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  This is Prison Architect. Prison Architect is a game made by Introversion Software. In the game, you run a private for-profit prison. It is a top down 2D construction and management simulation game where you’re trying to turn a profit off of incarcerated people. This is a sandbox though and that means you can either run a hippy nordic lovefest prison that meets your prisoner’s needs, or a strong arm bare bones suppression fortress. As long as you’re keeping the books in the green, who cares how you treat those prisoners? This game is currently in Alpha, but that doesn’t it mean it’s lacking in features. In fact, it’s in Alpha 25. This game has now been in development for over two years and is still getting a regular update every month. Here is the video for Alpha 31a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7im85MDoxA 
 The basic premise of the game is to build a prison from the ground up and keep it profitable. To do this you’ll use your workers to build a foundation, then walls, the amenities and cells etc. As a base minimum you only need to feed and house your prisoners to keep them alive, after that it’s up to you what you want to give them or provide. Remember, this game is in alpha and the tutorial sucks. So remember to ask questions and don’t get frustrated as a lot of this game is hard to figure out if you haven’t been watching all of the Alpha videos. Speaking of, HERE is a list of all the alpha videos if you want to watch them in order. Of course in stead of doing that here’s a not too terrible Let’s Play to see how the basics work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3azKeOg1EfY Eventually the game will have win scenarios and a campaign, but right now there are only failure scenarios. Criminal Negligence - Too many deaths. Unlocks playable prisoner mode Too Many Escapes Uncontrolled Riot- Watch the army come and kill everyone! Bankruptcy  Prison Architect has STEAM WORKSHOP integration.  Want to run a Star Wars Empire themed prison? Maybe want to add some flair to your pool tables? Or are you one of those weirdos who wants a nazi camp mod (of which there are way too many)? Then you can easily go and subscribe to some of these for a little more flavor and variety. You can also download other people’s prisons and play around with them, share with friends, or just mess around and cause a riot. Do this by subscribing to them in the workshop, then go into Extras > Prison Sharing and load them up.  bang bang Pro tips, Pro strats: Use GRANTS, why aren't you using GRANTS? ALWAYS USE GRANTS (they don't get mad if you don't complete them)  Select an item and use tab to cycle through all items on that tile to get to those pesky items occupying a tile with other objects. Thanks Foehammer! Quick Qs: Why isn’t this room working? Did you build a foundation, zone it, and meet all room requirements? Why won’t this tech unlock? Do you have the right management (Foreman, Chief, Warden), and do they have an office? Why won’t my guards equip tazers? They have to take a course in the classroom. Why is my shower on fire?! Someone forgot a power switch. Good look future for-profit Warden! The REAL Gtab Fan fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Mar 27, 2015 |
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Oct 2, 2014 23:47
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Great game, great op. Love the Gifs.
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Oct 2, 2014 23:56
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You know, I wonder how interesting a "public prison" option for the game would be. Where you don't get traditional profits, but a set budget for a month with actual requirements and the budget would never be quite enough.
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Oct 3, 2014 00:02
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bitching OP
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Oct 3, 2014 00:02
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Great OP. The gifs are a great touch.
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Oct 3, 2014 01:22
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How can I stop this happening? It keeps happening. That is a bunch of workmen trying desperately to dump the huge amount of items that are around that remote door and light. They can't do it because the remote door is there. They can't install a servo to open the remote door because of the remote door, and the items around it. I can't force-open the remote door because of the light on the same tile.
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Oct 3, 2014 01:35
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Remote doors can only be opened remotely so they can be a real pain if you place them before the servo. Like you can't remove them because they need to be unlocked. They are brand new so expect them to be super buggy. Also this game is so much different from last time I played and the remote doors / different schedules / CIs / prisoners being unique makes it feel entirely new.
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Oct 3, 2014 01:46
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Can't you click on the door to open it?
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Oct 3, 2014 02:02
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Yeah, mouse over it, press Tab to change the selection from the light to the door, and then right-click.
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Oct 3, 2014 02:04
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Foehammer posted:press Tab to change the selection 
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Oct 3, 2014 02:07
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If anyone has a good tutorial video on youtube, I can't find one that isn't poo poo to put in the OP.
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Oct 3, 2014 02:15
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Awesome OP. I put beds and toilets in my solitary cells and it turns out prisoners don't accumulate suppression while they sleep even without the Stoical reputation. So gently caress this guy if he likes sleeping in solitary so much he can have another 6 hours  edit: I guess he really does like solitary because he's still there after his arbitrarily given solitary sentence extension ended about a day later Pornographic Memory fucked around with this message at 02:41 on Oct 3, 2014 |
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Oct 3, 2014 02:28
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Foehammer posted:Yeah, mouse over it, press Tab to change the selection from the light to the door, and then right-click. Well that changes things, thanks a bunch. OP looks great too.
