Prison Architect
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[OUTDATED] The Ultimate Guide to Prison Architect
โดย VenomShifter และ 1 ผู้มีส่วนร่วม
WARNING: This guide is partially outdated. Use with caution, as some stuff explained in here might be different now.

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Thanks, and leave some feedback if possible to allow me to improve this guide even more :D

~Rutger
   
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Introduction
Note: This guide is outdated and may stay outdated for a long time. Use with caution.

This Guide is a work in progress, so there might be empty sections, radical changes, missing information or grammatical errors. Thank you for your understanding.


Hello and welcome to my Guide to Prison Architect. The mission of this Guide is to give every Player some insight to this wonderful game by Introversion[www.introversion.co.uk].

This Guide will cover everything, starting at the User Interface and ending with Tips & Tricks to help even the most experienced Players in managing a well running Prison.



Feel free to leave feedback or links in the Comments box for some awesome tips & tricks I could add to my Guide!

Have fun reading my Guide! :D


~Rutger

If anyone can provide large HD pictures of Walls & Doors, Flooring and Guard response, the help would very much be appreciated.

-Ant
The User Interface: Part I - Construction
Click image for larger version




Foundations - This tool allows you to build and destroy buildings of your Prison. Choose one of the 'Building' buttons to build. The differences between the two are purely aesthetic/cosmetic. There are additional wall options in the 'More' subsection. Click & drag to make or deconstruct your building. 'Bulldoze' completely removes the building, while the other 2 only remove walls or objects.

Essential tool in Prison Architect, as most rooms require being indoors. Additionally allows the option for the game to automatically place lights in your buildings, if you do not desire to manually place them, as well as removing any tunnels your pesky prisoners create.


Click image for larger version



Walls & Doors - This tool allows you to erect different types of walls and doors.



Click image for larger version

Flooring - A mostly aesthetic tool, which allows you to give your prison a variety of tiles and paving. Different floors actually have some function, as all have effects on the speed of a person and some may affect the grade of a room. Speed changes range from slow, normal, fast, and very fast. Certain floor types are free, namely sand, mud, and dirt.

Non-essential, so feel free to avoid this altogether if you're tight on funds.


Click image for larger version


Rooms - Another important tool in Prison Architect. Rooms are areas dedicated to a certain purpose (see image below). If you do not designate any rooms in your prison, most, if not all functions will simply not work properly. Food, for example, will never be cooked unless a kitchen is designated, and prisoners will never eat prepared food without a canteen designation.

Many rooms can only be placed if the building has been created using the Foundation Tool ("Must be indoors" requirement), while others can only be placed outside these buildings. Not all rooms are initially available and such rooms must be unlocked via bureaucracy.

Each room has its own set of requirements and can be placed in the same way as buildings by clicking and dragging to the required size. Removal of a room can be done by right clicking and dragging.

Typical requirements include a minimum size and the presence of certain objects.


Click image for larger version
Note that the game tracks the total number of each room you have designated.



Objects - This vital tool gives you all the items you need to fulfill a room requirement, and in extension, give the prison functionality. Hovering your mouse over a room will show you the bare minimum you'll need to make the room function properly. Without these various objects, your prison will be hollow and non-functional. Not only will prisoners not have anywhere to sleep or sh*t, your guards and staff will starve and strike (should you enable staff needs)! Besides placing objects, you can of course dismantle (remove) them or sell them.

Note that rooms requiring certain items tend to utilize said items for a purpose (e.g. Canteens need seating to allow the Prisoners to sit on while eating, laundries need washing machines to clean clothes). In addition, some "objects" are in the Utilities tab, although these are not found in any room requirements.

The Signs are merely cosmetic additions one may wish to add once they are swimming in money.


Note the number listed on objects denotes the number you have in storage, and hence do not need to purchase in order to place. Note as well the white highlights, which show you which objects are needed when observing various rooms in your prison.

Click image for larger version



Staff - This tool allows you to hire your Prison's workforce.Pick the person you want and then click anywhere on the map to spawn them.

Note that you can only hire a certain amount of staff until you've researched the Accountant in the bureaucracy menu. Armed guards and bureaucratic staff are also limited, the former by the number of guard lockers you have placed. In general, you only need 1 of each bureaucrat, especially early game, although further Foremen and Psychologists may be hired later to allow additional programmes.


Once again, the number over each staff depicts how many you have hired.
Click image for larger version


Utilities - Clicking on this tool allows you to see an underground map of your Prison plot.
Its purpose is to allow the construction of electrical and water infrastructure in your prison. Various objects and utilities will need some form of connection to sources of electricity and water. Lights and TVs need electricity, for example, while toilets need water. Thus, this is another essential tool.

Power generation is provided by a power station, connected to the national grid, increased by capacitors, and limited by the number of power consuming objects. Water is provided by a water pump station, and is only limited by decreasing water pressure as water travels along lengthy pipes.

Objects and utilities in need of a connection will flash either a water droplet, a bolt of lightning, or alternate between both, visible even in the default view of the prison. Smaller, less power intensive objects usually do not need a direct connection to wires, being powered if in the green shaded area in proximity to the large wires you build. Power hungry objects, such as an electric chair, must be directly connected by wire. They may be identified by the wire poking to the right of the object once it is built. Water connections are always direct. Should weather and temperature be enabled, hot water will require its own set of pipes.


Click image for larger version
Observe the green shade within the buildings that abruptly end at the exits. Outdoor lights do not need electricity. Active wires are lit green while active pipes have moving water within them.

