To access the builds below you need to have a Forum Account that you have activated with your Prison Architect Key. If you do not have a key you can purchase one here. If you have any problems you can visit our support center.
Alpha 36 (28 August 2015)
Following our announcement that we are launching Prison Architect in October, this is your last ever Alpha update video.
Almost. Chris and Mark will be on stage at EGX in Birmingham, UK at 2pm on 26 September doing a LIVE V1 launch video!
I know it's a sad time, but you can wipe away your tears and checkout our new random event system which introduces a ton of chaos to mess up your smooth-running prisons.
Random incidents, disasters and challenges will occur during your game, providing extra difficulty and unpredictability.
This is an optional system, and is enabled from the "Create new prison" screen.
Events will not happen during riots, or if you have less than 50 prisoners on site
Events are less likely if there have been deaths and escapes recently.
Sometimes, rarely, several events may occur at once.
All events have an EXTREME version, which is very rare, and much more severe.
POWER STATION FIRE
Your power station catches fire. Can only occur if your powerstation is overloaded. EXTREME version: Your power station explodes, damaging buildings/equipment/people nearby.
KITCHEN FIRE
A cooker in the kitchen catches fire. This can cause havok with your mealtime arrangements!
We recommend you build sprinkler systems in key areas to mitigate this.
BULK INTAKE
A random number of prisoners will be transferred into your facility within the next hour. EXTREME version: All of the prisoners belong to the same gang, and you are probably fucked.
WORKSHOP ACCIDENT
A prisoner injures himself on the equipment in the workshop, and requires medical attention.
Prisoners injured this way get the "Bleeding" status effect. Get them to a doctor quick!
SUBSIDENCE
A random section of your wall or fence collapses. Get it rebuilt before we have a mass escape!
We always recommend double outer walls, and this gives yet another good reason.
VIRUS
A prisoner comes down with a highly contagious virus. The virus will spread to nearby inmates, so try to isolate them.
Prisoners suffering from this virus will look sickly, move slowly, and vomit a lot. Some will fall unconcious.
Your guards will try to take confirmed cases to the infirmary for cure.
Some inmates will go to the infirmary themselves, but only when they are let out their cells. EXTREME version: Some prisoners will eventually die from the virus if left untreated.
MASS ASSASSINATION
You discover that several inmates at your prison are federal witnesses in an upcoming prosecution.
Unfortunately, somebody has put a price on their heads and they will all be assassinated in the next few hours.
Find out who there are (using your Confidential Informants), and get them moved to Protected Custody.
Once the timer hits zero, they will all leave the prison to attend the court hearing, and will not return.
(Most likely living out their lives in federal witness protection, holding their breath every time they start their cars)
CITY MAYOR DEMANDS
The Mayor is under political pressure to appear to be doing the right thing.
He will from time to time phone you and demand certain changes to your prison, in the public interest.
The demand is always temporary - after a few days, things return to normal.
However Failure to comply will result in a heavy fine.
TV Removal
Due to public pressure, all TVs must be removed
Weights Removal
Due to public pressure, all Weights Benches must be removed
Less Food
Provide smaller meals with less variety, to try to save on costs
Remove Visitation
For security reasons, all visitation must be halted
PRISONER DEMANDS
From time to time the prisoners in your facility become so frustrated that they demand changes.
It's your choice to comply or not, but the prisoners will not be happy if you refuse.
Less Work
Prisoners wish to work for less hours during the day
More Sleep
Prisoners want longer to sleep at night
More Free Time
Prisoners want more free time during the day
Logs will now be automatically exported, unless EITHER
You have at least one carpenters table
OR You have a running carpentry program
Nb. This obviously requires an Exports zone near the road.
The CEO's letter is now made of a graphic and a (localisable) string in the language file.
This should make it much easier to translate into multiple languages.
= Bug Fixes
0009322: [AI & Behaviour] The mere presence of a shop is stopping prisoners from wanting to do carpentry (Icepick) - resolved.
0006776: [Save & Load] Fatal error during load save file. (John) - resolved.
Alpha 35 (30 July 2015)
Bored of a lifestyle of plentiful holidays and late night boozing
sessions with Mark, Chris has decided to put everyone under pressure
and commit to a launch in October of this year.
There is still much work to be done and we need your opinion on Alpha
35 which launches today and includes a massive update to the gangs
system. Prisoners can now trade contraband in the prison for cash and
with cash come protection rackets. Gang leaders will actively
instruct soldiers and lieutenants to acquire territory in order
to extort dollars from the non-affiliated prisoners who want to use
the facilities.
Sometimes a Legendary prisoner who arrives through Intake will also be a gang leader.
They will immediately assume control of their gang, and will establish a leadership hierarchy.
Can promote gang members into Lieutenants, up to a maximum of 1 lieutenant per 10 soldiers.
Can recruit non gang members into the gang. (Must visit the prisoner first)
Gang members are fiercly loyal to their leaders:
They will become angry (temperature increase) if their leader is being punished in Solitary or Lockdown
If a gang leader is killed, the entire gang will immediately try to start a riot
Gang Territory Capture
Gangs will attempt to take control of key areas of your prison.
The attempt is called a 'Play', and is led by a Lieutenant. He will gather a group of gang members together and give them instructions.
The soldiers will then proceed to the zone in question, and assert their authority over that zone.
If they are unchallenged, the territory will turn their colour and they will have ownership of it.
The player cannot build or change room setups within gang territory
Captured Territory
Once captured, territory shows up in the Gangs view as the colour of the gang who has claimed it.
Rival gang members are not permitted into the territory
Non gang members can enter the territory and use the facilities (eg Phones), but must pay Protection Money to the gang
Gangs accumulate money from non gang members this way, and will use the money to buy equipment such as stolen weapons
From time to time a lieutenant will arrange a 'Play' to revisit the territory with a group of soldiers, as a show of force.
Contested Territories
Sometimes a gang will be strong enough to take a territory from a rival gang.
They will only attempt this if they have sufficient numerical advantage.
A lieutenant will arrange a Play and will send enough soldiers to take the territory by force.
Eviction
Once a gang has claimed a territory, they must be Evicted to remove their influence.
Click on the EVICT button in the gang view to begin this process.
Any gang members within the territory will immediately turn hostile.
Nearby gang lietenants will arrange new 'Plays' in an attempt to re-capture their territory from your guards.
Once you have defended the territory for 24 hours, the ownership reverts to 'Unclaimed'.
Securing a territory
With enough guards, you can protect a territory against any gang control.
Nb this can only be done with an unclaimed territory - any gangs must be evicted first.
Security Rooms
Security rooms also count as territory, and are automatically guard controlled.
Guards can project their power from security rooms to any neighbouring territory.
Eg a security room with 10 guards inside will 'project' 10 guards onto all neighbouring yards, common rooms etc.
Nb. 'Neighbouring' means there must be a door between the security room and the yard/common room.
= Contraband trading
All prisoners can now trade their stolen contraband with other prisoners for money.
Prisoners will sell items they don't particularly want, and use that money at the shop or to buy other items from other prisoners.
The price of any item is based on the supply and demand of that item within the prison.
The approximate trade prices of all items can now be seen in the Intelligence / Dangers view.
- Ranged Weapon accuracy
All ranged weapons have had their accuracy nerfed (previously 100% for anyone).
Tazers: 60% accuracy
Tazers used by Armed guards: 70% accuracy
All other ranged weapons: 70% accuracy
All other ranged weapons used by Armed guards: 90%
- The following rooms now all require Prison Labour to be unlocked:
Shop
Library
Mail Room
- Additional Contraband can now be stolen from the following rooms:
Forestry : Saw / Axe / Spade
- Guard deployment screen now uses same layout engine as Jobs
= BUG FIXES
0007338: [Control & User Interface] GUI unusable with 4k UHD display when using windows dpi scaling set to 150% (John) - resolved.
0008467: [Graphics] Horizontal lines in graphics (John) - resolved.
0009547: [Control & User Interface] Mails can be cloned (Icepick) - resolved.
0003138: [Graphics] Visitor appears with invisible body (Icepick) - resolved.
0009058: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners are escorted to parole rooms zoned for other security levels. (Icepick) - resolved.
0002847: [AI & Behaviour] Dog patrols generate door open jobs when patrolling cell blocks. (stargazy) - resolved.
0007708: [Platform Specific Issues] Case sensitive filesystem issue (crash) (John) - resolved.
0007285: [Control & User Interface] Mouse pointer position is not aligned with the actual click position! (John) - resolved.
0007342: [Performance] Game stuttering/freezing every 3-5 seconds for around the same amount of time. This happens constantly. (Icepick) - resolved.
0003080: [AI & Behaviour] Dog leashes stretch (stargazy) - resolved.
0009256: [AI & Behaviour] Shop works to ineffectiv. (Icepick) - resolved.
0009254: [Graphics] Shop fronts placed in the corners of a building freak out. (Icepick) - resolved.
0001569: [Gameplay] Build a foundation without lights (Icepick) - resolved.
0009230: [Graphics] Shop Front has missing/incorrect Toolbar Sprite (Icepick) - resolved.
Alpha 34 (30 June 2015)
Extra! Extra! Bloody Brawl ends in death as gang members fight over Japanese pornography in prison commissary!
We've churned out many, many new features this month - we now include native support for the pictorial Asian languages, a shop which sells snacks, porn and anything else your prisoners may want to buy as well as our first implementation of gangs.
Some prisoners will now have gang allegiences upon entering your prison.
This can make those prisoners much harder to deal with, as they will work to defend each other during trouble.
This is an optional feature, enabled by ticking the new "Gangs" tickbox in the New Map screen.
(Nb. You can also hack gangs into an existing prison by adding 'EnabledGangs true' to the top of the .prison file)
More dangerous / higher security prisoners are more likely to be gang members.
Gang members can be identified visually by their full body tattoos
Gang members will always come to the aid of their fellow gang member when fights break out.
This includes coming to the aid of a fellow gang member involved in a fight with guards.
Gang members more likely to try to steal weapons, and more likely to carry them rather than stash them.
Gang members will not participate in any voluntary reform programs
Gang members will not work for the prison
New view : Intelligence => Gangs. Highlights all known gang members and shows the total number of members of each gang.
Nb. This is part 1 of a larger feature.
= New room: Shop
Requires shelves and a shop front. The shop front should go on a wall such that prisoners can acces the shop front from a corridoor.
Shop goods will be brought into the prison in the usual way, and taken to the shop.
Prisoners can work in the shop, and will unpack the boxes of goods onto the shelves.
Prisoners can buy items from the shop to help with their needs:
Soap, shampoo etc for Hygene
Towels, blankets etc for Comfort
Magazines for entertainment
Snacks for Hunger
All prisoners are now paid a fixed wage of 50 cents per hour when working for the prison
Items in the shop cost $5 each
Prisoner wages and shop takings are now shown in the daily cashflow report (updated at midnight)
Prisoners are more inclined to participate in voluntary training programs, and will concentrate harder, when there is a shop on site. (They want to earn that wage to buy things for themselves).
The shop is a potential source of smuggled contraband
= Asian language support
The game now supports asian character sets, paving the way for translations into
Japanese
Chinese
Korean
etc
- Mail room (continued)
Fixed: Mail satchels would be endlessly delivered in certain circumstances
You can now dump mail satchels if you end up with too many
- Escape tunnels (continued):
Each member of a dig team now brings diminishing returns to the overall speed of digging.
This represents the fact that (say) 10 prisoners just couldn't dig all at once in one square.
Previously 4 prisoners would dig four times faster than just 1 prisoner.
it will now take 4 prisoners to dig twice as fast as just 1 prisoner
It will take 11 prisoners to dig three times as fast as just 1 prisoner
Searching a toilet manually will now reveal any escape tunnels.
Nb this requires you specifically search the toilet itself, and does not apply if the toilet is searched
as part of a "search cell" or "search cell block" order
Conventional fences no longer slow diggers down
- The research screen now flashes a warning if you are attempting to research an item,
but are missing the neccesary Administrator, or he does not have an office
- Emergency services personel no longer need to rest in a staff room
- More prisoner faces added to the sprite bank, for greater variety
= BUG FIXES
0003270: [Control & User Interface] Flashing Yellow area in deployment screen not explained
0004990: [Gameplay] Basic Detention Center fails to recognize completed rooms if other rooms are incomplete
0003318: [AI & Behaviour] Delivery Trucks fail to stop and unload (when delivery zone at bottom of the map)
0006493: [AI & Behaviour] prisoners use the same seat/phone/shower etc
0007248: [Mod System] Special Characters prevent mods from work
0008666: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners reading books will stop following regime and freeze up unable to fulfill needs.
0008916: [AI & Behaviour] Mail Room keeps ordering more Mail Satchels
0007670: [Control & User Interface] Spelling of bureaucratic in Chapel Description
0003271: [Gameplay] Clone Tool + Water
0007630: [AI & Behaviour] Gardeners and other AI vibrate when in 3x speed mode
0006067: [Gameplay] Prisoners are tunneling too fast (through perimeter wall)
0001166: [Gameplay] Guards wont take prisoners to Solitary Confinement, prisoner stuck in limbo
0008714: [AI & Behaviour] Some dump jobs are never done
0008766: [AI & Behaviour] Empty Parole Program slots not being filled despite long queue of eligible prisoners
0005953: [Graphics] Uniform's are sometimes under the bed
0006142: [Graphics] Render issues when stacking drains with other items
0008750: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners do not leave Transport Bus if reception is full of laundry
0005453: [Gameplay] Power Switch + Cctv Monitor = UNLIMITED VISIBIlITY!
0008996: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoner released during shower leaves naked
0000665: [Gameplay] pausing stops the limit-check for daily spending
0008034: [AI & Behaviour] Chefs Don't Cook
0008129: [Graphics] Death Row font too dark
0006952: [AI & Behaviour] In large prisons suboptimal transport job causes death of overdosing prisoners during transportation to infirmary
0005830: [Gameplay] Bureaucracy research never finishes if started during pause after firing warden
0002935: [Gameplay] Guard dogs kill prisoners
0007920: [AI & Behaviour] Unconscious dog and dead handler
0006228: [AI & Behaviour] Dog handlers can't get tazers anymore, but research says they can
0009032: [AI & Behaviour] Dead guards in hearse still have flashlight on
0003311: [AI & Behaviour] Guards escorting prisoners to from their cell to the same cell over and over
0008135: [AI & Behaviour] Dirty trays are being stacked outside canteen (in a remote solitary cell, for example)
0007151: [Gameplay] Truck drivers can be sacked
0006966: [AI & Behaviour] 0 demand for meals in the second hour of Eat
0003132: [Gameplay] Sometimes contraband is listed as "None"
0007437: [AI & Behaviour] Cooks Not Cooking
0007933: [Other] cooks wont cook (Cellblock assigned to non-canteen in logistics)
0008904: [AI & Behaviour] Laundry without door breaks near-by rooms
0008624: [AI & Behaviour] Riot Police get tired
0007675: [Graphics] Altar not displaying properly against a wall
0008988: [Save & Load] Last Game Save causes a Crash to Steam Client
0008946: [Gameplay] Library Books keep coming
Alpha 33 (28 May 2015)
Turn away from the dark side.... In last month's video we discovered a prison that was so horrible that it gave Chris nightmares. Feeling sorry for the little orange-clothed yardbirds, he invented a whole new system of privileges. Bigger cells, tellys, radios etc all make prisoners happier and less likely to kick off. Go on - go easy on them for a bit.
All prison cells are now graded on quality/luxury, on a scale 0 - 10
Factors that can affect the cell grading:
Room Size
Outside facing window
Desk & Chair
Tv & Radio
Bookshelf
Shower
Entitlement
Prisoners are entitled to better quality cells (if they exist) as they build up time for 'good behaviour'.
You can see a prisoner's good behaviour time in their tooltip.
One day good behaviour is worth one point of cell quality.
As soon as they misbehave, they will lose their nicer cell and go back to quality 0.
Your guards will automatically swap prisoner room assignments from time to time, to try to match everyone to the right cell.
New incoming prisoners are entitled to an 'Average' cell when they arrive
New view : Logistics -> Room Quality
Shows the current grading of all cells in your prison.
The colour coding gives a rough guide - green means excellent quality, red means por quality.
Shows two numbers over each cell, in the form X / Y:
Y is the current grading of the cell.
X is the grade that the current occupant is entitled to.
Behavioural changes
Prisoner's chance to misbehave is now affected by the quality of their cell AS COMPARED TO AVERAGE.
Eg a prisoner in a below-average cell is now more likely to misbehave than before
Prisoners staying in above-average cells are less likely to misbehave, because they want to keep their room
= Misbehaviour / Temperature changes
Prisoner 'boiling point' now factors in punishment/reform/health/security.
This means prisoners become less likely to misbehave over time, if you successfully punish/reform them, and take care of their health and security
Prisoner tooltip now shows time since last misconduct (good behaviour time)
Prisoners with long sentences ahead of them are now more likely to cause trouble than before
A prisoners re-offending chance is now recorded when they first visit the prison.
