Optimal Prison 4 you

Overview

Getting the right amount of space, and Guards can be rough. This guide will help you by showing the 4 way thinking of prison architect.

How it works 4 the Architect

Prison Architect thinks in 4s, If there is an item, it usally revolves around a 4. Typically it works like so for each prisoner.
Protected = 0.5x
Min = 0.5x
Med = 1x
Max = 2x
SuperMax = 4x
DeathRow =4x
This Guide will refer to Medium prisoners for it’s base.

How it works 4 Guards

• 1-16 Protected Prisoners = 2 Guards
• 16 Min Prisoners = 2 Guards
• 8 Med Prisoners = 2 Guards
• 4 Max Prisoners = 2 Guards
• 1 SuperMax Prisoners = 8 Guards
• 1 DeathRow Prisoners = 4 Guards

• 1-16 Protected Prisoners = 1 Guard
• 16 Min Prisoners = 1 Guard
• 8 Med Prisoners = 1 Guard
• 4 Max Prisoners = 1 Guard
• 1 SuperMax Prisoners = 4 Guards
• 1 DeathRow Prisoners = 2 Guards

• 1-16 Protected Prisoners = Reserves
• 64 Min Prisoners = 1 Dog Handler
• 64 Med Prisoners = 1 Dog Handler
• 32 Max Prisoners = 1 Dog Handler
• 8 SuperMax Prisoners = 1 Dog Handler
• 1 DeathRow Prisoners = 1 Dog Handler

Armed Guards are ruthless, Great for Riots and dangerous prisoners.
However they cost a lot to keep, and supply a suppresion effect (15 radius, Goes through walls.), which hurts reform.
Ensure they are away from any program areas. Keep them with the Offices, Security, and Utilities.
For Protective, Min, and Med, These Guards are only needed for the reserves.

• 16 Max Prisoners = 1 Armed
• 8 SuperMax Prisoners = 1 Armed
• 4 Deathrow Prisoners = 1 Armed

Snipers are for the outside, in watchtowers, and are good for escaping prisoners. (suppresion effect at 20 radius)
Put watchtowers in trouble spots, or for the perimeter wall exploit.
perimeter wall exploit!
Yes exploit. Prisoners do not like to dig more than needed to escape/reach an unsecure area. If you have a single perimeter wall, they’ll dig through that, same can be said with 2 walls, 3, 4, 5, You get the gist.

But if there is a hole in the wall. The prisoners will only dig till they reach the insecure area, then try escaping through that hole. But let’s say a watchtower is place around the hole. Suddenly Escaping seems impossible.

If the Amount of Guards are not sufficent enough, and you don’t have cameras.
Add a Guard for every unwatched room.

The prisoner grant allows for more spending outside of these minium security levels.
If you have the budget you can add in an extra.

• Protective = 2 Guards + 1 Dog Handler
• Min = 2 Guards + 1 Dog Handler
• Med = 4 Guards + 2 Dog Handlers + 1 Armed
• Max = 8 Guards + 3 Dog Handlers + 2 Armed
• SuperMax = 8 Guards + 2 Dog Handler + 4 Armed
• Deathrow = 8 Guards + 1 Dog Handler + 4 Armed

Remember, Every room must be watched, The reserves do not count toward this.

For every Section of your prison, you need at least one Security Room.
Each Security room with an area of 16 (4×4) can house
4 officers
(Any of the reserves)
1 Office Desk, Chair, and Cabinet
1 Phone tap, Door control, and Monitor station.

How it works 4 Staff

(Only effected by the size of the prison.)

8 Prisoners = 1 Cook

1 Section = 2 Janitors & 1 Cleaning Room

(Only effected by forestry, and yard.)

16 Prisoners = 1 Doctor & Medical bed

How it works 4 Administration

Useally it’s

• 8 hours Sleep
• 8 hours Work
• 4 hours Eat
• 2 hours Freetime
• 1 hour Lockup
• 1 hour Shower

There is some stretching you can do like instead of 8 hours of work you can have 6 hours and put those 2 extra hours to yard. So prisoners can meet their exercise need.

I highly suggest keeping a set shower time. As some prisoners will not shower on their freetime. Which will lead to unclean conditions for other prisoners.

Freetime is useally used to meet family and recreational needs, on top of their freedom. I would not give supermax any freetime as they tend to cause more trouble than good when their needs are met. Keep them lockedup and fed that’s all.

Your prisoners have multiple needs. The psychologist will reveal these when hired. (You can also view them in the needs table on your clipboard.) I’ll separate them into three categories

Humanitarian needs: These are priority needs that need to be meet. Else they will die.

• Food – Obviously if they don’t get fed in three days they will die of starvation.
  Canteens and Kitchens help this need.
• Sleep – 8 hours of rest, and they will be much less cranky.
  Beds help this need.
• Bladder and Bowels – This is an easy need to meet.
  Toilets help this need.
• Warmth (Weather) – If you leave them in the cold they will die.
  Hot water heaters and Radiators are the solution.

Reform Needs: If these are not met they will effect reform badly.