Proceed to the next part for more management-related functions.
The User Interface: Part II - Management

Deployment - Unlocked by the Chief of Security.
This tool allows you to assign staff, including guards, to various parts of your prison. Areas may also be prioritised, which makes staff frequent the target location. Also available is setting pathways that either inmates, visitors, or others are inclined to follow as much as possible. Finally, the tool allows you to designate areas of the prison for differing levels of prisoners, staff restricted areas, unlocked areas and areas that should be avoided if possible. Custom sectors allow different prisoner levels into the same area, however the feature is known to be bugged currently and may malfunction.

Patrols are separately unlocked by the Chief. They allow you to manually set the path a guard is to patrol. Dog handlers and armed guards may also be assigned, and patrol paths prioritised if guards are limited in number.

Both regular room-based deployment and patrol deployment can be micromanaged to only occur at certain points during the day, with the use of the deployment scheduler unlocked by the warden. To make guards patrol only from 9 to 10 am, for example, click on the square below the number 9 in the deployment scheduler. This makes a square labelled '1'. Then click on the number 9 itself to move the arrow, and assign a guard to the patrol. Multiple squares labelled '1' will allow any deployments set for this schedule to be done for several hours. If you wish for a deployment to occur all the time, move the arrow back above a blank square.


A prison with several areas designated 'Staff only' and a single guard deployment below the holding cell.

2 guard patrols, with straight paths, set to occur throughout the day.


Logistics - Various services available within the prison, namely food, laundry, work, and cells.
Unlocked by both the Warden and the Foreman, this useful tool allows you to micromanage which kitchens and laundries serve which sectors of the prison, put your prisoners to work, and view cell vacancies as well as quality. Other rooms with qualities, such as classrooms and canteens may be seen as well, and typically you'd want to award behaving inmates with a nicer environment. Lastly, with weather and temperature enabled, you can see just how chilly parts of your prison are, and warm the place appropriately.




Quick Build - This tool allows you to use preset designs of various rooms in your prison, and copy any part (in alpha 9; only 6x6 spaces maximum) of a Building into any other available space inside a Building. Great for the quick construction of Cells or Rooms as it replicates anything placed or built in the selected Area. Right click and drag to select and left click to place the copied Area.

Note that to use this Tool you must unlock it in the Bureaucracy Menu, by unlocking the Foreman.




Planning - This tool allows you to plan out a wall outline of buildings, with doors and objects (see image below) without the fear of your workers actually doing anything. When you're happy with a plan, you'll be able to start constructing the plan with a simple button, though bear in mind you will have to set the type of door and wall beforehand. Objects will still have to be manually placed.


Click image for larger version


Emergencies - There are three Emergency Services available at the moment:


- Fire Engine: Calls in a group of 4 Firemen to extinguish fires.
- Riot Police: Calls in a squad of 6 Heavily Armoured Guards to put a halt to big riots or to recapture sectors.
- Paramedics: Calls in a team of 4 Paramedics to heal anyone nearby, goes well with riot police.

You can control them by clicking on the list on the right part of the screen (i.e left click on Emergency Staff Icon), or by drag-selecting. You can also select an individual sprite to control.
You can dismiss Emergency Services by clicking on the red X next to their unit icon.

Please note that you will be charged $100 to use a Service. Emergency services will arrive in vehicles on the right side of the road, avoiding any potential hold up of long queues on the heavily used left side of the road. Once you dismiss them, all living members will leave on the vehicle they came in.



Guard Response - A quick way to get a number of guards to a location. After selecting this button, click on the target area you wish for guards to attend to. Each consecutive click sends more guards.

Freefire - Initially absent from the HUD is the option to give your armed guards and snipers permission to use lethal force. While it may help coerce prisoners into immediately surrendering, expect deaths. Snipers are already authorized to kill after firing warning shots with this disabled, though you can disable warning shots as well with this tool.

Tunnel Search - A tamer version of a shakedown that won't annoy your prisoners as much. Either every toilet accessible to prisoners will be searched, or only toilets in certain sectors if you so choose. The primary, obvious purpose is to discover tunnels, but other hidden contraband may be found. There is a chance guards may overlook tunnels or contraband, amplified when they're tired, and particularly when they're exhausted.


Shakedown - Clicking this Button will trigger an immediate search of every Prisoner and cell across the entire Prison, if you select all sectors as well. You may alternatively choose to only search certain sectors, such as maximum security prisoners and their cells. There is nothing your Prisoners hate more than being searched unnecessarily, so don't use this tool too often, or you will raise the Danger Level.


Lockdown - Shuts and locks all doors within your Prison, or only doors within certain sectors.
Great to prevent Prisoners getting involved in Riots happening outside their Cells, closing off escape routes and other similar issues.

Note that this affects your Regime's Programmed Hours until the Lockdown has been lifted. I.e. the regime will be ignored until the lockdown is over.



Bangup - Sends all willing Prisoners back to their cells. Once again, can be selected for only a certain prisoner category.

Note that this affects your Regime's Programmed Hours until the Bangup has been lifted.

Roll Call - Order your prisoners to stand in the doorway of their cells. Only available during the night and during sleep. Could potentially expose tunnel diggers or at the very least prevent them from digging on a tunnel. Don't forget to stop the roll call to allow your prisoners some sleep.




Report - One of the most important and most used tools in Prison Architect and will require its own section. Scroll down to learn more about this tool.
The User Interface: Reports
Staff Tab

The staff tab displays currently employed staff.
Hover your mouse over a staff member's sprite to track them, and click on it if you wish to fire them.
See image below for more information.


Click image for larger version


  • Workers: These are the builders of your Prison. They build everything, from buildings to tables, pillows to electrical wiring, throughout your prison. They also repair anything that gets damaged by Prisoners or a fire, and are responsible for dismantling and demolishing everything as well. They also serve as garbage men, help unload supply trucks, and assist gardeners with forestry work. You can also count on them to help maintain the smooth running of a workshop, which they'll supply with the necessary raw resources and move the finished products for export.