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Oct 3, 2014 02:41
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Foehammer posted:press Tab to change the selection welp this is the best advice ever
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Oct 3, 2014 02:49
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Stereotype posted:welp this is the best advice ever Oh my god. What else do I not know?
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Oct 3, 2014 03:10
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I know we're still on the first page and all, but that seriously needs to go in the OP.
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Oct 3, 2014 03:34
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So I just got this game today. I didn't really know about the whole grants and such part of how you make money, so I was broke. I somehow strung together a hellish 3rd world type prison where I had roughly 12 prisoners in cells and about 10 to 20 in holding cells. It was overcrowded and covered in filth. There were daily riots, and many killings. There were no janitors and no doctors and only 4 guards on staff to keep the peace. Riot cops were pretty much permanently assigned to my prison along with EMTs. Usually there were unconscious inmates and staff all over the place while the EMTs tried to catch up. For some reason it would calm down just enough to get the prisoners mostly to be only to start up as a fight as soon as the cell doors opened in the morning again. Once I figured out the whole grants thing, I tried to catch back up to being a real prison, but it was already gone too far. It actually got worse in a sick way, with weird situations like doctors healing both an inmate and a riot cop who were locked in a perpetual fight to control the main holding cell. I can't imagine being a guard or an inmate in this hell prison. This game rules. e: are there any limits on riot cops time wise? It seemed like a hell of a bargain to just keep one or two teams of em around constantly beating inmates' heads in. wilderthanmild fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Oct 3, 2014 |
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Oct 3, 2014 05:28
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Riot cops don't have time limits, but having them around increases the chance that inmates will kick off and start something, so generally you only want to bring them in when things have already gone to poo poo, and dismiss them once everyone is cuffed/suppressed.
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Oct 3, 2014 05:51
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wilderthanmild posted:So I just got this game today. I didn't really know about the whole grants and such part of how you make money, so I was broke. I somehow strung together a hellish 3rd world type prison where I had roughly 12 prisoners in cells and about 10 to 20 in holding cells. It was overcrowded and covered in filth. There were daily riots, and many killings. There were no janitors and no doctors and only 4 guards on staff to keep the peace. Riot cops were pretty much permanently assigned to my prison along with EMTs. Usually there were unconscious inmates and staff all over the place while the EMTs tried to catch up. For some reason it would calm down just enough to get the prisoners mostly to be only to start up as a fight as soon as the cell doors opened in the morning again. A giant holding cell used to actually be a tactic at the start of the game, where you would only move prisoners to cells once they started getting the privacy need maxed out. I remember having a 200+ prisoner holding cell, where there were several doors leading to the kitchen, shower, and yard. God that was a beautiful thing, and it lagged so bad. Last time I tried this I ended up with a riot cooking off in there, and all of the guards dying instantly. plugged the exit with riot cops and ended up losing due to riot time lasting too long.
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Oct 3, 2014 08:16
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I'm just getting back into this. How do you recruit informants? I can see the CI view under contraband but I'm not sure what to do next. It mentions having a prisoner under duress so I assume I need something to happen to the prisoner first?
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Oct 3, 2014 09:43
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Hank Morgan posted:I'm just getting back into this. How do you recruit informants? I can see the CI view under contraband but I'm not sure what to do next. It mentions having a prisoner under duress so I assume I need something to happen to the prisoner first? If a prisoner gets sent for a long stint in solitary, especially if they also have drug or alcohol problems, or I think poor need satisfaction in general, they will show up under the CI view as being a potential informant. Click on them and in one of their tabs will be an option to recruit them.
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Oct 3, 2014 10:18
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I bought Prison Architect on the strength of the Alpha update videos the guys put out. They are generally hilarious, informative and it really does sell the game to you by showing you how much fun it is. I would advise anyone on the fence to check them out. I am not usually an early access guy. But I invested because I liked the cut of their jib. I actually look forward to the alpha update videos every month. It has the Chip & Ironicus feeling of one guy who is totally in the know while the other guy cracks jokes and plays dumb. I stopped playing a few updates back but I think it's time to jump back in. loving awesome game, and amazing quality and detail for what is essentially a bunch of guys running this indie company, I think the makers said they were inspired by Dwarf Fortress and Theme Hospital. Great OP by the way. Lonos Oboe fucked around with this message at 14:12 on Oct 3, 2014 |
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Oct 3, 2014 14:05
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Reposting here since the old thread closed like 15 minutes after I posted it... I think that with some tweaks, total isolation for PC/SuperMax is possible.  The kitchens heavily favor the closest canteen, but if you seriously overdo it, all the prisoners should get fed. This might be mitigated by segmented eat times in multiple canteens (reduce the number and split make PC/SM share canteens but never simultaneously). The problem I hit first was that I wanted to use Yard time as a way to force the prisoners out of the cells for cleaning/laundry/whatever. I forgot that a Yard has to be 5x5 so that failed this round. Redesign can fix that though. I'm going to retry this again with some learned lessons and I think I can come up with something solid.
