Genre: Simulator, Strategy, Adventure, IndiePrison Architect
Hotfix for Mac users
We just deployed a hotfix on mac that addresses an issue that was causing the game to use only 25% of the screen.
Thank you for your reports!
Discover “Island Bound” – the new expansion for Prison Architect!
Wardens,
We just announced Island Bound, the new Prison Architect expansion that will be released on June 11, 2020. Check out the announcement trailer:
[previewyoutube="Vl_sFItLFsA;full"]
This expansion will allow you to create Island Compounds with no access road. You will have to bring your logistics game to a whole new level with these prisons, as you need to use a variety of new tools to make sure they run as intended. From ferries to helicopters, you will be able to deliver supplies directly to docking areas, and to maximize efficiency by linking them to specific deliveries – but be careful, as this also means more access points to sneak in contraband into your prison!
Luckily, you will also have new security objects that will allow you to inspect deliveries and prisoners as they enter the prison, or at key security checkpoints. You will also have access to additional emergency services when things get out of hand. Air Firefighters, Elite Ops Teams, Air Paramedic – we made sure you have all the support you need when things take an unexpected turn.
Finally, you will have access to new tiles and objects to customize your island!
We know it has been a long wait since we teased this expansion at PDXCON 2019 – we are really excited to finally show you what we have been working on over the last few months!
If you want to find out more about the expansion over the next few weeks, remember to follow us on social media (Facebook | Twitter) and check our weekly streams on Tuesday at 15:00 CEST (6:00AM PDT) – we may show the new content over the next few weeks!
Island Bound’s Key Features:
Sea and Air:Upgrade your prison’s logistics with a variety of ferry and helicopter transport options that deliver supplies and inmates directly to docking areas around your compound. But be aware, there are now more access points to sneak contraband into the prison.
Chain Link Up: Maximize your prison’s efficiency by linking docks, helipads, and roads to specific deliveries. You can even toggle what services are available to each delivery point within your compound.
Supermax Security: New security objects make it easier to search deliveries and prisoners as they enter the prison, or at key security checkpoints. Additional emergency services can be called when things get out of hand, including Air Firefighters, Elite Ops Teams, and Air Paramedics.
Island Life: Customize your Island or Connected Island Plot with over fifteen nautical tiles and objects. Shape the land around your compound with moats, rivers, and lakes for security, or for style -- no access roads needed!
The Rock: Manage the world’s most famous prison with two premade maps: Alcatraz Prison and Alcatraz Island.
Cleared for Transfer is now available!
Wardens,
“Cleared for Transfer” and the free update “The Bucket” are finally available, and you can now start executing on your plans to use the new transfer system to promote good behavior amongst your inmates with fine-tuning of your Sector Gradings.
If you are looking for a complete changelog, you can find it here.
If you want an overview of the new content, you can check out this video we made in collaboration with Charlie Pryor.
[previewyoutube="rAHFNPNjfD8;full"]
You can also stay in touch with us on social:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayPrisonArchitect
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PrisonArchitect
Thanks for your support, we look forward to hearing your thoughts on Cleared for Transfer!
Cleared for Transfer and The Bucket Patch Notes
To all wardens,
Today we celebrate the release of Cleared for Transfer and The Bucket update, introducing several new exciting mechanics, wall types, objects and much more to your game. Check out the patch notes below!
Cleared for Transfer:
With Cleared for Transfer, we introduce the idea that prisoners can now transfer between security sectors of your prison - you control the criteria or rules for prisoners to transfer. In order to create a ‘motivation’ for prisoners to transfer, you can also link and/or restrict privileges to individual security sectors. You can increase (or decrease) a security sector’s grade (e.g. Min Sec), by attaching privileges (such as Visitation), adding new objects, equipment, and facilities, and making regime changes (such as more Yard time).Ultimately your aim should be to entice prisoners to want to transfer into a more comfortable or privileged sector, and then encourage them to change their ways in order to meet the criteria for transfer.
Prisoner Transfers system:
Elements that are tied to the Prisoner Transfers system:
The Prisoner Transfers system can be enabled and disabled in the map settings.
Expanded Room Grading system:
How to create your localization mod for Prison Architect
Greetings, wardens!
As mentioned a few weeks ago, we compiled a quick guide on how to implement your translation in Prison Architect via modding
What do I need to make a mod?