  • Guards: A must-have for any Prison. Guards will escort new Prisoners from the drop-off location (i.e. Deliveries Room) to a reception room (if available) and then on to their new homes. Part of this introductory process includes a strip down search to check for any contraband. Afterwards, they keep the prisoners from simply leaving, breaking objects, killing each other or your staff, and generally breaking the law while in jail.

    They'll be the ones searching for contraband in the daily operation of a prison, and inmates in solitary or death row are delivered food by guards. Guards also transport mail to the mail room.

    3 derivatives of guards exist, all unlocked by the Chief and allowing further security.
    The dog handler, a guard and his dog; the armed guard, a shotgun and taser armed guard; and the sniper, a sniper rifle armed guard.

    Note: As of alpha version 9, Guards and their variants are the only staff that can open jail doors or break up riots.

  • Staff: Covers miscellaneous staff types. It includes cooks, janitors, gardeners and doctors. They keep your prison fed, clean, tidy, and healthy. Prisoners can take the roles of cooks and janitors for far lower wages, although they do not work full time and cannot enter staff-only sectors.

  • Administrators: Very important staff members. They allow you to research further features and items in the Bureaucracy Menu, unlocking a significant portion of the game.


Prisoners Tab

The Prisoners Tab allows you to see how many and what types of Prisoners you're currently housing in your Prison. If Continuous Intake is turned off, clicking on the Red Square Button (see below image) allows you to accept new Prisoners. Click on it again to stop new Prisoners from being housed in your Prison.


Click image for larger version



Jobs Tab

The jobs Tab lists all your Staff and Prisoners activities currently going on or queued in your Prison. See the below image for more information.


Click image for larger version



Needs Tab

Unlocked by hiring a Psychologist through the Bureaucracy Menu.
The Needs Tab shows you the needs of your Prisoners (see below image).
Satisfying the needs of your Prisoners is useful, as it will prevent Riots or escape attempts.

Extra information to satisfy your Prisoners needs

Needs
Solutions
Bladder &
Bowel
FreeTime and Sleep Schedule
Sleep
Sleep Schedule
Food
Eat Schedule
Hygiene
Shower schedule and FreeTime Schedule
Clothing
Work Schedule(i.e Laundry Job)
Comfort
Bench, Chair, Bed, Sleep Schedule
Exercise
Exercise equipment & running around Yard Area
Safety
Guards, CCTV Cameras, no fights
Freedom
Outside Areas (e.g. Yards) & FreeTime Schedule
Family
Phone Booth & Visitation Area
Recreation
Pool Table, TV, etc
Literacy
Bookshelves, libraries.



Regime Tab

Unlocked by hiring a Warden.
This is your Prisons Timetable (i.e. Schedule).
See the image below for an example of a Schedule.


Click image for larger version

Tips
  • To plan your Regime, first set up a Blank Schedule, fill in Sleeping and Eating Hours as appropriate (Cooks will only prepare and serve food in the Canteen for designated eating times), then set the rest of the Prisoners' day as FreeTime. As you learn more about the Scheduling system you can tweak it to your needs.
  • As a general rule of thumb, avoid leaving large amounts of time Unscheduled as Prisoners will become bored and may start destroying the fixtures in their Cells. This time seems to be most effective in one hour blocks between other activities as sort of a "cool down" period.
  • To ensure a quiet Sleep time: schedule at least six hours of sleep per night, and try placing troublesome Insomniacs into Solitary Cells.

Extra information about the different types of activities for your Prisoners

Name
Description
Sleep
This will make all Prisoners return to their Cells. The Cells will be locked shut until the period ends. Prisoners who have no respective Cells will go into the Holding Cell instead, but it will not remove their "Tired" complaint (e.g. No Bed)
Eat
Hours marked with Eat will bring all Prisoners to the Canteen to eat.
Shower
Hours marked with Shower will make all Prisoners go to the Showers.
Yard
Hours marked with Yard will bring Prisoners to the Area you have marked as Yard.
FreeTime
Hours marked with FreeTime will give all Prisoners liberty to roam around the Prison. They will often stay in their Cells, hang out in the Canteen, Shower, or just roam.
Work
Hours marked with Work will make all Prisoners who have been given a job do that said job. The rest gets free time assigned.
[/tr]


Grants Tab

A Grant is a sum of money given to the player for completing a certain task.
Accepted Grants will be shown in the To-Do List. See image for more information


Click image for larger version



Finance Tab

Allows you to keep track of your total earnings and losses each game-day (i.e. Income & Expenses). See below image for more information.


Click image for larger version



Valuation Tab

Gives you a detailed list of your total amount of payments to your Staff & Safety and Security facts. See below image for more information.

How-to: Administration & Entrance
This section will be divided into different chapters for easy readability & searchability.

Let's start off with getting enough Funds to build a Small Prison.

Click on Reports and then the Grants Tab and then click on all the Grants there are. This will give you around $100k to spend.



Entrance, Delivery and Garbage Areas

It's a good idea to have a closed Entrance Area.
My example (see image below) has Fences, as those are rather cheap.

Example:

Click image for larger version

The Metal Detector is optional (as it has a $1000 price tag), but it's recommended to add one sometime.

It'll look like this:

Click image for larger version

Please note that it's not possible to build most things on the road (as of Alpha 10). Keep that in mind when you're building a closed Entrance Area. You can, however, build a road gate or barrier that functions as a large door on the road. As these are rather expensive, you can of course forego them for the early game.