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Oct 3, 2014 14:59
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Lonos Oboe posted:I bought Prison Architect on the strength of the Alpha update videos the guys put out. They are generally hilarious, informative and it really does sell the game to you by showing you how much fun it is. I would advise anyone on the fence to check them out. I am not usually an early access guy. But I invested because I liked the cut of their jib. I actually look forward to the alpha update videos every month. It has the Chip & Ironicus feeling of one guy who is totally in the know while the other guy cracks jokes and plays dumb. I stopped playing a few updates back but I think it's time to jump back in. loving awesome game, and amazing quality and detail for what is essentially a bunch of guys running this indie company, I think the makers said they were inspired by Dwarf Fortress and Theme Hospital. Yeah, this isn't really a typical Early Access game. At this point they could just do bug fixes and a proper introduction menu and it would be essentially ready for release. The fact that updates have been meaty and have added tons of depth is very encouraging.
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Oct 3, 2014 15:04
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Hank Morgan posted:I'm just getting back into this. How do you recruit informants? I can see the CI view under contraband but I'm not sure what to do next. It mentions having a prisoner under duress so I assume I need something to happen to the prisoner first? Whenever you get prisoners in Solitary, check to see if you can recruit them. In addition to what hailthefish said, lower security level prisoners are more likely to be willing snitches too. So a minimum security guy is more likely to become an informant than a medium security, and of course maximum security guys are pretty hardcore and even less likely. So if you really want some CI's chuck some minimum security guys in for 12 hour solitary sentences for no reason and see if they crack, or give longer solitary sentences for common offenses (like set your punishments to 6 hours solitary confinement for drug possession and run some cell block searches). wow that makes me sound like a terrible person Lockback posted:Yeah, this isn't really a typical Early Access game. At this point they could just do bug fixes and a proper introduction menu and it would be essentially ready for release. The fact that updates have been meaty and have added tons of depth is very encouraging. And there's no signs that they're close to done, either. Even if they said "well this is it the game is feature complete, no new stuff", I'm confident that they'd still do maybe another two or three patches for general bug fixes, polish, and balancing.
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Oct 3, 2014 15:10
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Pornographic Memory posted:So if you really want some CI's chuck some minimum security guys in for 12 hour solitary sentences for no reason and see if they crack, or give longer solitary sentences for common offenses (like set your punishments to 6 hours solitary confinement for drug possession and run some cell block searches). My standard policy is Search Him & Cell for every offense, 6 hours solitary for lesser offenses, 12 hours solitary for worse offenses. No punishment for luxuries. Is that bad  
lament.cfg fucked around with this message at 15:26 on Oct 3, 2014 |
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Oct 3, 2014 15:22
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Lockback posted:Yeah, this isn't really a typical Early Access game. At this point they could just do bug fixes and a proper introduction menu and it would be essentially ready for release. The fact that updates have been meaty and have added tons of depth is very encouraging. After getting my rear end burned on Spacebase DF9 I'm glad I also bought this so my early access experience isn't completely ruined.
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Oct 3, 2014 15:28
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In the previous thread, someone asked if changing the security level of a prisoner affects how much that prisoner gives you in grants. Quick testing shows: Yes, it does. You can indeed take in minsec prisoners, change them all to maxsec, and earn $125 more per prisoner. What I don't know, is whether changing the security level of someone also affects their behavior, or if that's stored in hidden variables on the prisoners when they're generated.
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Oct 3, 2014 15:57
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nielsm posted:In the previous thread, someone asked if changing the security level of a prisoner affects how much that prisoner gives you in grants. There's variation in prisoners where you'll get some MedSec who are clearly violent and outbursty and belong in MaxSec, and some MaxSec who are pretty calm, so I think the prisoner's inherent behavior is independent of security level.