This value is visible in their Rap Sheet, under 'Grading', in the tooltip for Re-offending rate.
= New room : Mail Room
Allows your prison to receive mail from the outside world - ie letters from inmates families
Bags of unsorted mail will arrive every day at 6am, and be taken to the mail room
Prisoners work within the mail room to sort the mail into satchels, ready for delivery
Prisoners or Guards then take those satchels around the prison and deliver the mail.
Prisoners experience gains in Family, Recreation and Comfort when reading mail
The incoming unsorted mail is a new source of smuggled contraband
New item : Radio
An additional luxury item you can place in a cell to improve it
Prisoners can listen to a radio for recreation (very similar to the way Tv works)
- Deliveries, Garbage, and Exports must now be at least 1x3 (previously would have been ignored if less than 3 high)
Fire (continued)
Fire now destroys utilities like pipes and electrical cables
Fire trucks will now leave dead and unconcious firemen behind
Firemen now take 75% less damage from fire than other entities
Entities now react better to fire - avoiding it where possible
Fire-engine siren sound now shuts off correctly
= Bug Fixes
Fixed: Sometimes loading a prisoner based on a Name-in-the-game resulted in corrupted body and head sprites
Fixed: Movement commands from the player didn't show up unless the entity was itself on screen
Fixed: Typing '%' into input fields causes the game to crash.
Alpha 32 (30 Apr 2015)
We will launch in Q4 2015.
We've spent the last month spitting and polishing and have broken our previous bugbash record with over 130 issues fixed. On the plus side the game is less buggy and plays better, but the downside is that I've got nothing to write about here so I though't I'd firm up the launch date for ya!
- 0008706: [Save & Load] Autosave text is hard to see (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008675: [Save & Load] Text Inputs don't work - Save Game Menu broken (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008712: [Control & User Interface] [Regression] Dismantle utility one by one (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0003059: [Other] two of the same kind building arent supported very well (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0005122: [Gameplay] Wood is not sold if carpenter tables are in the prison (solution suggested!) (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0007271: [AI & Behaviour] Kitchen staff won't properly dispose of food trays, which accumulates and creates a major blockade (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0004101: [Control & User Interface] Programs starting or ending at noon show as 12am instead of 12pm (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0003780: [AI & Behaviour] Logs get sent to Exports on load (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0006323: [Graphics] Superior Beds are un-crated when moved from exports to trucks (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0001846: [Sound] Master Volume 0 is at Max volume (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0008347: [Gameplay] Execution Detail won't leave prisoner's cell when execution area full of lights (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0008456: [Control & User Interface] Cancelling utility cancels foundation first (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0002217: [AI & Behaviour] 2 kitchens cause cooks to run between the two unproductively. (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0003967: [Gameplay] trays and pots with 1 cooked ingredient don't get used (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0003326: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoner Uniforms stay in (staff only?) delivery area (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008647: [Control & User Interface] Cctv, phone and door control wires problem. (achurch) - resolved.
- 0001834: [AI & Behaviour] Cooks have bad priorities for getting food (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008598: [Control & User Interface] clone tool behaving weird when on copy mode (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008455: [Control & User Interface] Completing tutorial (ESC?!?!) (achurch) - resolved.
- 0001863: [AI & Behaviour] Chefs will start a new batch of food before another one fills up, filling cooker slots unnecessarily (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0007734: [Gameplay] Cooks not preparing food in all kitchens (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008545: [Gameplay] Utilites screen (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008438: [Performance] Planning Tool Crashes (achurch) - resolved.
- 0007961: [AI & Behaviour] Food Distribution network not identifying Demand for staggered second midnight meal sitting. (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008196: [Gameplay] Person can be put back on death row after clemancy. (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0007164: [AI & Behaviour] Cooks taking trays to kitchens around the prison (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0003964: [AI & Behaviour] Cooks work although there is no kitchen defined (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008138: [AI & Behaviour] You can execute already executed prisoners (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008137: [AI & Behaviour] Reading prisoners will not follow lock down during execution (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0002559: [Control & User Interface] "Remove tunnels" material can be placed multiple times (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0008437: [Control & User Interface] [TABLET] Controls on the Intake screen non-responsive, intake cannot be changed (achurch) - resolved.
- 0007148: [AI & Behaviour] Janitors will not deliver laundry to cell blocks if there is a different security designation in the way (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0007072: [AI & Behaviour] Staggered Eat sessions don't run smoothly (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0005435: [Gameplay] Ingredients (Cooking) are getting move to Storage (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0007829: [AI & Behaviour] Cooks do not prepare enough food due to food in storage (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008591: [Control & User Interface] Bureaucracy menu doesn't scale correctly (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008501: [Control & User Interface] Cannot see prisoner count (achurch) - resolved.
- 0001347: [Other] Multiple copies of a prisoner's family arrive at the same time (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0002070: [Control & User Interface] UI Indicators for Research Requirements (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0004223: [Gameplay] Single hire staff members can be hired more than once when the game is paused (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0008191: [Gameplay] Prisoners with indefinate solitary/lockdown cannot be released (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0008600: [Graphics] Utilities mode when launching tutorial (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0004572: [AI & Behaviour] Cooks take food to the staffroom (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008538: [Sound] Audio does not work after an Alarm from the Clock app (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008334: [Control & User Interface] Permanent Punishment is difficult to revoke (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008486: [Control & User Interface] Screen sensitivity too high (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008518: [Control & User Interface] Reports button also interacting with placing objects or materials (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008458: [Platform Specific Issues] CEO's letter crash (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008185: [Gameplay] Properly conducted execution gives penalty in Valuation tab (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0003320: [Performance] Prison Architect Crashes upon launch (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0004466: [Save & Load] Game crash when opening the language tab in the menu (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0008503: [Control & User Interface] You can't reopen the keyboard in the "Names in game tab" (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008548: [Graphics] Bureaucracy menu blue progress bars [Tablet] (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008495: [Control & User Interface] Bureaucracy, research information persists onscreen after exiting menu (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008494: [Control & User Interface] Clear Rooms selection creating its own room (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008419: [Control & User Interface] Unable to buy items after opening bureaucracy (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008462: [Control & User Interface] IPad version Home menu button still shows the (Esc) shortcut (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008549: [Control & User Interface] Player prompted to go to press 'H' (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008474: [Gameplay] Game crashes or lags IPAD Version (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008416: [Control & User Interface] Death notification does not locate the death (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008465: [Control & User Interface] Close / X button sizes different (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008413: [Control & User Interface] Options menu, "Time Lapse" appears but does nothing (achurch) - resolved.
- 0005458: [Gameplay] Prison Uniform (Dirty) not getting cleaned (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008573: [Other] Survey link in news feed doesn't work (achurch) - resolved.
- 0007263: [AI & Behaviour] The janitors are avoiding cleaning cells that are under lockup. (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0005822: [AI & Behaviour] Lockup for one security level affects shared as well (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0008487: [Graphics] Windowed Mode Graphics Option (achurch) - resolved.
- 0008434: [Control & User Interface] Overwrite save game dialog is too small (half the size) (achurch) - resolved.
- 0001603: [Gameplay] Prisoners throw dirty clothing into walls (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0001400: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners walk out of prison (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0002003: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners escape, when unloading food from truck. (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0002344: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners who work in the kitchen escape (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008454: [Save & Load] Loading non-existing save file "freezes" game (achurch) - resolved.
- 0004694: [Save & Load] Crash when i click on the saved game to load it. (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0007769: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners not released if their sentence is served before they are taken to their cell (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0005066: [AI & Behaviour] Workers not hauling from trucks. (when delivery area needs cleaning) (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0006987: [Graphics] Phone Tap light not correctly placed after rotation (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0005005: [AI & Behaviour] no job to transport to lockdown for holding cell prisoners (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0001716: [AI & Behaviour] Prisioners will not go to sleep (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0002403: [AI & Behaviour] Cooks fill up Fridges outside Kitchen (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0000249: [AI & Behaviour] Time Warp Factor doesn't work in bureaucracy (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0000213: [Gameplay] Room size requirement only checked on tile bounding box. (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0007681: [Control & User Interface] ToDo list says I have 10 visitors in 40 groups (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0000925: [Gameplay] Unassigning room tiles does not trigger requirement revalidation (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0000214: [Gameplay] Rooms can be made up of disconnected tiles (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0000372: [Gameplay] Placing walls does not subdivide existing rooms (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008387: [AI & Behaviour] [exploit?] cookers/fridges not needed to feed 1200 all-solitary prisoners (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0004517: [Control & User Interface] Can not (directly) dump Laundry Baskets (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0001679: [Gameplay] Wall and door on the same tile (door blocked by wall) (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0006207: [AI & Behaviour] Janitors will not do laundry if there is "staff only" access to the laundry room despite them being staff. (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0008390: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners take Laundry basket from Reception (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0006925: [Save & Load] You can sell your prison after it has already been sold (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0003772: [Gameplay] Riot guards get purchased body armour (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0007697: [Gameplay] Forestry is built inside newly built foundations and trees planted (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0003365: [AI & Behaviour] If there is a tree in delivery area, can't start map (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0007145: [AI & Behaviour] Items wont unload from truck (when building on the delivery zone) (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0007055: [Gameplay] Workers won't leave truck if foundation is to be built over delivery area (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0000422: [Gameplay] Clone tool allows you to copy rooms when you don't have the money for it (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0006625: [Gameplay] Forestry on Road (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0007623: [Graphics] Prayer mat look weird when against a wall (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0007466: [Gameplay] Unlimited money through shares (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0003845: [Control & User Interface] Selling Shares Bug (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0008391: [AI & Behaviour] Searched Uniforms in reception get taken to Laundry (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0008392: [AI & Behaviour] Dead entity doesn't drop job (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0007294: [Control & User Interface] Every other right mouse click is ignored (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0003462: [Gameplay] Armed Guard limit increased by uninstalled lockers (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0005757: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners "exercising" in giant clump in canteen (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0002668: [Control & User Interface] Unable to remove tunnel at edge of map (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0008336: [Other] Crash on starting Introduction (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0005659: [Control & User Interface] Cannot disconnect CCTV or Remote Door Servo from Utilities Screen (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0008259: [Gameplay] Adding punishment to a permanent lockdown/solitary prisoner results in over 8000 hours of punishment (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0006878: [Control & User Interface] Lack of staff results in misleading error message when trying to use a tool (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0008065: [Gameplay] [Tutorial] Edward's cell occupied by newly arrived prisoner (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0007703: [Graphics] When loading up a prison and entering bureaucracy, there is a visual bug with unstarted research (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0008139: [AI & Behaviour] Doctors try to heal dead Prisoners an get stucked (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008213: [Gameplay] You can build drains on walls (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0008094: [AI & Behaviour] AI Paths everyone weirdly round drains (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0003375: [AI & Behaviour] Placement of visitor table and other objects does not clear planning indicator (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0004487: [Control & User Interface] Pathway planning markers won´t disappear (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0000246: [Gameplay] Delivery Trucks that cannot deliver will charge you again each time they retry (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0006950: [Gameplay] Ingredients not being delivered to kitchens that need them (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008156: [AI & Behaviour] Execution Detail pathing failure (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008157: [AI & Behaviour] Doctors are stuck in a loop, healing starving prisoners forever. (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008257: [Control & User Interface] No error message when attempting to start an execution with no execution room (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008136: [AI & Behaviour] Priest, warden & chief freeze on execution screen (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0007137: [Control & User Interface] Typing W, A, S or D into the Object Search Bar Shouldn't Move the Camera (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0007365: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners handcuffed for no reason on entering canteen (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0004433: [Gameplay] Security in Diplomacy allows stationing of guards without Deployment researched (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008232: [Gameplay] Can Assign work to prisoners without prison labour if you have micromanagement (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0008233: [Control & User Interface] Lawyers have an outdated description. (Icepick) - resolved.
- 0004914: [AI & Behaviour] Cannot remove tunnels on the road (FCExB) - resolved.
- 0007626: [Control & User Interface] Prison Labour assigning too fast/sensitive (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0007942: [Control & User Interface] Crash in Timelapse Options (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0007926: [AI & Behaviour] Activating bangup makes bus drop prisoners in place (lim_ak) - resolved.
- 0008097: [Control & User Interface] Skip button in cutscenes moves with camera (lim_ak) - resolved.
Alpha 31 (27 Mar 2015)
Deathrow has finally been implemented. Be careful to follow due process to avoid heavy fines! Also, cut down on contraband with the new reception room.
Unlocked in the usual way through Bureaucracy, and requires his own office.
The lawyer grants access to a variety of legal loopholes and new facilities for your prison.
Minimum cell size removal
Prison Cells can be built to any size - they are no longer to obey the legal minimum
of 3x2 metres. Note they must still contain a bed and a toilet.
Indeterminate sentences
Prisoners can now be assigned lockup or solitary confinement that remains in place
until you say otherwise. This is a massive breach of their human rights, but the Lawyer
will allow you to skirt the issue and do it anyway.
Death Row
Opens up the opportunity and responsibility of executing prisoners sentenced to death.
= Death row
To receive Death Row prisoners, you must:
Unlock Death Row through the lawyer
Build an execution facility - a room with an Electric chair, and chairs for the witnesses
Build cells nearby and flag then as "Death Row Only" in the security deployment screen
Death Row prisoners will then begin show in your Intake screen - although they are quite rare.
They must stay in a Death Row designated cell, and they do not follow the regime.
They are effectively locked down 24 hours a day, with two exceptions:
They can receive family visitors in Visitation
They can attend their Appeals process to try to have their sentences commuted.
New program : Death row appeals process
Every Death Row prisoner has a chance to try to clear his name, or have his sentence commuted.
He will attend the appeals process, and each time has a chance to be released, or downgraded to max-sec.
All Death Row prisoners have an estimated chance of clemency, visible in their Rap Sheet.
This represents your staff's best estimate at his chances at clemency.
Each time he fails the appeals process, his estimated chance of clemency is HALVED.
The more appeals you allow for a prisoner, the more certain you can be of his guilt.
= Executions
Once you are satisfied a Prisoner has had sufficient chance to appeal, you may schedule an Execution.
This can be done from his Rap Sheet, and once begun it will take over your view until over.
A process must be followed for each execution:
Prison lockdown : All prisoners return to their cells
The chair is electrically tested, putting your prison under high electrical load.
In addition, the prisoner must be able to walk to the facility.
Witnesses are escorted to the facility and will sit in seats provided, if available
The Warden, the Chief, and the prisoners chosen Spiritual Leader will gather in the condemned man's Cell
The prisoner will be escorted to the execution room, along with the Warden/Chief/Priest
Execution
The staff and witnesses are dismissed and may leave
Once completed, you will be given a report on the success or failure of your execution.
If justice was done, you will receive a $10,000 bonus for your work.
WARNING: If you push ahead with an execution before sufficient appeals have occurred,
you will be held personally responsible if evidence comes to light which later exonerates the prisoner:
You will be fined $50,000 instantly.
The intake queue of Death Row prisoners will immediately empty.
In addition, any Death Row inmates within your facility will be immediately transfered away by bus.
If this happens 3 times, you will be fired.
NOTE: The state sanctioned "safe level" for chance of clemency is 5%.
In other words, if you wait until a prisoners clemency chance is below 5%, you will not be held liable
for any miscariages of justice that may later come to light.
Your Lawyer can raise this threshold to 10% if you instruct him to do so.
= New room : Reception
An optional room, that gives Prisoners a dedicated arrival point (replacing Deliveries)
Once built, all new prisoner arrivals will go through this room.
Prisoners must be escorted into the Reception room, then strip-searched. Any contraband will be found.
They are then given fresh uniforms.
Guards then escort them (still shackled) to their destination - either a cell or a holding cell.
The process requires lots of available guards, but is much more secure than arrivals through Deliveries.
NOTE: The Laundry Logistics system will assign one of your laundries to handle the clean uniform requirements.
- Using the Bangup emergency option will no longer rapidly raise the 'temperature' of your prison.
However, having lots of prisoners shackled (in their cells or in solitary) will contribute to the 'temperature'.
= Bug Fixes
Fixed: The 'criminal negligence' failure case had become broken in alpha 30 - your avatar was not spawned correctly
0007974: [AI & Behaviour] Crash loading game with PhoneBooth redefined to be non-wired by a mod
0007967: [AI & Behaviour] Crash with prisoners unloading from prisoner bus
0007932: [AI & Behaviour] Guards not taking prisoners to (available) solitary cells
Alpha 30 (27 Feb 2015)
Introversion Software Proudly Presents: Prison Utility Tangled Wire Simulator. We've mostly been focussed on the tablet version of Prison Architect (stand by for another mail calling for testers soon), but we haven't neglected our desktop players.
We've passed control of prisoner intake back to the player and adjusted the budgets a bit to balance things out. Parole is a lot more sensible and you can no longer murder prisoners by starving them to death in solitary - enjoy!
You can now control the intake of inmates to your prison, via a new Intake report tab.
Use the controls to set an exact number of inmates you'd like to receive each day.
