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Prison Tycoon
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FAQ/STRATEGY GUIDE TO
PRISON TYCOON
game by
Virtual Soft
Gambryo and
Virtual Playground
this guide written by
SOLDYNE
Version 1.01
VERSION HISTORY:
1.01 - Added direct link to File Front for the informational spreadsheet.
1.00 - First creation.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
(TO GO TO ANY SECTION USE THE FIND COMMAND AND TYPE IN THE ROMAN NUMERAL, THE
LETTER OR THE NUMBER WITH BRACKETS OR PERIODS AND GO TO THE SECTION
(DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT COLLECT $200:)
I. INTRODUCTION
II. THE GAME
III. THE CONTROLS
IV. THE PRISONS
[A] Prison 1
[B] Prison 2
[C] Prison 3
V. THE BUILDINGS
VI. THE ROOMS AND OBJECTS
VII. THE FLOW OF THE GAME
[D] The Day Begins
[E] Parole Hearing
[F] Upkeep and the Game Year
VIII.PRISONER MOODS
[G] MOOD MANAGEMENT
[H] OVERCROWDING, PRISONER LEVEL AND GANGS
IX. SECURITY LEVEL
X. STRATEGY AND MAKING MONEY
[I] Income
[J] Lay Out
[K] Expansion
[L] Increase Security Level
XI. SCENARIOS/CHALLENGE MODE
XII. CHEATING
[M] THE EASY WAY
[N] THE COMPLEX WAY
XIII.BUGS AND GLITCHES
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Welcome to my guide on PRISON TYCOON (PT). I would first like to give
VIRTUAL SOFT and all the other companies who had a hand in this game
a "Thank You" for producing this game with detailed graphics and great sound
and music.
I would like to say that this is my second FAQ/STRATEGY guide and that
all info contained herein is a culmination of hours of trial and error,
observation, and shear dumb luck. All I had to go on was the
game itself (I had no manual), and my own experience with simulation/resource
managment games.
If anyone finds that any info in this guide is erroneous, my explainations
are difficult to understand, or you just have some new info to add then drop
me a line at Soldyne@Yahoo.com and have the subject read:
ABOUT YOUR GUIDE
or
PRISON TYCOON
This is because I have many filters on my email account and this will let me
know that your email is worth opening. I should not have to say this but,
PLEASE make sure you computer is clean of viruses and such before sending
me any messages. Thank You!
Now for some legal stuff:
This guide is Copyrighted under law and cannot be reproduced by others without
express writen permission from me. You may not link directly to this document
or display a copy of it on any website. I worked long and hard to get this
information and I would like to be credited for my work.
A Note About Pronouns:
I will tend to use masculine pronouns throughout my document. This is not
intended to disrespect or in any way ostrisize the female population. It is
just how I write. Thank you for your understanding in this matter. Not only
that, but this game specializes in male prisons so male pronouns are kind of
needed.
OK, now onto the good stuff!
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II. THE GAME
After getting the game loaded and up and running the first important screen you
should see is what I like to call the table of contents screen or the selection
screen. This screen will have a bus, some paperwork, a disk, and a large door.
The Bus - this will enter you into Free Play mode. here you can choose one of
three prisons to build. there are no limits here, just build the prison of
your dreams (if that is the kind of thing you dream about).
The Paperwork - this is the challenge mode. here you can choose from 14
different scenerios. These will be covered later.
The Disk - This will let you load a previously saved game.
The Door - This will let you exit the game
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III. THE CONTROLS
MOVEMENT - you can use W, A, S, D to move around or you can use the
mouse by moving the cursor (hand and key) to the edge of the screen.
to zoom in and out you can use Q and Z or use the mouse wheel.
To rotate the view press and hold the mouse wheel while moving the mouse. For
building I like to zoom all the way out and put my view at a 3/4 view.
TIME - you can pause the game by pressing the 0 key or by clicking the double
bar button on the bottom right of your tool bar. Get to know this key well.
slow speed is the sigle arrow next to pause or the 1 key.
medium speed is the double arrow or the 2 key.
fast speed is the triple arrow or the 3 key.
***
In cheat mode, keys 4, 5, and 6 allow for even faster speeds
***
OPTIONS - Next to the speed buttons on the bottom right of the screen is a
button with a computer monitor on it. pressing this will take you to the
options sub menu. Here you can change video or sound settings, load or save
a game, or exit.
BUILD MODE - The trowel in the bottom left will open the building sub menu.
here you can select different buildings to begin your climb to the top of
the prison tycoon world.
STATISTICS - The note pad next to the build button will bring up the stats
sub menu. here you can get an idea of how much money you are earning and
spending, the number of employees you have and what your prisoner population
is. you can even get details on the current scenario (this section is not
available if you are in free build mode).
MESSAGE CENTER - the large grey box in the middle of your tool bar is for
messages. most of these are random and mean nothing more than flavor text.
some of them are useful however. if you miss a message you can click
on this box to bring up a recent message history.
CALENDAR - this tells you the current time (very important) and the current
year (not so important).
THE SAFE - this is your current funds (extreamly important). always keep an
eye on this.
PRISONER - this tells you how many prisoners you have and how much space you
have. if the first number if smaller then you have extra space available for
more prisoners. if the first number is larger then you have a problem with
overcrowding and might experience an escape or two.
SECURITY LEVEL - this is the current security level of your prison. You will
always start off at Low in Free Build mode and must work your way to the top.
