Wardens,

We just received a letter from the CEO telling us that it would be good to start using green energy to save both money and the environment!

How do we build a prison running on green power? Luckily the CEO also sent us a beginners guide on how to set up solar panels!

Step 1:
First, we need to place the solar panels in a good location. To unlock the next green power sources (Turbines), you will need to place three solar panels. Additionally, to unlock hybrid energy, you will need to place three turbines.



Step 2:
After the solar panels are placed, we need a transformer to convert the solar power to energy!



You can also rotate the transformer by pressing R, you will see arrow indicators change and indicate which way the power will flow.



Step 3:
We connect each row of the solar panel to their separate transformer. Now we have power to different sections of the prisons and further on we can start exporting energy. If you are looking to get out even more power, you can connect all the rows of solar panels to a single transformer to boost the output.



Step 4:
When we finally get some green power, we can connect the transformer's power lines to the area that needs electricity! You can find how much units of power that is produced and required on the tooltip by hovering over the transformer.



Step 5:
To store the energy, we need to get some batteries, so we still have power when the night comes! Each battery is charging slowly, but sooner than you know you will have a lot of energy stored!



Step 6:
It's time to add a Power Export Meter to one of the transformers to start exporting some electricity and making some money! Power will only be exported at the end of the day, and as such the power export value will only appear within the finance menu on the day after the export.



That's all! Great work, wardens! It's time to continue building and waiting for the next letter from the CEO with new instructions!

Wardens,

The Going Green bug fix update is now live! If you want to take a closer look at all the changes and improvements that came with the patch, you can find the complete changelog in our previous post!

Wardens,

Later today, we will be releasing a new patch with many new fixes and improvements. We really appreciate all your reports and help in locating them. You can find the full changelog below.

• Fixed: Orderlies turn Large Prison Doors as they go through them.
  
• Fixed: Damaged items will reset their rotation.
  
• Fixed: The staff can endlessly transport Laundry Baskets between the Laundry and Reception rooms.
  
• Fixed: Prisoners standing on the spot during a "Free Time" regime slot.
  
• Fixed: Reform rating for individual prisoners is always displayed at 200%.
  
• Fixed: Clone Tool charges the player twice on the cost of objects in the cloned room.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from placing additional capacitors in the "Death Row" mission.
  
• Fixed an issue that made it possible to place objects like the Sink & Mirror without a wall.
  
• Repairing damaged Transformers is faster now.
  
• Improved the behavior for using "All Switch On" and "All Switch Off" options for green energy objects.
  
• Fixed false "No Route" errors being displayed while any building UI is open
  
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to install prison staff via the "Connect" menu.
  
• Fixed: Moving storage shelves with ingredients to the edges of a room causes the ingredients position to end up in between walls.
  
• The staff alert "The prison is running out of money" has the correct staff sprite now
  
• Fixed: Game crashes after assigning any type of Guard to a deep water area in the middle of the lake.
  
• Fixed: Some objects are not in crates when stored on the Storage Shelf.
  
• Fixed: Every time the Intelligence menu is opened, the Produced Narcotics Demand bar is raised from 0 to accurate level.
  
• Fixed: Moving a water valve that's turned off retains function on original tile
  
• Fixed: Recent misconduct text string overlapping with other text strings in prisoner experience tab
  
• Fixed: Trees can be planted next to a wall or on the wall when using the Grove Quick Build room.
  
• Fixed an issue that allowed players to sell crops seeds from Farmer's hands during the "Plant Crop" action.
  
• Fixed: Prisoners will not plant flowers if seeds are located in different Sheds
  
• Improved the interaction of moving Sheds.
  
• Fixed some issues with the sprites of Windows
  
• Fixed a crash that occurred when cloning any room from DLCs without them being enabled.
  
• Fixed: Pipes cannot be placed under the Practice Solar Panel.
  
• Fixed: Some types of walls do not have padding on the inside walls of Padded Cells.
  
• Fixed: Family cells are defined as insecure after a cell room is drawn.
  
• Fixed: Family cells can be linked to the Canteen.
  