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Oct 3, 2014 16:11
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So in short, if you want to run a minsec prison, just manually make all your prisoners into maxsec and get free money. It should probably count as a bug, though. E: Guys, I'm not sure that's supposed to go there. 
nielsm fucked around with this message at 16:33 on Oct 3, 2014 |
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Oct 3, 2014 16:23
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a worthy uhh posted:My standard policy is Search Him & Cell for every offense, 6 hours solitary for lesser offenses, 12 hours solitary for worse offenses. No punishment for luxuries. Is that bad Mine is basically the same except for instances of violence they get at least 18 hours in solitary, 36 if it's an attack on a staff member, and for no reason at all luxuries get like 48 hours in the hole or more because it amuses me. Anyone who I notice overdose gets manually put in the hole for 24 hours to get through withdrawal.
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Oct 3, 2014 16:32
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The game's awesome but it seriously needs gangs and death row. Death row guys should be the most hardcore since they have committed the most disgusting crimes and have nothing to lose. I know in real life a large amount of people on death row seem to settle down, be peaceful and other stuff but that would be boring for gameplay. Also this game makes me want to recreate OZ's emerald city. That show loving ruled even if the later seasons were kind of whacky.
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Oct 3, 2014 17:04
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Seems like the fairest way to assign the value of a prisoner is not to tie it to their security class but to the type of crimes they have committed.BillBear posted:The game's awesome but it seriously needs gangs and death row. Death row guys should be the most hardcore since they have committed the most disgusting crimes and have nothing to lose. I know in real life a large amount of people on death row seem to settle down, be peaceful and other stuff but that would be boring for gameplay. I'm anti-death penalty but I really really want to try out that electric chair in the game as well.
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Oct 3, 2014 17:07
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I thought prisoners were assigned an internal security level which stays the same regardless of what security you assign them to.
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Oct 3, 2014 17:18
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Turns out that trying to get everything up and running at the same time leads to mixed results: "Shower's just down the hall, second hole in the wall on the right, just by the pile of bricks, can't miss it. Don't mind the leaks and be sure to come back to the holding cell once you're finished, the gate's propped open with a pallet of bricks but the guards'll be miffed if you leave before we've finished building the place."
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Oct 3, 2014 17:37
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a worthy uhh posted:Reposting here since the old thread closed like 15 minutes after I posted it... Add a phone and tv to each cell. Except maybe the volatile prisoners, expect them to kick off regardless. Brightman posted:Mine is basically the same except for instances of violence they get at least 18 hours in solitary, 36 if it's an attack on a staff member, and for no reason at all luxuries get like 48 hours in the hole or more because it amuses me. Anyone who I notice overdose gets manually put in the hole for 24 hours to get through withdrawal. You gotta be careful with overdose, if you queue up a cell search before they get treatment, the guard that puts them into the medical bed then takes them out of the medical bed to search them, at which point they run out of time and die.
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Oct 3, 2014 17:49
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Spookydonut posted:Add a phone and tv to each cell. Yeah, I didn't get as far into the plan as 'amenities'. It was more of a quick experiment to see if solo canteens was viable. Next round is going to be a real try. And that's going to all go in the Yard. They'll spend basically all day in the Yard minus Eat and Sleep. That way the staff can clean the cell/provide laundry without possibly crossing into the prisoner. Does anyone know if Janitors try to clean an indoor yard? Or is that what a Groundskeeper would do?
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Oct 3, 2014 17:52
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a worthy uhh posted:Yeah, I didn't get as far into the plan as 'amenities'. It was more of a quick experiment to see if solo canteens was viable. Next round is going to be a real try. And that's going to all go in the Yard. They'll spend basically all day in the Yard minus Eat and Sleep. That way the staff can clean the cell/provide laundry without possibly crossing into the prisoner. They need to make a smaller serving table, that's what we are missing.
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Oct 3, 2014 17:54
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Another guy feeling pretty bad: Apparently that's what happens when you get to STARVING ++++++++++, begin taking damage constantly. I don't have any normal cells in this prison, so any time someone gets put on lockdown they have nowhere to go, meaning they just sit there cuffed, forever. This guy had apparently been there for a day or two without me noticing. Oops.
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Oct 3, 2014 17:58
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a worthy uhh posted:Yeah, I didn't get as far into the plan as 'amenities'. It was more of a quick experiment to see if solo canteens was viable. Next round is going to be a real try. And that's going to all go in the Yard. They'll spend basically all day in the Yard minus Eat and Sleep. That way the staff can clean the cell/provide laundry without possibly crossing into the prisoner. An indoor yard behaves like any other indoor area so that's on Janitors. Also make sure there's a Staff Only area between your Supermax/Protective Custody Yard and any areas you don't want those prisoners to go to. I had a shared Yard, and a Protective Custody Yard, and even though the Yards weren't contiguous, my PC prisoners would go to the shared Yard during Yard time until I made the entrance/exit to my PC zone a double door with the in between area marked Staff Only.
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Oct 3, 2014 18:11
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