PRISON RATING - (located above your speed controls). This is really not very
useful but might be nice to know from time to time. it is given as a
percentage. You will always start with 50% in Free Build Mode.
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IV. THE PRISONS
This section and a few of the following sections will be described from the
perspective of Free Build Mode.
It is while in Free Build Mode that you will learn the basics of prison
management and all the details of playing the game.
As stated above, you can enter Free Build Mode by clicking on the picture of the
bus in the initial selection screen. After doing so you will be shown a picture
of the United States with three smaller pictures of various prisons. At first
glance the only difference between the prisons may seem to be architecture, but,
that is not true.
[A] Prison 1 - New York Style:
The buildings here seem old and worn down. Don't let the facades fool you
though, when a building is placed it will be at full health. This prison
actually has the fewest number of buildings for you to choose from and some of
the most expensive buildings.
This map also has a glitch. the other two prisons allow you to unlock three
expansion areas for your prison to grow. This map only has 2. So, with
fewer, more expensive buildings and less area to build on I would say that this
is the most challenging prison to play with. if you are just starting out
I do not suggest this map.
[B] Prison 2 - California Style:
The buildings here are fairly basic. They are moderately sized, moderately
priced and there are plenty to choose from. The expansion areas are fairly
large as well. With the most buildings and lots of room to expand I would rate
this prison as an excellent starter area.
[C] Prison 3 - Texas Style:
Fewer buildings than CA but more than NY. There are 3 large areas to expand
with, but, all the buildings are single story and larger than the CA or NY
style buildings. You may find yourself running out of room faster with this
map because of it. I rate this as a moderately challenging prison to build
with.
When you have decided on a prison to begin building with click on its image.
This will bring you to the game screen. Here you will be shown a nice into
which is usually some kind of bus or plane arriving at your prison. This will
be the method of transport that your prisoners will arrive through in the
future. At any time during this scene you may click the mouse and be
instantly transported to your prison to begin building.
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V. THE BUILDINGS
There are 6 building types to choose from:
Dormatories/Cell Blocks
Amenities
Administrative
Health
Factory
Tower/Fencing
GENERAL BUILDING INFO - Depending on the Prison you are building in, each
building type will have various floor plans and foot prints. To build a
building press the button on the bottom left corner that looks like a small
shovel (trowel). This will bring up the Building submenu. Here you can see the
different kinds of buildings described below and the security level you will
need in order to build them. While in this mode the game will be paused.
When you first start out your security level is "Low" and your selection will
be small. The buildings which are highlighted in red require a higher
security rating or you are running low on cash.
Once you have selected the building you want your cursor will become that
building. the foot print will be green if you can place it or red if there is
something in the way. You can rotate the orientation of the building by
right clicking the mouse. the entrance to the building will be marked by a
small green square and a dot. make sure this part of the building has access
or the prisoners and staff won't be able to access or use it.
to change buildings simply select a new one from the submenu. when you close
the building submenu the game will revert to the fastest speed you had set it
on in the past. if you want to remain paused then be ready to press the 0 key.
DORMATORIES/CELL BLOCKS - This is where you house your prisoners. without a
dorm you cant build beds or cells. without those, you can't have prisoners.
AMENITIES - this is where you entertain your prisoners. why do they need
entertainment? if they don't have any they will start to get bored, and,
eventually get angry and start fighting and rioting. Lots of fights can lead
to lots of deaths and that can cost you a fortune in legal fees.
ADMIN - this is where your office space goes; guard rooms, surviellance,
clerical offices, etc. These rooms have various fuctions.
HEALTH - these buildings encompass Medical and Mess Halls. Medical buildings
have doctors, mental wards, and therapists. Mess Halls are needed to feed
your inmates to make them happy. More on prisoner moods later.
FACTORY - This is where your prisoners work. Factories serve a few different
functions. each time a prisoner works it brings in revenue for the prison.
it also gives the prisoner a chance to reform which can net you a lot of bonus
cash from charities.
TOWER - This is one of the many ways to increase your security rating. each
tower comes with two guards; one in the tower as a look out and one which
wanders the grounds keeping the peace. These are the only buildings that
do not have an interior.
FENCE - (Technically this set is located with the Towers).
This set allows the building of security fencing and walls. These can
increase security rating and also provide more control over where your
prisoners can and cannot go.
For more detailed information on the buildings please send me an email
with the subject line containing the words "PRISON TYCOON" and I will send
you an ExCEL Spreadsheet which contains cost, security level, foot print size,
occupancy, and a whole list of other facts about rooms, objects, staff, and
the various buildings of each prison type. Gamefaqs does not allow .xls files
to be uploaded to their site so this file will need to be requested.
you can also download the file directly from File Front at the following site:
http://files.filefront.com/Prison+Tycoon+Infoxls/;12450055;/fileinfo.html
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VI. THE ROOMS AND OBJECTS
The rooms and objects which can be placed inside the buildings are the same
from prison to prison. the only things that change are the floor plans of
the buildings themselves which can indirectly affect how many objects and
rooms you can place in a building.
Once you have placed a building in your prison and have left the building
sub menu you may left click on the buiding to go inside and view it through
a birds eye view Closed Circuit Camera (as though you were seeing it in the
security room on a monitor).
while inside the buiding you have all the same tools as before plus a few more.
on the far right side of the tool bar you will see a yellow add on section.