Any prisoners not accepted will accumulate in a pool, and can be brought in at a later date.
You can use the ratio sliders to alter which categories of prisoner you will receive. NOTE: The ratio sliders affect which prisoners will be coming next from the pool,
but they ALSO affect which categories of prisoners will be added to your pool each day
You now receive a one-off payment for each inmate you accept into your prison:
Minimum security : $300
Medium security : $500
Maximum security : $1000
You now receive a fixed daily grant of $150 per prisoner, regardless of category
Prisoners now arrive by bus, instead of on the back of a delivery truck
= Parole (continued)
The Warden and Chief are no longer required for Parole hearings.
The Parole program now uses a 'Parole Officer' and a 'Parole Lawyer', both of whom count as external staff.
They will arrive on site to hold the parole hearing with a prisoner, and leave when it has completed.
This means you can now run as many parallel parole hearings as required.
The $10,000 fine incurred if paroled prisoners re-offend has been removed.
The $3,000 bonus is still available, and can be won by paroling a prisoner who does not re-offend.
This can be a significant source of income, if you work to reduce the re-offending chances of your inmates through punishment and reform.
The failure condition still exists: If 10 of your paroled prisoners re-offend, you will be placed on warning.
If 5 more paroled prisoners re-offend within the next 48 hours, you will be fired.
- Wire Tidy Mode
If your wiring diagram is becoming too messy, you can now tidy up the layout using the new tool in Utilities: Tidy Wires.
Click on any Wired object to begin, then you can click on the wires to pin them into fixed positions.
You can click and drag pins around as you wish, and Right click on pins to remove them.
- Grant cancellation
You can now cancel any Grant currently in progress, from the Reports/Grants window.
You will have to repay any money advanced as part of the grant, as well as a 10% fine.
The grant can be accepted again at a later date if you wish.
NOTE: Some grants cost you money to acccept, eg the Investment grants.
Cancelling these grants will REFUND the money you invested, but you will still pay a 10% fine.
- Other Improvements
Prisoners in solitary confinement or locked-down in their own cells will now have meals brought to them.
This should prevent prisoners starving to death in solitary.
The Logistics/Jobs view now shows the qualification required to work in each room type
Eg. the Workshop says "Required: Workshop safety induction"
The range at which prisoners will surrender when shot at has been reduced from 6 squares to 4.
A maximum of 10 prisoners will now surrender per gun shot.
This should stop huge crowds of rioting prisoners being defeated by a single gunshot
Added new animations for prisoners exercising on a weights bench
New toolbar icons for Intelligence, Dangers, 7 days/24 hours contraband, and Informants
Prison Architect now uses significantly less memory, as a result of work done for iPad/Android
= BUG FIXES
Prisoners sent to solitary could sometimes end up stuck there forever
Extreme performance glitch in the Laundry logistics system, if you had a single extremely large sector with lots (hundreds) of cells
We're closing in on the end game now and we've conquered one of the big last hurdles - Parole. Build a parole room, set a schedule and let the Warden, Chief and Lawyer battle over a prisoners future. Get it right, get a little bonus; get it wrong and be slammed with a fiscal penalty for your lefty liberal softly-softly touchy-feely weak on crime, weak on the causes of crime attitude. We've also brought in Libraries and Places of Worship - Enjoy!
All prisoners are now granted a parole hearing when they reach 50% of their sentence, and another at 75%.
To facilitate this you must build a Parole Room, and start the Parole Program.
A parole hearing requires the Warden, the Chief, the inmate, and in the inmates lawyer.
At the end of the hearing, the board will make a decision and the inmate may or may not be released early.
The decision is based on their estimated re-offending chance (viewable in their rap sheet).
Under the Policy tab there is a new slider that governs how lenient your parole board will be
Inmates who are denied parole may become angry, and may even attack the parole board staff
Financial rewards :
If a prisoner is paroled early and does not re-offend, you will receive a bonus of $3,000.
If he does re-offend, you will be fined $10,000.
This occurs the moment the prisoner leaves the map
NOTE: Inmates must be able to navigate to the parole room. Eg Staff Only won't work.
NOTE:
Only one parole hearing can happen at a time, because the Warden and Chief must be present.
However you can have multiple parole rooms in different security zones,
and your Warden/Chief will move around as required.
New failure condition : You will be fired if too many Wardens are killed in your prison
New failure condition : You will be fired if too many paroled prisoners re-offend after early release
= New room : Chapel
About one third of your new prisoners now have a Spirituality need.
Build a Chapel (Multi-faith-prayer-room) to give them a place to pray.
New furniture:
Pews
Prayer mat
Altar
New reform program : Spiritual guidance.
A religious leader from the community will visit your prison, and talk to your prisoners.
This will instill in them a sense of calm, which affects not only them but also those around them.
Prisoners may attend this program as many times as they wish.
= New room : Library
Around one third of your new prisoners now have a desire to read books,
for education, curiosity and entertainment.
New furniture:
Library Bookshelves
Librarian's desk
Boxes of used and donated books will be delivered to your prison once you have a library.
Employ prisoners in the library to sort these boxes of books and place them on your shelves.
(Prisoners must have the "Foundation Education" qualification before they can perform this job)
Prisoners can visit the library and borrow books.
Prisoners will read in their spare time, wherever they are sitting - library/canteen/cell etc.
Returned books must be re-sorted onto the shelves
Books wear out and become ruined after a while, and more will be delivered
Note: Boxes of used/donated books may be used to smuggle contraband into the prison, so plan accordingly
= Parallel Deliveries
Trucks will now load and unload in parallel, so long as they are aligned with a Delivery/Exports/Garbage zone when they stop.
Extend your Deliveries zone vertically so you can unload 2 or 3 or even more trucks simultaniously.
Trucks now cope better with multiple Deliveries rooms (and Garbage/Exports rooms)
Trucks now move 50% faster
= Mod warning window
Many prisons now use mods to enhance the game, adding furniture, materials, programs etc to the core game.
This causes problems when you attempt to load those prisons without the mods being enabled.
From now on, upon loading such a prison you will be shown a list of all mods that were used to make the prison
If these were Steam mods, you can easily click on each required mod and auto-magically download and activate it
If they were not steam mods, clicking the mod will open a browser to a URL where you can download the mod Note: This will only work for prisons saved with alpha-29 or later
= World time index now stored in double precision
This only affects prisons that have been running for hundreds of game days
This caused visual bugs such as extremely jerky animation, slow moving particles etc
= Navigation improvements
Entities will no longer attempt to navigate through "Remote Doors" that don't have a powered Servo attached,
as those doors cannot possibly be opened by anyone.
Entities will wait at a locked door for 30 seconds. They will then attempt to find an alternative route.
This alternative route may well be longer, but will avoid the door they are stuck on.
= Bug fixes
Fixed : Deployment scheduler doesn't always update live deployment (until end of hour)
Alpha 28 (18 Dec 2014)
Merry Christmas Everyone! It's a shorter month before we all head off to sit around trees and open presents in front of roaring fires, but we've still got one last great update for 2014.
We've improved the interface, implemented time-based scheduling for your deployments and added a pied piper moving toilet that surpresses prisoners - enjoy!
We have begun to move various interface elements around, and improve other elements,
in an effort to bring the user interface up to Version 1.0 quality.
New toolbar top left of screen, incorporating Todo/Research/Grading/Main Menu
Objectives/todo window improved, incorporated into new toolbar
Topbar "Bank Balance" tooltip now shows recent transactions
Search box added to Rooms toolbar, and Objects toolbar. Use this to filter the list of icons.
Greyed out items in the main toolbar now have a greyed out caption as well
In the main toolbar, "Contraband" has been renamed to "Intelligence"
Contraband "supply & demand" report has been moved to the "Intelligence" toolbar
Informants list interface tweaked, should fill less of the screen
= Sector targetting continued
New toolbar button : Logistics.
Allows the user to control Food distribution and Laundry distribution.
"Jobs" button moved from Deployment to Logistics.
Laundrettes will target all nearby cell blocks automatically.
Every cell block has at least one Laundry servicing it, and every Laundry services at least one cell block.
The system will do its best to make laundries target other sectors of the same security zone, so that prisoners can do the work.
Can manually override the targetting from the Laundry Distribution screen.
= Deployment Scheduling tool
You can now change the schedule of guard deployment, and guard patrols, at any hour of the day.
Use this to place more guards in the canteen at lunch time, for example.
Requires new unlock : Micromanagement
Click on the timeline at any hour to cycle the current schedule. White is the base schedule.
You can drag the current time left and right, and change the schedule at any time of the day.
Patrol icons for guards/dogs/armed guards now enlarge when selected
= Truck drivers
Many large prisons suffer from a blocked delivery lane, with materials/prisoners/food etc trapped and unusable.
To combat this, all delivery trucks now come with a driver, who will helpfully spawn when the truck stops.
He will help unload the deliveries and load garbage and exports.
The truck can't leave until he returns.
However if he dies or falls unconcious whilst doing his job, or takes too long to return (>1 hour),
the truck will leave without him and he will be forced to walk home.
= Mod changes
Direct mapping of WorldObject variables to Lua variables via Lua metatables.
Allows access and assignment of object properties without the need of complicated function calls (GetProperty/SetProperty)
All variables can now be access via object tables in Lua, such as the "this" table for the scripted object. Eg:
this.pos.x = 10
this.damage = 0
The Needs system of a prisoner can now be accessed in lua: "this.Needs.Bowels = 1" etc
The Status Effect systems of a prisoner can also be scripted: "this.StatusEffects.suppressed = 1"
= Game Balance
Escape tunnels now quite a bit less frequent
Prisoners now more likely to change into a clean uniform, if one is available
Ironing now takes twice as long
New research : MicroManagement
Unlocks many of these newly added advanced features:
Deployment scheduling
Reform program manual scheduling
Canteen logistics
Laundry logistics
= Bug fixes
Fixed : Require at least one informant active to see throw ins determined by phone tap
Fixed : If there is no infirmary, doctors will now hang out in the delivery area rather than wandering
the prison. This probably isn't the fix many of you were hoping for, but this is a prison,
not a hospital. Doctors don't randomly wander the halls searching for people to heal in prison.
0000140: [Control & User Interface] Some objects can be built multiple times in the same location (square) (Icepick) - resolved.
0001311: [Other] When all laundry baskets leave the laundry, room requirements are no longer met. (Icepick) - resolved.
0000251: [AI & Behaviour] Guard set on a patrol route ignore people attempt to escape (Icepick) - resolved.
0006964: [Gameplay] All dirty laundry disappears when put into laundry basket. (lim_ak) - resolved.
Alpha 27 (28 Nov 2014)
Quantum tunneling and food delivery do not play well together - that's what we have learnt from your feedback last month, so we've been busting our balls to fix our food system and we've finally fixed it (we hope). From now on PA will map prisoners and kitchens onto specific Canteens, but when the AI gets it wrong you can make changes.
We've taken the same approach with scheduling reform classes - the AI'll have a bash at putting the right classes, in the right rooms at the right times - but you can open the scheduler and schedule to your heart's content.
Finally we've added a "flag bio" button - if you find one of the bios grossly offensive, you can hit the button and we'll get notified about your concern.
0002305: [Other] CEO phonecall (RGeezy911) - resolved.
0001647: [Other] Shears item name misspelled as "Sheers" (RGeezy911) - resolved.
0000783: [Other] spelling mistakes in Language File (RGeezy911) - resolved.
0000476: [Control & User Interface] Maintenance is misspelled in Bureaucracy screen, elsewhere (RGeezy911) - resolved.
0000073: [Other] Missing apostrophe in CEO dialogue (RGeezy911) - resolved.
0002681: [Control & User Interface] Typos: In descriptions of CCTV cameras and Holding Cell (RGeezy911) - resolved.
0005187: [Control & User Interface] Possible misspelling in Grant description (RGeezy911) - resolved.
0006688: [Graphics] Black Screen with game running the the background (works fine in Alpha 25) (John) - resolved.
0005835: [AI & Behaviour] Piles of dirty clothing not being dealt with (lim_ak) - resolved.
0006824: [Gameplay] rubble needs to be repaired (lim_ak) - resolved.
0006823: [Gameplay] Water pump continues to supply water after being dismantled (lim_ak) - resolved.
0003579: [AI & Behaviour] Guard Dogs get stuck at the entrance of Kennels (John) - resolved.
0006033: [Graphics] Flashing power symbols after foundations are bulldozed with lights installed. (John) - resolved.
0004767: [Graphics] Single Electric Cable Invisible (lim_ak) - resolved.
Alpha 26 (30 Oct 2014)
It's another bug bash! We've spent the month slogging our way through
the bug database and fixing the highest priority issues to being you a
slicker, faster, better, less buggy Prison Architect. But that's not
all - NOT ONLY have we fixed 39 issues and resolved 550 duplicates, we
also present a brand new feature! Tell your mates, put it on
facebook, set twitter on fire, let the world know that Prison
Architect now comes with a digital clock.
0003969: [AI & Behaviour] visitors may go to the wrong visitation rooms (Icepick) - resolved.
0000027: [AI & Behaviour] Garbage is unloaded at Deliveries (elDiablo) - resolved.
0001061: [Save & Load] Prisoner's sleep state not saved (Icepick) - resolved.
0004784: [Control & User Interface] Policy Tab - Setting punishments to "None" resets after save & load (lim_ak) - resolved.
0002563: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoner released same time as family goes to meet him (Icepick) - resolved.
0002611: [Graphics] An Invisible Prisoner (Icepick) - resolved.
0005896: [Save & Load] Cannot save game. So I cannot load it neither. (John) - resolved.
0006020: [Gameplay] Bankruptcy when playing with unlimited funds (lim_ak) - resolved.
0004601: [Sound] [motherbug] Issues regarding Sound which does not stop when it should (Icepick) - closed.
0002461: [Sound] riots music does not stop after a riot (Icepick) - closed.
0004874: [Sound] Lockdown alarm continues to sound after loading a different *.prison (Icepick) - closed.
Alpha 25 (25 Sept 2014)
You've had it too easy for too long... We've heard tales of stable
prisons that run themselves overnight and we've decided that no self
respecting strategy game should be this easy. We've introduced new
prisoner "reputations" that mean they're not just going to sit
still because their needs are met. No, these boys are going to mess
things up!
Tazer power has been reduced, guards need to attend training classes
and prisoners have remembered how to build escape tunnels again.
= Reputation
New prisoners sometimes have a reputation, shown when highlighing them or
in their rap sheet.
Nb. Existing prisoners (in alpha 24 save games) will not have any
reputation - only new arrivals.
The reputation specifies unusual abilities or traits they may possess,
which affect their behaviour.
- 50% of reputations are known when the prisoner arrives. The other 50%
can be revealed through your informants.
- All prisoners have a new "Character" tab in their rapsheet, which gives
details on their reputation.
- STRONG hits harder with each punch during fights
- TOUGH can withstand a lot more punishment in a fight.
He can also sometimes withstand being hit by a
Tazer
- VOLATILE liable to kick off without warning and for no
reason
- STOICAL will not become suppressed when locked in
Solitary
- SNITCH a known informant, and as such his life may be
in danger. Don't leave him alone with other
prisoners for too long
- DEADLY a master in lethal combat moves, and can
sometimes kill with a single hit
- EX LAW was once a Police Officer, or some other law
enforcement profession. His life may be in
danger
- COP KILLER guilty of murdering a Police Officer. Your
prison guards may be unable to restrain
themselves when subduing him
- FEARLESS not intimidated by the sight of Armed Guards,
and is less likely to surrender during a fight
- QUICK an unusually fast runner
- INSTIGATOR sows seeds of discontent in all those nearby.
When he causes trouble, nearby prisoners will
feel compelled to do the same
- In some cases, the prisoner will have a high degree of a reputation,
eg "Extremely Strong" or "Extremely Volatile".
- In a very small number of cases, you will receive a LEGENDARY PRISONER.
These guys have a potent mix of the above list that makes them very
dangerous.
= New Prisoner Categories
To help deal with the new troublesome prisoners, two new categories of
prisoner have been created.
Prisoners must be manually assigned to these categories.
These new categories have a corrisponding new Zone in the Deployment
screen, and a new Regime column.
- Protective Custody
Useful for hiding your snitches, ex law enforcement etc in a safe
zone where they cannot be attacked
Nb. Informants sent to protective custody lose coverage quickly (out
of the loop)
Nb. During riot conditions, some of your most dangerous prisoners may
attempt to attack the protective custody wing
- SuperMax
If you simply cannot control a particular prisoner, move him to
supermax.
Allows you to segregate them away and instigate strong lockdown and
security measures
= Escape Tunnels Overhall
Escape Tunnels have been rebalanced, and are now viable once again
Prisoners in neighbouring cells will team up to try to dig a combined
escape tunnel.
They can share any tools they have during the operation
Many weapons can now also be used as digging tools, eg Knifes, Forks etc
Guard dogs are now more reliable at discovering tunnels, and will mark
the suspected spot with a small flag.
