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!

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:

• The Cleared for Transfer mechanics only refers to the following existing prisoner security sectors/levels; Min Sec, Med Sec, Max Sec, and SuperMax.
• This means that prisoners can only transfer between these levels.
• A Death Row inmate is always a Death Row inmate, a Protective Custody inmate is always a Protective Custody inmate and the same for Criminally Insane inmates.
• Inmates eager to move to a lower security sector with more privileges will only look at the sector that is one below their current one. 

Elements that are tied to the Prisoner Transfers system: 

• New tab in the Reports UI: ​Transfers. 
• Updated ​Policy ​tab to allow for tweaking of privileges, food quality and parole cutoff.
• Updated ​Prisoners​ tab to see transfer candidates and to approve transfers.

The Prisoner Transfers system can be enabled and disabled in the map settings.

Expanded Room Grading system:

• Cells can now reach a max. Score of 15 (up from 10)
• Room Grading now includes the following rooms:
• Yard
• Common Room
• Classroom
• Canteen
• Gym

• Inmates eager to move to a lower security sector with more privileges will only look at the sector that is one below their current one. 

Security sector grading​:

• Security sectors now have a grading that can be viewed in the “Logistics” menu.
• This will inform you about the attractiveness of a security sector and will feed into the Prisoners Transfer system.

New room: Gym:

• Introduced a new room: The Gymnasium.
• We added several new items for this room, such as the Boxing Ring, Punch Bag and Water Cooler.
• These objects can also be placed elsewhere in a prison.

• The Gymnasium will act similarly to a Yard (but indoors) catering to various prisoner Needs (Exercise and Recreation).
• Being inside the Gym will also ​negatively​ increase the prisoner’s “Hygiene” need by a small amount, encouraging a Shower.

• Prisoners will treat the Gym similarly to a Yard, meaning that they’ll want to visit the Gym during the “Yard” and “Freetime” regime periods
• With the exception of gang members (mentioned below), all other inmates should still favor the Yard (seemingly as they get to spend some time outside).

[/list]


New​ custom security sectors ​for Deployment:

• You can now create a custom security sector in the Deployment menu,
• e.g. You can set a sector that includes min and med security.

Punishments, Searches, Shakedowns & More per sector:

• Actions that you trigger via the bottom-right HUD element can now be activated for individual security sectors.

New Staff control:

• In the “Deployment” menu, you now have 4 new options:
• Prioritize Area (Janitor)
• Prioritize Area (Gardener)
• Assign Cook.
• Assign Doctor

[/list]


Other:

• New Walls, Signs, Floors​, etc.
• Added new quick rooms​:
• Mail Room
• Library
• Laundry
• Infirmary
• Armory
• Visitation

• The Planning mode now has an option to ​disable auto-foundations. 
• Added ​Forestry Prison Labor.
• New research is necessary in the Bureaucracy menu.

[/list]

• Barred walls will now allow for heat to pass through them.
• You can ​fire multiple staff​ now by holding the mouse button and dragging your selection.

[/*][/list]

Modding:

• The renderer now supports multiple spritesheets!
• Vehicle speed and support for removing shadow casting from objects is now exposed for modding

Modding:

• The renderer now supports multiple spritesheets!
  
• Vehicle speed and support for removing shadow casting from objects is now exposed for modding

Additional Improvements, Fixes & Features:

• Intake UI: Renamed “Prisoner Transfer” to “Legendary Prisoners” to avoid confusion with the Prisoner Transfer system.
  
• Lunar Plot Forestry will now only grow Sakura trees.
  
• Assigned Cooks will now cook in their kitchen.
  
• Fixed an Exploit that would reset the Security Rating when reloading a prison.
  
• Fixed an issue that showed all Sectors as available in the Emergency Actions, if you've set a custom sector up in the prison.
  
• Transfers in Reports no longer open as a new window.
  
• Fixed a number of missing translations.
  
• Fixed a crash that would occur if you change the language several times in-game
  
• Fixed a slow down that a player would see if on multiplayer if the client turns on Prisoner Transfers. Also fixed Client not being able to see the correct Grading score for Security Sectors.
  
• Fixed a bug that would cause a crash on starting Prison Stories.
  
• Fixed a bug that would stop you from moving the Firemen in the "Palermo" scenario in Prison Stories.
  
• Policy menu will no longer show Criminally Insane if you do not have the DLC.
  
• Players will no longer be able to approve transfers if they load a map that had transfers on unless they have the DLC.
  
• New Assign and Prioritize options have the New Star picture on them to highlight they're new.
  
• Fixed a bug that meant Death Row inmates did not pass parole despite meeting the criteria for it.
  
• Clone tool no longer shows incorrect sprites when used.
  
• Fixed the Allow Transfer option so that when you disable it, no prisoners are shown as ready for transfer.
  
• Inmates whose reoffending rate match the number you set the 'estimated reoffending rate' for transfer now qualify for transfer.
  
• Fixed a bug that would stop you entering tunnels in Escape Mode.
  
• Fixed a bug that stops MAC/Linux players from playing the game in Windowed Borderless mode
  In Multiplayer when a Client changes criteria on the Transfers tab, other players can now see that change.
  
• Fixed an issue that had prisoners constantly being swapped about if they were in a Mixed Custom Sector wing.
  
• Criminally Insane prisoners can now live in a Custom Sector for 'Criminally Insane'.
  