The big red number tells you what floor you are on. the ground floor is
always floor 0. the arrows allow you to go to different floors in the
building if the floor plan allows for multiple floors. the only way to get
multiple floors is if the building comes prebuilt with them. you cannot add
floors to a building.
The camera button will take you to different Closed Circuit Camers within the
building which can be fun when the building is occupied. you can rotate the
cameras by holding the middle mouse button and moving the mouse. There are
usually 4 such cameras in each building per floor.
The final button is the exit button and it will allow you to leave the
interior of the building and go back to your prison overview.
While inside your building you can select the build button again to access
the rooms and objects submenu. Without rooms and objects a building is
useless (except for the towers which have no interiors).
Just like when creating a building your cursor will become the room or object
you wish to place. you can right click to change orientation or select a new
room or object from the submenu. when you close the submenu the speed will
revert to the fastest speed you had it set on in the past. be ready to press
the pause button if you wish to keep the game paused.
When placing rooms and objects always be mindful of the extra green square
proturding from the rest of the foot print. this square requires free access
so that the prisoners can use the object or enter the room.
One final note about rooms is that the rent of the room is equal to its cost.
this is especially important to remember when placing expesive rooms as they
will continue to cost the same amount every time you pay upkeep.
=============
DORMS - These low level buildings allow for such things as small beds and bunk
beds. You can also place chairs, tvs, vending machines and ping pong tables
in here to give your prisoners enjoyment.
In my experiments I never saw any prisoners actually using any of the
furniture. I saw them use the ping pong table, the pool table, and the
foosball table, but, nothing else.
Low security dorms cannot be used to house higher security cells.
==============
CELL BLOCKS - These are for the standard Cells that everyone is familiar with
in most prisons. A medium security cell block can hold beds, bunks and medium
security cells. a high security cell block can hold all of that and the one
high security cell and a special cell called the Hole (my favorite).
The Hole is nothing special. you can assigne any prisoner of High Security
level or less to a Hole. this will not affect their mood at all and, in
contrast to the description has nothing to do with punishing the prisoner.
I had a prison with over 200 inmates and all of them had Holes as their
permenant cell assingment. I like them because they only use up two spots.
==============
DEATH ROW - this is where the maximum security cells can be built to hold the
death row inmates. these cells come in the solitary confinement and padded
cell varieties. you can even build execution chambers here.
If you build an execution chamber then death row inmates
will be executed when their time comes, but, you wont see any animations.
you only get a message that says an inmate was executed.
==============
GENERAL INFO FOR DORMS AND CELLS - each set of beds or cells comes with a set
occupancy number. the higher the number the more dense the prison population
can get. dense popution means more money for you but it also increases the
risk of riots and injuries. balance is key.
==============
AMENITIES - All amenities are low security. There are three kinds of
amenities; indoor, outdoor, and sports.
Indoor Amenities - these include rooms like the library, class rooms, gyms,
chaples and other such time wasters. Prisoners generally like to take part
in indoor amenities in the evening.
The chapel is especially interesting as it will create a wandering priest which
will bless random prisoners making them happy.
Outdoor Amenities - these include bleachers, benches, tables, and basketball
courts. bleachers and benches are surprisingly effective while the basketball
courts seem bugged. I never saw anyone use them. Prisoners seem to enjoy
outdoor and sports amenities in the morning.
Sports Amenities - these include things like a boxing ring and a squash
court. the prisoners don't acutally box but they will gather around the ring.
The squash court has some interesting animation and I high suggest you build at
least one just to see what they do :)
==============
ADMIN - These rooms have various fuctions and a few bugs.
Planning 1, 2, and 3 - The planning offices are the way to unlock the expansion
areas of each prison. you must build them in order (1 then 2 then 3). They
are very expensive costing a total of $60,000 for all 3. This being the case,
if you keep them around it will cost you $60,000 in upkeep eveytime you pay
upkeep. A glitch (I think it is a glitch) is that once you buy any
planning office you can immediately delete it and not only can you keep the
unlocked area but you can also access the next level office. One technique is
to buy planning office 1, delete it, and then save up for planning office 2
later (then doing the same thing with 2 and 3).
this will save you a lot of money over time.
A Note On Land Rental - each area of land you have open will incur a base cost
of $2500 per day. so with all 3 extra areas open you are looking at $10,000 of
land rental, and if you keep the planning offices around you are looking at
$70,000 worth of upkeep every day!
Clerical Office 1, 2, and 3 - These are essential and well worth the initial
cost. Clerical Office 1 will reduce maintenance costs of your entire prison
by 50%. this includes all upkeep for buildings, rooms, objects and even land
rental. Clerical 2 will unlock a 66% savings and Clerical 3 will reduce total
prison wide costs by a whopping 75%! The same glitch exists here as it does
for the planning offices. you can build office 1, delete it, and then build
office 2, delete it, and then build office 3 and delete it. even if they are
no longer present in your prison you will still gain their benefits. However,
I do not think this was intended. since the Clerical Offices affect their own
upkeep costs they are quite easy to maintain (with a 75% discount) so I would
suggest keeping them if only to provide a more realistic feel for your prison.
With a 75% reduction in costs your land rental goes from $10,000 down to $2500
which was what the initial base cost was to begin with.
SURVEILLANCE 1, 2, and 3 - These help to increase prison security levels. more
on that concept later.
ARMORY 1, 2, AND 3 - again, these increase security levels.