Searching a cell now has only a low chance to discover an escape tunnel,
UNLESS the prisoner is digging it when the guard enters!
To discover a tunnel for certain, dismantle the toilets in the cells you
suspect.
= Confidential Informants (continued)
- Any single informant now has a maximum coverage of 50% at the time he
is hired
- An informants coverage will slowly increase over time (beyond 50%), so
long as his suspicion is low and he is not 'active'
- The Informants overlay now shows the highest level of suspicion ever
reached by an informant, as a black line.
- You can now highlight and select prisoners and staff etc in the
Informants window
- Informants now reveal Assassination Targets - ie prisoners who will be
attacked if left alone for too long
This is shown as a red crosshair over the prisoner.
(Known informants / Snitches, ex law enforcement etc)
= Game Balance changes
- Prisoners responsible for a serious injury will have their category
automatically increased (min-sec to medium, medium to max-sec)
- Prisoners responsible for a murder will be charged and given an
additional 25 year sentence, and will automatically reclassify as
Maximum Security (if they weren't already)
- The 'temperature' of your prison must now be at least 33% before a riot
can start
- 10 Prisoners must be rioting before a prison-wide RIOT status can
occur. To stop the riot, you must reduce the number of rioting
prisoners to 3 or less.
- Tazer Training Program
All regular guards must now pass the Tazer Certification Program
before they are permitted to use a tazer.
This takes place in the classroom and is led by the Chief.
The staff window now shows which guards have body armour and tazers.
Nb. When loading an alpha 24 save, all Tazers owned by regular
Guards and Dog Handlers will be confiscated, and a refund
given.
Nb. Dog Handlers can no longer carry Tazers.
- Prisoners can now pick up weapons from their current room during
fights, escapes, riots etc. (Based on what is available as contraband)
- The Morgue is now a source of Knifes and Scissors
- Prisoners can now improvise a Shank in the Workshop
- Prisoners can now improvise a Baton in the Cleaning Cupboard (by
snapping mops)
- Prisoners can now improvise a wooden pickaxe in the Workshop (for
digging tunnels)
= Mod System Continued
- Now supports multiple active mods at once, even if those mods all add
their own new graphics
- New property to set material auto-consumed on job
- Can now auto-order raw materials
- NEW SCRIPT COMMANDS:
GetNearbyObjects - Get a list of all nearby objects of a
certain type
NavigateTo - Instruct an entity to go somewhere
ClearRouting - Clear an entity's destination
- Panic Button mod
A new 'official' test mod that adds a Panic Button to the game, using
the new script commands. Injured staff members will run to it and
press it, and guards will be summoned to the area.
- Fixed : You can no longer place Foundations that you cannot afford
- 'Unlimited Funds' option in 'New Prison' screen.
Spend as much money as you like while building your prison - a more pure
sandbox mode.
- Prisoners will now be assigned to Rehab programs more reliably, when
addicted/alcoholic/withdrawn
= BUG FIXES =
- 0004559: [Gameplay] Prisoners don't starve to death
- 0000353: [Graphics] Door is diagonal
- 0004957: [Gameplay] Cooker works fine without electricity
- 0003352: [AI & Behaviour] TVs satisfy Recreation Need without Power
- 0001382: [Gameplay] Workshop saw and press don't require electricity.
- 0004684: [Gameplay] Objects requiring power/water remain functional
when power grid overloaded
- 0003186: [Save & Load] Water Valve resets to On when game is Reloaded.
- 0000106: [Platform Specific Issues] Pipe Valves do not save state.
- 0005166: [Graphics] some Guards show premanently their fists after a
fight
- 0003486: [Gameplay] Prison Guards do not recieve weapons back
- 0005448: [Graphics] Bleach sprite is sometimes incorrect
- 0000022: [Control & User Interface] Needs tab does not scale past 200
prisoners.
- 0001948: [Control & User Interface] Steam shift+tab menu pausing and
unpausing the game
- 0003720: [Graphics] Prisoners in class facing the wrong way
- 0001351: [AI & Behaviour] Visitors facing the wrong way
- 0002391: [Graphics] Drains overlap beds/toilets
- 0003989: [Graphics] Drains appear above washing machines
- 0002970: [Control & User Interface] Lights over doors prevent door
operation
- 0000066: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners use showers (and toilets) without
water
- 0004275: [Other] Laundy machines work without water
- 0005668: [AI & Behaviour] Guard looking away from CCTV monitor
- 0002777: [AI & Behaviour] Emergency personnel can't open staff/jail
doors
- 0000181: [Graphics] Pool Players Disappear During Their Game
- 0005262: [Graphics] Drain overlapping toilet
- 0004755: [Gameplay] When buying a plot of land above your land, your
unfinished foundation jobs move upwards towards the new land
- 0000191: [AI & Behaviour] Hired staff chooses office without any
furniture
- 0003646: [AI & Behaviour] Dog sniff icon won't disappear
Alpha 24 (29 August 2014)
Shush, you ain't seen me, right? Get me out of this hole and I'll tell you what you want to know..... We've introduced Confidential Informants - Snitches - these guys can help you to root out all the nasties, but be careful, over use them and their fellow prisoners will figure it out and juck 'em.
We've also made a giant leap in the mod system - we've made it super easy to mod your own stuff into the game, from churches to ice rinks, if you want it in PA, someone will make it! No longer are there 4 developers working on the game, now it's more like half a million......
The modding system has been substantially upgraded.
It is now possible to create new versions of just about everything in a mod:
Objects / Entities
Rooms / Zones
Equipment / tools / weapons
Materials
Research / Bureaucracy
Emergency Callouts (eg Riot Police)
Reform Programs
Grants (The only area you could add new content previously)
Jobs (eg tend these vegetables)
Needs, and Need Providers (eg "Bladder" is a need, "Toilet" is a need provider)
Production / Work rules
(eg Move sheet metal to the workshop, load it into the Saw, cut it into license plates)
Custom graphics can be provided by data/sprites.png.
(Please keep your sprites.png as small/compact as possible - so we can load more mods at once)
We currently only support a single graphics patch at a time, however we will upgrade this for next alpha.
All objects can use an optional LUA script to drive their behaviour
We have created a sample Mod called "The amazing vegetable garden mod", which demonstrates many of the new features:
It adds a new Vegetable Patch, in which seeds can be planted.
These seeds are tended by prisoners, and eventually grow and can be harvested as vegetables.
Those veg are then taken to a (new) Vegetable Preparation Table in the kitchen, where they are chopped
into ingredients.
Those ingredients are then used for cooking meals within your prison.
Prisoners can sometimes be hired as Confidential Informants, and will provide insight into illicit activity within your prison.
Prisoners *might* be willing to become CIs in exchange for being released from a long stint in Solitary.
In addition, suffering Withdrawal symtoms from drug abuse, or suppressed from heavy handed treatment will help convince them.
Once recruited, CIs must be "activated" and will be escorted in cuffs to the nearest security office.
They will then reveal their information in the new "Informants" view under "Contraband". They will reveal:
All contraband owned by prisoners
All contraband being smuggled in (eg by delivery trucks)
All arranged throw-ins, ie near the outer walls
All escape tunnels
Prisoners who have been in your prison for longer will have more information for you.
Each time you activate a CI, or act on their information, suspicion in that CI will increase.
If their suspicion rises too high, their life may be in danger.
= Remote Access systems continued
Servos can now be set to 'Close on trigger', which means they will close their door when triggered instead of opening it.
Power Switches can now be turned on and off by an incoming wire connection
New object : Pressure pad. Activates when stepped on
New object : Status light. Lights up when activated
Rendering speed of all wires increased
Performance of logic gates much increased (helps with large circuits)
Wires are now rendered only when an object is selected, or "All Wires" is selected in the Utilities menu.
Contraband thrown over walls is now less likely (minimum distance between throws now 15, previously 10)
Historical Contraband now pruned to 7 days maximum.
This hugely reduces memory requirements and save game file size, and will also help performance in very long running maps.
Theft of spoons and forks from the Canteen was becoming excessive. The canteen is no longer a source of spoons or forks.
When multiple objects are in a single square, you can now cycle between them by pressing TAB
Fixed : Broken materials will now be dumped, so they can no longer block things from working.
Eg 'Broken' uniforms are never used, but also never replaced.
Cleaning Cupboard rooms now require the Cleaning research to be completed.
Trees now arrive in packs of 10 (saplings in plant pots), ready for planting (instead of one tree in a single crate)
Alpha 23 (31 July 2014)
When the cravings get too bad, just take a stroll to the outer wall... ...and whistle. Contraband now gets thrown over walls and smuggled in the Chef's ingredients. You're gonna need some more dogs!
We've also massively beefed up the automation - remote controls, time locks and daisy chaining of door servos will free up your time (and your guards) for more pressing matters. Also, Chris went mad and implemented a load of logic gates - WTF!
You can now build a number of interconnected systems and servos in your prison, to automate access through locked doors.
These new objects are unlocked via 'Remote Access' in the beauracracy screen, and available in the Utilities menu.
All of these systems can be connected together using the 'Connect' tool in the Utilities menu.
Door Servo
Attaches to an existing door. Can be triggered electrically to open the door.
Door Control System
Operated by a guard in a security room. Allows guards to open doors remotely.
The system is connected to servos via the new 'Connect' tool in the utilities menu. Note: The operator can open a maximum of two doors per second, so don't overload a single system with too many servos. Note: If a Door Control System becomes broken, ALL connected doors will spring open.
Door Timer
Another way to control doors automatically, based on time of day. Click on the door timer to access its schedule.
All connected doors will be opened when the schedule says they should be.
Remote Door
A strong metal door that cannot be opened with Jail Keys. You must connect this door up with a Door Servo
and control it remotely somehow.
= Cctv overhall
The old cctv system has been replaced, using the new Connection mechanics developed for Remote Access Systems.
Cctv Monitors must now be connected to cameras using the 'Connect' tool.
A single Cctv Monitor must now be operated by one Guard, and a Guard can only operate one monitor at a time.
A Monitor can be connected to as many cameras as you wish, but has only eight screens.
If you connect it to more than eight cameras, the monitor will cycle through them, giving only partial coverage.
= [ADVANCED FEATURE] Logic Circuits
Two new objects have been added purely as an experiment, and are not required for any normal prison.
These objects can be used to build advanced electrical circuits.
Logic Circuit
A boolean logic gate with X inputs and 1 output.
Available operations : And / Or / Not / Nand / Nor / Xor
Right click on the circuit to cycle the operation.
Logic Bridge
Can be used to send a signal via Electrical Cable (normally used to power your prison)
Place the Logic Bridge over a cell containing Electrical cable, and that entire cable will have the same signal value.
Any Logic Circuit sitting on the same Electrical Cable will receive the signal as one of its inputs.
This is specifically useful for transmitting a common signal around your circuit - eg a Clock signal,
without requiring thousands of seperate wires.
= Contraband Smuggling continued
Contraband can now be smuggled in via materials in a Delivery Truck. Anything brought in via Delivery Trucks can be used.
E.g. Food ingredients, metal sheets for the workshop, prisoner uniforms, construction materials etc.
Dogs will detect narcotics in these items, and metal detectors will spot metal items.
Guards can now search these items on request.
Once brought into the prison, the contraband will remain in its material until a nearby prisoner picks it up. Note: The types of contraband smuggled in this way will be determined by the Supply and Demand within the prison.
Contraband can now be thrown in over the external walls.
Prisoners 'arrange' this when phoning home, or when talking to their visitors in Visitation.
They will arrange to go to a pre-determined place at a certain time, and collect a specific item.
The item chosen will be based on the needs of that prisoner.
If there are guards near the collection point, the contraband will not be thrown in.
The maximum throw range is 10 squares, and cannot happen in sectors marked as 'Staff Only' as prisoners cannot get there.
= Other changes
Intoxication is now a type of Misconduct, and is 'detected' when a Guard searches a prisoner. He will notice they are high/drunk.
You can now set the punishment for Intoxication in the Policy table.
Being caught Intoxicated automatically refers the prisoner to the relevent 'Rehab' program, if it exists.
Utilities mode now filters the display based on what you are building, to give a clearer view.
Only relevent objects and connections will be shown depending on the mode - Electrical, Pipes, Circuit wiring.
Fences are no longer free (YOU try getting hundreds of metres of fences for free)
You can now expand and contract the Todo list to free up screen space
More info has been added to the tooltips in the Build Toolbar
Kitchen Sinks now require a water pipe connection
The 'Day X' timer in the top toolbar now shows the total 'Real Time' played on this prison
Fixed a subtle bug in the audio system that caused audio corruption sometimes - buzzing, popping, clicking
Alpha 22 (27 June 2014)
Faster, sleeker and less frustrating: All 5 programmers coded their way through 18 days of bug stomping effort and managed to kill 73 major bugs and resolve over 1600 duplicate issues. Ladies and gentlemen, we present to you: A less buggy version of Alpha 21.
This removes any walls and floor materials and returns them to concrete floor.
It only works indoors, and does not remove the external walls of the building.
It also removes any objects in the area.
Added more informative failure messages to the Reform screen, for when scheduling fails.
These are common failures that were wrongly reported as "NO ROOMS FOUND", leading to many bug reports
ALL ROOMS STAFF ONLY : The room must be available to the prisoners, Staff Only therefore doesn't count
NO REGIME TIMESLOT : There must be a slot in the regime of X hours of Work time, sufficient to fit the full session in
NO TEACHERS : You don't have any of the required teacher type
Guards no longer hang out in the Holding Cell when they have nothing to do
You can now clear a regime for Max or Min sec prisoners and return to the default Normal sec regime,
with a new X button in the regime window
Narcotics continued
The Methadone program is no longer 'graded' in the same way as the other academic/practical programs.
Success chance is now based simply on attendance. Concentration and Understanding no longer play a part
Doubled the penalty to 'Health' grading for drug and alcohol addictions (now -4 points per addiction)
Doubled the effect on re-offending chance of drug and alcohol addictions
The Methadone program has been renamed to 'Pharmacological Treatment of Drug Addiction'
The Alcoholics Anonymous program has been renamed to 'Alcoholics Group Therapy'
Food ingredients will only be delivered if you have a Kitchen
Food trays will only be delivered if you have a canteen
= FIXED
0002217: [AI & Behaviour] 2 kitchens cause cooks to run between the two unproductively. (Icepick) - resolved.
0002260: [AI & Behaviour] Prisoners are not shown by CCTV (Reef) - resolved.
0004823: [Gameplay] [motherbug] Crash in generating PNG *after* writing save on 64bit linux/windows/mac (John) - resolved.
0003649: [AI & Behaviour] Utility placed as object and interrupts further utility placement (elDiablo) - resolved.
0004685: [Graphics] [BugBash-1d] Object graphics messed up and swapped around (_alphaBeta_) - resolved.
0000590: [Gameplay] Cancelling foundation doesn't refund money (Icepick) - resolved.
0003279: [Gameplay] CCTV not revealing prisoners in Common Room and showers (lim_ak) - resolved.
0003304: [Gameplay] CCTV Cameras get stuck (lim_ak) - resolved.
0004496: [Control & User Interface] Pressing space in menu resumes game time (lim_ak) - resolved.
0002866: [Gameplay] Expanding land drops ALL patrols (lim_ak) - resolved.
0004172: [AI & Behaviour] When you have 2 laudries all the baskets end up in one of them eventually (it gets crowded with laudry baskets) (Icepick) - resolved.
0004533: [Save & Load] Somtimes when saving the game crashes (Reef) - resolved.
0003941: [Platform Specific Issues] Crash on auto-save (Reef) - resolved.
0003228: [Save & Load] crash on save, no data is lost (John) - resolved.
0004049: [Save & Load] AutoSave Bug on linux System - save works but png image does not (John) - resolved.
0002710: [Save & Load] Game crashes after autosave on 64bit distros (John) - resolved.
0001734: [Other] CCTV Camera Issue in a work/laundry area (Reef) - resolved.
0001577: [Platform Specific Issues] Crash in the campaign. (John) - resolved.
0002205: [Save & Load] Game hangs when / after saving (John) - resolved.
0003612: [Save & Load] [Linux] Save game causes crash - resolved.
0000379: [Save & Load] Failed to save any prison or load second scene in introduction [Cyrillic symbols] (John) - resolved.
0000028: [Other] Bureaucracy for free (lim_ak) - resolved.
0004492: [Gameplay] De-zoning a Solitary Cell will cause a crash (John) - resolved.
0001984: [Gameplay] Laundry Baskets can not be dismanteled or removed once placed. (Icepick) - resolved.
0000046: [Control & User Interface] Can click on some menus "behind" Bureaucracy screen (lim_ak) - resolved.
0001383: [Graphics] Workshop saw and press deployed incorrectly if rotated. (Icepick) - resolved.
0000045: [Graphics] Shower drains not aligning to grid properly (Icepick) - resolved.
0004368: [Other] Startup crash in __GLeeGetExtensions (John) - resolved.