Administration Offices
You need Offices to give your Administration Staff a place to stay.

Let's start by Planning out the design of your Office building. Consult the image below for an example.


Click image for larger version

First use the Building tool in the Foundation Menu to create the Office Area. Click on the Foundations tool and select the Building Sub-Button to create the Office Building. To allow Prison Architect to finish laying down the Foundation, you will need to add a Door to the Building. I've used a Staff-Only Door for this Building.Once that has been completed, you can continue with using Brick Walls in the Material Menu to fill up the remaining Planning Areas as shown in the image below.


Click image for larger version

Now we need to give this building different Office Rooms. We can do this by clicking on Office button in the Rooms Menu. Consult the image below for more information


Click image for larger version

Now you can start adding Furniture to the Offices. See the image below for an example.


How-to: Power & Water Stations
In this section we will cover the basics of the Power and Water Stations.
Every Prison building needs Power. Some even need Power & Water (i.e. Shower Room)



Let's kick off with building a simple place to house your Power and Water Stations.
Use Fences to spend as little as money as possible. See the image below for an example.


Click image for larger version

You can find the Power Station, Water Station and Capacitors in the Utilities tool.
Capacitors are cheaper than installing a second Power Station if you happen to run out of enough power to run your Prison.

My example has a lot of Capacitors, but it's recommended to gradually them add them, as they don't come cheap.

Tip: Placing the Water Station in the middle of your Prison is a good idea, since this will make it harder for Prisoners to dig themselves out of the Prison.



Now that your Power and Water Stations have been installed, we can continue with laying down the Electricity Cables and the Water Pipes. Click on the Utilities tool to switch to the underground view of your Prison. Let's start with the Electricity Cables.

You will see something similar as in this image:

Click image for larger version

To solve this, you will need to lay down Electricity Cables in the Administration building.
You can find the Electricity Cables in the Utilities Sub-Menu. It looks like this:


Consult the below image for an example.

Click image for larger version

Don't forget to add a Power Switch near the Power Station for if you ever need to shut down the Electricity Network.

Note that you should never connect two (or more) Power Stations to the same Electricity Line, as this will cause a short circuit.



Water Pipes work a little bit different than Electricity Cables, as there are Large and Small Pipes in Prison Architect.

The Large Pipes are used to transport large quantities of Water through your Prison & Small Pipes are used as a connection to the different Objects that require Water to function properly.
To know if an Objects requires water, you will see a blinking water drop at the Object.
A non-blinking water drop (only viewable in Utilities Mode) means that it receives Water.

Consult the below images for an example of a correct installation of Water Pipes.

Click image for larger version


Click image for larger version


You can find the Small and Large Pipes in the Utilities Sub-Menu. They look like this:
- Small Pipes:

- Large Pipes:


Please note that when you open a save, all the water drops will blink for a few seconds, but no panic, as this is normal, because the waterflow is moving through the Prison.
How-to: Storage & Cleaning Cupboard
Let's start with building a Storage & Cleaning Cupboard Area.
Use Foundations in the Foundation tool to build the walls.

See below image for an example of an combined Storage & Cleaning Cupboard Area Planning.


Click image for larger version

Here's an example of a finished Storage & Cleaning Cupboard Area:

Click image for larger version

As you can see, it has some nice Wooden Tiles.

That covers this section of Storage & Cleaning Cupboard Areas.

Don't forget to go into Utilities Mode to add Electricity Cables.

Note that if you want to use the Cleaning Cupboard as a Job for your Prisoners, you need to add a door to that said Room, as that's the only purpose at the moment.
How-to: Cell Blocks I
Cell Block One
Capacity: 32 Prisoners (24 Cells & 8 Solitary Cells).

Let's start with building our first Cell Block. Consult the image below for an example of a Cell Block.


Click image for larger version


Now it's time to use Foundations to build it. Click on the Foundations tool and select the Building Sub-Button. First create a Foundation of the right part of the Cell Block (make a square formed Foundation). Add a Large Jail Door in the upper right part of the Cell Block. After that has been completed, we create a Foundation for the smaller part of the Cell Block. Consult the image below for help.


Click image for larger version

Time to add the inner walls by using Brick Walls in the Material Menu. Also add Fences around the Yard.

Don't forget to lay down Electricity Cables & Water Pipes. Consult the image below for an example.


Click image for larger version

Also add a Pipe Valve near the Water Station (see above image) in case you have to temporarily close down the water supply. It's this Item:


Here's an example of a completed Cell Block One:

Click image for larger version

I've used White Tiles to give the Cell Block a nice clean look. The shower has some Fancy Tiles + 3 Drains to keep the water from escaping the Shower Room. Solitary Cells don't need any Items besides Solitary Doors.

Here's a list of the amount of money you need to build this Cell Block:

Area
Money
Building + Walls
±$22k
Cells
±$17k
Shower
±$0.5k
Yard
±$2.8k
Utilities
±$2.5k
Aesthetics
±$5.4k
Total
±$51.5k



Cell Block Two
Capacity: 20 Prisoners.

Planning:

Click image for larger version

Final Result:

Click image for larger version

Here's a list of the amount of money you need to build this Cell Block:

Area
Money
Building + Walls
±$25.5k
Cells
±$19.8k
Shower
±$0.7k
Yard
±$4.8k
Utilities
±$3k
Aesthetics
±$4.35k
Total
±$59.5k



Cell Block Three
Capacity: 40 Prisoners.

There are two versions of this design; One with a bigger Yard & one with a smaller Yard.
The yellow rectangles are there to show places where a door to the outside can go, depending on how the Cell Block is located.