STAFF ROOM 1, 2, AND 3 - I have not been able to determine any function for
these rooms. build them for realism or ignore them as you see fit.
RECEPTION - same as staff room, no noticeable fuctions.
GUARD ROOMS - These do not add to security rating but they do provide extra
guards which roam around your prison. Low security guard room will add 1 low
level gaurd, Medium Security Guard room adds 2 medium security guards, and the
high level room adds 3 high level guards.
MAINTENANCE - this room is a must. every time an object or room is used by a
prisoner its maintenance level decreases. when its maint level goes below 25%
it becomes unusable. a Maintenance room creates one maintenance worker who
wanders the prison looking for things to repair.
vISITAION BUILDING - This building allows the construction of visitiation
rooms. there are various security levels of visitation rooms available.
My research has shown that only 1 prisoner at a time may use any visitation
room. This seems buggy to me so I don't build them, although, you can if you
wish to have a more realistic prison. (sorry no conjugal visits here.)
also, it is interesting to note that the "visitors" in these rooms are
always there and never leave. It is like they are professional visitors.
==============
HEALTH - this building provides for hospitals, mental wards and therapy in
addition to mess halls for meals.
Hospitals - each hospital will allow for prisoners injured in fights to get
healed. if they are not healed they may die which will cost you a lot of
fines. each hospital will also produce a wandering doctor which will heal
prisoners that they come into contact with.
Mental Wards - these will heal the injured and proved a small boost to
security level. these provide no wandering doctors however.
Therapy rooms - These will amazingly heal the injured and provide a wandering
therapist who will talk with unhappy prisoners and raise their mood.
personally, I only build therapy rooms as they provide all the benefits of a
hospital and help raise prisoner mood (preventing fights and injuries).
Counter 1, 2 - These are built in the mess hall. they only server 1 prisoner
at a time and very slowly too. they also cost more than a table and have a
staff to pay wages for. I don't use them.
Tables - these will serve 6 prisoners at a time and work just as well at
feeding the prisoner as a counter or vending machine will. I use these
exclusively.
==============
FACTORIES - this is where you make your money.
Auto Repair - This will allow up to 6 prisoners to work at the same time and
each job done will provide $200 for your prison.
Print Shop - This will allow only 4 prisoners to work and give $300 for each
job done.
Metal Shop - This has room for 8 and provides $400 for each job.
Upholstery - This is the best factory providing room for 8 workers at $500 per
job. I build these almost all the time (until I get tired of looking at them).
For more detailed information on the rooms and objects please send me an email
with the subject line containing the words "PRISON TYCOON" and I will send
you an ExCEL Spreadsheet which contains cost, security level, foot print size,
occupancy, and a whole list of other facts about rooms, objects, staff, and
the various buildings of each prison type. Gamefaqs does not allow .xls files
to be uploaded to their site so this file will need to be requested.
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VII. THE FLOW OF THE GAME
[D] The Day Begins
The game day begins at 6:00 am and ends at 10:00 pm.
When the day begins your prisoners will appear in the dorms near their bed or
cell. many of them will begin to head toward some kind of amenity. Prisoners
seems to prefer outdoor or sports in the morning. all staff wil begin the day
at the front door of the building they are assigned to (the foot of a tower,
or the front door of the admin building in the case of guard rooms).
At 6:30 you will recieve the first of two new prisoner deliveries IF you have
enough extra room to keep them. you can only recieve prisoners of a security
level equal to the highest security level cell you have in your prison. This
means that you will never get any maximum security cons if you don't have any
maximum security cells to put them in.
New prisoners will be automatically assigned an open cell depending on the
security level they are and the available securtiy levels of any open cells.
You can always click on a prisoner to pick them up and then drag them over
any cell. if the prisoner appears inside the cell with a blue square then
that cell is available for this prisoner. if the prisoner has a red square
beneath them then this cell is either not high enough security level or
the cell is already assigned to someone.
At 12:00 pm the dinner bell will ring and all your cons will become hungry.
They will all begin heading toward the mess hall in large droves. If you have
more cons than open tables then you may get a message that says something to
the effect that your hungry cons can't find anywhere to eat. They will
eventually, when space becomes available.
At 1:30 pm your second prisoner shipment arrives. these prisoners have
already eaten and will go straight to the nearest cell upon arrival.
After they eat they want to work in a factory. So, make sure to have plenty
of factories open and in working order so your can make all kinds of profit
from their hard labor (this is where the big bucks come from).
After they work they like to look for indoor amenities but outdoor and sports
will satisfy them to a degree.
At 10:00 pm its lights out and no matter what is going on or where anyone is,
everything will reset and everyone will start the day at their regular
spots at 6:00 am again the next day.
[E] Parole Hearing
When the day ends you will get a new screen this is the parole hearing screen.
here you are given a list of prisoners who are up for parole and some stats
about them such as number of fights, number of jobs they completed, and
some other less useful items. The key to remember about granting parole is
to make sure the number of jobs they have completed is greater than the number
of fights they have been in. if this is the case then it should count as a
rehabilitation.
Rehabilitations grant you a large cash bonus in the form of charity donations.
Reoffenders don't get you any bonus but don't give you a penalty either.
You can also see on this screen the total number of fights that your prison
has experienced as well as the total number of deaths and escapes. For the
most part these figures are just interesting stats for you to have and mean
nothing in Free Build mode. However, these stats become much more useful
when you are playing in a challenge scenario.