Alpha 21 (30 May 2014)
I want to get High, so High. Prison life can be tough so who can blame a fella for seeking out a little chemical relief from the strain of daily life? Well, you probably, when you have to start dealing with medical emergencies and violence as the junkies fight over the final wrap. Drug abuse is a tough issue to get right and this is only our first pass. Even so, maybe you can get those methadone programs working and clean up your jail?
Prisoners can now take drugs (typically smuggled in through visitation), and develop addictions
Addiction gets stronger with each use of a drug
Prisoners go into withdrawal if they do not get their drugs fix quick enough
Some prisoners arrive with existing addictions, other prisoners try drugs when bored or dissatisfied
All drugs have a chance to cause an overdose, which is lethal unless immediately treated by a Doctor
The chance of overdose increases with the strength of the addiction
Currently included:
Heroin
Cocain
Alchohol
Two new Reform programs to help combat drug addiction:
Methodone program, a chemical suppliment that helps remove the craving of addicted prisoners
Alchoholics anonymous meeting, a group therapy session aimed at reducing the psychological dependence on booze
Prisoners who refrain (or are prevented) from taking drugs for long enough to make it through withdrawal have a chance
to cure their addiction, Cold Turkey style.
= Advanced regime control
You can now control the regime for each security group independantly - Min sec / Normal sec / Max sec prisoners
Use this to rotate the actions of your different prisoner categories throughout the day
Regime 'Nothing' has been renamed 'Lockup', to better reflect its meaning. Prisoners must return to their cells during Lockup.
= Language selector
There is now a Union Jack flag in the Main Menu (top left) which can be clicked on to change the game language.
This opens the language selector screen, which shows all currently installed language packs (MODS)
In the STEAM version this screen also lists ALL language packs currently available via the Steam Workshop
Selecting any language pack will automatically download it and apply it, and the Union Jack icon will change appropriately
Translation work : Many more hard-coded strings have been exported to the language file, ready for translation
= Surrender
Prisoners now have a chance to surrender when faced with lethal force
Armed guards shout warnings before opening fire. Weaker prisoners will surrender immediately, raising their hands in the air.
More aggressive prisoners may surrender after being shot at or wounded by gunfire.
Surrendered prisoners are immediately 100% suppressed, and will return to their cells after the armed guards have passed.
NOTE : Soldiers still do not shout warnings, and will not accept surrender once they have engaged a target.
- You can now assign discretionary punishments from a Prisoners rap sheet - up to 24 hours Lockdown (in cell) or 24 hours in Solitary
- Bank loans no longer count against you in the consideration of bankruptcy. So you can use a bank loan to escape bankruptcy if it is available.
- Fixed : Army trucks no longer get stuck on locked Road Gates
- In the "Names in the Game" list you can now select your entry and tick the box labelled "This is me"
This sets your prisoner avatar to this character. If you find yourself locked up within your prison,
this is the prisoner who will embody you.
- Many main menu screens now use better font sizes for lists
- Nutritional policy moved to Policy window. Policy now unlocked by Warden
- The maximum copy size of the Clone tool has been doubled from 6 squares to 12 squares
- Dog sniff range (drug detection) has been reduced slightly
- Improved visual effect for tazer fire
Alpha 20 (29 Apr 2014)
You've all had it too easy for too long. Sitting there, building your prisons, not caring about deaths or insolvency. Well NO MORE! We've introduced failure conditions and now, if you f**K up it's game over.
We've also graded all prisoners on four scales: Punishment, Reform, Security and Health. You can check these out in the rap sheet and when summed over the whole prison you end up with a score. Lefty-liberal reformist paradise or super-right super-max super bad ass punishment amplifier - you go ahead and max those stats. The Punishment Inspector shall be pleased.
All prisoners have a new 'Grading' tab in their rap sheet, in which they are scored on four key metrics:
PUNISHMENT
To what extent has this prisoner been punished? Long jail terms and solitary increase this.
REFORM
How successful have your reform attempts been? Passing reform programs and working increases this.
SECURITY
Was the prisoner kept safely locked away? Fights and escapes detract from this, armed lockdown counts towards it.
HEALTH
A measure of the welfare of your prisoner. Keeping them well fed and exercised will increase this.
These factors are combined, together with their age, number of prior convictions etc, to produce an estimate of their
Re-offending chance.
There is a new overall grading 'score' screen, available from the build toolbar.
The gradings for all your released prisoners are combined together and shown.
This screen shows what type of prison you have produced, and how successful you have been.
= Failure conditions (!!! TURNED OFF FOR PRE-EXISTING PRISONS !!!)
It is now possible to fail when building your prison, in certain circumstances. This constitutes a game over event.
All failure conditions come with a verbal warning from the CEO, giving you chance to avert the failure.
There are currently four failure conditions:
RIOT
If you let a riot run for too long, the government will be forced to step in and take over your prison.
In this event you will be sacked, and the National Guard will be deployed to retake your prison by force.
BANKRUPTCY
If you have a negative bank balance and a negative cashflow, you are bankrupt.
You will have 24 hours to put in place a financial rescue package before being sacked.
DEATHS
Too many deaths in a single day will trigger a warning. If more deaths occur the next day you will be sacked.
You will then be convicted of Criminal Negligence, and will spend time within your own jail as a prisoner.
ESCAPES
Too many escapes in a single day is a PR disaster waiting to happen.
If more escapes occur the next day you will be sacked.
NOTE : Failure conditions are OFF for all pre-existing prisons. They will apply when you create a new prison.
You can manually turn them on by adding this line to your save file at the top:
FailureConditions true
On screen counters will popup to notify you of deaths and escapes that occurred today
- It is now much easier to find foreign language translations in the Steam Workshop.
Go to the main menu / Extras / Mods / Find more translations.
Fixed: Many steam mods were incorrectly tagged as language translations.
- Finance continued
The "Days without incident" bonus now scales based on how many prisoners you have.
You now need 200 prisoners on site to achieve the maximum bonus increase of $1,000 per day.
This scales up each day you achieve it, up to a maximum of $10,000 per day, requiring
200 prisoners without incident for 10 or more days. Good luck!
You can no longer trade in shares, or sell your prison, if there have been any deaths or escapes
in the past 24 hours. This should put a stop to unconsionable players who helped prisoners escape
or commit murder in order to profit from share trading!
Yesterday's exports are now reflected in your cashflow as income
- New graphics added for body armour upgrades
guards, armed guards and dog handlers.
- Fixes
Fixed : Exports zone would not work correctly if placed above the Deliveries zone,
or placed vertically aligned with the Deliveries or garbage zones
Fixed : Having negative cash reserves stopped hourly cashflow from happening
Fixed : Prisoner sentences counted down faster on larger maps, due to the time warp factor used
Fixed : In the "New prison" window, the "Fog of war" and "Continuous intake" tick boxes didn't work properly
Fixed : Particles and sun shadows are now correctly obscured by fog of war
Alpha 19 (27 Mar 2014)
Balance sheets, Cash-flow, P&L, Shares. This month it's all about the greenback. Right from Alpha 1 the finance system has been broken - there's never enough money to do what you want to do, when you want to do it. Well, no more.
We've introduced more grants, bank loans and the selling of shares in your prison to raise more funds. The mid game is now much more directed and focussed and really changes the way PA is played. Please let us know what you think!
Cashflow is now visible from the very start, without needing an Accountant to unlock it
Cashflow is now paid hourly, instead of at midnight as before
The starting bank balance has been increased from $10,000 to $30,000
The daily federal grant has been increased from $1,500 to $2,000
You now receive more daily money for the max security prisoners
Cash Bonus : Days without Incident
You now receive a bonus to your cashflow based on the number of days without incident.
The bonus accumulates at a rate of $1,000 per day without incident.
So after 1 day you get a $1,000 bonus, but after 2 days you get a $2,000 bonus
The maximum daily bonus is $10,000 for 10 days straight without incident.
The amount received resets immediately to zero after a death, serious injury, or escape.
Corporation Taxes
You must now pay tax - 30% of all profits, directly out of your daily cashflow.
Once you have a profitable prison you can use your accountant to reduce this to 15%
You can also unlock an offshore tax haven for a whopping $50,000, that reduces your Corporation Taxes to 1%.
(This is only recommended for prisons with massive daily profits)
Bank Loans
You can now borrow lump sums of money from the bank, and pay interest on the amount borrowed.
Interest payments are made hourly, and each successful payment increases your credit rating.
As your credit rating increases, so does the amount you can borrow, up to a max of $100,000
Prison Share Scheme
You can choose to sell shares in your prison to private investors and venture capitalists.
They will pay you 10% of the current prison value, in exchange for 10% ownership of your prison.
You can sell up to 50% of your prison this way, and you can buy back at any time (although the price may have gone up)
However if you've sold 30% of your prison to investors, you will only receive 70% of the price when you come to sell the entire prison
= Game rebalancing
The prison 'temperature' now increases quite a bit slower, taking much longer to reach dangerous levels
The temperature falls much quicker once the causes of frustration have been resolved
A prisoner's "time served" now counts up much more slowly, meaning they will spend longer in your jail before release.
Previously one year sentence = 36 game hours (1.5 days)
Now one year sentence = 120 game hours (5 days)
The Workshop Safety Induction can now be taught to 10 prisoners at once (up from 5 previously),
and prisoners can use a workshop saw OR a workshop press whilst learning
- New room/zone : Exports
Finished items are taken from the workshop to the new exports zone. Workmen will do the hauling.
If the exports zone is 'secure' then your prisoners will also do the hauling.
Items in the Exports zone will be loaded onto passing delivery trucks and taken away.
You will be paid as they leave the prison site. NOTE: Logs will be auto-sold if there are no workshop Saws on site. NOTE: Wood will be auto-sold if there are no carpenters tables, or no qualified carpenters on site
- SDL 2.0
The game is now using SDL 2.0 for windowing, mouse/keyboard input, and sound. (Previously SDL 1.2)
This should help with hardware compatibility and reliability
Also provides better support for high dpi displays, joypads, tablets etc
- High DPI mode
High DPI mode is now supported on certain displays - eg the Macbook Pro Retina display. Enable it from the Graphics menu. This will make the game look significantly sharper on high DPI displays.
(Eg Retina Mac previously ran the game at 1280x800 - now runs at 2560x1600 on a 13" screen!)
= Improvements and Fixes
Greatly improved the display of Jobs in the deployment screen
You must now keep your Administrators employed if you wish to continue using the facilities they have unlocked
Prisoners with 'Qualifications' gained from reform programs will now strongly prefer to work in jobs that use those qualifications
This fixes a problem where all your qualified workshop prisoners went off to do the cleaning
Tazers are no longer flagged as 'Metal', so wont set off metal detectors
Trees will no longer leave a stump if they are felled indoors, eg after building new foundations over forest
The Emergency Services toolbar now shows tooltips for each service type, including the cost of callout
The Rooms toolbar now highlights rooms you are likely to want to build, due to grants/objectives
The Bureaucracy screen has been laid out in a new arrangement to make room for all the new unlocks
The Lawyer has been removed from the game, as he currently serves no purpose. He may return at a later date.
New graphics for the Teacher
Fixed : The reform program 'Scheduler' now ensures there will be a teacher available when picking a time slot.
This fixes a bug with the foreman being expected to teach multiple workshop induction classes at once. NOTE: You may need to manually click "Reschedule" if your prison has this problem after loading
Fixed : Prisoners working as janitors would stand around in the cleaning cupboard doing nothing,
unless you had at least one janitor hired (or if you had very few janitors in a large jail)
Fixed : Cutting down a tree near a wall square will no longer demolish that wall square
Fixed : Experience will no longer tick up on dead prisoners
Fixed : You can no longer place rooms over lakes
Fixed : Stolen contraband would still be counted if the prisoner responsible had left the jail.
This counted towards the overall 'Supply' level, but could never be found by searching.
Alpha 18 (28 Feb 2014)
Until recently you'd be forgiven for thinking that Prison Architect was brought to you by the video games department of the republican party. It's all been about locking them up and keeping them down. BUT NO MORE. We've always wanted PA to be balanced and we've made the first tentative steps into allowing you to reform your prisoners.
We've implemented a job-lot of new reform / rehabilitation programs - send them to the doc for some much needed head-shrinking or pop them into a foundation education class and teach them to read. Send them off to the kitchen for a crash course in bun baking or give them the skills to produce beautifully crafted wooden beds. Ahh, the sweet sound of the pitter patter of fresh reformed prisoners......
You can now run daily programs to train, educate and reform your prisoners
These are administered from the new Programs tab in the reports interface
Each program runs during a scheduled time during the day, and costs money per session
Different programs provide different benefits to you and the prisoner
Prisoners may only take part in one program at a time, and may only attend one session in that program per day
Most programs are voluntary. Prisoners will be less likely to volunteer for programs if they are badly treated
Available reform programs:
Foundation education program
General Education qualification
Workshop Safety Induction ← required to work in the Workshop
Carpentry Apprenticeship
Kitchen Safety and Hygiene ← required to work in the kitchen
Behavioural Therapy
Prisoners must now complete the workshop safety / kitchen safety courses before they can work in those rooms
New : Classroom / School desk / Teacher
You require a functioning classroom before you can begin educating your prisoners
The teacher is an external freelancer who will enter your jail to teach his class, then will leave when done
Some prisoners have more affinity for academic topics than others.
In addition, the level of concentration of your prisoners is a major factor on their chances of success
(Prisoners concentrate best when all of their needs have been taken care of)
New : Carpenters table
Prisoners who have a natural afinity for practical work can attempt the Carpentry Apprenticeship.
If successful they will be able to use the new carpenters table in the workshop
They will use stacks of Wood to produce high quality furniture (currently a high quality wooden bed)
Full production chain : [Gardener] → Tree → [Cutdown] → Logs → [Saw] → Wood → [Carpenters table] → Furniture
Behavioural Therapy is run by the prison psychologist
Prisoners are automatically referred to this program if they behave violently within your jail
Prisoners who successfully complete the Behavioural Therapy program are less likely to cause trouble in future
= Prisoner experience
Experience is now being recorded for all prisoners during their stay in your prison
You can view this data by clicking on them to bring up their rap sheet, then click the new Experience tab
Activity : Shows the breakdown of their time within your prison, and what they were doing during that time
Mood : Shows the amount of time spent in a good / bad / neutral mood. This is a simplification but a useful one.
Condition : Shows how long the prisoner has been suppressed, injured etc.
You can also see the progress of their current reform program - their attendance and chance of passing the program
All programs completed are listed at the bottom of this page, showing if they passed of failed the program
= Armoury upgrades
You can now purchase additional weapons and equipment once you have an armoury on site.
Your guards must return to the armoury to pick up their new equipment as you unlock it,
and there is a cost to pay per item equipped.
Body Armour : Available to all guards, armed guards and dog handlers.
Absorbs 50% of all damage taken, but slows down your guards by 30%
You must pay an additional $100 per guard for body armour.
Tazers : Available for all Armed Guards.
This is a non lethal weapon which instantly incapacitates the target, without causing any damage.
Can only be fired once, then the battery must recharge before it can be used again (1 hour recharge time)
There is a cost of $400 per tazer to be paid as the armed guards collect their new equipment.
Note: Armed guards will use their shotguns instead as soon as you give the weapons free order
Tazer Rollout : Equips all guards and dog handlers with Tazers as well as your armed guards.
There is a cost of $400 per tazer to be paid as the guards collect their new equipment.
= Other improvements
User Interface scaling
Work continues to make the game scale correctly to any resolution and any size of display.
There is now a 'UI Scale' override setting to adjust the size of all onscreen elements to your taste.
Use the PLUS and MINUS keys to adjust this value in game, or edit it directly in preferences.txt
The rooms toolbar now shows the number of each room type that already exist
The fog of war effect is no longer rendered into timelapse videos
Status effects like Suppression no longer cause such massive drops in walking speed
Visitation will now come to an end immediately during a riot or a bangup
You can now build utilities under the road : Electrical cable, Small pipes, Large pipes
Tweaked the routing system - entities should get stuck on walls much less frequently
Fixed : Sometimes very small Laundries / Cleaning Cupboards would not show up in the Deployment/Jobs screen,
meaning you could not assign prisoners to them even though they were perfectly valid rooms
Fixed : Armed guards now (sometimes) shout warnings at inmates before firing,
unless those inmates are attacking staff or about to escape
Fixed : Face-in-the-game entries are now sorted to the top of the community biographies list
Fixed : Sun shadows on trees were sometimes rendered much too large
Fixed : Dogs were unwilling/unable to enter staff only zones
Fixed : You can no longer build road gates over lakes, or at the edge of the map
Fixed : Actors no longer get tired (Eg edward, his guards etc)
Alpha 17 (31 Jan 2014)
Hoo-Rar. This time we've got bad ass mo-fos with boom sticks. You've asked for them and we have answered the call and delivered shot-gun toting armed guards. These guys are excellent for suppressing your prisoners more raucous behaviors. Stick a couple of these dudes in the canteen or the yard and things'll calm right down. Useful they just wander around looking tough, but hit that weapons free button and things'll get messy - you'll lose so many prisoners that it'll be a game-over event, but don't let that stop you blowing off some steam.