Plannings:

Design A

Click image for larger version

Design B

Click image for larger version


Final Result (Design B):

Click image for larger version

Here's a list of the amount of money you need to build this Cell Block:

Area
Money
Building + Walls
±$151k (B) or 167k (A)
Cells
±$25.6k
Shower
±$1k
Yard
±$1.4k (B) or 1.7k (A)
Utilities
±$4.2k
Aesthetics
±$6k
Total
±$183.2k (B) or 205.5k (A)



Cell Block Four
Capacity: 36 Prisoners (32 Cells & 4 Solitary Cells).

Planning:

Click image for larger version

Legend:
- Red Line: Fence
- Yellow Rectangles: Large Jail Doors
- Star (Upper Right corner): Optional Cell space

Final Result:

Click image for larger version

Here's a list of the amount of money you need to build this Cell Block:

Area
Money
Building + Walls
±$30.5k
Cells
±$20.9k
Shower
±$1.5k
Yard
±$2.1k
Utilities
±$4.6k
Aesthetics
±$7.4k
Total
±$67k



Cell Block Five
Capacity: 12 Prisoners.

Planning:

Click image for larger version

Final Result:

Click image for larger version

Here's a list of the amount of money you need to build this Cell Block:

Area
Money
Building + Walls
±$7.3k
Cells
±$7.2k
Shower
±$0.9k
Yard
±$2k
Utilities
±$1.7k
Aesthetics
±$1.7k
Total
±$21k
How-to: Cell Blocks II
Cell Block Six
Capacity: 8 Prisoners

Planning:

Click image for larger version

Final Result:

Click image for larger version

Here's a list of the amount of money you need to build this Cell Block:

Area
Money
Building + Walls
±$5.6k
Cells
±$4k
Shower
±$0.2k
Utilities
±$0.8k
Aesthetics
±$1.6k
Total
±$12.2k



Cell Block Seven (by Honzas4400)
Capacity: 8 Prisoners

Planning:

Click image for larger version

Final Result:

Click image for larger version

Here's a list of the amount of money you need to build this Cell Block:

Area
Money
Building + Walls
±$4.8k
Cells
±$4k
Utilities
±$1k
Aesthetics
±$1k
Total
±$10.8k



Cell Block Eight (by Thekillergreece(GRE))
Capacity: 24 Prisoners.

Planning:

Click image for larger version

Final Result:

Click image for larger version

Here's a list of the amount of money you need to build this Cell Block:

Area
Money
Building + Walls
±$5.3k
Cells
±$15k
Utilities
±$0.8k
Infirmary
±$2.2k
Total
±$23.3k



Cell Block Nine (by Zion Fox)
Capacity: 32 Prisoners

Planning:

Click image for larger version

Final Result:

Click image for larger version

Here's a list of the amount of money you need to build this Cell Block:

Area
Money
Building + Walls
±$17.8k
Cells
±$13k
Shower
±$700
Utilities
±$3.7k
Aesthetics
±$13.5k
Total
±$48.7k



[Section Information coming soon. Check back regularly]

Cell Block Ten
Capacity: XX Prisoners (XX Cells & XX Solitary Cells).

Planning:

Click image for larger version

Final Result:

Click image for larger version

Here's a list of the amount of money you need to build this Cell Block:

Area
Money
Building + Walls
±$
Cells
±$
Shower
±$
Yard
±$
Utilities
±$
Aesthetics
±$
Total
±$
How-to: Canteen & Kitchen
Prisoners need to eat and that can be done in the Canteen.

It's a good idea to combine the Canteen with the Kitchen as it's easier for the Cooks to serve the food for the Prisoners. Also make sure that the Kitchen is as close to a Storage Area as possible, so that the Cooks can prepare the food as fast as possible (i.e less walking distance).

Here's an example of a completed Canteen + Kitchen:


To give it some esthetic looks, you could add a Bin or better looking Floor Tiles as shown in the image.

Depending on the amount of Prisoners that are housed in your Prison, the Kitchen and Canteen should be made bigger, to allow more Prisoners to eat at the same time and minimize the change of a Riot.
How-to: Infirmary & Morgue
The Infirmary

The Infirmary is where wounded Staff/Prisoners automatically go or are sent to when they're hurt. Doctors will hang around in these rooms, ready to heal them back to full health. You can manually heal Staff/Prisoners by Left Clicking a Doctor and then Right Clicking on or near the hurt Staff/Prisoner, though doctors will usually seek out injured staff and prisoners on their own.

The Infirmary doesn't need a lot of work.
Here's an example of a simple Infirmary building:

Click image for larger version

The Infirmary only needs a few Medical beds, Doctors & the Infirmary Room area.
Generally, the Infirmary doesn't need more than 2 Beds. Unless your Prisons like to Riot a lot, it is entirely possible to have an infirmary consisting of a single medical bed, though this does limit your drug treatment programmes.



The Morgue

The Morgue is a place where Dead Staff and Prisoners are being kept.
Hearses will come to your Prison to take away your Dead Bodies (four per hearse).

Here's an example of a simple Morgue room:

Click image for larger version

The Morgue only needs a few Morgue Slabs and the Morgue Room area.
This Morgue has been fancied up by adding Fancy Tiles and a Sink.
Same as with the Infirmary: 2 Slabs should be sufficient for regular sized Prisons. If you're okay with corpses hanging around until they're disposed of (which is typically a pretty quick process, in fact), you can forget about making a morgue for functional uses, as they merely serve to store cadavers until hearses arrive. It is fine to not build one at all.
How-to: Holding Cells
Holding Cells are used to temporarily hold Prisoners in place until their designated Cells have been build. A Holding Cell is also needed to complete the "Contract: Basic Detention Centre" Grant.