• Fixed a bug that stopped a player from playing a modified map in Escape Mode
  In Multiplayer if the host has the Cleared For Transfer DLC, anyone who connects to that game will have access to the Transfers mechanics and content, regardless of if they own the DLC.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused UI elements to be off-screen or overlap if High DPI option is on in the graphics settings.
  
• Criminally Insane Prisoners with the Claustrophobic reputation no longer grows extra hands when in lockdown and aggressive.
  
• If using 4k resolution the Policy menu will no longer scroll off the page.
  
• Canteen trays no longer float in the air if they are at the bottom of an Oak Table.

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:


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! http://twitch.tv/paradoxinteractive

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

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

Wardens,

We are happy to announce “Cleared for Transfer”: the next free DLC for Prison Architect, available from May 14! Join us live on https://www.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.

To all Wardens,

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!

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 have been here for 20 years now, and I still can’t figure out where Nopton is. Fake news, I tell you!” - Paul Burgess

This time we will take a look at Nopton Penitentiary, which was created by Rattman. This prison looks impressive: the different cellblocks marking make it easy to distinguish where all the prisoners should go. Nopton Penitentiary seems hard to escape from, and even if you manage to escape, you will have to survive the unforgiving terrain that surrounds the prison.

We had the opportunity to ask Rattman a few questions.

How long did it take to create Nopton Penitentiary?
It was built on about a week of on and off playing, and I would say it took maybe two full days of real-time.

What was your goal when you started creating Nopton Penitentiary?
My goal when I started was to make a secure prison that had 4x4 cells and large enough cell block hallways to put in lettering.

How did you come up with the name?
I came up with the name (and description) off the top of my head.

“Nopton Penitentiary isn't actually built near Nopton, as Nopton doesn't exist! It was a lie cooked up by the mayor of the nearest real town who wanted people to think the town he ran was bigger than it actually was. As it is, the Penitentiary is surrounded by miles of unforgiving terrain.”

Anything you want to mention about Nopton Penitentiary?
This prison was based on another prison that I played in escape mode, called "Grade 9 Prison". I liked the design and central courtyard in that prison, so I decided to imitate it.

Did you plan the layout of the prison before you built it?
Yes, I planned what a cell block would look like and where each room would go (or if it would be external).

How long have you been playing Prison Architect?
I started playing on my brother's computer in 2014, and I got the game on my account in 2017, I believe.

What made you start playing Prison Architect?
When I started playing on my brother's computer, I was just bored and wanted to see if the game was good. It was!

Any tips for someone new to the game how to get better on planning and building their prison?
Never use the shower room. Always put showers in cells, on top of the toilet, on top of a drain. It cuts down on riots and shower deaths so much, and they can shower during free time as well.

Do you want to try this prison? Then you can get it here!
Nopton Penitentiary

Thank you for this time and see you for the next Show and Cell!
The Prison Architect Team

Welcome to Show and Cell, where we showcase the Community's creativity! As we are always impressed with the prisons that you guys share over the internet, we decided to create a small corner to highlight some of our favourite creation. Here in Show and Cell, you can find some inspiration and read about the people that create fan art/gameplay videos, and prison builds!

Would you like to have your prison to be featured next? You can use the hashtag #showandcell!

If you are looking for more inspiration, and to get all the latest news and updates on Prison Architect, you can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook.


"This is the neatest prison I’ve ever served time in, and I served time in Norway! 10/10 would evade again” - Inmate # 10482178"

KeiwaM is the creator of this prison, and it’s design and layout are stunning! The prisoners have access to an outdoor space and can enjoy the snow. For safety, the prisoners are separated into different cellblocks to avoid fights between gangs. The daily income for this prison is over 31.000$ per day, and even if this is a giant prison, KeiwaM is already working on a bigger one.

Here are some questions we asked KeiwaM.

How long did it take to create this prison?
This prison took around 15 hours of gameplay to build.

Anything you want to say about this prison?
It is a bit on the smaller side of what I usually do, but I really enjoyed the smaller cellblocks. Usually, I'm the type that would stuff all prisoners in one canteen, but splitting them up really helps with both management and troublemakers.

Did you plan the layout of the prison before you build it?
Yes, I always plan first. The Planning tool is one of the most valuable tools in the game if you ask me. It is extremely useful to plan the layout before spending thousands on building and removing it.

How long have you been playing Prison Architect?
I have been playing Prison Architect since Alpha 2.

What made you start playing Prison Architect?
I have always been a fan of management games, and I liked the art style, then I just saw it in my recommended, so I gave it a shot.

Any tips for someone new to the game how to get better on planning and building their prison?
Patience is key. Planning can be an annoying task, but in the end, it will really help. I also recommend messing about with unlimited funds and maybe even Cheats & Developer Tools just to get a feel for your building style. Everyone builds in their own style and having unlimited money to discover it is a great way to start off. Other than that, I would simply say, don't copy others. As said, everyone has their own style, find which style you find enjoyable and try, rather than copy prisons you've seen off youtube.

Do you want to try this prison? Then you can download it here!
Bedford State Prison

Thank you for this time and look forward to the next Show and Cell!
The Prison Architect Team.

The Steam Lunar New Year Sale has started! Take the chance to grab the new expansion Psych Ward: Warden’s Edition! And start creating your own Psych Ward now!