You can now hire armed guards to patrol your prison, intimidate your inmates, and put down trouble
You must research the Armoury first, and your armoury requires a weapons rack and one locker per armed guard on site
`
Armed guards have a strong "Suppression" effect on all prisoners near them, making the prisoners less likely to misbehave
They can be instructed to follow a patrol from the Deployment screen
They will only use lethal force if you give them permission - by clicking the "Weapons Free" emergency button
They will always shout a warning first, unless a Prisoner is attacking a member of staff (guard, armed guard, administrator etc)
They will also shoot on site any prisoner who is about to escape, without shouting a warning, so long as they have "Weapons Free"
Note: Armed guards who genuinely fear for their lives may still shoot, even if you have not given them permission via "Weapons Free"
Note: The Armoury must be very secure. Your most dangerous prisoners will attempt to raid it during a riot or mass escape event
= New Forestry zone
Automates the process of growing trees for the purposes of felling them and using the wood
Saplings will be planted automatically by Gardeners
Fully grown trees will be felled, and the logs taken to Storage or your Workshop if you have one
Trees now take much longer to grow to full size : 5 game-days on average
Trees no longer scale up as they grow. Instead there are three discreet sizes : Sapling, Young, and Old.
You can no longer remove tree stumps. These will vanish over time after a tree has been felled.
Note: The forestry will spend your money by ordering tree saplings automatically. Be sure you have enough
= Objects toolbar filtering
The objects list was becoming too long to manage, and no longer fitted on a single screen
A new filtering method hides any "room specific" objects unless you are looking at that type of room.
Eg the Cooker, Fridge and Sink will only appear in the list if you are looking at a Kitchen
Note: You can press the + button to show the full objects list at any time
= Modding continued
materials.txt is now additively loaded
The mod loading screen now looks better and displays the mod name, author, screenshot and description during load
Added a "Find more mods (Steam Workshop)" button that opens the steam workshop
Renamed "Steam Workshop" to "Prison Sharing", and made it list prisons only (not mods)
Made Prison Sharing sort prisons by subscribed time (newest subscribed prisons at the top of the list)
Fixed manifest.txt files from being corrupted due to newline breaks in Steam file description. May require people to redownload the mod.
= Assorted changes and fixes
You will now be asked "Are you sure" when purchasing neighbour plots of land (to prevent expensive mis-clicks)
The Main Menu screens now scale correctly to high resolution / high DPI screens (eg Retina Mac at 2560x1600)
Guards now target the nearest misbehaving prisoner during fights, rather than choosing one randomly from those in range
When prisoners urinate or soil their suits (Bowel/Bladder need maxed out) there is now a corresponding particle effect
Fixed : Selling finished license plates or wood manually generated only half the correct sale price
Fixed : Subscribing and unsubscribing to your own mod in Steam Workshop will no longer delete your mod from your hard drive
Fixed : The scrollbar in the Staff and Prisoner list screens now works correctly
Fixed : Prisoners can no longer tunnel under lakes
Fixed : The contraband window sometimes massively overestimated the supply of contraband
Fixed some subtle bugs in the Misconduct System, whereby misconduct attributed to prisoners who had long since left was still recorded
Fixed : Sectorisation of the world could fail if you had a lake covering the top right of the map (All sectors marked as NO ACCESS)
Alpha 16 (27 Dec 2013)
T'was the night after Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring, except for the four riot guards coming in standard 2x2 cover formation through the rear. This update brings you the ability to share the mods through steamworks, segregate whole sections of your prison to be min / max sec and customize the sprite to go with your name in the game entry!
= Procedural landscape generation
There are new options when generating a new prison:
Forests adds random collections of trees, including new types of tree (Oak, Pine, Orange, Cypress, Palm)
Buildings are usually derilict and can be used or demolished as you wish
Lakes provide additional construction challenges by forcing you to work around them.
Warning: Including lakes can make your map totally unplayable. Experimental!
= Wood industry
You can now cut down trees using "Dismantle" from the objects menu, and each tree will produce wooden Logs
You can sell the logs for an immediate cash boost ("Sell" from the objects menu)
Or if you have a workshop, your prisoners will cut the logs into stacks of wood planks, which sell for more
Gardeners are now required to plant trees, and trees take time to grow from saplings
Stacks of finished wood planks will auto-sell at 1am
= Steam Workshop for mods (Steam versions only)
Mods can now be shared via the Steam Workshop, just like prisons
The mods menu now lets you publish mods, highlights mods you have published, and shows newly downloaded mods
Mods will automatically download when an update is available
Adding FileID "-1" to your mod's manifest.txt will stop the game asking users to publish the mod. Useful for
mods shared outside of the Steam Workshop.
= Full segregation support
Extensive AI work means you can now fully segregate your prison by prisoner category
You can create self contained wings (eg for Max Sec only) containing their own cells, yard, canteen, laundry, workshop etc
New zone type : Med Sec, for medium security prisoner ONLY (orange)
Note: The default zone colour (White) is SHARED, meaning all prisoners are permitted to enter
Work/Employment/Industry AI improvements
Kitchens are now significantly more efficient (Chefs waste much less time)
You can now build any combination of kitchens and canteens, and your chefs will figure it out
(Eg one kitchen serving multiple canteens, or each canteen having its own kitchen etc)
Fixed: Multiple chefs would sometimes go to collect a box of ingredients from the deliveries zone, wasting time
Fixed: Chefs often stood around doing nothing in the kitchen when they should be cooking
Laundries and Workshop jobs are now performed more efficiently and intelligently
Laundries will only service zones of the prison that prisoners working in that laundry would be permitted to reach
Janitors will now help out with the prison Laundry service
Prisoner cell re-assignments now happen without requiring shackled guard escort (if possible)
They will be shackled and escorted by a guard if they are not permitted to make the journey themselves
New object : Road Gate
Can be built spanning the entire road
Acts as a secure door, requiring a guard to unlock it whenever a vehicle or person wants to pass through
You can use this to span your prison across the road, or build a totally contained drop off zone
Doors now open at different speeds. A normal wood door is the fastest. The large road gate is the slowest.
The Large jail door opens slower than the normal jail door.
Prisoners will now "make a run for it" if they are near the exit and you leave too many doors unlocked
Be careful when setting zones to "Unlocked" (green), or setting doors to "Locked open"
Note: More dangerous prisoners are more likely to take advantage of lapses in security
New red marker icon for escaping prisoners
Electrical items no longer short out when wet
It is now safe to use Firemen in the kitchen, or to repair laundry machines without having to worry about electrocution
EXCEPT the power station which now explodes most spectacularly when wet
Workshop balance nerf
The workshop has been judged far too ridiculously profitable
Cutting sheet metal and stamping license plates now takes twice as long as before
Sheet metal now costs $10 per sheet, and produces 2 license plates which sell for $10 each, giving $10 profit
(Previously $3 per sheet, producing 3 license plates selling at $10 each, giving $27 profit)
Workshop saws and presses now cost 50% more to build
Prisoners will now make better use of their stolen contraband when misbehaving:
Lighters if they are feeling destructive
Weapons if they get into a fight
Tools if they are escaping
All staff now have a base toughness of 5 (previously 1) so they no longer die from a single punch
Offices must now be indoor
Vehicles will no longer be blocked by entities, objects, trees etc
Fixed : Purchasing neighbour plots of land sometimes caused the game to get the road location wrong.
Vehicles spawned in the wrong place and construction was blocked in a stripe down the middle of the prison
Fixed : Purchasing land west or north of your prison broke all in-progress escape tunnels
Fixed : Prisoners who are digging escape tunnels will now be rumbled if a guard comes to escort them somewhere
(Previously they were able to keep digging despite being taken to a different place!)
Fixed : Some long running prisons had active escape tunnels that were being dug by prisoners who were no longer on site - either dead, escaped or released.
Fixed : Sometimes workmen took a very long time to finish foundations, leaving them unfinished for hours
Fixed : Trees will no longer be generated on the road
Fixed : Workers will no longer get stuck in the first delivery truck trying to do a job
Fixed : Guards no longer need to use their keys to open wood doors
Fixed : Mod system now correctly loads replacement font graphics every time
Fixed : Mods can now override the base grants with their own if the grants share the same name
Fixed : Dead visitors will no longer float home
Fixed : Historical contraband moved when you purchased a neighbour plot of land
Fixed : Released prisoners will no longer get stuck on the toilet or in bed
Fixed (Alpha15b) : Right click to cancel stopped working
Fixed (Alpha15c) : All existing contraband was being lost after level load
Alpha 15 (29 Nov 2013)
Introversion Software proudly presents .... .... someone else's work!
We've crafted a fully functioning modding system to make it much
easier to use the mods that have been created from some of the
exceptionally talented people in the community.
We've also coded a staff fatigue model that means you'll need to
install some common rooms so your guards can recharge their batteries,
and our resident guru Johnny, has done some awesome performance
enhancements that'll massively improve the size of the prisons that
your rig can cope with.
= Mod system
We have started work on much better mod support within the game
All mods should be installed in your AppSaveFolder/PrisonArchitect/mods/
They will then show up in a new Mods interface (Main menu -> Extras -> Mods)
You can activate and deactivate as many mods at once as you wish
There are several types of mod:
Graphical / Presentation : Updates the graphics and sounds in the game
Translations : Translates the game into languages other than English
Scenarios : Full story driven chapters, similar to our Death Row introduction
Content : Adds items to the sandbox or changes the behaviour of items, eg Grants mods which add grants
All mods must have a manifest.txt which details the title, author, version etc
And mods should come with a thumbnail.png image which will act as a graphical preview
= Performance optimisations continued
The game now runs much faster, especially on Windows/PC
Lots of unneccesary memory copying has been optimised out. Makes a big difference on Windows particularly.
Long running prisons (100+ days) sometimes experienced extreme slowdown due to the list of all contraband
Fixed a bug that caused the building of foundations to become very slow and laggy on large maps
The lighting system has been multithreaded, freeing up much CPU time
Nb. The lighting system now updates at 20hz (previously 4hz), so changes in light happen quicker as well
= Staff exhaustion
All staff now become tired as they work
Their energy level is rendered as a green bar in their nameplate (only shown when less than 33%)
When they become exhausted they will stop work for a while to recover
You can now build a Staff Room, and exhausted staff will go there in preference
Staff resting in a Staff Room will recover energy much faster, and feel more rested
NOTE: Guard dogs still rest in the Kennels
- You will now receive a different federal grant for each category of prisoner:
Minimum security prisoner : $50 per day
Normal security prisoner : $100 per day
Maximum security prisoner : $150 per day
Note: Previously you received $100 per prisoner regardless of category
- New clock speed option : very fast. Runs the game at 5x speed. (Previous fastest speed was 2x)
- The Deployment view is now unlocked by the Chief.
You can then research Deployment to attach guards to stations, or Patrols to attach guards to patrols
This fixes the issue that you could unlock Patrols before you had access to the Deployment screen.
- You can now scroll by pushing the mouse to the edge of the screen
- The Contraband view now has a sub-toolbar with display options:
Dangers Shows all the locations around your prison that contraband could be stolen from
24 hours Shows all contraband confiscated in the last 24 hours
7 days Shows all contraband confiscated in the last 7 days
All time Shows all contraband confiscated in the history of your jail
In addition, all recovered contraband icons are colour coded:
Red = Weapon, Blue = tools, Green = narcotics
Several main menu items have been moved into a new Extras sub menu:
Names in the game
Steam workshop
Mods
Timelapse
Fixed: Many types of irrelevent equipment will no longer be smuggled into your prison
eg Mop, Rake, Hose, Leash etc
- Fixed: Power lines were rendered without colour once you'd built more than four power stations
- Fixed: Not all of the Complaints thought bubbles were displaying correctly
- Fixed: Some invalid jobs would appear at the top left of the map as a price
Alpha 14 (2 Oct 2013)
Do ya like Dawgs? This time around it's all about those furry little
sniffing machines - man's best friend. UNLESS you are a dirty
prisoner six feet beneath the ground trying to shawshank your way to
freedom. Dogs sniff out contraband and tunnels, and should one of your
prisoners make a break for it, the handlers will send up a loud cry of
"release the hounds" and the dogs will chase down and jump on anyone
who shouldn't really be sprinting toward the front gate. They come at
a price though - you need a kennel and handlers and they run out of
energy pretty quickly so you need to make sure you have enough to do
the job. We've also included some pretty punchy performance
enhancements in A14. Enjoy it, Chris' wife is birthing another nipper
so it's all you're going to get until December!
= Guard Dogs
You can now hire guard dogs from the staff menu. Every dog has a dog handler.
Dogs will sniff any nearby prisoners or hiding places, and will detect drugs, cigs etc
Dogs can sense escape tunnels and will scratch at the ground when they find one, giving the player a strong hint
If a dog smells a prisoner digging under them, they will dig up the prisoner and reveal the entire tunnel
Dogs are fast runners and are very good at chasing down escaping prisoners
Note: Dogs smell drugs and detect tunnels incorrectly sometimes
Note: If either a dog or his handler is killed, the survivor will act unpredictably for a while, before leaving the prison
- Dogs can be assigned to patrols just like Guards : From the Deployment screen
Click on "Dog Patrols" then click on any existing patrol to assign a dog to it
= Kennels
New room type. Requires dog crates for each dog to sleep in
Can be outdoor, but must be surrounded by walls or fences or doors
Dogs have an energy level represented by a green bar under their body, which discharges as they work
When they become exhausted they will return to a Kennel and sleep in a dog crate to recover
They will also heal any injuries sustained in the line of duty
= Prison Sale
You can now sell your prison from the Valuation report screen, and use the profits to start a new prison with a large bank balance
You require an Accountant on site, a minimum positive valulation of $50,000, and at least 20 prisoners to be eligable for sale
You can always return to a prison you have previously sold and continue managing it, but you can only sell a prison once
Note: You cannot sell someone elses prison shared via the Steam Workshop, for obvious reasons
Note: We are aware this system is highly exploitable, and it will remain that way until we balance the financial side of the game
= Major performance optimisations
We have resolved numerous performance glitches and done a great deal of optimising for this alpha.
Areas optimised : Sector system, Work Queue, Rendering
The navigation / route planning system has been multithreaded and will now run on a second processor core
On large / heavily populated maps the average frame rate is now significantly higher
- Escape tunnels have been nerfed and are now much more rare.
- Only prisoners with the "Clever" trait will even consider escape tunnels (10-20% of your inmates)
- They need to have a stolen digging tool within their possession
- Motivations for digging: Fear for life, High freedom need, Misses family
- Prisoners caught digging will have the punishment for "Escape Attempt" automatically applied
- Deliveries and Garbage rooms can now be placed anywhere on your prison site, including behind locked doors
- Delivery trucks will stop and load/unload when aligned with delivery/garbage rooms
- Prisoners will get off the truck immediately if they can walk to deliveries easily
- However if your deliveries zone is within your prison they will be escorted in by a guard
- The Load / Save dialogs now have the option to sort by "Date modified" as well as by filename.
This is very useful for quickly finding your recent prisons.
Click on the column headings to toggle the different sorting methods
- There is now much more variety for many of the existing staff types:
Male and female versions of many staff types
Body shapes and sizes vary
Skin tone also varies
- Planning Mode continued
We have extended the planning mode to permit three different types of materials:
Walls : Plan where your walls will be
Objects : Drag out any size of object to show where you plan to place the furniture
Paths : Use this to mark your planned outdoor pathways
- Fixed: Workers will no longer load and unload garbage in an endless loop
(This happened when you had the Garbage zone above the Deliveries zone)
- Fixed: The tooltip regarding guard patrols was being displayed in all kinds of wrong places
- Fixed: All entities would drop whatever they were carrying after loading a saved game
Alpha 13 (29 Aug 2013)
Dig Dig Dig! This one's all about tunnelling. Given a spoon or any other tool-esque item and they'll start from their toilets and keep on digging until they're outside the perimeter. You can find them by searching the prisoner or cell, but it may be worth moving those maxsec blocks a little further from the edge of your prisons.....
We've also produced a punishment policy table where you can decide the appropriate reaction to an infraction. 2 weeks in the slammer for moaning about the chow? Tough, but don't let us stop you…
= Escape tunnels
Prisoners can now dig escape tunnels when they are supposed to be sleeping
They will dig from the toilet in their cell outwards, avoiding buildings and walls as best they can
They will tend to dig along water pipes, especially large pipes, because these make the job much quicker
They require a digging tool stolen from somewhere in the prison, and will stash this in their cell
Searching a prisoner or his cell whilst he is tunnelling will reveal the tunnel
Prisoners are motivated to dig escape tunnels if they fear for their lives (dangerous prison AND non-violent inmate),
or if they have a very high Freedom need, meaning they've been locked up in their cell for days
- New material: Perimeter wall
This is an EXPENSIVE new wall type designed to prevent escape tunnels - a very high and very deep wall.
Tunnellers will do their best to dig around it. It can be tunnelled through, but it will take much longer than a normal wall.