Holding Cells are fairly easy to build, and only require to be at least 5x5, and they'll need a Bench and a Toilet. Holding Cells can also temporary be used as a Regular Cell until your Workmen build you a Prison Block to house the Inmates.

Here's an example of a completed Holding Cell:

Click image for larger version

This Holding Cell has a Mosaic Floor for a nicer look.

The Lights & Toilet need Electricity and Water Pipes, respectively.
Those can be added by using the Utilities Menu.
[Coming soon] How-to: Laundry
With the help of: Schokolabbi


Laundries are where the clothing need of your prisoners are taken care of. Both janitors and prisoners work the laundry, which includes working within the room itself and distributing the clean clothes around your prison, to every bed, in addition to the reception table(s). As your janitors tend to be busy cleaning the floors, and prisoners are paid far below minimum wage ($0.5/hour), there is little reason not to employ your prisoners in these rooms.

Examples of a running Laundry Room:

Click image for larger version

The image above shows a very compact laundry room. A sizable prison would need a larger one, and the number of prisoners you can assign to a laundry scales depending on how large it is, as with other rooms. Laundries benefit from a central location, and washing machines will need direct connections to both the water and electrical infrastructure, so plan accordingly.



You may notice the laundry transport disappearing or moving around, which is totally ordinary, as it is actually used to transport clean clothes around the prison.

You may also notice a warning telling you the laundry is too small to handle your prison. Should you have the space, more washing machines, ironing tables, and laundry transports can fix this issue, without having to expand your laundry room space. Another possible warning would be of the ironing table. You should keep these at least 1 square away from the walls to allow people to actually use them, as a general rule of thumb. The washing machines can cover the walls, while the ironing tables fill in the center.
Staff
This section is regarding about the Staff members of your prison. It is important to take note how a staff member works in your prison since not everything is covered in-game and the wiki.

Administration

Warden

This is the first Administration Staff you will unlock in early prison building. Warden is one of the most important Administration Staff member since he unlocks most of the reports and bureaucracy, including the ability to hire Security Chief, Accountant, Lawyer and a lot more. There are 6 different Wardens (+3 more with DLCs.) with varying advantages. The most useful are probably the Lobbyist, Rita, and the Pacifier.

Chief

The chief is responsible for unlocking Security components such as CCTVs, Kennels, Armoury, Snipers and a lot more. Chief is the only staff member who will train normal Guards how to use Tazers provided you have tazer rollout unlocked and scheduled a tazer certification class.

Foreman

The foreman can unlock Maintenance stuff for you, Janitors, Gardener and make prisoners allowed to work provided you have zoned a workshop, cleaning cupboard. For Workshops, Prisoners need to pass Workshop lessons in order to work, and only the foreman can teach such lessons (kitchens also require lessons, though a cook teaches them).

Accountant

The accountant will handle your finances. Without Accountant, you can NOT hire more staff members that exceeds the income from expenses. Accountants can grant you the ability to expand the prison's land as long as you have the money and unlocked it through the bureaucracy.

Psychologist

Psychologist is another important staff members. Having a hired one, you will easily understand Prisoner's needs if their demand is met or not. Without Psychologist, you will never know why a Prisoner is always mad.

Psychologists can also help prisoners deal with their alcohol addictions, and reduce the violent tendencies of certain prisoners via the alcohol group therapy and behavioural therapy programmes.

Lawyer

The lawyer lets you bypass certain laws to a certain extent, and unlocks the death row class of prisoners. The lawyer can also save you from failure (a game over) once, for a ready hefty sum. Overall, the lawyer is not that important, but you may wish to hire one anyway so you can further customize your prison and kill people legally.

Prison Staff(Non-Security)

Workman

This Staff Member, Workman, is responsible for building your prison, install objects such as chair, tables, doors and a lot more. Workmen are also responsible to repair anything broken that other staff members can not do that. Finally, they are able to move simple stuff such as, wood, clothing from Delivery to Laundry if there is one and move stuff that are supposed to be in the Storage. They also collect garbage and eventually deliver them to the garbage room. While it is primarily the gardeners' responsibility to manage forestries, workmen may help out.

You start the game with 8. Hiring more means your construction projects finish more rapidly, though you could always just be patient.

Doctor

Doctors will heal anyone who is injured on sight, be it they are unconscious or not, as long as they are not hostile prisoners seeking a fight. Unconscious people will be awaken by the Doctor when he or she is healing them. Doctors may sometimes leave their Infirmary in rush to treat a wounded prisoner/staff members around the prison. Doctors may also sometimes move the unconscious people to the Infirmary's bed and treat them, saving Guard's time.

Overdosed prisoners are quickly brought to the infirmary by a guard, as only doctors can save these unfortunates.

Cook

Not much to say. They make food for the prisoners! But you can order Cooks to piss off the inmates by making crappy meals for them by adjusting through the Report Tab. They can also teach prisoners kitchen hygiene, so you can complement their number with prisoners in time.

Gardener

Responsible to clean and clear outdoors area to make them look beautiful. Also responsible for forestries.

Janitor

Responsible to clean the interior/indoors area to make the prison filth & smell-free therefore satisfying Prisoner's need "Environment". Also runs the laundry service.

Prison Staff(Security)

Guard

Guards will be your very very first staff members to hire when you decide to accept new prisoners for the first time. Guards will do everything, with the exceptions of repairing, cooking and cleaning of course. Guards are the only staff members that will move prisoners to elsewhere, move clothing into the laundry if workmen are not doing that, giving food to solitary prisoners and a lot more. They will also move wounded people to the Infirmary if one is available. They are responsible to oversee your prison and radio in when a trouble is spotted by the guard. Guards can soon be equipped with Body Armour, which makes them tougher but slows them somewhat, and tasers, which requires a training session by the Chief at any classroom. Tasers can stun a prisoner into unconsciousness, but they have a chance to miss or fail to stun, and can only be used once before they must recharge for an in-game hour. Guards will not enter riot areas.