• Safety – Your prison is out of control and the prisoners know it.
  Get more guards/Better placement,
  Chapels and Mats will help in calming prisoners.
  If a riot kicks off get riot police.
  Prisoners will attempt to equip weapons for self protection. Be warned.
• Hygiene – Your prisoners would like to be clean. Else they will be in a bad mood
  Shower Heads meet this need.
• Environment – Dirt, grim, and human odors have effect on this. Bad mood
  Janitors and well place cleaning cupboards.
  If you have logistics, and prison labor you can send prisoners to work in clean cupboards.
  Shower heads and Toilets remove the human odors.
• Family – Give prisoners some hope else they’ll be in a bad Bad mood.
  Visitation
  Phone booths
  Mail
• Comfort – They’re tired and need a place to sit. removes Bad mood.
  Chairs, and benches.
• Freedom – Suppression effect if not meet/Bad mood.
  Freetime on the regime
• Recreation – Bored, prone to kill time by killing guards and smuggling contraband. Bad mood
  Common Rooms and Yards.
  Pool tables, radios, and TVs.
• Exercise – An active prisoner Helps health
  Yards
  Exercise Bench
• Drugs – Drugiees typically bring a level of randomness in behavior. Helps health
  Medical Ward with the pharmaceutical drug replacement program
• Alcohol – Alcoholics are prone to get other prisoners angry, also Help health
  Common room with the alcoholics group session program.

Luxury Needs: None of these need to be met, but can help calm your prison down

• Privacy – A prisoner has to be to himself.
  Single cells
  Solitary.
  1×1 rooms.
• Clothing – Prisoners hate lice, itchy clothing.
  Laundry room
• Spirituality – Must pray to god, gods, or God.
  Chapels, Mats, and the reform program spirituality.
• Literature – After passing the education program prisoners need to read something.
  Libraries and book shelves
• Luxuries – Pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft.
  Shops
  Contraband as well, but that should not be allowed in your prison.

Some violent prisoners can be sent to the Psychologist room for the Therapy study program. If done right, they will be less violent, and have a better reform chance.

If you have staff needs on the Psychologist will display their needs as well as prisoners. Staff that are unhappy are less likely to work.

How it works 4 Utillities

A Generator with 16 capacitors is a 5×5 area
You’ll want to have a generator for each primary power source.
1 Kitchen = 1 Generator
1 Workshop = 1 Generator
1 Execution = 1 Generator (At least 3 capatitors)
8 Cell blocks* & Water pump = 1 Generator

*When I say cell blocks I mean section of the prison. It could be the laundry place + 7 other containment sections. Cell blocks usally contain roughly 32 prisoners.

If a generator meets another generator. They will short circuit. Please ensure that when you place your electrical applicances (Phone taper, Laundry Machine, Metal detector, Oven, Etc.). That the right side wire will not come in contact with an oppossing generator.

You really only need one pump for an entire prison. But back ups are recommended for each secruity section. I.E. Min, Med, Max, and so forth.

If you have weather enabled you’ll be needing a radiator for each cell block. (And offices if staff needs are enabled too.)

Radiators are powered by Water heaters. Now water heaters are different from the other two utillities. They are short ranged, meaning they will be in unconfortable areas. Make sure you put them away from prisoner reach, staff only rooms. though if you need to make a special room for them. you can place it in a 1×2 room. 1×3 if you want to install a water valve.

Water heaters require both water and electricity. Keep that in mind when placing them.

How it works 4 Cells (Orange)

Protected, Min, and Med are better off with a Dormitory.
Cells should have one of each,

• bed
• toilet, shower head, drain
• prayer mat

With an optional addition of

• phone
• chair
• bookshelf
• window

• Max = Area of 6 (2×3)
• SuperMax = Area of 6 (2×3)
• DeathRow = Area of 12 (3×4) (Death row needs all objects)

The Max, SuperMax, Deathrow should not have a Dormitory, as they are Killers. A large group will easily become a riot.
Dormitory should have one of each

• bed
• toilet, shower head, drain
• prayer mat

With an optional addition of

• phone
• chair
• bookshelf
• TV
• weight bench
• window

• Protected = Area of 24 (4×6)
• Min = Area of 16 (4×4)
• Med = Area of 16 (4×4)

Solitary Cells should have 1×1 Area, with a Toilet. A Shower head, and Drain can be added for lower security parts of the prison.

• 1-16 Protected Prisoners = 1 Solitary Cell
• 16 Min Prisoners = 1 Solitary Cell
• 8 Med Prisoners = 1 Solitary Cell
• 4 Max Prisoners = 1 Solitary Cell
• 1 SuperMax Prisoners = 1 Solitary Cell
• 1 DeathRow Prisoners = N/A

The Minimum Size of 5×5 is enough with:
1 toilet, shower head, and drain
1 bench
3 beds

Reception should of the area of 60 (5×12)
with 4 Tables, 2 Guards at the ready, and 1 Chair and Office Desk.
This is where everything comes and goes. Prisoners, Staff, Vistors.
You’ll need to process prisoners quickly, ensure you have enough space

How it works 4 Jobs/Luxeries (Yellow)

Yards are the needs area of your prison. They typically meet the exercise need of your prisoners, but can be outfitted to help in their family, and recreational needs too. This area does have it’s drawbacks as next to canteens as a riot kickoff zone. So make sure you have guards ready.