• Fixed: Constructing Quick Rooms on top of already built structures results in texture flickering
  
• Fixed: Auto Harvester & Auto Scythe can be used to harvest trees is Fruit Orchard.
  
• Fixed: Wall lights can be placed inside a wall.
  
• Fixed: Tooltip flickers on "Reports" window if the fps of the game is higher than the screen refresh rate.
  
• Fixed: Crop won't be planted again if there was a garbage bag in the same square.
  
• Fixed: Extra cost charged when cancelled a clone room.
  
• Fixed: Some cloned room price not showing correctly.
  
• Fixed: Can't construct objects in Quick Rooms while they are still under construction
  
• Fixed: Cloning Farming Field and placing it on walls causes the crops to be planted on the walls.
  
• Fixed: Time of Prisoner Intake can go to negative value if prison has Riot Underway.
  
• The button to close the window is now displayed in the Ingredients menu.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented blackouts from occurring after players connected two power sources
  
• Fixed a false staff alert about the prison's capacity on the Green Power Plant map
  
• Moving electrical appliances will no longer delete existing cables of other appliances next to them.
  
• Fixed: Some objects are not in crates when stored on Storage Shelf
  
• Fixed an issue that caused any form of zoning or dragged construction (e.g. water pipes or patrol routes) to get canceled when the construction of a Quick Build room was completed at the same time.
  
• Fixed false "No Route" errors being displayed while any building UI is open.
  
• Fixed: Recent misconduct text string overlapping with other text strings in prisoner experience tab.
  
• Fixed an issue where farming rooms would not be flagged as insecure when they should have been.

• Fixed: Tired staff gets stuck on Ferry piers
  
• Fixed visual artifacts that occured when the Inmate Ferry was moving downwards
  
• Fixed issues with civilians not arriving at the prison via helicopters

• Made improvements to the task progress on the client's "To do" list.
  
• Improved the synchronicity of host and client.
  
• Fixed: Sound after connecting Power Export Meter to Transformer is heard all the time in Client's game.

Wardens,

We have just released an update with fixes and improvements that we mentioned last week! We appreciate all the feedback we are receiving, and we are still looking into solving more of the issues, and we plan to have another update coming with more fixes and improvements soon!

Thank you for your support!

Wardens!

We're planning to release an update with fixes to most of the issues found after the Going Green DLC release, incorporating the feedback from many of you. Thank you all for your patience with the bugs reported.

This update is expected to be released by Tuesday next week.

List of what to expect in the upcoming bug fix update:

• Fixed Staff alerts: pop-up are closed/not spawned when research, graphs or grading screens are up.
  
• Fixed Staff alerts: now displaying Psychologist instead of the Psychiatrist.
  
• Staff alert pop-ups no longer show in the main menu.
  
• Pop-ups now show for all Staff alerts, not just the new going green ones.
  
• Holding cell staff alert that factors in the overflow of prisoners, now takes into account prisoners in dormitories.

• Serving Table inconsistency: small serving table can now be placed outside.
  
• Fixed Green Power generator: it doesn't connect to the transformer if being moved one tile.
  
• Fixed an issue that caused Green Energy Goals to show a progress counter despite players having completed the task.
  
• Fix Green Power Sources generating power when not connected to Transformer.
  
• Trees can no longer be planted next to a wall or on the wall when using Grove from Quick Build.
  
• Continuous fertilizer will no longer do repeat orders when it's already fertilized a plant.
  
• Indoor Tree Planter cannot be moved when a tree is planted.
  
• Prisoners will no longer only plant flowers when it is a High Priority task.
  
• No more industrial sounds when packing fruits to boxes.
  
• Sounds from working on crop fields can no longer be heard from any part of the map.
  • Contraband that is specific for Going Green Produced narcotics and booze will only be shown if the player owns the DLC.
• Fixed wrong Staff icons used in Jobs tab.
  
• Prisoner icon now used when tending flowers by prisoners;
  
• Farmer icon used when moving harvested ingredients inside farm room.

• Escape mode punishment timers now show a countdown.
  
• Fixed issue where escaping or being released via helicopter was not registering.
  
• Fixed helicopter export.
  
