Question about guard rotation

Bigurn 2016-07-12 23:43:41 UTC #1

Hello atm I have about 160 guards and most seem to just hang around outside the prison by the delivery space. I see that little counter at the top left next to the inmate number I'm guessing thats what how many are actually on duty? Its frustrating me cause they are leaving their post like the remote door leaving alot of hostile inmates even more angry lol. Do I just need more guards like a 50 50 split for on and off duty or something ?

Augdog_909 2016-07-13 00:05:52 UTC #2

Hey Bigurn,
That number you see top left are the # idle guards/total guards. For ex 20/100. These are the guards that you see over in various places like deliveries just waiting for something to do.

Just like patrols/deploying a guard to a sector, they will eventually become exhausted of operating the machine & seek a staff room(will recover energy w/o staff room but will be significantly slower). Not much you can do to stop them from leaving. I found that putting a staff room in the same area as the security room will help them get back to their routine quicker.

PS: Things like this make me miss the deployment scheduler from PC. Your able to setup like 9 different shifts, each with different guards stationed at various places based on prison regime. I really hope they bring it to console because it helps keep all your guards in top notch shape by working in shifts. D11 plz

Bigurn 2016-07-13 01:56:56 UTC #3

Thanks as for right now is there a sort of solution? I have 3 staff rooms and still see tired guards, is 3 not really not enough? I saw a similar problem with kennels needing enough crates for dogs but no description is given as to how many people a staff house can hold at one time, is it 20 like most other buildings?

D11_Nat 2016-07-13 10:43:19 UTC #4

Someone suggested using patrols, which seems like a great idea. If you set up one-square patrol routes next to important positions it means that guards will replace them if they leave the posting! Seems to be working well for me but my current prison is a relatively small one.

Nat D11

Skierky 2016-07-19 14:24:53 UTC #5

Add more staff rooms if you need to. The further they walk the longer posts will be unmanned. I have a staff attached to each of my security rooms.

Having idle guards is a huge bonus for things like shakedowns and prisoner intake. The quicker your prisoners reach cells, the better. Having more idle guards keeps from pulling guards off posts and leaving blind spots (if fog of war is enabled).

Bigurn 2016-07-20 00:23:44 UTC #6

Yea did a bit of rebuilding, put all my phone taps remote door things and cctv cams in the staffroom, now the doors are always manned.

Skierky 2016-07-20 01:42:01 UTC #7

I have 260 standard guards right now but I always hire enough to have around 25 idle guards at any time. I've had intakes where prisoners spent 2 days outside and in reception and it can cause lots of problems for prisoners with reputations (especially volatile) so the quicker they get moved in the better off your temperature will be