5×5 zones is the smallest you can get, and can handle roughly 6-8 prisoners for the start.
A bigger zone is recommended though. Just don’t go too big.

4 spaces = 1 prisoner (A 8×8 zone = 64 spaces = 16 prisoners)
3×3 running space (Automatically placed) = 3 prisoners
1 exercise bench = 4 prisoners
1 phone booth (opt) = 4 prisoners (For family needs, and intelligence for sec if has a phone listener)
1 pool table (opt) = 8 prisoners (For recreation need)
1 radio (opt) = countless prisoners (For recreation need)

Another Issue to consider is perks your prisoners will receive. running spaces will grant quick, and exercise benches will make them tougher.

Avoid placing snipers in this zone (Unless it’s supermax). Snipers supply a suppression effect which in turn hurts reform. Snipers are meant for keeping escapees from being freebies. Not controlling mass crowds. More importantly if the sniper has to walk through the yard exposed. He’s an easy target.

A warning before I continue. If you are unable to keep up with sorting mail. You will have your storage and delivery zones maxed out quickly. I found out this the hard way when my prison failed to deliver food. Mass starvation happened after the riots.

1 table for 4 sorting desks.

How it works 4 Security/Staff (Green)

Each Canteen logic works like so.

• 1 Serving Table = 2 tables = 4 benches = 16 Prisoners.

Do not mix high security levels with low security levels. Obviously min have a higher chance of being snitches. They will die if you put in places like that!

THE SMALLER THE BETTER!
Canteens are trouble for most prisons for numerous reasons.
They are a hotspot for snitch killing. If you have a massive canteen that has an ineffective way of getting prisoners in and out, crowds will form around the entrance. This makes it easy for some one to stab a prisoner, and the guards will have no idea what happened.

Another problem to consider is riot control. Big canteens in a hazardous prison will jumpstart a massive riot in one punch. Max and super max should not have these mega canteens. 16 is a much easier number to control than 72+.

How it works 4 gangs

This section is If you have gangs enabled.

There are 3 gangs in PA. All relating to their own race. Red = Brown, Green = Black, Blue = White. If a gang member is attack all other members in the area will come to their defense. And assit each other in smuggling contraband. You may want to have a team of armed guards ready for riots.

Each prisoner can earn money in your prison. With gangs if a member obtains some dough it is trinkled down through the gang. This means that some prisoners will have cash despite not doing anything themselves.

Gangs will of course target other gangs. Kills are one of their goals. On top of the brotherhood mentallity already. Homicides are almost a common acurrance. You can improve your chances by ensure their needs are met, and the amount of rival members are kept to a minium.

I’m not sure how the game determines cell placement for prisoners but typically they put gangs members in with their fellow members. I would not place gang members in relation to security levels.
As having say “All the Whites in min” as this is A. Too much work for mega prisons. B. You’ll have murders from max mixed in with a possible snitch from min. I would only advise this tactic if you are playing with the gang warfare mutator. Even then I warn you of a danger witch I will explain in Gang Control.

Everygang has a leader sometimes this leader will show up in your prison. These leaders should be put in supermax as soon as possible. They are always extremely powerful and will pick fights. keep them locked up, and out of your other prisoners.

Be warned if you punish a gang leader. The gang will get angry and pick fights with you guards. It might be a smart idea to keep them in the standard lock up proceedures to decrease the chance of riots.

Supermax is issolated much like protective custody. Except they still get intel. If you manage to break a gangleader. Have them as a CI. They typically have tons of info for you. You won’t have to worry about them having a high suspision rating, cause they are deadly and are less likely to die. And even if they do, It’s not problem for the prison. A Win-Win scenario.

(Concept idea never tested)
It might be a good idea to have their cell surrounded by fence and a guardtower to keep watch. Reform is never considered for a supermax, only punishment. So they are prone to kick off a fight, It might be a smart move to have a sniper ready to shoot and kill.

Gangs can take control over Yards and Common rooms if you don’t have enough guards. This means they are more likely to defend their fellow gang members, pick fights, and smuggle contraband. You can resolve this by placing more guards in the location than soilders.

If you go to the intel page and click gangs, you can see how many soilders a gang can possibly have on a yard or common room. If you see a giant evict button click it, and get some armed guards in their until it goes away. The amount being dependant on how serious the situation is. You can also punish the soilders to lockdown for 6 hours to lower the number.

I find it that one gang is usally as high than the other 2 combined. Once you find the dominate gang. Make sure you have your personal riot team have a 1 armed guard for every 8 soilders of that gang (Plus one more for starters/backup
Example: 16 soilders = 2 Armed Guard + 1 Backup guard = 3 Riot guards ). Don’t worry too much about the other 2 gangs, if you can handle the main gang it will be easier to handle the smaller.

Closing

If you have any suggestions, then please leave them in the comments.