No actual need for "Shower-time"...

[Malthezer]

So I recently have had a break from PA, and just returned to it yesterday thinking I would like to check out the new elements of Alpha 20. And one of the first things that struck me when I had established my new prison, was that the prisoners dont really need actual time to shower in the morning.. If you just give them "Freetime" instead, they will all shower (except for those who dont actually need it). Maybe it was just an idea to remove this element in the regime tab, as it doesnt seem necessary?

[infestedchris]

Same goes with yard too. They exercise when they need it. And I felt it get's in the way with bladder issues.

[Mendacious Calamity]

Yeah using 'freetime' instead of Yard or Shower is quite a well known little trick ;)

[Rudy]

I have noticed this , but I didnt put 2 and 2 together . Thanks for posting this tip, I will try it.

[AlexMBrennan]

With the latest update, that trick might negatively affect your reoffending score

[Deadpan Serious]

yeah too much 'freetime' reduces punishment score. also, Yard time forces them to work out, even if they wouldn't in free time, which increases health, which also reduces reoffending.

i see Shower time as a possible Regime enforcement, simply to 'punish', because that's what the function of Regime seems to be. it adds to punishment.
and i don't think prisons should be institutes of punishment.

plus, Shower Time means they all take showers simultaneously, which menas you either have to build one showerhead per person, or have a bunch of them walk around the shower area dressed, while they all get cramped up and.... yeah :/ that seems like a safe situation ... not.

also they don't use Showers in Cells or Holding Cells during Showertime, while they do use them during Free time.

[Proteus]

I for my part just add phone booths and toilets in a room adjaent to the showers themselves (but being considered part of the showers).
This way the prisoners who are finished with showering (or wait for a free shower) just can spend the time with contacting thewir family or going to toilet.
As my regime has the shower time directly after sleep, they will always be happy to be able to fulfill one of these needs during shower time as well ;)

[Rusel]

The problem i have is that work time means most of my prisoners are on free time as most dont work which lowers my ratings. Any ideas?

[Proteus]

Originally posted by Mrteddy999 KGaS:

The problem i have is that work time means most of my prisoners are on free time as most dont work which lowers my ratings. Any ideas?

I don´t think you can do anything about it, aside from taking care that a large percentage of your prisoners has work (or goes to school)

[Cherry Bee]

Those without work or a program will also use Work time to shower.

[Sleeper]

Originally posted by Mrteddy999 KGaS:

The problem i have is that work time means most of my prisoners are on free time as most dont work which lowers my ratings. Any ideas?

I'd say build a big huge cleaning supply room. They don't need any experience or qualifications for the job. Plus it takes some more strain off your janitors. It won't employ all of them, but it means fewer idle hands.

[daii_x]

Originally posted by Mrteddy999 KGaS:

The problem i have is that work time means most of my prisoners are on free time as most dont work which lowers my ratings. Any ideas?

Are they qualified or have you set enough spaces in that current work zone?.Open Deployment,change to jobs to assign more spaces to whatever section you want guys working in.They may need to be qualified so open Report on the bottom right and find "Programs".

[Ensign]

Shower and especially Yard are extreamly important! They are hard counters to hygiene, excersice and family.

YARD
Ever have a problem in suppression prisons where people seem to move a little slower? Or mabey all your prisoners are spread all over your HUGE prison so some men cant eat becuase it took most of Eat time to just get to the canteen? Place a yard next to the canteen and set Yard time before Eat time and now everyone gets to eat as they all got an hr head start to get to the canteen. Its the hard counter (as many have mentioned here) to excerise and mabey even familiy if u set phones in the yard.

SHOWER
Perhaps your inmates take thier time to fix thier family or comfort or entertainment or bowels or well anything need! They spend thier time doing these things and while they work they whine about not having hygeine. Sure most of them will shower in thier free time but there are still some who wont becuase they are busy fulfilling other needs. Meaning for the rest of thier work time they are dirty. Give them an hr of shower in the morning. Eventually everyone will rotate to needing showers in the morning and it will satisfy them for the rest of the day.

In my prisons i always ensure every cellblock has enough showerheads for everyone, how do people spend the tiny amount of space you save by not adding a shower for everyone? It doesnt take alot of space and with the expansions you can buy you have a seemingly large amount of space, what do you do with the few squars of space you save?

Also as to not enough jobs just as someone mentioned here just add cleaning cuboard kiosks. Most of my inmates are employed as i set up various cuboards all over the prison since agian there is so much space! Spamming cell blocks in prisons to me seems ugly. Its nice to break up the monotony with some security, infirmery, clean cuboard kiosks.

[OodlesOfNoobles]

I use my shower time as a positioning tool. I found that some of my prisoners could take as long as an hour to get to their classes or work. It really hurts attendance in classes, but by building your showers near work/classrooms and working immediately after showering you can cut back a lot of commute time while satisfying multiple needs if you take Proteus's advice.

[Mendacious Calamity]

I shgould add that although it's recommended by many to not bother with Yard or Shower and just use Freetime, I disagree that this is always a good idea and put one hour of Shower in the morning after Sleep ends, and at least one hour of Yard between two of my work blocks. I use Freetime liberally the rest of the time to let them do whatever they need to do.

[Deadpan Serious]

reason it don't for me is the showers i put in holding cells and in the individual cells of min security (i basically run a hotel for them :))