Note: You cannot build utilies through a perimeter wall, and building one will sever any existing utilities in those squares.
- You can remove tunnels you have uncovered by using the new material "Remove Tunnels"
= Policy report
You can now control the punishments handed out to prisoners when they fight, escape, destroy things etc.
This is unlocked from Bureaucracy by the Chief, and gives you a new "Policy" report.
You can also request automatic searching of the prisoner and/or his cell when misconduct occurs.
Eg a prisoner caught with a tool may be digging escape tunnels, so you can auto-search his cell
- Needs system continued
- Prisoners now have an Environment need, representing the cleanliness of their surroundings. Hire Janitors!
- Prisoners now have a Privacy need. This can only be discharged by them spending time alone in their own cell.
- The previous "Defense" need is now called Safety. It charges up when they feel in danger.
As a result of these changes, all Prisoner Biographies will be re-generated when you load an alpha-12 or earlier save game.
- Cells, holding cells and solitary cells must now be "Enclosed", which means surrounded by walls and doors.
There will be no more building tons of open cells in a giant indoor area without any walls seperating them.
- You can now perform several different types of search on any object or prisoner:
- Search Prisoner/Object : Simply searches the prisoner/object and nothing else
- Search Cell : Searches the prisoner and his cell
- Search Cell Block : Searches all prisoners and hiding places within the current cell block
- Patrol system update
We are changing the patrol system to work differently and better.
Previously Guards would auto-follow any patrol within their own sector, but wouldn't go outside the sector
In this new system, you must assign guards to a patrol manually by clicking on an existing patrol square
The immediate advantage is that you can specify exactly which patrols are walked, and by how many guards
Patrols can now go through multiple sectors as they are no longer connected.
- Popup Markers have been disabled for Alpha 13, because we broke them really bad
- It now takes 50% longer to serve one year of a prison sentence
- Nav system changes: There should be a lot less failed routing, and entities should now perform better when cut off from the rest of the world.
- The deployment screen now highlights innaccessable areas of your prison in a flashing yellow colour. Build doors!
- The Steam Workshop window now produces the list of subscribed prisons much faster than before. Great for those of us with 50 odd subscriptions!
- Fixed: The starting Deliveries and Garbage zones were being defined wrongly (each square added several times to the room)
Alpha 12 (31 July 2013)
Drugs. Booze. Weapons. This alpha is all about contraband. Steal weapons and tools from the workshop, drugs from sick bay or Whisky and Smokes from the Warden's office.
Search a prisoner, a cell, or order a whole prison shakedown and find out who's got what and from whence it came. Careful though, too many unwarranted searches will result in a riot…
= Theft and Contraband
Many rooms around a prison are now a source of dangerous contraband
Prisoners will sometimes steal contraband and try to smuggle it back to their cell for safe keeping
Prisoners are less likely to steal metal items if they know they have to pass through a metal detector on their way back
Prisoners carrying metal items will avoid Metal Detectors as best they can
There are four categories of contraband:
- Weapons: Used during fights. A high "Danger Level" within your prison will drive a high demand for weapons
- Tools: (Eventually) Used by prisoners to assist escaping
- Narcotics: (Eventually) Used by prisoners who are bored or uncomfortable, or dealing with addiction
- Luxuries: Items that make prison life a bit more bearable, such as mobile phones, alchohol etc
Note: Prisoners currently only make use of Weapons, but they will still steal the other types of contraband
= Contraband overlay
There is a new Contraband overlay in the main toolbar, unlocked by the Chief in Bureaucracy
Shows all potential sources of contraband within your prison, and also all recently found contraband
You can select any recently found item to see a trail of where it was stolen from, where it was hidden etc
= Contraband Supply and Demand
You can see the market demand for any item in the new Contraband Report. High demand means many prisoners want this item
This screen also shows the supply of these items, representing how many of those items are owned by the prisoners
Prisoners who want something they can't get will steal an item with high market value instead, so they can trade for it later
= Searching powers
You can now order a search of a prisoner or his entire cell, from his Rap Sheet
There is a new emergency button on the toolbar: Shakedown, which searches every cell and prisoner in your jail
Note: Searching prisoners really pisses them off, raising the danger level of your prison
Metal Detectors automatically trigger a search of a prisoner when they detect something
Metal Detectors now fall out of action for 3 seconds after detecting something
They also incorrectly detect something a small percentage of the time, resulting in unnecesary searches
= Status Effects
All prisoners can now be affected by Status Effects, which change their behavior for a fixed period of time
You can see status effects on a prisoner by highlighting him.
Current status effects:
- Suppressed: Prisoners locked in Solitary Confinement will become suppressed and compliant due to their harsh treatment.
These suppressed prisoners are much less likely to cause trouble.
- Well Fed: Prisoners who eat well will become "well fed", contributing to the good feeling in the prison.
Well fed prisoners are much less likely to cause trouble.
= Needs System
- Extensive performance improvements
- The needs system was one of the slowest and most laggy parts of the game
- Fixed: Prisoners sometimes can't find any need providers if the framerate is too low, and just stand around instead
- Prisoners due for release within the next six hours are now listed on your todo list
- New audio work for the Bureaucracy screen and the Reports windows, and new searching powers
- Changed the way Guards follow patrols, so they should no longer clump together
- Contraband found by guards is still dropped on the floor, but will now auto-vanish after 10 seconds
- Fixed: Released prisoners are now permitted to route through Staff-Only zones on their way out
- Fixed: Sometimes garbage would never be collected
- Fixed: Callout units will now show their assigned route even when off screen
- Fixed: Drains will no longer block doors from closing
- Fixed: The time buttons on the clock will now highlight the currently selected speed correctly
Alpha 11 (28 June 2013)
BRING OUT YOUR DEAD! Alpha 11 brings a host of new features, bug fixes
and improvements, not least of which is hearses to take away the
unfortunately deceased. Purchase of neighbouring plots of land is now
possible. We've also added a TimeLapse video capture system so that
you can film the construction of your prisons. Get recording, we can't
wait to see your videos!
= Performance improvements & memory leaks
- Fixed numerous large memory leaks
- Water simulation significantly optimised
- Fixed performance bug in object rendering (calling profiler from within inner loop)
- Rendering soft material edges has been improved and optimised (eg grass growing onto pathway)
- Rendering garbage bags was sometimes very slow, is now quicker. Weight caption removed
- Nameplates now fade out as you zoom out (less clutter + quicker to render)
- Fixed performance bug when ordering large areas of construction
= Land expansion
- You can now purchase neighbouring plots of land, and thereby expand the area of your prison
- Must be unlocked by the accountant in the beauracracy screen
- Expanding to the right of the road is experimental, and is likely to break everything
= TimeLapse recording
You can now record a timelapse video of your prison during construction
Use the Options -> Timelapse menu to set the frame interval and the playback rate of the video
Start and Stop recording from the main menu
Whilst recording you will see a red circle icon in the top right of your screen
NOTE: Timelapse videos will be saved to your PA saves folder, subfolder 'Videos'
NOTE: We export the videos as OGV (ogg video) format
- Intelligent toolbar highlights
Icons in the main build toolbar will now highlight when appropriate, based on the rooms visible on screen
Eg if you are looking at a Workshop, the Saw/Press/Table will all highlight.
Eg if you are looking at a row of jail cells, the Bed/Toilet/JailDoor icons will all highlight
- Prisoners now count down their remaining sentence whilst in your jail.
Once they have served their full jail term they are automatically released.
They will walk to the exit and be allowed to leave by your guards.
Their nameplate will flash "RELEASED"
NOTE: We count down sentences at an accelerated rate - otherwise nobody would ever be released
NOTE: We do not yet support early release due to Parole
- Guards assigned to a sector will no longer group together at the very centre of the sector.
Instead they will walk randomly around the sector.
Similarly, prisoners assigned to work within a room will now wander around the room if there is
nothing to do, instead of grouping together at the centre like chumps
- Hearses will now come to your prison to take away your dead bodies (four at a time)
- Dirty clothes will no longer lead to riots
Not all needs will push prisoners to physical violence
Currently Exempt: Clothing, Comfort
These needs still prevent those prisoners from feeling "well treated", but will not push them to anger
- Doctors/Paramedics will now prioritise Guards and Riot Police, and will not heal fighting/rioting prisoners
- Running the game in SAFE MODE now automatically scales the game spritebank down to 2048x2048
This should fix the missing/corrupted sprites bugs on some graphics chips (eg Intel HD 3000, Macbook Air etc)
- Prisoners now walk a bit faster when pushing laundry baskets
- Fixed: The clone tool was broken in alpha 10
- Fixed: The doctor/paramedic healing sound was looping forever
- Fixed: The Lockdown claxon would loop forever, annoying everyone who heard it
- Fixed: Prisoners will no longer attempt cleaning jobs in staff only areas (they became stuck when trying)
- Fixed: Prisoners will immediately stop doing a job if their room is set to Staff Only
- Fixed: Prisoners will no longer drop their dirty uniforms in the wall where they can't be retrieved
- Fixed: You no longer need to hire a Doctor before you can create an Infirmary
Alpha 10 (30 May 2013)
LINUX BUILD NOW AVAILABLE! Steam customers can now publish or
subscribe to the to the best prisons from the Architect community. A
new danger model improves the realty of riots occurring, and when they
do you can brutally oppress the inmates using riot cops with massive
batons!
= Steam Workshop
You can now share your prisons online via the Steam Workshop, accessible from the main menu (Steam version only)
You can publish your current prison by giving it a name and clicking on Publish
Alternatively you can browse the Prison Architect workshop and subscribe to other people's prisons
Subscribed prisons will show up in the workshop window and can be played at any time by clicking Play
Use the Steam Workshop itself to set descriptions, metadata, and to manage your published prisons
= Linux
Prison Architect is now available for Linux, via Steam and as a standalone download
We have targeted Ubuntu 12.04 and later (32 or 64 bit) for now, with wider compatibility coming in future alphas
The game should work fine on other distros, but please let us know if you have problems
Note: Prison Architect is not currently compatible with Debian (Stable), because we require glibc 2.15 or greater
= New anger model
The system for determining when prisoners become angry and misbehave has been totally overhauled
There is now a Thermometer which represents the "danger level" of your prison. A high "temperature" will lead to fights.
All prisoners have a "boiling point", which represents the temperature at which they will kick off
Max sec prisoners will tend to have a lower boiling point, meaning they will kick off earlier
This thermometer is visually represented in the top toolbar, showing the current temperature and rate of change.
Factors affecting the danger level of your prison:
- (increase) prisoners angry that their needs are not being met
- (increase) prisoners locked up for no reason
- (increase) riot police on site
- (increase) fight / riot occurring nearby
- (increase) recent death
- (decrease) prisoners who feel they are well treated (all needs met)
- (decrease) guards stationed in the area
- (decrease) recent punishments (deterrent)
= Rioting
If the "temperature" of your prison rises too high, prisoners will begin to riot.
This raises the temperature further, resulting in a feedback loop which can push the entire prison into riot
Prisoners who are rioting will capture their cell block, and will defend it against your guards and riot police
Rioting prisoners will smash down internal doors, freeing their cellmates and spreading the riot to neighbouring cell blocks
Your guards and staff will not willingly enter a captured sector - too dangerous
= New Emergency services: Riot police, Paramedics
To deal with riots, you can now call in Riot Police. These guys are heavily armoured and will retake the captured sectors
You can control them using the Emergency Callouts unit list on the right of the screen, or by drag-selecting
Paramedics will heal anyone injured nearby
You can dismiss emergency callout units by clicking on the red X next to their unit icon
= Incident markers
When guards spot an incident, they will now "radio in" to alert you of this trouble
Markers will popup around the edge of the screen, directing you to the incident
Click on the Marker to quickly move to the incident
= Laundry continued:
- Prisoner uniforms now come out of the laundry machines crumpled, and must be ironed before use (requires Ironing Board)
- Prisoners will now change into their clean uniforms whenever their Clothing need is high
- When showering, Prisoners will now get undressed only when close to the shower
- Fixed: Multiple laundry baskets were being sent to a single sector at the same time
- Fixed: Not enough prisoner uniforms are delivered to the prison
- Fixed: Laundry baskets would sometimes render a vertical stripe of random sprites above their position
= New audio work
A ton of new audio elements have been added to the game, especially for angry crowds
You will now get lots of audio warning before trouble breaks out. The prison now sounds a lot more dangerous
A brand new dynamic music score will play during and after a Riot
All objects are now made of a certain material (Wood/Metal etc) and have appropriate damage sounds
- There have been significant improvements to direct unit control, ie drag selection, movement commands etc
- You can no longer build on the very edges of the map, or anywhere on the road
- Guards and staff can no longer see through walls (ie do not reveal fog of war)
- The Regime report now shows the current time as a horizontal line
- Prisoners will now sleep when in their cells at any time between 10pm and 8am, if they need to
- All consumables are now delivered in batches, once per hour (ingredients/foodtrays/uniforms/metal/bleach)
- Workmen can now unload anything from delivery trucks. This fixes bugs where items were left blocking the road
- Prisoners can now receive up to 3 visitors in a single group
- Fixed: Laundry/Workshop/Kitchen objects could not be dismantled because the job was wrongly assigned to prisoners
- Fixed: New construction jobs are often wrongly tagged as "Failed: No materials" for a few seconds
- Fixed: Visitation does not end during a bangup
- Fixed: Graphical bug that resulted in the bottom of some sprites being clipped
- Fixed: Prisoners assigned to work in the Kitchen would sometimes try to bring ingredients in from outside,
resulting in an immediate escape attempt as soon as they were out the front door
- Fixed: The navigation system would fail when trying to plot routes to the very edges of the map
(Note: Although entities can navigate to the very edge, they aren't allowed to build on it)
Alpha 9 (April 24th 2013)
Central to the new version is the concept of Prisoner Employment, and
we've been planning this feature for a long time. Prisoners can now
perform a variety of jobs around the prison, saving you money on staff
and raising money for you by selling goods manufactured by your work
force. Prisoners can work in the kitchen, they can clean the prison,
and they can work in the laundry and the workshop, both of which are
new in Alpha9. They can also take visits from family members in the
new visitation rooms.
= Employment
Prisoners can now perform different jobs during a new 'Work' regime activity
Create employment opportunities with the new 'Jobs' button in the Deployment screen
Prisoners not employed during the 'Work' regime treat it as 'Free Time'
Currently available prisoner jobs : Laundry, Cooking, Cleaning, Workshop
Note: The rooms must be accessable, ie Prisoners can't cook if the kitchen is Staff Only
Note: Eventually you will pick who can work, but for now every prisoner is permitted to work
= Laundry
New rooms and objects have been added to support creation of a Laundry service within your prison
Clean prisoner uniforms are distributed around the prison in Laundry Baskets
Dirty uniforms are collected up and brought back to the Laundry room, where they are washed in machines
Prisoners now get undressed in their cells before Shower Time, and return to their cell after to re-dress
They will change into a clean uniform if one is available, leaving behind their dirty uniform for laundry.
Prisoners now have a 'Clothing' need that reflects how clean their clothes are
Note: Clean prison uniforms will be stored on any table space, or on the floor, in the Laundry
= Workshops
You can now create workshops and use them to convert cheap raw materials into trinkets of value
Raw sheet metal will be dropped off in your workshops
Your Prisoners will use the circular saw and hydraulic press to manufacture car number plates
These will be sold at midnight for a profit
Note: Sheet metal and License plates will be stored on the floor in the workshop.
Build tables if you prefer your rooms to be tidy
= Families and Visitation
All Prisoners now have various family members, listed in their Rap Sheet. Some prisoners have no family.
Family members will want to visit an inmate from time to time
You can now create a visitation room, and visitors will start to arrive every day (8am - 8pm)
Prisoners can also take visits from their lawyer
Note: All bios from old save games will be re-generated to support this
= Cleaning
- Prisoners can now help out with the cleaning of your prison
- New room : Cleaning Cupboard. This is required to assign Prisoners to the cleaning job.
- Janitors and Prisoners will now clean inside individual jail cells, so long as the cell is open to them
- The rendering of decay has been improved - eg muddy floors, dirty shower cubicles, overgrown pathways etc
- Surfaces will now Decay 50% slower than before
- Food Ingredients will now be stored on the kitchen floor if there is no available fridge space
- Older prisoners now have older faces, and are less likely to be incarcerated for certain crimes like Joyriding etc
- Fences now visually join onto walls better
- Electrical cable and water pipes now come in stacks to prevent flooding your deliveries area
- Fixed: Workshops no longer award you money per square.
- Fixed: The deployment system would not always update correctly, leading to a single grey sector
- Fixed: Crash bug in planning mode when drawing off the edge of the map
- Fixed: Dead staff members will no longer be paid a daily wage
- Fixed: The game would not render correctly on Windows Vista or higher when non-standard desktop DPI settings were used
- Fixed: Prisoners under lockdown in their cells would sometimes leave their cell to go to lunch/yard etc,
only to be chased down immediately by guards and returned
Alpha 8 (March 20th 2013)
Somehow we've achieved the impossible and convinced Valve to Launch the PA Alpha on Steam! We took this opportunity to make a really solid build and fixed 100s of bugs. You'll always be able to update your build from here, but if you prefer you can activate your copy of PA on Steam and get automatic updates. To get your steam key just follow the link in the email used when you bought the game.