Armed guards do not require training for tasers, and the dogs of dog handlers do not wear body armour, so they are not slowed. Note that the dog handler him/herself will not fight prisoners, and only the regular guard does most of the responsibilities. The other guards do not help prison running as they are preoccupied with keeping your prisoners, prisoners.

Guards are very strong and tough against Female Prisoners, therefore one Armored Guard can detain up to eight female prisoners at ease. However, their chances to win against a Prisoner is depending their traits and if a Guard is outnumbered. An armed prisoner can also kill your guards rapidly, so tasers and body armour are highly recommended.

Author's Note
Thanks for reading my Guide! I hope it served you well. If you think the Guide can be improved, or if you think it's missing something, let me know by commenting in the Comments box. Feel free to ask questions too, as those will be added to the Q&A Section after they've been answered.


I would like to give MadGuy100 & IDED a huge thanks as it made me understand this game a lot better.

Feel free to take a look at IDED's Guide when you've got the time:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=134684867

~Rutger
Q&A Section
Q: How do I make money in Prison Architect?
A: There are two ways to earn money at the moment:
- The main method is to use the Grants that can be found in the game that rewards you for creating certain buildings and hiring certain types of Staff and gives you large upfront payments.
These Grants are focused to get your Prison up and running to house your first Prisoners, who will give you each day some money. There are only a few Grants in the game at the moment, so take a look at method two. You can also download this mod[forums.introversion.co.uk] to add new Grants. Instructions on how to add mods to the game can be found in the modding guide by rfry11 at the Tips & Tricks Section of my Guide.

- The second way, and probably the best way at the moment, is to use the Workshop Feature. If you create a Workshop and place the two types of required machines within it and assign some Prisoners to work there, they will create License Plates that will sell automatically at the end of each day. You pay a little for the raw Metal Plates, but its all automatic and once you have this up and running your cash problems should be sorted out as long as you haven't hired too many Staff.




Q: How does the CCTV Monitor work exactly?
A: CCTV Monitors exist to enable Guards to activate CCTV Cameras to see through (when enabled) the Fog of War where guards are not present. To activate, a Guard needs to be assigned to a Security Room (you can find the Security Room in the Rooms Menu) using the Deployment Feature (i.e "Guard") and set to "Patrol" in front of it. The CCTV Monitor supports 8 CCTV Cameras.

Note that guards now automatically operate these monitors, as a number of them loiter in the security room.



Q: How do I use the Electric Chair?
A: The Electric Chair requires a rare death row inmate, which require their own special cell blocks. To ensure you do not lose the game, it is necessary to hold death row appeals in parole rooms in order to lower the clemency of an individual inmate below a certain level (5% initially, can be increased to 10% by lawyer). Once low enough, you can schedule an individual's execution, follow all the in-game prompts, and kill someone without a penalty to your finances. The game even awards you $10,000 if everything went as expected.
Tips & Tricks
  • General Prison Design Tips:
    - Fences are useful and cheap, so build them around your Prison when you have the dough to give you care-free building/expanding and stop prisoners from escaping.
    - Sinks are for cleaning trays in the Kitchen. They don't go in the Shower Room!
    - Putting Bins in the Kitchen and Canteen reduces the number of trips to the roadside (i.e Garbage Area).
    - Placement of your Storage Area is key to an efficient Prison. Not only do all building supplies come through here, but also all your Prison's Food. Optimal placement seems to be in the middle of the prison, with a clear path to roadside deliveries (i.e Garbage Area).
    - Create a Regime that uses Inmates to produce the Food, e.g. 3 hours of Work before any 'EAT' segment in your regime. This will vastly increase your Kitchen's Ability to Feed Prisoners. At this point, you can set the food rate to High and set the variation to None. All Inmate will be fed and receive comfort from this.
    - The beginning and end of any Work Day should consist of primarily "Free Time". This will allow the Inmates to do as they like: Sleep, Shower, Use the Yard, Common room, etc. Your prison will try to run itself effectively allowing you to move onto your next building project.
    -Low on funds? Prisoners keep killing your guards with knives and scissors? Place a metal detector or two in front of your canteens. This maximises its utility at minimum cost.
    -The maximum length a small pipe can go is 39 meters. At this length, water takes some time to fully traverse the length of the pipe, so be patient!
    -Once you've researched grounds keeping, create vast forestries. A Youtuber found that you can simply profit off the earnings of a forestry without ever having to care for any prisoners. Indeed, forestries are perhaps the simplest way to generate large revenue.

  • Space Management Tips
    - Use 2 or more Large Jail Doors placed side by side to wall off a room for Deployment without creating bottlenecks in the Doors and Corridor.
    - If it doesn't need Walls, don't build them. Walls only serve to limit path finding for the AI, as long as you're not having Riots every five minutes. An "Open Plan" Prison works very well to reduce travel times (Warning: Avoid this in Maximum Security).
    - Use the Deployment Menu to create 'Staff Only' Areas outside of the Prison Walls (this requires you to build a secure exterior Fence around your Buildings though). This will stop any would-be Escapees from finding themselves outside or Secure Areas.

