (including an actual real life correctional officer who posted a few weeks ago), prisons to this day have whole large sections and/or cell blocks set aside for psychiatric wards and therapy facilities. In game terms a mental ward would be an extra set of challenges, having to make an entire section of the prison to deal with the unique issues that come with housing mental patients/prisoners.

You could also use it for the rest of the prison, adding more to psychiatric evaluations and rehabilitation purposes. Designing prisons that helps people overcome their mental issues and/or tendencies for crime and trying to reintegrate them into society. Some prisoners may just need counselors to talk to about home and family issues, depression/anxiety, or even more serious cases, such as being severely abused as a child or being "violated" during their prison stay. (Prison rape is very prevalent and should be a factor somewhere in game, but not directly or explicitly and I think that's the best way to include the issue.)

On the other hand, if you decided your prison is far more heavy handed, you could use a mental ward for controlling prisoners with medicine, shock therapy, lobotomies and other darker, experimentation used on prisoners/patients in the very recent past (Even in my state of Michigan, there was a horrendous doctor/warden for a hospital/prison in the 70s for African-Americans that were all diagnosed with "schizophrenia", or in other words, people who were vocal about wanting equal rights. ) But, as that stuff is basically torture and reduces quality of life and could cause controversy for the dev team, it should probably be left for fan modding sometime later on.

But I'm looking forward to anything mental related, whether it's in the official game or not. Prisoners are not always just scumbags to be hidden far away from society, but *people* with real issues that can either be controlled and possibly overcome or be pushed to the brink of madness with enough aggravation.

[Yanmarka]

So you basicly want to add an insane asylum?
-1

[blipadouzi]

So you basicly want to add an insane asylum?
-1

There is such a thing as a psychiatric prison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Pinel_Institute

[geradon]

So you basicly want to add an insane asylum?
-1

I don't want anything ; I'm suggesting.

Where do you put an agoraphobic who got a year sentence for computer piracy ?

[Yanmarka]

So you basicly want to add an insane asylum?
-1

There is such a thing as a psychiatric prison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippe_Pinel_Institute

So you basicly want to add an insane asylum?
-1

I don't want anything ; I'm suggesting.

Where do you put an agoraphobic who got a year sentence for computer piracy ?

I didn't say there wasn't "such a thing as a psychiatric prison". However, prison architect is not supposed to be a hyper realstic simulation of real word, but a game, and I think this has no use but would simply destroy the gameplay.

[blipadouzi]

I understand why you don't agree with the idea... and I'm not arguing that fact.

But saying it like this:

Prison architect is not supposed to be a hyper realstic simulation of real word, but a game, and I think this has no use but would simply destroy the gameplay.

Rather than:

So you basicly want to add an insane asylum?
-1

Makes readers more receptive to your opinion.

[xander]

As I see it, there are basically two gameplay mechanics on the table at the moment: (1) prisoners with mental illness, and (2) medical facilities for dealing with mental illness. I am not convinced that either would add very much to the game other than a bit of world-building.

In terms of prisoners with mental illness, the underlying traits of prisoners can already simulate the effects of a such a prisoner. I don't know exactly how the hidden-trait-system works, but it seems to have the effect of changing the rates at which needs accumulate and the temperature at which a prisoner will become violent. One could add in a few hidden traits (e.g. "Depression," which causes the prisoner to require more sleep and maybe move slower; "Addiction," which causes the prisoner to require more freedom and increases their chances of stealing drugs or alcohol; "Schizophrenia," which might cause random fluctuations in needs and give a prisoner a low boiling point; &c.) which would simulate mental illness without actually having it explicitly stated in the game. Or they could be explicitly stated by the game (perhaps the psychologist could unlock a "Therapy Session" or "Group Therapy" skill in Bureaucracy to reveal these traits).

In terms of medical facilities for dealing with mental illness, I would be all for an expanded role for the psychologist. Require the Psychologist to have a larger office with more chairs and/or a couch. However, this would only make sense in the context of the above outlined mechanics for mental illness. Without such mechanics, extra medical facilities for dealing with prisoners with mental illness just don't make sense, and take up space that small maps don't really have to spare.

xander