I have seen no negative consequences of not granting parole, so do as you will
when it comes to making these desicions. Because of the rehabilition bonus
I grant parole to all prisoners who meet the criteria I set above. Remember,
there is not shortage of prisoners in America, so, if you lose one you'll gain
another the next day.
When you are done with the parole hearing you can click on the button at the
bottom of the screen. This will start the next day. You may get some
quick messages about how many prisoners were rehabilitated or how many died or
escaped the night before and then the day will continue as described above.
[F] Upkeep and the Game Year
Rent and Upkeep on all buildings, rooms, objects and staff is paid at the end
of each game day. This is because one game day is actually a representation of
3 months time. thus 4 game days is equal to 1 game year.
Upkeep for buildings is generally the construction cost divided by 100.
room/object upkeep is generally equal to the construction cost.
land rental is $2500 per open area up to 4 areas ($10,000).
Clerical office 1 gives a discount accross the board of 50%.
Clerical office 2 is a 66% discount.
Clerical office 3 is a 75% discount.
Build the clerical offices as soon as you can. they are worth it.
Staff wages vary depending on the job they perform. if the staff in
question is static (meaning they are attached to the building or room and do
not wander around) then their wages are $25 a day. Wandering staff wages
vary from $100 to $300 a day. The .xls spreadsheet I have prepared covers
all the details. Just ask and ye shall recieve.
Prisoner sentences are measured from the first day they arrive, thus their
sentence can end on any day. if a prisoner has a 4 year sentence then they
will be in your prison for at most 16 game days (4 game days per year) or
earlier if you grant them parole.
At the end of each day you also get paid by the government for each prisoner
you have.
Low Security Cons are worth $1000 dollars a day.
Medium Security Cons are worth $2000 dollars a day.
High Security Cons are worth $3000 dollars a day.
Max Security Cons are worth $4000 dollars a day.
prisoner upkeep is minimal and is paid for when each prisoner eats lunch. this
is usually about 13-19 dollars per inmate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VIII. PRISONER MOODS
Prison moods are as follows from best to worst:
Very Happy
Quite Happy
Happy
Very Passive
Quite Passive
Passive
Bored
Quite Bored
Very Bored
Angry
Quite Angry
Very Angry
There are three Special Moods that prisoners can be in which override the
regular moods:
Hungry
Injured
Badly Injured
Prisoner moods determine their actions.
Happy prisoners will want to work and will not engage in fights.
Passive prisoners are the average prisoner. they are not happy enough to work
but will not start fights and are generally in a safe state. Passive prisoners
can often be seen standing around engaging other prisoners in conversations.
The animations can be funny sometimes and can often times look like play
fighting.
Bored prisoners will try to find some activites other than work. if no
activities are available or if they are too far away then they may become
angry.
Angry prisoners will start a fight with the nearest unhappy prisoner. Usually
the angry prisoner who started the fight will win. the loser will gain a new
mood called Injured. If the injured prisoner is in a second fight he will
become badly injured.
Injured prisoners will generally seek medical attention on their own but not
always (macho gang members). You can even see them limping to the medical
area.
Badly injured prisoners will die at the end of
the day if not treated. dead prisoners cost tens of thousands in legal
costs, so don't let that happen.
you will know that a fight is starting when you hear the sound of a riot.
When you hear this sound put the game on slow speed and search your prison. If
you pause the game you may not be able to see the fight, but, on slow speed
you can see the animation of a fight much easier.
If you see two prisoners fighting then right click on them to see which one
is the angry one. pick this prisoner up to stop the fight and move them to
a spot in your prison that is very far away from other prisoners (or they
will just start another fight). if you stop the fight before one of the
prisoners loses then the fight does not count. both prisoners will gain a
fight on their record regaurdless of who started it.
[G] MOOD MANAGEMENT
There are a few ways to deal with angry prisoners. At noon every prisoner,
reguardless of their current mood, will become hungry and head to the mess hall.
after they eat they will become happy and start to work. this essentially
resets all prisoner moods except injured and badly injured.
another way to deal with angry prisoners is to just isolate them from everyone
else and wait for the game day to end. prioner moods generally reset at the
end of the day (i guess they just sleep it off).
Various staff members also have the ability to reset moods. Wandering Guards
will on occasion pick out random prisoners who are bored or angry and beat them
with a night stick. this will reset thier mood to passive. sometimes this
will cause the prisoner to become injured but most of the time it does not.
you will know that your guards are passifying a prisoner when you hear the
sound of radio talk.
There are three security levels of guards. If I am not mistaken the higher the
guards security level the more likely they are to perform their jobs on passing
prisoners. This is why it is a good idea to upgrade all towers and guard rooms
when your security level increases. better guards means better prisoner
mood management.
Priests and Therapists will also pick out random prisoners and reset their
mood to Happy. this will immediately cause the prisoner to find work. It is
possible for a prisoner to work as much as 3 times in one day if he is blessed
in the morning and afternoon by a priest or theapist. You will know that a
prisoner is speaking to a priest or therapist when you hear the sound of an
organ chord (thats my best desciption, you will know it when you hear it).
[H] OVERCROWDING, PRISONER LEVEL AND GANGS
Overcrowding, security level and gang affiliation can affect mood as well.
Overcrowding occurs when you have a lot of cells in a small space. When the
prisoners wake up they appear in a large huddled mass. this can cause some
prisoners to wake up in a an angry state. You don't need many prisoners to
make money so don't try to put as many prisoners in one building as you can,
unless that is your goal.