• After escaping from prison, killed Farmers no longer appear as Electrical Cable on score board.
  
• Player can now be assigned to dormitories in Escape mode.

• Minor localization fixes.
  
• Fixed issue with borderless windows displaying incorrectly on the monitor.
  
• Fixed crash when loading a savegame from the “Bootstraps” mission.
  
• Selling flooring cannot be cancelled anymore, and will happen instantly to be more aligned with other forms of selling.
  
• Building plans with the Planning tool now deducts money instead of adding it.
  
• The Valuation tab is now visible from the Reports UI without any DLC turned on.
  
• Added counting of Recycle Bin to Staff Alert about lack of Bins.
  
• Crisis toolbar no longer flickers in the top left corner for a frame before moving to its appropriate and correct position.
  
• Players are no longer able to build Outdoor Objects in Quick Build Indoor rooms
  
• Added storage shelf and scanner as suggested items to storage room.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from placing objects like Paintings or Sinks on t-shaped wall intersections.
  
• Fridges and tall fridges in storage rooms can now only store food.
  
• Prioritize Area (Farmer) button is no longer visible in the base game without any DLC turned on.
  
• Fixed an issue that prevented players from expanding the land when starting a game with the “Land expansion” option enabled.
  
• Cooks will now prepare all required meals before an “Eat” regime slot instead of only half.

• Damaged items will reset their rotation. This can lead to them no longer working as intended, e.g. if the affected item is a door that separates security sectors
  • As a workaround, players can select the “move” option to correct the item placement after the repair.
• Large Prison Doors will change their rotation if Orderlies are walking through them
  • We recommend using small Jail Doors only if players are playing with the Psych Ward expansion and when having Orderlies in the prison.
• The staff can endlessly transport Laundry Baskets between the Laundry and Reception rooms.
  If players are using Quick Rooms that require parts of the prison to be demolished, the game will prevent them from building utilities in that area until the construction of the Quick Room has been completed.
  
• It is not possible to build objects or walls in Quick Rooms while they are under construction.
  
• Clone Tool charges the player twice on the cost of objects in the cloned room.
  
• There are issues with starting Escape Mode on the Green Power Plant map that can cause players to spawn in the top left corner of the map.
  
• Staff Alert "The prison is not efficiently disposing of waste" does not disappear when placing Recycling Bins.
  
• Sink and Mirror objects can be placed anywhere even without a wall.
  
• Repairing a damaged Transformer takes a lot of time and it's texture is not changing immediately after being fixed.
  
• There are some issues with syncing task progress in multiplayer that we are planning to fix for the next patch.
  
• Dragged construction (e.g. water pipes) can get canceled when the construction of a quick room is completed.
  
• The game can falsely displays “No Route” errors while any construction menu is opened
  
• The Contraband staff alert does not disappear automatically.
  
• The “Death Row” story mission cannot be completed if players move the Power Station of the prison.
  
• Game crashes after assigning any type of Guard to a deep water area in the middle of the lake.
  
• Electrical appliances are deleting existing electrical cables when moved & placed beside them
  
• Timer of Prisoner Intake can go to a negative value if the prison has a Riot underway

We appreciate all the feedback, and we are still looking into solving more issues that you all have been reporting, and we plan to have another update coming with more fixes and improvements!

Thank you for your support!

🏮Happy Lunar New Year!🏮
New festive decorations have appeared in the game — launch Prison Architect and check them out!

Get ready for the Lunar New Year celebration! Set off fireworks with four new decorative items to celebrate the Spring Festival!

🐃 Ox Statue
🧧 Traditional New Year couplet
🐲 Red Dragon Banner
🏮 Paper Lanterns

The Steam Lunar New Year Sale kicks off with a bang! ✨
Prison Architect: Base Game 75% OFF
Prison Architect: Island Bound 40% OFF
Psych Ward: Warden's Edition 35% OFF
👉 http://pdxint.at/LunarNewYear

Want to know how to reduce your Prison's carbon footprint? CharliePryor is here to help!

Learn more about farming and renewable energy from his Going Green DLC review!

