Cooks that won't cook!

[mdziadowiec]

I had the same issue with cooks after i changed a meal policy.
Try reasigning food distributions in logistics (click and drag from cells block to the canteen)
When the link was broken demand was 0 so cooks wouldn't cook, after linking cells block it got back to normal.

[LordBowler]

I had the same issue with cooks after i changed a meal policy.
Try reasigning food distributions in logistics (click and drag from cells block to the canteen)
When the link was broken demand was 0 so cooks wouldn't cook, after linking cells block it got back to normal.

This appears to be the only true solution. Until you unlock micromanagement, you need to be extremely careful about how you go about expanding your prison. I need to do more !!SCIENCE!! before I can really say more for sure, but I've been diligently checking the food distribution after making changes to my prison and so far it looks like expanding a "connected" area (marked in deployment by continuous area demarkation) tends to "disconnect" it from the canteen, which screws with the Supply/Demand mechanic that tells the cooks when to start cooking.

Until you can micromanage food distribution in your prison you can't deal with the problem of disconnected areas, but you can prevent it (I think) by separating new expansions from your existing prison until such time as you can fix borked supply chains.

Also, BIG expansions or construction projects can cause supply chain backups for a day or two, which can be ... problematic. I made a huge foundation expansion which broke my connection before I could fix it, and then received two straight days of light shipments. How does 48 hours of rioting punctuated by overdoses sound?

[bullo152]

SOLVED:

HI guys, I had this same issue. Seems to be a BUG. If you put a DOOR, at least I've used a Staff door between Canteen and Kitchen the Cooks won't cook anymore. I've solved this removing this door shown in the image, and the cooks will start to cook again. I don't know why this cooks thinks that if there is a door between the kitchen and canteen they should not provide meals anymore...

Weird world, please guys from IV, check on this, seems to be a nasty bug

[poorstudent]

I have to say I have never had this problem, you can take away the door but then you wont be able to assign people to work in there and possible prisoners will steal.

Check your kitchen management and what supplies what, also more cooks. Sadly if you buy 6 cooks for 3 kitchens that does not mean you will have 2 per kitchen. It all matters on what they demand is. More cooks could really help you.

[stuntmantan]

Just started playing today, logged about 3 hours with no problems, and then I noticed all the prisoners going nuts. I wasn't getting ingredient deliveries, and the ingredients that I did have were just sitting on the fridges not being used. I'm on unlimited funds, so I see no reason why I shouldn't be getting food deliveries unless I've somehow hit ingredient capacity (is that a thing?). This is absolutely a bug that needs to be addressed quickly.

[poorstudent]

As I mentioned above I struggle to relate to this; more cooks, proper tiled kitchens, micromanagement seem to work fine.

I know this may not help you, try a new game/new kitchen to see if it makes a difference.

[stuntmantan]

Yeah, I've changed the tiles, the layout, fired and re-hired 50 cooks at a time; for whatever reason the cooks are just stuck wandering around the kitchen like broken robots. I only have one kitchen and one canteen, so all the food should be going to the same place, and the micromanagement arrow seems to be going the right way.

If it was an easy solution, I probably wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to register here and post on the forums. I thought I read somewhere that the devs don't even read these boards? I tweeted at them as well, here's hoping someone figure it out.

[LordBowler]

Yeah, I've changed the tiles, the layout, fired and re-hired 50 cooks at a time; for whatever reason the cooks are just stuck wandering around the kitchen like broken robots. I only have one kitchen and one canteen, so all the food should be going to the same place, and the micromanagement arrow seems to be going the right way.

If it was an easy solution, I probably wouldn't have gone through all the trouble to register here and post on the forums. I thought I read somewhere that the devs don't even read these boards? I tweeted at them as well, here's hoping someone figure it out.

Can you post a screenshot of your prison in food distribution mode? It's a little wonky to get used to, which is a problem unto itself, but typically the issue is broken connections between zones.

[binarygod]

I had the same issue, spent hours trying to find the problem.

I finally checked my Logistics and it had been completely reset so the canteen didn't serve any prisoners. I never changed it, it was correct in a save file from half hour prior.

Just to clarify because it was confusing at first how to get it working:

In the Logistics --> Food Distribution screen (if you unlocked this feature)
- There should be a solid yellow line from the Kitchen to your Canteen: If there isn't, click on your Kitchen and then click on Canteen.
- There should be a solid red line from the Canteen to Cell Blocks you want it to serve: If there isn't, click on your Cell Blocks then click on Canteen.

Even though I'm probably repeating the obvious to some of you, I hope it helps someone new to the game!

[snuggleskunk]

SOLVED:

HI guys, I had this same issue. Seems to be a BUG. If you put a DOOR, at least I've used a Staff door between Canteen and Kitchen the Cooks won't cook anymore. I've solved this removing this door shown in the image, and the cooks will start to cook again. I don't know why this cooks thinks that if there is a door between the kitchen and canteen they should not provide meals anymore...

Weird world, please guys from IV, check on this, seems to be a nasty bug

I had this problem earlier on in a game and the solution above solved it. However now again for no reason one of the kitchens has stopped cooking in the same game about 5 days later. All the fixes in the thread seem to work a bit but then another problem comes along. I think I might just have to stick to one giant kitchen

[Mythalinear]

I ran into the same problem except removing the door does not help. I noticed that it only started once I tried to assign prisoners to work in the kitchen. I have since tried everything I can think of to remedy the situation but without luck. Here is a link to the save. If someone can figure this out I would be very appreciative.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/t10qh3t1bo01q ... rison?dl=0

[LordBowler]

I ran into the same problem except removing the door does not help. I noticed that it only started once I tried to assign prisoners to work in the kitchen. I have since tried everything I can think of to remedy the situation but without luck. Here is a link to the save. If someone can figure this out I would be very appreciative.


https://www.dropbox.com/s/t10qh3t1bo01q ... rison?dl=0

More Playing. Cooks appear to be *completely* broken. Like..."the game would be better WITHOUT COOKING FUNCTIONALITY" broken.

Changing anything in your prison breaks links to the canteens. Changing nutrition policies breaks the ingredient supply chain. Cooks carry trays to the opposite end of the prison to wash them. Giant messes in the kitchen of "food waste" that your workers are responsible for cleaning up. Absolutely no explanation about the problem in the kitchens when your cooks stop cooking for any of these (and more) reasons.

This is a set of problems that the *entire* community of players has identified, documented, and recreated. Ad Nauseum. Since like... alpha 7 if forums and Mantis are to be believed.

It's gotta be in the next set of bug fixes. At first I thought it wasn't game breaking. "Oh, I can work around it!" I naively thought. But there are seriously a dozen or more *major* bugs related to cooks and kitchens.

Either fix this, or take it out of the game completely.

Not joking.

[G4RYB5591]

you have to go to logistics then food distribution. click the cell block that will be eating in whatever canteen it is you want, then click canteen. there should be a solid red line to that canteen from cell block. then do the same for the kitchen to the canteen, but it will be a solid yellow line. The cooks should start to cook for people without micro management idk how to fix it. this was how i fixed my problem with it. research micromanagement

[Catzerino]

I have the same problem: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... 369093994l

[Catzerino]

I made individual cells and now the cooks are doing something, but the guards won't take the prisoners to the canteen: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... 369113962l