The higher the security level of a con the faster his mood will drop (or it
seemed to me). Low security cons will generally have no problems even when
overcrowded. But, High security cons seem to get angry at the drop of a hat.
Remember that low sec cons are the white collar criminals (tax dodgers,
check bouncers, victimless crimes). High sec cons are your rapists, hit men,
pedophiles and other bad men with bad tempers.
Gang members can also cause trouble. If two prisoners from a rival gang
wake up next to each other they can become instantly angry and start fighting.
If left unchecked this can lead to riots. the best way to handle this is
to put Blades into one building and Skulls into another. If you want to, you
can even take the non-gang members and put them into a whole other building
just to make sure.
By keeping the density low, gang members seperated and providing plenty of
activities you should be able to keep prisoner violence to a minimum.
There is a caveat to all of this and that is Maximum Security Prisoners.
These cons are locked up in solitary and never leave their cell. within a day
they will become Very Angry and will stay that way until they are executed.
They will not be able to start fights and cost no upkeep, however, they also
will not be able to work for you and thus will not earn you any income
beyond their $4000 a day from government payments.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IX. SECURITY LEVEL
There are 4 Security Levels:
Low (L)
Meduim (M)
High (H)
Max (X)
In Free Build mode you will always start off as a low security prison and must
work your way up to Maximum security. There is nothing that says you must
reach maximum security in Free Build mode so you may do as you please.
Some benefits of Higher Security Levels are that you get paid more money from
the government for higher security level cons.
Low Security Cons are worth $1000 a day.
Medium Security Cons are worth $2000 a day.
High Security Cons are worth $3000 a day.
Max Security Cons are worth $4000 a day.
You can also unlock new buildings and rooms with higher security levels. The
new buildings you can unlock are dependant upon the prison you selected.
If you are content to run a low security prison then go right ahead, but, if
you want to house the worlds worst crimal scum then read on.
There are 5 ways to increase your Security Level: Towers, Surveillance,
Armories, Walls, and Mental Wards.
Walls and Mental Wards only provide a minimum security bonus. I don't use
them. Walls do allow you to herd your prisoners and staff however, so, they
do provide a purpose, albeit, limited.
Towers, Surveillance and Armories are your best bet to increase security.
There are a total of 500 security points in order to reach Maximum level.
Low = 0-99 points
Medium = 100-249 points
High = 250-499 points
Max = 500+ points
Towers:
L tower = 10 pt
M tower = 20 pt
H tower = 30 pt
Basic surv = 10 pt
Standard surv = 20 pt
Advanced surv = 30 pt
Basic armory = 50 pt
standard armory= 100pt
advanced armory= 150pt
Guard Rooms provide no security bonus however they do provide extra guards
to wander your prison. wandering guards help maintain a passive prisoner
population and have no effect on security level.
Security level is lowered for each prisoner in your prison.
L con = -1 pt
M con = -2 pt
H con = -3 pt
X con = -4 pt
It is quite possible for a prison to be at a decent security level and then
fall down one level due to a high prisoner population. just make sure to
upgrade your towers, surveillance and armories when you can and you should
have no trouble maintaining your security level.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
X. STRATEGY AND MAKING MONEY
This is probably the section most of you where waiting for. there are many
concepts to keep in mind when designing your prison; lay out, profit, security
level are the most important.
[I] Income
Before we build our prison we should discuss the various ways of creating
income: Government Payments, Factories, and Charities.
Your standard form of income will come from the government.
Low Security Cons are worth $1000 a day.
Medium Security Cons are worth $2000 a day.
High Security Cons are worth $3000 a day.
Max Security Cons are worth $4000 a day.
This will not be enough however and so you will need to earn more. Factories
provide plenty of extra money. Every time a prisoner finishes a job in a
Factory he will bring in revenue to the prison. The prisoner will also get
a small wage but this wage earned is not deducted from your income at all.
Auto Repair - This will allow up to 6 prisoners to work at the same time and
each job done will provide $200 for your prison.
Print Shop - This will allow only 4 prisoners to work and give $300 for each
job done.
Metal Shop - This has room for 8 and provides $400 for each job.
Upholstery - This is the best factory providing room for 8 workers at $500 per
job. I build these almost all the time (until I get tired of looking at them).
Finally, if a prisoner works more than they fight there is a good chance that
they will become rehabilitated. rehabilitated prisoners make charitable
organizations happy and so they see your prison as a boon to society. To
reward you, they give you large donations which could be as much as $10,000 or
more per rehabilitated prisoner. This of course only comes once per prisoner
so dont rely on it as a main form of income.
[J] Lay Out
The next thing we will discuss here is the lay out of your prison.
To start out in Free Build you will have a single area with no buildings and
nearly $100,000 dollars in your account minus the inital land rental fee.
The most important thing you will need is a dorm with some beds.
For low level security you can probably get away with the 10 bunk set and if
you place them just right, you can get 4 of them in one dorm. Your prisoners
will begin to trickle in 1-3 at a time so we don't have to worry about over
crowding just yet.
the next set of buildings to consider is the mess hall. Your prisoners will
need to eat. After they eat they will want to work, so, you will need a
factory. I like to place about 6 lunch tables in a small mess hall and
build a small factory with 2 upholstry units. this should be good enough to
get started.
You may also want a L tower to get a wandering guard and a small amenities
building with some things to keep your prisoners engaged.
