Possible Bug + Suggestion

The benches thing is inconsistent. I have a couple of jails in PA mode where the inmates won't use them in the yard or the common room but will use them in cells and the canteen. On other designs (PA or PW mode) I've had no problem. I'm also playing on PS4.

It would definitely help to have unknown and vulnerable reps easier to see - and maybe a visual or audio cue when the bus arrives as it's so easy to forget!

Hi @Rowleyjp. There are plenty of reasons that inmates would use certain items over others, location being a big factor. There aren't any bugs relating to weights that I'm aware of.

Thanks for the other suggestions though both of you, I'll pass them along.

Nat D11

The idea I have is that prisoners can get the sentences extended by doing or getting cought for crimes while in the prison. You could also add like another type of reputation for prisoners while there inside the prison. Maybe just a list of all the crimes the prisoner has done while inside. Times cought with contriban fights been involved in and murders committed while inside that kinda thing. This way you could scroll through your inmates and see from the stats who is the most troublesome prisoners.

Also the ability to choose a cell for an Inmate when there in your prison. This may already be in the game but I can't find it lol. Sometimes it's handy to separate your prison into sections and rather than make parts of the prison med sec min sec etc be easier just to tell the prisoner to be placed it the cell of your choice. Then you would think if separated they should stay in there section

In my big prison where inmates wouldn't use weights in the yard or the common room I just tried removing the yard designation and several people immediately started using weights in both the common room and the canteen. It seems that no-one will use weights in the yard, common room or canteen during free-time or work time if there's a yard available for jogging (prisoners will still use other types of objects in all three areas) and they never use weights in the yard during yard time either. I have the gangs option disabled so that's not a factor.

In that prison there's no point putting weights in my yard because if the area is designated they'll always jog there instead and if I remove the room designation they stop using all resources there. This is a shame since common sense (and the objects menu room filter) says that yards are the obvious place to put your weights benches. (Unused weights won't help snapshot hunters either...)

It's still worth me having some weights in the canteen (when I have a yard) since prisoners will use them while confined there during eat time and it's definitely beneficial to put weights in cells for any inmates on permanent lockdown (if they have exercise needs - not everyone does).

My issue is not universal or consistent though. I have two entirely separate games on the small Paradise City map and on one save the prisoners use the yard weights and never jog while on the other it's the opposite. I don't know what factor is governing this - I wondered if it might be related to suppression but I tried adding three dozen armed guards in the yard and neighbouring canteen in my big prison and they couldn't convince the fanatical joggers to try the weights instead.

Funny I think my people actually fight sometimes on who will use them. There is a little thing that tells you how long they have been guest in your hotel in the biography section I believe it is in, also tells how long they been good. A good way to keep a tab on the prisoner bus is by watching your money, that nice little prisoner intake bonus shows up you know you have new guest. Oh did you space the weight benches out? Could be a space thing maybe, that or they just lazy idk

Certainly the intake payments do serve as a bus alert but on a large prison with several types of payments in/out it's easy to tune out the money feed. A loud toot-toot from a bus horn would help me a lot!

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't think spacing is an issue with weights benches. I just tested an unspaced 3x3 block of nine (where the benches physically overlap horizontally) on the prison that has lifters rather than joggers and they were still happy to use them, even having four adjacent guys in a 2x2 block at one point.

Hum do people have a exercise need? Maybe they only really use them when they need them or do you have tvs and stuff in the yard? I noticed when I had tvs in my yard hardly no one lifted but I removed them long ago as punishment for a fight, now they all lift. They used to fight over benches but thats cause I don't believe I had enough

I have plenty of other activities in the yard - six benches (not weights), two rows of phones, one row of radios, one row of TVs, a shower block, two toilet blocks, a couple of chapels (for programmes and free-time), nine pool tables and six pews around a nice pond for quiet contemplation! Locking the buildings and removing the objects makes no difference.

About a third of the population have no exercise need (white section on needs menu) and the other 200+ are all satisfied by jogging in the yard during free-time and work time or by using the canteen weights during eat time (or cell weights on permanent lockdown).The yard weights are never used in yard time and the yard, common room and canteen weights are never used in free-time or work time if the yard is available.

What's your prison layout like? Care to share a quick snap?
Do you have gangs active?

Nat D11

No probs. Here's the overall layout of Bartwood Scrubs. No gangs on this one.

The bottom third of the site is all forestry apart from more offices and gennies plus another water barrier mirroring the top one. I was originally focusing on the timber economy but currently (until I develop the south side for SuperMax) I'm farming release bonuses off short Min-Sec sentences with a 4% reoffending rate - hence the thirty parole rooms! I get about $30k-35k per day from that.

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Here's a close-up of the yard (and common room). I've removed the weights that weren't working there but I'd tried them in various positions and orientations. To be honest I'd rather have joggers than lifters since only a limited number can use weights at any given time. Would be nice to have a mix of both though.

This pic also illustrates my magical drifting beds. Not good for the warden's OCD!

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It might have something to do with the structures in the middle of your yard? I had a very similar issue with a yard that had a security/staffroom in the middle of it. Now I just keep my yard separate from everything else and I have no problems. I actually had to add more weight benches due to the high demand for them.

Also, make sure you have benches equal distance from each entrance. If the weight benches are too far away then it will essentially be closer for them to jog and that's what they'll do.

Yea the stuff in the middle or the size in general lol. How much yard time do they have? Your prisoners have it good looks like a betty ford clinic rec yard lol, mine go in a small square surrounded by razor wire fence.

Thanks for the ideas. I just tried dezoning my yard and making a new one (complete with razorwire!) by temporarily using some of my precious forestry. I put a single gate at the top with a row of weights just inside the entrance and they just ran right over them! It was quite a sight actually - maybe a hundred prisoners ran straight down the centre and then half started jogging in a clockwise circle and the other half counter-clockwise. It was like a choreographed ballet.

Tried shrinking the test yard from 25x25 to 15x10 and they still kept on running.

My regime is fluid as I test things but I currently have a couple of hours of yard time since that's the best way to get them to exercise and too much free-time impacts your punishment grading. I give them a variety of objects so they can work on any urgent needs during yard time (ditto the canteen and eat time). I'm trying to keep them fairly satisfied to increase work/class attendance.

So it didn't work then?

Yeah, the weights remained unlifted.

In my experience any given prison will either have lifters or joggers during yard time but never both.

It might be the structures with designated rooms in the yard. I've noticed that you can't have any other rooms inside yard for it to work effectively

Firstly, your prison is awesome. You guys never cease to amaze me.

Secondly, I'm stumped. I'm going to harass some QA people and see if they can figure it out for me.

Nat D11

So my QA contact is completely stumped from the info we've got. He's also pointed out that your yard TVs are facing the wrong way!

Nat D11