Welcome to Show and Cell, our little corner to showcase the creativity of the Prison Architect community! Here you can find some inspiration and read about the people that create fan art, gameplay videos, or building some awesome prisons! If you want your prison to be showcased next, tag us on Twitter (@prisonarchitect) and use the hashtag #showandcell! Feel free to send us a DM if you have any questions! If you want to get the latest news and updates, you can also follow us on Twitter, Discord and Facebook. Show and Cell is back with a new outstanding prison, and this time we will dive into Snowpine Penitentiary, created by MutedKiwi.

How long did it take to create your Snowpine Penitentiary?

Overall it probably took me about 100-120 hours, with the majority of this time being taken up by planning and research.

What was your goal when you started this prison?

My initial goal was to build an efficient 1,000 capacity prison consisting of MinSec, MedSec and MaxSec prisoners with high-profit margins and a low reoffending rate. Compared to my initial plan, the layout changed substantially over time. For example, I decided to incorporate SuperMax, WitSec, Death Row and the insane asylum and download mods halfway through, such as basketball and computer labs.

How did you come up with the name?

I actually only came up with a name after someone requested I upload it to Steam, which requires you to name the prison. I chose Snowpine because of the map environment and abundance of Snowpine trees and thought it was a fitting name.

Did you plan the layout of the prison before you built it?

Yes, planning is one of my favourite elements of games like this. I tried to plan as much as possible, including optimal pathing and room sizes, individual object and door placements, water/electricity lines and more. I wanted to include a lot of different elements, so I knew planning would be the best way to make sure I didn't forget to include anything. I also like symmetry, so I tried to make it as symmetrical as possible, which required a lot of planning.

Anything else you want to mention about Snowpine Penitentiary?

This prison was my first serious attempt at an efficient high capacity prison, and I'm proud of how it turned out! I may have considered expanding it even more. However, I was limited by my computer's power since the framerate was already starting to drop significantly enough to impact playing when the prison was unpaused. Maybe I'll give it a proper one once I get a better PC.

How long have you been playing Prison Architect?

I first played the game during my summer holiday in 2016. Since then, until I built this prison, I only played a handful of times. However, every time I play, I play A LOT in relatively short timeframes. I built this prison in February 2020, just around the time of online classes and lockdown.

What made you start playing Prison Architect?

When I started, I didn't have access to a proper PC that I could play my usual games on, so I was looking for a game that was pretty easy to run. I found out about Prison Architect, and it seemed very intriguing, and as soon as I tried it, I was hooked!

Any tips for someone new to the game on how to get better at planning and building their prison?

To someone brand new, I'd recommend just playing the game and learning as you go. I was constantly googling while playing, which was extremely helpful. Don't get too hung up on planning as you are still learning because you can always sell your prison and start fresh with your newfound knowledge and experience. There's also a ton of great content on YouTube regarding the matter, which really helped me out. From my personal experience, I would recommend starting with a big idea and defined aim and refining it until you have every last detail down about what you want to include before you even begin planning in the game. Then figure out efficient placements, room sizes, and connecting everything, plan the entire layout (this took me the longest by far), and finally build and adjust as needed. Since planning almost never goes 100% as you expect, it's also a great idea to leave room for adjustments. For example, initially, my main prison was only min/med sec. However, I had enough room to adjust the layout of the section that was then transformed into the MaxSec wing. The way I designed it also left tons of room for vertical expansion of the main prison if I chose to do so. Symmetry, as I mentioned before also makes this a lot easier.

Do you want to try this prison? Then you can get it here!

Snowpine Penitentiary

Thank you for this time, and see you for the next Show and Cell!

The Prison Architect Team

[ 2021-09-14 13:27:26 CET ] [ Original post ]