  • Staff Management Tips
    - Administrators are your main staff members to protect initially so they can research various project that allow you greater control over your prison. You only need 1 of each, as the only use of multiple is to allow you to research multiple things at once. Completely unnecessary when you're low on budget.
    - Most of the administration offices can be safely built away from the main prison. Only Foremen and Psychologists benefit from being closer to the prisons and prisoners.
    -The Lawyer's importance is questionable. It is entirely possible to ignore him completely, or sack him once his uses have expired.

  • Workshop Tips
    - When making a Workshop, place it near to your Delivery Location. This will reduce travel time and increase production.
    - Multiple Workshops are okay as long as they are adjacent to each other. Try fill the surrounding Rooms with Saws and the Center Room with only Presses, then surround the Presses with Tables. This is not as efficient as a single Workshop, but it will produce more.
    - "Speculate to accumulate": You will need to save a sizable amount of Money to build your dream Workshop in one sitting, but the more Workshop Tools you can afford, the better the result will be.
    - Make sure you have more Saws than Presses so the press never stops producing License Plates.
    - Make sure you have a Staff-Only Area outside the Workshop Door to prohibit Inmates from gathering Supplies outside of Secure Areas and attempting to escape.
    - Surround your Presses and Saws with Tables so that Inmates may stack the License Plates and Metal Sheets near the Work Area. This vastly reduces travel time and increases production.
    - Make sure to place Metal Detectors when Prisoners enter/exit workshops as they can smuggle deadly weapons (E.g. Hammer, saw)

  • Kitchen Tips
    - Make sure you have a properly walled-off Kitchen with multiple Doors (e.g. staff doors) then set the maximum amount of inmates to work in there (by using the Deployment Menu).
    - When making a Kitchen, place it near to your Delivery Location. This will reduce travel time and increase production.
    - Surround your Fridges with the Cookers in a small Area; 1 Fridge per Cooker per 20 Inmates. Having more Cookers will only lower your production rate so try to stay near this ratio.
    - Keep the Cooking Area small to reduce travel time, but make sure there's plenty of empty space in your Kitchen as the size of the Room sets the maximum number of Inmates available to work in the Kitchen.
    - Make sure you have a Staff-Only Area outside the Kitchen Door(s) to prohibit Inmates from gathering Supplies outside of Secure Areas and attempting to escape.
    -Drastically increase the rate at which trays are cleaned by connecting a sink to a hot water boiler. Unfortunately, this feature is only available when weather and temperature is enabled.



  • Introversion Prison Architect Forum[forums.introversion.co.uk]
  • Prison Architect Wiki[prison-architect.wikia.com]
  • Mods Website[www.prison-exchange.com]
  • Unofficial Steam Community Group
  • Cell Block Size Calculator: here[forums.introversion.co.uk] & here[forums.introversion.co.uk]
  • Youtube Playthough by TheAdambn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=824KuvKjQS0&list=PL3gsKNa2VUevjy9CuAC2-A9ohnT41FmQf
  • Lets Play Prison Architect - Gameplay Videos by cirby88TNG: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPusi89V4HI&list=ELVnRmOaJdofM
  • Construction + Prison Architect (Let's Play) by Stuff+: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w038Fjwi4TE&list=PLdsTktsb06lqOiIANpf-vx6Z_sK8QFxPt
  • Prison Architect Video Tips by Devotii: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=138559896
  • Sjin Plays Prison Architect by YOGSCAST Sjin:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pghSZk9howU&list=SPtZHIFR5osfAWMmeTfBQi404ltcRl9Pzf
  • How-To-Mod Guide by rfry11: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=135433563
Fun Facts
Did you know?:
- Dog Handlers and Armed Guards have lower Health Points than normal Guards.
- Janitors and Gardeners do not clear fog of war.
- Dogs will kill the prisoners who knocked their owner unconscious or even killed them.
- A prisoner can kill with another prisoner and steal their equipment.
Workshop Suggestions


  • Open the game & open the in-game menu
  • Open your Workshop file.
  • Make changes and go back to the Steam Workshop Menu.
  • Click the "codex_workshop_update" button (there's only ONE button, so you can't miss it) to the right to update your Workshop file.


(Please note that I have not tried out all of the Prisons. I analyzed the comments and ratings they received to choose which deserve a spot in the Suggestions list.)
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=153883726
105 ความเห็น
VenomShifter  [ผู้สร้าง] 8 ก.ค. 2023 @ 10:39pm 
@Guardian: Nope, sorry about that. Some stuff might still be relevant though
Guardian 6 ก.ค. 2023 @ 12:29pm 
This guide still being updated?
havicronic g 24 ส.ค. 2021 @ 5:34pm 
Could you try and add on how to rise power exports via green energy?
VenomShifter  [ผู้สร้าง] 20 มิ.ย. 2020 @ 1:28am 
@Ant: Awesome! I've sent you a friend request so I can add you as a contributor.
Ant  [ผู้สร้าง] 19 มิ.ย. 2020 @ 8:18pm 
I think I'll have a go at updating this guide, if you don't mind.
VenomShifter  [ผู้สร้าง] 9 ก.ค. 2019 @ 9:14am 
@loki4321x3 Same. I haven't touched the game in years... I do hope someone is willing to update the guide someday.
loki4321x3 9 ก.ค. 2019 @ 7:28am 
Im not even as experianced as lots of others here.. i dont even have the knowledge to update this guide as my last play was 2017/18 and a lot changed..
VenomShifter  [ผู้สร้าง] 8 ก.ค. 2019 @ 10:27pm 
@loki4321x3 I could give you edit rights if you want to help the community out
loki4321x3 8 ก.ค. 2019 @ 4:21pm 
Nobody wants to bring it up to date
Shailushai 4 ส.ค. 2018 @ 1:32am 
my morgue is full how do i get rid of the dead people