A Prison Architect mod is composed of a subfolder to the “mods” folder in the game files. This folder is located at the following address:
%UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Introversion\Prison Architect\mods
Within the subfolder of your mod, you need to make sure there are the following items:
- A text document called manifest.txt
- A thumbnail in .png format
- A subfolder named data
Manifest.txt
The manifest.txt file is the description of your mod for the game. Basically, you are telling the game what your mod is about. It needs to have the following format:
Name "Name of the mod"
Author "Your name/nickname"
Description "Description"
Version v1.0
Date DD/MM/YYYY
URL LINK
The Data folder:
The data folder contains your mod – this is where the actual content is.
For a localization mod, you need to retrieve the localization files from the folder where you installed the game. If you use Steam, it is in the /Steamapps/Prison Architect folder by default.
Once you get there, you need to extract the main.dat using a data compressing program – we used Winrar while preparing this guide. Once you open main.dat, you will see the Data folder. If you open it, you will finally get access to the language files.
You need to copy the .txt files from there to your mod folder.
Once you have done this, you can open the text files and start translating!
Ok, my translation is done, how do I check it and share with others?
To check your mod, you need to activate it within the game.
To do so, you need to open the main menu and select “Extra”. This will open the Extra menu, where you will be able to select “Mods”.
On the left-hand side of the screen, you will see a list of all the mods installed on your pc.
To test your mod, you need to tick the box next to it, and then select “Apply at the bottom of the screen. The game will reload with your mod applied.
To share your mod, you can select your mod in the Mod menu and then press the “Publish Mod” folder on the bottom right of the screen. You will also see that there is a “Is this a translation to another language?” box, make sure to select it! Once your mod is uploaded, its name will become green.
Good luck with your modding, and don’t forget that our community created plenty of guides and material to help you in case you are still struggling with modding, like the in-depth articles on the official wiki!
We finally got the bottle open! What can this message mean?
Join us on Today at 15:00 CEST for the Cleared for Transfer release stream - we may find out more about this mysterious message! twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive
What could it be?
We went for a stroll today during our yard time, and we found this. What could it be?
Join us on Thursday at 15:00 CEST for the Cleared for Transfer release stream - we may find out more about this mysterious bottle there!
https://www.twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive
Prison Architect Show and Cell #3
Welcome to Show and Cell, our little corner to showcase the creativity of the Prison Architect community! Here you can find some inspiration and read about the people that create fan art/gameplay videos, or build awesome prisons!
If you want to join this creativity showcase, you can use #showandcell!
If you want to get the latest news and updates, you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
"I got lost on my way to the canteen on my first day. When I finally found it, my serving time was over...” - Ray Powell
This prison was created by Brute, and this seems like a cool place to visit! There are so many details in every area, and this prison can handle everything from medium security to supermax. It even has a death row if prisoners are not behaving as they should! With safety in mind with all the utilities were planned perfectly. As a prisoner, you can join one of many clubs and even visit IronBar's cinema!
We had the opportunity to ask Brute a few questions.
How long did it take to create this prison?
I have been building this prison called "IronBar" for almost two months, and I feel there is still so much to improve on. I think, as a perfectionist in this game, you are never really finished.
I had to rebuild it two times to fix the issues that I encountered and remade it to perform better. I had some trouble getting the right pathing for visitors since I had a different main entrance for visitors and prisoners. The staff walking in and out of the prison using the reception and since that didn’t seem logical so I made a special "staff" road crossover to get to the place they wanted to be.
I also had to figure out how I wanted to implement the new mentally insane prisoners from the psych ward edition in my prison so they can get the care they needed without the chance to harm other prisoners and ended up with an extra wing specially designed for those.
Over the years I build a couple of prisons and enjoyed the part where I had to make it perfect in all aspects of the game until the prison could run itself. This time I tried something different, Instead of making everything with an eye for the functionality I tried to create something that also looked great.
Anything you want to mention about IronBar?
Everything in this prison has been build with an eye for detail. From the small common rooms up to the yard areas, the supermax facility, and even the prison entrances/hallways and offices.
Did you plan the layout of the prison before you built it?
I planned out and designed different area's inside the prison before I did build it. I used different saves to create something until I liked it enough to implement it in my prison. In every design, there's thought about micromanagement, pathfinding, realism. Small details like the way how pipelines face towards the middle of the prison instead of towards the outsides of the cellblocks.
How long have you been playing Prison Architect?
I have been playing prison architect since the release on and off, ones in a while I come back to the game to spend my time on building something new.