I prefer to build chapels, and lots of them. each small chapel provides 1
wandering priest. the priests will bless nearby prisoners and make them work.
I also like to build a small health center with lots of therapists. therapists
do the same thing that priests do and the therapy room will heal injured
prisoners (if you ever have any fights).
I like to call this approach the Brainwashing Prison Cult Camp. Get as many
Priests and Therapists as you can afford and your prisoners will be so
brainwashed by the wandering headshrinks and padres that they will work
literally all day long providing you with a ton of cash. and since they are
spending all of thier time working, they are not fighting. when their time
comes they will almost always become rehabilitated netting you lots of bonus
cash.
At this point you dont need an admin building. I do like to build it just to
get the clerical offices for the discount. Also, the admin building is the
only way to get a maintenance room with a fixer. the fixer will walk around
all day and fix any room or object which needs fixing. for a small starter
prison you can get away with none or one, but more is just a waste for now.
[K] Expansion
once your prison is up and running at this initial stage the next step is to
expand. When you can afford it, build each of the planning offices in order.
You don't need to build them all at once, but try not to put stuff in the new
areas until you have them all unlocked.
once you have all the new areas then you can start on the advanced strategies.
Knowing that the first thing a prisoner will do in the morning is seek
activities I like to place the dorms and the amenities as far away from each
other as possible. what this does is it will cause the prisoners to get locked
into an acitivity that is on the other side of the prison and spend all morning
trying to get there. on the way they may be blessed by a priest or meet up
with a therapist. if they do they will go to work instead of the activity.
so long as you have enough open beds/cells you can delete a dorm and all the
prisoners assigned to that dorm will be auto assigned at the end of the day
to any open beds/cells. If you have any unassigned prisoners at the end of
the day then they will escape which will cost you a ton of legal fees.
If your dorms and amenities are far enough away and you have an army of Priests
and therapists roaming around, then, by the time the first prisoner gets to
the chapel it is lunch time and everyone starts heading for the mess hall.
after they eat they want to work. I like to put the factories right next to
the mess hall to increase productivity and work time. when they finish working
they look for more activities. this means that you should place the mess hall
and factory far away from the amenities too. You could if you wanted to, place
the mess hall/factory near the dorms so they have to walk all the way across
the prison yet agian. and of course on the way they can get blessed again, and
head right back to work earning yet more money for your prison.
by the time the first prisoner gets to the chapel, it is 10:00 pm and time for
the day to reset.
[L] Increase Security Level
The last step is to slowly increase your security level if you desire to.
I like to increase the level by adding more towers. this will provide more
wandering guards and thus provide even more prisoner mood management.
When your security level increases it is a good idea to upgrade all the low
level beds to medium or high level cells. this will ensure that when you
gain new prisoners there will always be a cell of a high enough security
level for them to be assigned to.
When you get to High Security level I like to put everyone into a Hole. It is
small, only holds one prisoner (to keep overcrowding to a minimum) and is just
fun. The animation they have in the Hole is funny too (at least I think
it is).
It is possible to force every prisoner to stay in solitary confinement or a
padded cell but those cost a lot more and take up more room than a Hole.
Also, holes can be built in High Security Dorms which tend to have a lot more
space in them than Death Row Dorms.
This whole set up is designed to keep prisoners occupied. if they are occupied
walking across the prison campus all day long then they are not getting into
fights. This concept is meant to help manage prisoner moods and to increase
your profit potential.
This set up is not perfect however as large prisons will still have a problem
with overcrowding and gang violence in the morning. also, large numbers of
prisoners will be able to sneak past the priests and therapists so some of them
may be become bored when they get to where they are going and still get angry.
In my prisons I have had a lot of success with this lay out. I have had a
prison with over 200 inmates of various security levels all the way to Max.
My total fights after 10 years were less than 20 and I had over $1million
in my account. I also had about 200 priests and therapists as well (it was
like a small town!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XI. SCENARIOS/CHALLENGE MODE
(this section is still under construction)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XII. CHEATING
There are two ways to cheat, the easy way and the complex way.
[M] Easy Way
While in the game hit and type in the word:
sleepworker
This will unlock the in game cheat mode. There will not be any way to know if
the command worked except to try out the cheat commands below. if it did not
work for whatever reason or you mistyped the key word then simply try again.
You can easily find an exhaustive
list of the cheat commands on line so I will just cover the most useful ones
here. To active a particular cheat while in cheat mode just hit the
appropriate key on the keyboard:
M: This will add $10,000 dollars to your treasury. this will show up as a
charitable donation in your statistics screen.
4: Faster Speed
5: Fastest Speed
6: OMG WTF Super Speed!
`: Half Speed
F1: Unlock first expansion area for free. you still have to pay rent on it.
F2: Unlock Second area (must unlock 1st area first).
F3: Unlock thrid area (must Unlock 2nd area first). This will cause the game
to crash to desktop if used in prison 1.
X: Add points to your security rating permanently. hit this mulitple times
to gain large bonuses to security rating.
The other Function Keys affect prisoner mood. I have not played around those
too much.
[N] The Complex Way
The game comes with many data files. Two of these files in particular are
editable: Data.xml and Language.xml, both contained in your main Prison Tycoon
directory. these files were not meant to be edited and I do not approve of
cheating in this way. I am only listing this information here for the sake
of completeness.
Before editing any files remember to make backups of the originals otherwise
you may be forced to uninstall and reinstall the game if you make a big
mistake.