Hey, Wardens!
The Glasshouse free update and Going Green DLC are now available! 🎉
Check out the patch notes and learn all the details!


Join us today at 4 pm CET / 10 am EST on Twitch to watch Madde and an advocate for prison reform, motivational speaker, ex-convict, and YouTuber, Larry Lawton take on the new DLC!

• Growable produce including: potatoes, wheat, apples
  • New export and usable as ingredients for inmate meals

• New outdoor rooms: Fruit Orchard, Farming Field, Vegetable Allotment
  
• Plant growth life cycle, irrigation, and composting
  
• New Shed Object - which will store farming related items such as seeds
  • Also required for basic irrigation

• New Prison Labour type
  
• New staff member: Farm Worker
  
• New room: Pantry
  • Allows you to use your own produce in your prison kitchen

• Automatic Farming Items:
  • Auto Scythe
    
  • Auto Harvester
    
  • Auto Gatherer (basic and advanced)

• New reputations:
  • Green Thumb
  • Foodie

• 4 new grants
  
• 4 new policies

• Narcotic Production
  • Fields can be utilised by prisoners to secretly grow contraband herbs
    
  • Fields becoming potential Gang Turf
    
  • Herbs can be gathered and become Drug contraband

• Booze Production
  • Kitchen ingredients and prison grown fruit etc. can be gathered by inmates and fermented/brewed
    
  • After several stages, Alcohol contraband is produced

• New reputations:
  • Dealer
    
  • Supplier

• New Green Power Sources
  • Solar, Wind, and the Solar/Wind Hybrid
    
  • New electrical items: Transformer and Batteries

• Selling electricity
  • New Power Export Meter object - which allows returning power to ‘the grid’, in exchange for profits

• New Educational Program
  
• New Green Power Grants
  
• Energy targets

• Includes a new room, a recreational/training program for inmates, and 5 new plant items: Rose Bush, SunFlower, Mixed Begonias, Heather bushes, and Hydrangea plants.
  
• Inmates will be able to tend plants within the new Flower Garden room
  
• Flowers improve the prison's aesthetics and help calm prisoners tending to them.

• Bottle Wall
  
• White Picket Fence
  
• Reclaimed Wood Wall
  
• Hay Bale Wall
  
• Wooden Fence
  
• Garden Walls
  
• Barn Door
  
• White Picket Gate
  
• Double Door/Staff Door/Visitor Door

• Garden gnome
  
• Light (Solar)
  
• Topiary Bush
  
• Pink Flamingo
  
• Hay Bale
  
• Storage Shelves
  
• Serving Table (small)
  
• Tray Dispenser
  
• Food Tray Pack(s)
  
• Wall Light (Solar)
  
• Topiary Bush (Ball)
  
• Topiary Bush (Warden)
  
• Topiary Bush (Swan)
  
• Topiary Bush (Deer)
  
• Topiary Bush (Dog)
  
• Topiary Bush (Cat)
  
• Topiary Bush (Rex)
  
• Wall Planter
  
• Flower Planter (watering can)
  
• Flower Planter (wellies)
  
• Flower Planter (wheelbarrow)

• Reclaimed Brick
  
• Field Grass
  
• Reclaimed Rubber

• Flower Garden

• The Work Fields
  
• Green Power Plant

• The Botanist
  
• The Ecologist

• New Recycling System
  • Includes new Recycling Bin object

• New Quick Rooms
  • Yard, Grove, and hedge maze

• 2 New dog types
  • Shepherd
    
  • Bowtie Bandit

• Community improvement: dump/demolish
  
• Community improvement: Objects Menu Sorting Methods
  
• Staff alerts
  
• Job Menu optimization

• Ingredients should no longer be stacking up in the fridges and preventing the cooks from working.
  
• Clothes no longer get stuck inside of the washing machine causing an issue with dirty laundry.
  
• Workers no longer get stuck trying to build new structures.
  
• Delivery trucks and boats efficiency.

Greetings wardens,
We are happy to announce the price on the new DLC Going Green!

9.99 USD
7.19 GBP
9.99 EUR

With the release of Going Green, there will also be a free update; The Glasshouse brings new exciting things!