= Steam integration
Prison Architect is now available from Steam (Pc & Mac)
Existing customers : You have been gifted a complimentary Steam Key!
Open your purchase receipt email then click on the URL and you'll find your steam product key
Use this key to activate your copy of Prison Architect for Steam
= New Planning Mode
Accessable from the main toolbar, use this to plan your upcoming buildings and room layouts
You can draw in the usual way with the left mouse and clear with the right mouse
Plans are automatically cleared once actually built by workers
= Door Lock system changes
- New object: 'Staff Door', which is a locked door that can be opened by any guard OR staff member
Note: Prisoners treat this as a normal door, requiring Guards to unlock in the usual way
(Staff never unlock doors for prisoners - it's not in their job description, and too dangerous)
(Want a Staff-ONLY door? Set the Sector type to be Staff Only in Deployment)
- Doors have two new special modes: Locked Shut or Locked Open. Click on a door to set this.
Locked Shut prevents anyone using the door at any time.
Locked Open keeps the door open at all times, EXCEPT during a lockdown when it slams shut
- There is a new sector setting called "Unlocked", which keeps all doors within the sector open
This is useful during construction of a building, or during a fire evacuation
- Doors that are blocked when closing will no longer push the blocking object aside.
They won't close fully until unblocked.
- Guards will now stick to their assigned patrols and sectors, only doing jobs within their sector
This makes them much more responsive at opening doors within / bordering their sector
- Fixed: Guards will no longer be called upon to unlock wooden office doors
= AI & Behaviour Improvements
- During Shower / Yard / Meal times, Prisoners will first go to the nearest room of that type,
then will only use the facilities within that room.
This stops prisoners in one shower running to another shower on the other side of the map
- Facilities within a Holding Cell may now only be used by prisoners living in that holding cell
- Prisoners will no longer nap during the day, instead preferring to sleep for longer at night
(Requires Sleep regime)
- Workers/Chefs/Janitors etc will now attempt jobs even if there is mild danger nearby,
but will still refuse if the area is very dangerous
Guards will no longer refuse any job because it is too dangerous. They are paid to be brave!
Jobs which are paused due to danger will be restarted quicker once the danger has passed
- Dead Firemen will now be taken to the morgue by Guards (rather than being left to rot),
and fire trucks will leave without them
- Guards that are not assigned anywhere will try to hang out somewhere useful
- Fixed: Chefs will no longer bin all prepared food during Bang Up / Lockdown
= Interface improvements
- The top toolbar now displays the number of available guards, prisoners, and cctv cameras when you have them
- The Lockdown and Bangup buttons have been moved onto the main toolbar (placeholder graphics)
- Tooltips have been added to many items in the main toolbars
- The prisoner Rap sheet now displays any recent misconduct they were involved in
- The graphics options screen now asks you to confirm a new resolution is acceptable, or reverts after 15 seconds
- The hunt for Stuck Entities
- Fixed: Prisoners could become trapped in Solitary Confinement forever after saving and reloading
- Fixed: All entities could become trapped in a Medical Bed
- The maximum number of prisoners you can receive in a day is now based on your prison size:
Small = 16, Medium = 24, Large = 32. Previously it was 24 for all prisons
- New command line option:
-safemode : Runs at 1024x768, windowed, with shaders disabled, and a blank new map
(Steam users can run this directly from steam by selecting "Launch in SAFE MODE")
- Prisoners minor injuries will now heal while they sleep overnight
- Prisoners misconduct is now saved correctly in save games
- Administrators now have a short view range (3 squares)
- Fixed: The hardware compatability survey will no longer popup when playing the Introduction level
- Fixed: Entity animations glitched for Eating, Cooking, Unlocking doors, Building etc
- Fixed: You can now construct (free) fences even when your bank balance is negative
- Fixed: You can now construct / place objects that you have in stock, even when your bank balance is negative
- Fixed: You can no longer sack Firemen
- Fixed: Crash bug caused by closing the prison to any category at the exact same moment the first prisoners arrive
- Fixed: Bug that caused the game to crash when loading partially corrupted save games
- Fixed: Prisoners sprites sometimes became corrupted whilst sleeping
- Fixed: Prisoners who trip the metal detectors whilst being escorted by a Guard will now be searched
- Fixed: Placing pipes will no longer be blocked by walls or sprinklers in progress
- Fixed: In the tutorial, Edwards new cell will never be used by another prisoner
Alpha 7 (Feb 21st 2013)
We've fulfilled the name in game and face in game tiers so some prisoners are now personalised. Guards are now the only characters that can open doors. This sounds small, but makes a massive difference to the gameplay. You now have to think a lot more about how many guards to use and where to deploy them. There's also a graphics option menu that should keep a lot of you happy!
= Name-in-the-game / Face-in-the-game
The community database of personalised Names and Faces has been imported into the game
You can view the full database from the main menu option "Names in the game"
Around 30% of all randomly generated prisoners will now include a custom name and bio taken from this database
You can manually transfer any prisoner from this list into your jail - they will arrive in the 8am delivery
= Only Guards can open doors
All locked doors must now be opened by Guards using their keys. Prisoners and staff must wait to be let in.
The exception is the doors on each jail Cell, which open automatically when the prisoner should be let out
Office doors are never locked - anyone can pass through at any time
You can right click on any door to open it manually
Doors can be blocked open but will gradually push blocking objects aside until they close
= Alarm buttons
Under 'Emergencies' there are two new "alarm" buttons:
LOCKDOWN immediately closes and locks all the doors in the prison
Guards will not open doors for anyone. However they will unlock doors on their way if you move them somewhere
BANGUP instructs all prisoners to return immediately to their cell (confusingly, this was called Lockdown in alpha6)
Prisoners will obviously ignore this alarm if they are misbehaving
= Game Options menu
From the main menu you can now access an 'Options' menu to control the application settings
Under GRAPHICS You can control the screen resolution, fullscreen/windowed setting and filtering mode
- Multisampling uses fullscreen anti-aliasing (4xMSAA) to improve the sprite render quality
- Supersampling renders everything at double resolution then downscales to your screen
Both improve the game visuals at the cost of reduced performance
There are also options for Sound, Game etc
- You can now press F11 at any time to toggle fullscreen
- You can press ctrl-p at any time to save a screenshot
- The game will no longer crash on launch if your previous save game was corrupted.
We have disabled autoload of previous saved games for now, until we can fix some loading issues.
(The game now launches with a new empty sandbox)
- Prisoners can now be re-categorised (Max/normal/Min) from their rap sheet
- All research times have been halved
- Fixed: Building lots of fences whilst paused caused endless delivery of empty boxes
- Fixed: Prisoners were no longer bothering to run around the yard whilst exercising
- Fixed: The main build toolbar was sometimes scaled wrongly at certain resolutions,
leading to an annoying scrollbar in the lists of objects/rooms etc
- Performance improvements:
Fixed a major performance bug in the renderer, causing occasional extreme frame lag
Many parts of the render system have been optimised - some visual glitches may occur in entity animations
Alpha 6 (Jan 30th 2013)
Alpha 6 introduces prisoner risk categories with coloured uniforms to reflect this. Prisoners now have a criminal history and are classified according to perceived risk, however this is an ESTIMATE and may not be accurate - you'll still need to keep a close eye on the little darlings! We've also adjusted the prisoner intake settings to allow even more customisation of the game.
= Prisoner Categories
All prisoners are now classified based on their risk level - Min, Normal, or Max.
Prisoner uniforms are coloured to reflect this: Grey, Orange and Red respectively.
Note: The Category of a prisoner is an ESTIMATE of their risk level,
based on their convictions. However their true risk is determined by their TRAITS
= Prisoner Traits, 'Rap Sheet' & Criminal History
All prisoners now have Bios that detail their criminal history, length of time in jail etc
Click on any prisoner to review his Rap Sheet.
Prisoners have (internal) traits which determine if they are violent, destructive etc
These traits determine the Prisoner's likely response to their needs not being met
= New Sector Categories
You can now set sectors to be used for MinSec or MaxSec prisoners in the deployment screen.
Note: This only affects prisoners cell assignment. They currently share all other rooms.
MaxSec or MinSec prisoners without cell space will overflow into the shared (White) sectors.
A Holding Cell is required as temporary housing to facilitate cell changes
= Intake Control
You can now control the intake of new inmates from the 'Prisoners Report' screen.
You can choose which categories you are open to, or stop receiving any new prisoners.
Note: Unavailable if 'Continuous Intake' is enabled; You will receive a random mixture
= The hunt for Stuck Prisoners
Several subtle bugs have been fixed which resulted in prisoners becoming stuck, shackled,
pushed into the wall, forgotten, or trapped in hospital beds. (Guards sometimes as well)
Prisoners who are trapped will now be escorted back to their cells by a guard.
Note: All entities need to be healed before they will be let out the medical ward, and
Prisoners need to have a cell to be taken back to.
- There is now some variation in the physical size of prisoners. Higher Risk prisoners tend to be larger
- Doctors will now heal injured people around them more reliably (within range 10 sq)
- The tape measure dragging sounds will no longer play unless you are laying out construction orders
- Building frameworks now look more 3d and cast shadows when under construction
- Links have been added to the Main Menu to access the latest version, legal terms & conditions and buy page
- Fixed a bug which allowed prisoners to glitch through doors when they were trying to escape,
making it quite a bit easier for them to succeed
- Fixed: The game would crash on loading or selecting a saved prison, if that prison had a
thumbnail image of width or height > 2048 pixels. (Happens if you are running at higher res, eg Retina)
- Fixed: You can no longer callout unlimited numbers of firemen
- Fixed: A dead or unconscious firemen will no longer drop/spawn his firehose continuously
Alpha 5 (Dec 14th 2012)
This new build has a number of new features ranging from totally new cool stuff to some pretty massive improvements to existing tools. We have new “Staff Only” zones, which Prisoners are not permitted to enter. We have the first emergency service callout - the Fireman - which means you no longer need to watch your prison burn to the ground without being able to do anything about it. And we’ve massively improved the Foundations tool so it’s much more intuitive and intelligent to use.
= Staff Only sectors
You can now create Staff Only Sectors from the Deployment screen. They will show up Red.
Inmates will avoid these completely (unless misbehaving)
= You can now call in Firemen to put out your prison fires. Use the new 911 Emergencies menu.
Firemen are a special controllable unit with its own icons on the right of the screen.
Firemen will automatically spray nearby fire, or you can press H to aim their hoses manually.
To dismiss firemen, send them all back to their fire engine.
= The Foundations tool has been much improved. It is now much easier to expand existing buildings,
and the door/entrance detection is much better at spotting valid entrances to new buildings.
- You can now cancel foundations by right clicking on them, or right-click-dragging a box around them.
- All construction tools now continue to work correctly even when the game is paused
- There is a new tool in the Materials menu for demolishing walls (indoor and outdoor)
- Localisation improvements:
All object/material/room/equipment/research names are now included in the language file (english.txt)
Lots of other hardcoded english has been moved into the language file for easy translation
- You will no longer lose visibility of your indoor areas until your first Prisoners arrive
- Main build toolbar tweeked to scale/layout better on higher resolutions
- The Medical Ward has been renamed to the Infirmary
- Fixed: You sometimes had to wait a very long time for prisoners to arrive when Continuous Intake was disabled
- Fixed: Firing someone who occupies an office now vacates the office
- Fixed: If an Administrator dies his office will now be released
- Fixed: When a prisoner dies or escapes, his cell will now be released for re-use
- Fixed a massive performance bug affecting the Intel HD graphics 4000 chipset
Alpha 4 (Nov 19th 2012)
The key change in this version is an overhaul of the Fog Of War system, in response to community feedback. Almost immediately after launching Alpha3 we began to hear from alpha users that the rooftop style fog-of-war (which blocks out the view of the insides of your prison unless you have Guards watching the area) was annoying because it stopped you from building things - you just couldn’t see what you were doing.
= Fog-of-war overhaul in response to community feedback
- Areas hidden by fog-of-war are now rendered in darkened greyscale instead the solid roof effect
- Walls, floors and Static objects under fog-of-war remain visible but greyed out.
- Guards and Cctv now have a longer view range.
- The Chief has a long view range
- Workmen, Cooks and Doctors have a short view range
= The game is now more permissive when loading corrupted saved games. It will no longer crash.
- Errors in the save file will be reported to debug.txt.
Alpha 3 (Nov 1st 2012)
For this update we’ve focussed on a new system called Fog Of War, which changes the game in a number of ways. Internally we refer to this as the Visibility system, because you now lose visibility of the indoor areas of your jail gradually over time. Your guards are the only staff members who can “unveil” the hidden areas, and if you lose visibility of an area you have no idea what sort of things are going on there. This ties in very closely to the Alpha2 update, because you now have to use Deployment and Patrols to create pathways for your guards to walk along to ensure your entire jail remains fully visible at all times.
= Fog-of-war / Visibility system
- You now lose visibility of the indoor areas of your Jail over time (Roof covers up the area)
- Guards reveal the area around them - spread them out to keep your jail fully visible at all times
- Fog of War is optional and can be toggled when creating a new sandbox
= CCtv system
- Unlocked by the Security Chief after Deployment
- CCtv cameras can be used to uncover fog-of-war instead of Guards
- Cctv cameras require monitors - each monitor station allows 3 cameras
- Monitor stations require Guards nearby watching them (One guard can watch a lot of monitors)
- Researching "Deployment" now unlocks Guard Patrols immediately, rather than requiring a separate research project
- Guards who are deployed within a sector will now stay within that sector unless ordered away by the player
- You can now press R to rotate objects during placement
- You can now press Q and E to zoom in and out
- Metal Detectors improved
- Low powered electrical items no longer take damage from water, nor electrocute people in water
- High powered electrical items should never be allowed to touch water ;)
- Holding Cells no longer count towards your prison's capacity. (And no longer affect intake of prisoners)
- You can now disable the checkerboard room pattern if you wish, to provide a cleaner look
(Controlled by preferences option "RenderRooms")
- The PC executable now has an icon
- Fixed: You can no longer use the "Dismantle Object" tool to dismantle fire, polaroids, vehicles etc
- Fixed: Lights can now be dismantled
- Fixed: You can no longer search dead prisoners
- Fixed: The "Incident Reports" objective was sometimes remaining hidden when it should be displayed
- Fixed: You can no longer rotate the following objects: Light, Tree, Electric chair
- Fixed: Saving a prison with a '#' symbol in the filename would cause the game to fail to start on next run
(Preferences.txt would remember the map filename and the game fails to autoload the prison on startup)
Alpha 2 (Oct 18th 2012)
The first major feature of this new build is the Deployment screen. This shows you a security schematic of your prison and allows you to assign guards to each of your sectors, and to set patrols for them to walk along. This makes locking down your prison a lot easier! We've also fixed a bunch of bugs and introduced an option when creating a new prison which lets you restrict the incoming rate of prisoners so they don't overwhelm you. Rather than receiving a random number every day you will only receive prisoners when you have space.
= Deployment mode
New screen in the toolbar, unlocked in the usual way by the Security Chief
You can assign Guards to the sectors of your jail
You can draw Patrol routes within the sectors, and your guards will follow them
- Intake options: When creating a new map there is an option called Continuous Intake
- "Enabled" behaves like Alpha1, ie a semi-random number of prisoners arrive every day
- "Disabled" means prisoners only arrive when you have capacity to fit them in
- Max 24 prisoners per day either way
- Newly created sandboxes have a Time Warp Factor, which govers the speed of the game clock.
Large maps now "slow down" the game clock by 50% to give entities longer to get around.
Medium maps slow down the game clock to 75%. Small maps run at 100%.
- The game now saves thumbnail PNGs when you save a level.
These are displayed in the Loading / Saving screen when available
- Large Pipes can now be built under existing walls
- Fixed: Game now runs on MacOSX 10.6 or greater (issue with libcurl)
- Experimental Fix: Game should now run properly on Retina Mac screens
It will default to fullscreen at the lower (non retina) resolution
You can force Retina resolution (2x higher) in preferences.txt with screenW and screenH
- Fixed: Some needs should not be displayed to the user (Eg need for Weapon)
- Fixed: Prisoners will no longer sit on chairs or use any equipment in any Office
- Fixed: An issue where goods and Prisoners in a supply truck could be left behind on the road
- Fixed: Prisoners would sometimes become stationary zombies after being escorted from the deliveries zone
(AiTargetSet flag not cleared)
- Fixed: Room type was often forgotten after a Save & Load. Room type would show up after load as "None".
Note: Save games with this bug will still be broken on Load. The game will assign these rooms type "Cell" as a guess.
- Fixed: An issue that caused Save Games to load very very slowly (appearing to crash) if you had created a single very large room