What made you start playing Prison Architect?
I always enjoy simulation/building/crafting games and I play many titles although prison architect is one of the most unique of its genre and when I found out about the game and having something else than building a city or theme park with all of its new challenges made me fall in love with the game instantly.
Any tips for someone new to the game how to get better on planning and building their prison?
There is so much depth in the game that it can keep you busy for days. I love struggling with logic circuits to make things like marques, airlocks, and even lights that turn on and off when people enter or leave a room. It gives an extra challenge to designing your prison and although it doesn’t add much to the overall gameplay its very enjoyable to see those custom made things work in your prison.
As a tip for those people new to the game, I would like to say, Trial and Error. Build something but don’t be scared to break it down again if it’s not working as intended. The only way to learn this game is to see things go wrong and try to understand why they went wrong. If you can find the source you can next time prevent it and design around it. In the end, everyone enjoys the game in its own way and where one likes to roleplay with a handful of prisoners, others like to start riots with 100's of supermax inmates. Where 1 tries to build a resort others build 1 single room with 1000 prisoners and have a laugh when things go as aspected "not very well" and after 100’s of hours, prison architect is still one of the games I greatly enjoy playing.
Do you want to try this prison? Then you can get it here!
IronBar
Mods:
Bulldozer payday 2,
Paint upgrade downgrade sign,
clean white canteen table,
Stock sprite fix (obsolete),
All Contraband Detectible,
More Floors Doors and Walls,
Additional Guard Sprites,
Additional Staff Sprites,
Shield Payday 2,
Enhanced Colored Jail Doors,
Canteen Tables in Colour,
Wood Bed for Cell
Prison Sorter
Thank you for this time and see you for the next Show and Cell!
The Prison Architect Team
Announcing “Cleared for Transfer”, our next free DLC
Wardens,
We are happy to announce “Cleared for Transfer”: the next free DLC for Prison Architect, available from May 14! Join us live on twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive today at 17:00 CEST (8 AM PDT) to find out all about it.
Cleared for Transfer will bring new mechanics to your prisons, such as the possibility for Inmates to move to another Security Sector if their behavior meets your expectations.
Yes, you read it right - YOUR expectations! It is up to you to decide what are the requirements for prisoners to apply for a transfer to a lower security level, and use benefits as an Incentive to make the transfer appealing to your inmates.
You will also get more options to control the cell quality in your sectors - and we will be including other room types to this system.
Along with Cleared for Transfer, we will also be releasing a free update called the Bucket. This update will bring you more items, more cosmetic options, quality of life changes… and Gyms!
If you want to be up to speed with the latest Prison Architect news, don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
New Features Breakdown:
Prisoner Transfers: Prisoners can now transfer between sectors (or wings) of your prison. Requirements for transfer to a lower-security sector are entirely up to you.
Special Privileges: Privileges can be assigned based on the security sector, giving your prisoners a motivation to transfer. Prisoners in high security areas are able to see the privileges given to lower security sectors.
Room Grading: You can now grade other rooms, such as yards, classrooms, common rooms, and a new gymnasium.
Custom Security Sectors: Create areas with custom security sectors that can include prisoners from different security levels.
New Actions and Enhancements: You can initiate actions like shakedowns, tunnel searches, and lockdowns by security sector.
Supported languages for Upcoming Content
We just announced “Cleared for Transfer”, the next free DLC that is coming to Prison Architect on May 14. The development team is working on fine-tuning the changes, and we can’t wait to get the new content in your hands!
Before you start exploring the new transfer mechanics, we wanted to share an important decision we had to make to keep the development of new content sustainable: reducing the number of supported languages.
As of now, Prison Architect supports 26 languages, a number that is impossible for us to maintain to an acceptable level of quality without impacting the development of upcoming content and highly anticipated features. We, therefore, decided that moving forward, we will focus our efforts on supporting the following languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Turkish, Polish, and Brazilian Portuguese.
This decision will only impact future updates starting from Cleared for Transfer. All the content you played and enjoyed so far will still be available for you to play in all of the previously supported languages - we don’t intend to remove it. Additionally, to support our global communities, we already have the localization files available to facilitate community translations. On top of this, we will also release a guide on how to make your community translation before the release of Cleared for Transfer.
We understand that this decision might disappoint some of you, but we took it with the game’s best interest at heart. We have exciting plans for Prison Architect, and great things are ahead of us!