[Question] CCTV operation

[christopher1006]

I'm attempting to get back in the game here and so when going over CCTV, I noticed that guards did not automatically assign to them. I realized that I hadn't connected wires, however there's no such option. The CCTV monitor is in a security room and I have 6 CCTV cameras already set up. I would appreciate any help on how CCTV monitor operation has changed as this is a feature that I tended to use judiciously.

[czar mohab]

I'm attempting to get back in the game here and so when going over CCTV, I noticed that guards did not automatically assign to them. I realized that I hadn't connected wires, however there's no such option. The CCTV monitor is in a security room and I have 6 CCTV cameras already set up. I would appreciate any help on how CCTV monitor operation has changed as this is a feature that I tended to use judiciously.

Used to be the monitor automatically connected to the cameras and a guard needed to be manually stationed at it to make the system work. More monitors = more cameras, slick placement meant 1 or 2 guards could cover a prison's worth of cameras.

Now, each monitor requires a guard. The guard is automatically assigned from the pool of idle guards and plops in front of the monitor until s/he gets tired. I believe that if you have some guards with tazers and some without, preference falls to those without the tazer but that is just a personal theory based on guard behavior I've noticed. Each monitor will need to be connected to the cameras (select the monitor and click "Connect" or, from the utility menu, select "Connect" and then the monitor). You can hold shift to connect more than one without having to re-select the monitor each time (note that this also works for anything that uses the same connection metric, such as door controls). I do not believe that there is a hard cap on the number of cameras that can be connected but there is a soft cap at 8; each monitor can simultaneously observe up to 8 cameras, anything beyond that limit that is connected is idle. The monitor will cycle through all the cameras (when more than 8 are connected) eventually, but since there can only be 8 active the idle cameras leave dead zones. As with the old method, the monitors are only active when manned, and guards will abandon the monitor when they become tired. This leaves any cameras on the monitor to become idle until the replacement arrives. No matter how these are placed, it is always one guard to one monitor.

Worth noting is that multiple monitors can be connected to a camera, which, when used in sufficient overlapping numbers, can reduce and even eliminate dead time due to guard swap.

Also remember that it is Monitor (connects to) -> Camera not Camera -> Monitor.

Much of the above also applies to Phone Taps and Door Controllers, if that helps.

The Czar

[xlr8films]

Adding to above: If you are building your prison out, I've noticed that the function of clicking on the camera and selecting 'clear connections' does not work. I started using the overlap thing as above rather than dismantle and rebuild them.

[czar mohab]

Adding to above: If you are building your prison out, I've noticed that the function of clicking on the camera and selecting 'clear connections' does not work. I started using the overlap thing as above rather than dismantle and rebuild them.

I wish it worked that way sometimes but it doesn't - you'll have to clear the connections at the source, in this case the monitor itself. If you have [Item A] (connected to) -> [Item B] -> [Item C] and [Item A] -> [Item D], clicking clear connections on "C" or "D" does nothing, "B" clears the connection to "C" only, and "A" would clear the connections to "B" and "D".

The Czar

[Rumpel1408]

Something I would realy appreciate: Going back to station guards at cctvs/door ctonrols/phone taps. I always get confused in how many guards are realy available. You can have an idle Counter of 10, but in reality only 2 guards are realy idle since the other 8 are all in front of mashines. You assign three guards to patrols or tell them to guard your parole room, bam suddenly you have no idea whats going on in the canteen.

[xlr8films]

Mine seem to tire easily at the monitors, too... have yall noticed that? Versus being on "real duty?"