A lot of us know the pathfinding issues in this game limit prison layout customization. And I'm sure its common knowledge by now that its deep rooted in the coding of the game and the devs apparently cant change it without breaking everything and starting from scratch (at least that's what I'm lead to believe based on what I've seen over the years). However, If its possible to add a "jobs/Programs Only" section to the deployment menu, that would help some of the issues (at least for prisoners, staff not so much)
Example: I have a prison where 3 large cell block pods all share jobs/medical/parole/etc. at the center of all 3 (for space usage and efficiency purposes). They are all medium security also, so I cant separate based on security level. The reason they are 3 separate pods for the same sec. level is for gang segregation. I also have 3 separate yards connected to each pod, and that's where the problem lies. Regular (non gang) prisoners will walk to other pods (through the jobs area) and use the yards from those other pods even though the yard in their own pod is way closer. There is no way to separate them and still allow prisoners with jobs (from all 3 pods) to be able to access the center area where all the jobs are. Its not game breaking, but it IS immersion breaking, wastes time, and honestly just doesn't make sense. (no real prison would allow that)
That being said, I'm WELL AWARE that it can be worked around with specific layouts. I know a few people are gunna be like "well why don't you just build it THIS way, or THAT way" But that's kind of the problem. The whole point of the game (imo) is to be able to build whatever kind of prison you want, and not be limited to "specific" layouts due to something as simple as path-finding issues that frankly make no sense. Pathfinding should be a basic game mechanic, and should work intuitively, but this game is just lacking in that department. There's ALOT of threads talking about how staff/prisoners will walk clear across the entire prison to use a facility that's right next to them. And, like I said earlier, the devs seem like they cant do much about it. Expanding on the deployment or even the logistics menus seems to be the only plausible way to possibly fix some of these issues, and a "jobs only" section could be one of the ways to combat the problem.
Example: I have a prison where 3 large cell block pods all share jobs/medical/parole/etc. at the center of all 3 (for space usage and efficiency purposes). They are all medium security also, so I cant separate based on security level. The reason they are 3 separate pods for the same sec. level is for gang segregation. I also have 3 separate yards connected to each pod, and that's where the problem lies. Regular (non gang) prisoners will walk to other pods (through the jobs area) and use the yards from those other pods even though the yard in their own pod is way closer. There is no way to separate them and still allow prisoners with jobs (from all 3 pods) to be able to access the center area where all the jobs are. Its not game breaking, but it IS immersion breaking, wastes time, and honestly just doesn't make sense. (no real prison would allow that)
That being said, I'm WELL AWARE that it can be worked around with specific layouts. I know a few people are gunna be like "well why don't you just build it THIS way, or THAT way" But that's kind of the problem. The whole point of the game (imo) is to be able to build whatever kind of prison you want, and not be limited to "specific" layouts due to something as simple as path-finding issues that frankly make no sense. Pathfinding should be a basic game mechanic, and should work intuitively, but this game is just lacking in that department. There's ALOT of threads talking about how staff/prisoners will walk clear across the entire prison to use a facility that's right next to them. And, like I said earlier, the devs seem like they cant do much about it. Expanding on the deployment or even the logistics menus seems to be the only plausible way to possibly fix some of these issues, and a "jobs only" section could be one of the ways to combat the problem.
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