Fixes for Alpha 20

[Jailer]

Hi,

Instead of lots of extra content (always welcome) I would like to have some issues addressed that bug me during gameplay (A19):

* Doctors seem to not care when there is a lot of injured staff/prisoners, and wait until someone comes to the infirmary. I always end up sending them out to the injured persons to fix them. Can doctors be a bit more proactive?
* During shakedowns a lot of my guards get stuck at the (open) jaildoors when searching the cells (I have the minimum 2x3 layouts); in larger prisons I end up having to select them and direct them somewhere in the cell to have them continue. After 'freeing' 20 guards a shakedown gets kind of annoying..
* during construction there are occasionally items that cannot be reached - usually when they are in the middle tile of a 'plus' sign made of brick walls. Is this intentional? If so, then ok. If not, then please fix so I don't end up having to snake around those tiles.
* tunnels - if found, can they show up as an item in the shakedown icon list? A spoon is worth mentioning, but a tunnel isn't? Also, can escape attempts (tunneling) be added to the prisoner policy? (Somehow I don't get tunnels since A19...)
* Selecting/going to staff without firing them accidentally from staff menu. Maybe double click is fire and single click is select?
* More people trying to get education - I have too many empty classes
* Have workmen deliver food to kitchen instead of cooks... Cooks are for cooking..
* Have workmen check if there are any 'todo' items instead of idling at the delivery area
* When prisoners are locked up (sleeptime, lockdown, solitary) but their door is open, let them occasionally roam / escape instead of obey authority at all times
* Nearest guard to open doors instead of nearest unemployed guard? Sometimes I cringe when I see workmen/families waiting at the entrance and see a guard coming from far away to open the door while I have a guard assigned to the door area specifically to minimize the bottleneck
* Why are my unassigned/undeployed guards clustering together in some rooms? They should be roaming the prison grounds, not all go to the same staff office..
* [optional setting in menu?] When running in highest speed and there is an incident, slow down speed to lowest setting so you can check/react. Usually I run at fastest speed and when there is an incident I first have to slow down speed and find the action - usually I miss the action and that is the best part of the game...

Other than that I am open for lots of new content, obviously

[the04dude]

I'm running a19 and I have tunnels

[jaxonhmmnd]

Not a gripe but both people getting stuck on door corners and the inability to build in the centre of a "+" are known issues.

I quite like your idea of maybe having the game slow down when incidents occur. Maybe a "centre-on" mechanic would be good.

[VoiD88]

Doctors seem to not care when there is a lot of injured staff/prisoners, and wait until someone comes to the infirmary. I always end up sending them out to the injured persons to fix them. Can doctors be a bit more proactive?

This is probably intentional. I think the guards are meant to be much quicker in delivering injured people to the infirmary, THAT is what will probably get fixed.

During shakedowns a lot of my guards get stuck at the (open) jaildoors when searching the cells (I have the minimum 2x3 layouts); in larger prisons I end up having to select them and direct them somewhere in the cell to have them continue. After 'freeing' 20 guards a shakedown gets kind of annoying..

This behavior got a lot better in the latest Alpha. I found that reducing the gamespeed to normal for a few seconds lets them unstick themselves from the corners.

tunnels - if found, can they show up as an item in the shakedown icon list? A spoon is worth mentioning, but a tunnel isn't? Also, can escape attempts (tunneling) be added to the prisoner policy? (Somehow I don't get tunnels since A19...)

Tunnels are still there, I saw one in my latest prison, although I didn't pay attention if the icon still showed up... because it definitely did before. If it doesn't anymore, it's a bug.

Selecting/going to staff without firing them accidentally from staff menu. Maybe double click is fire and single click is select?

Don't click, just hover your cursor over them in the report and the screen will focus on that employee.

More people trying to get education - I have too many empty classes

I disagree... in my 200+ prisoner prison, my classes are always full and there's even a waiting list (because I won't give them TWO classes, I don't want them slacking off in the classroom too much when they should be producing profit for me in the workshop )

Have workmen deliver food to kitchen instead of cooks... Cooks are for cooking..

Please no... my workers are busy enough while the fact that you can make prisoners work in the kitchen really helps the cooks out enough that they can fetch stuff from the nearby delivery area with no problem^^

Have workmen check if there are any 'todo' items instead of idling at the delivery area

They do. It's just not instantly: From a technical view, the job assignment "travels" across your jail just like an employee would until it finds the nearest free worker. That means that jobs on the other side of the map will take quite some time to get recognized by workers.

[Jailer]

tunnels - if found, can they show up as an item in the shakedown icon list? A spoon is worth mentioning, but a tunnel isn't? Also, can escape attempts (tunneling) be added to the prisoner policy? (Somehow I don't get tunnels since A19...)

Tunnels are still there, I saw one in my latest prison, although I didn't pay attention if the icon still showed up... because it definitely did before. If it doesn't anymore, it's a bug.

I know the icon shows up - it just shows up temporarily - just like the guard icon when there is an inciddent. I would like it to be added to the list of items found (spoons etc.) in the shakedown popup so I can blink during a shakedown

Selecting/going to staff without firing them accidentally from staff menu. Maybe double click is fire and single click is select?

Don't click, just hover your cursor over them in the report and the screen will focus on that employee.

When they move around it is still too hard to select them - same with prisoners. I know about the focus - but would like to be able to select and either send guard to staffroom or see details of prisoners. Currently I find it too finnicky.

Have workmen check if there are any 'todo' items instead of idling at the delivery area

They do. It's just not instantly: From a technical view, the job assignment "travels" across your jail just like an employee would until it finds the nearest free worker. That means that jobs on the other side of the map will take quite some time to get recognized by workers.

Hmm, I have had the issue of having some dismantled carpenter tables sitting in my workroom for many days - even though there was enough storage area. May be a point for optimization..

[VoiD88]

Hmm, I have had the issue of having some dismantled carpenter tables sitting in my workroom for many days - even though there was enough storage area. May be a point for optimization..

Yeah, that's a known bug: Workshop Saws, Presses and apparently Carpenter's tables too get assigned to Prisoners to haul them away instead of workmen.

Make sure your Storage area can be accessed by inmates (NOT staff-only) and assign several hours of work in a big block in your regime. The inmates working in the workshop should eventually pick up the stuff and deliver it to your Storage after having finished all other pending jobs in the Workshop.

[burningmime]

More people trying to get education - I have too many empty classes

They won't sign up for classes if they're suppressed (either recently punished or if they see armed guards walking around). Basically, if you have any armed guards, don't expect prisoners to want to go to class.

When prisoners are locked up (sleeptime, lockdown, solitary) but their door is open, let them occasionally roam / escape instead of obey authority at all times

They do if they're unhappy. Would be cool if they did this randomly even if they're feeling well-treated but are just tired of life on the inside.

Nearest guard to open doors instead of nearest unemployed guard? Sometimes I cringe when I see workmen/families waiting at the entrance and see a guard coming from far away to open the door while I have a guard assigned to the door area specifically to minimize the bottleneck

Never had this problem. I have a guard by every double-sized door and they usually open it after a couple seconds. Occasionally an unemployed guard will do it if nearby.

[optional setting in menu?] When running in highest speed and there is an incident, slow down speed to lowest setting so you can check/react. Usually I run at fastest speed and when there is an incident I first have to slow down speed and find the action - usually I miss the action and that is the best part of the game...

This is a REALLY good idea. Devs?

[xander]

This is a REALLY good idea. Devs?

Indeed, I concur that this is a really good idea, but be prepared for a great deal of flaming if it is implemented---the last time someone suggested it, the Hard Core(tm) players chased him away with pitchforks.

xander