If you are familiar with the XML language then you will be able to edit these
files with little trouble. If you are not familiar with the XML language
then you should either go and learn it or just cheat the easy way described
above. If you feel adventurous then read on.
The data.xml file contains much of the basic information about buidlings and
rooms used in the game. not all of the information about a building or room
is editable, but, much of it is.
First, the data in this file is seperated out by Prison1 (NY), Prison2 (CA)
or Prison3 (TX) (this is why I listed them in this order at the start of
the guide).
Under each prison it will list the Buildings and the Rooms for those buildings.
At this point if you are not sure what you are doing then turn back.
Buildings are listed thusly:
path to picture file
# (this is the number used in the language.xml file to provide the ingame
description)
path to building code file (this is a .nif format which is used exclusively for
this game and is not editable as far as I know.
this file contains the code for the 3-D image and
related animations and room usage statistics)
#
# (These two numbers give the foot print that the building will occupy
on the ground. These numbers are actually both multiplied by 2, so a 4x8
foot print in the game will show up here as 8 and 16)
# (cost to build. upkeep is this number divided by 100)
# (security level required to build. 0-3 where 0 is low and 3 is max)
# (Security level of the guard that is hired with this building.
usually reserved for towers)
TYPE (this is the type of building and thus the type of rooms and objects
that can be placed in it. This word should match up with other words
used throughout the data file)
# (Security points added. Usually for towers and such)
# (the number of wandering guards that come with the building)
Rooms and Objects have a few slight differences:
path to picture file
# (this is the number used in the language.xml file to provide the ingame
description)
path to object code file (this is a .nif format which is used exclusively for
this game and is not editable as far as I know.
this file contains the code for the 3-D image and
related animations and room usage statistics)
#
# (These two numbers give the foot print that the object will occupy
on the ground. These numbers are actually both multiplied by 2, so a 4x8
foot print in the game will show up here as 8 and 16)
# (cost to build and upkeep)
# (Occupancy for beds and cells. I dont think number affects other objects)
# (security level required to build. 0-3 where 0 is low and 3 is max)
TYPE (this is the type of object and thus the type of building
that it can be placed in. This word should match up with other words
used throughout the data file)
# (Security points added. Usually for armories and such)
# (the number of wandering staff that come with the building. if TYPE=INDOOR
Staff will be a Priest, if TYPE=HEALTH staff will be a Doctor/Therapist,
all other types produce guards with a security level equal to the minimum
security level required to build)
It is possible to add new buildings and new rooms to different buildings by
creating a whole new entry in the xml list. it is strongly recommended that
you know what you are doing before adding whole new entries or you may crash
the game. When you add new entries I suggest adding new corresponding entries
in the language.xml file so you can have descriptions with your thumbnails,
although that is not needed.
You can also modify the language.xml file to give different messages that
pop up randomly during the game. you can change the names of the two
gangs (Blades and Skulls) and many other words used during the game as well as
descriptions of buildings and rooms.
My favorite way to modify this game is to create a new single High Security
cell. I don't like that my options for High Security prisoners are a 3 bed
cell and the Hole (although I do like the Hole). I also, like increasing the
number guards provided by medium and high securtiy towers and the number of
priests and therapists highered for larger chapels and therapy rooms. I don't
consider modding to be cheating as I am not making the game easier, just
different.
also, remember that when
you modify one prison the other prisons are not affected. so If you want your
modification to affect all prisons then you must make the modification in
3 different areas.
I wish my explainations of this section were more detailed but file
modifications such as this do require some level of knowledge and
understanding. Again, if you are uncomfortable modifying these xml files
then don't.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
XIII. BUGS AND GLITCHES
In my experiements I discovered many things which I think are bugs or just
general glitchy behavior. I blame most of it on poor testing which is most
likely caused by releasing the game too early.
1. The third area of Prison 1 does not exist. you can build the Planning
Office 3 but it will do nothing. If you use the sleepworker cheat and press
F3 it will crash the game.
2. While in build mode either for buildings or rooms there are some instances
when you will be charged $25 every time you press the build button. This cost
will show up as a staff wage in the statistics subscreen. to avoid this try
not to hit the build button while you are already in build mode.
3. When you place a clerical office down you can delete it and still gain its
functions as though it were still there. I think this was unintentional and so
I classify it as a bug.
4. during my research I discovered that most of the furniture in the dorms
was not being used at all. This was true even when the furniture was the only
activity in the prison. I think this is a bug, but can be avoided by not
building any furniture (chairs, couches, etc)
5. In addition to the furniture, I also saw no useage of either basketball
court. I was dissapointed with this as I wanted to watch my inmates play a
little b-ball. This is also true of the larger outdoor gym area.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For more detailed information on the game stats please send me an email
with the subject line containing the words "PRISON TYCOON" and I will send
you an ExCEL Spreadsheet which contains cost, security level, foot print size,
occupancy, and a whole list of other facts about rooms, objects, staff, and
the various buildings of each prison type. Gamefaqs does not allow .xls files
to be uploaded to their site so this file will need to be requested.
I hope all who read this find it useful and truthful.
I challenge all who read it to find fault in my findings or
information which may be missing from my work. Please let me know if
such items are discovered or for any questions or comments contact me at:
Soldyne@yahoo.com
with "Prison Tycoon" or "About Your Guide" in the subject header
Copyright all rights reserved
Version 1.00 June 2007
version 1.01 November 2008
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