Hey. Having played Crusader Kings 2 I'm excited to have Paradox working on Prison Architect due to the attention to detail I've seen that game receive. Now that praise is over, here are my grievances:
Existing issues
There's a bug where a kitchen will shut down and cook nothing. The staff will stand around and not put anything on the cookers. When it happens I've seen an ingredient on a cooker that seems to never finish cooking and no one ever moves it. If I manually dump it the kitchen will start working again. I think it may be related to having high variety meal policy. There are four ingredients but they often won't be distributed evenly so a kitchen may not have some on hand. So I think it might get stuck trying to cook a full set of ingredients but it can't find them and gets locked up. Maybe.
There's some weirdness with staff fulfilling needs. This applies to prisoners in similar circumstances. For example, I'll have several areas where there's a breakroom with food and a nearby toilet. A guard starting in breakroom A will go to area B to use the toilet, then to area C to use a second toilet, to area D to pick up food, and to area E to eat it, and then back to A to relax on a couch in front of a tv, but when they're rested they get up, sit right back down, and begin watch the tv that was already in front of them beforw.
I think the game works where when a character decides to do something, it reserves a place for them somewhere to do it, and they start walking. Then if someone closer to their destination also needs to use the same type of object they have to walk away from the closer one to another location. Thus there's a shuffle of staff from one location to another. A solution may be to allow someone to get in first if they're closer and if someone arrives while the target is in use, have a line (or queue) form, although some work would need to be done to make sure a central toilet doesn't get a large line while another is idle. The code seems to already exist. On Armistice day a stall sets up in the yard and prisoners turn in their weapons, and they line up for it!
Exploits
There's an exploit with the cell grading system. It's effect is based on the average cell rating. Prisoners with below average cells are more trouble, and those in above average cells are less. It all evens out. However it counts all cells, even unusable cells, when calculating the average. So one could create many 0 grade cells that aren't even intended to be inhabited, mark them staff only, and then all prisoners will be happier in their above average cell. Universal approval.
It should either not count uninhabited cells or at least not count cells that can't be used at all.
There's another issue though. Many of us, myself included, like going around looking for prisoners who deserve better cells and improving them. However those prisoners are already well behaved so improving their cell would likely do nothing. It would actually be beneficial to have prisoners in incorrect cells, as the bad ones are who are in need of incentive to behave. May I suggest additional behavior? Have other prisoners be angry and possibly attack someone with a cell they don't deserve. As for good prisoners in good cells, could they be even gooder? Like if someone starts a fight with them, flee rather than fight back? Or activity inform on others voluntarily? Does being in a good cell improve mood and make them more likely to participate in programs and work? I don't know, but if not it should.
There somewhat of an exploit in that you can put everything in the canteen and satisfy all needs in the same place. Food? Of course. Phones? Yes. Radios? Yeah. TVs? A little too much. Showers? Toilets? Eff no. While having a toilet in a shared eating area is already not something I think exists anywhere, I'd suggest that if it did, anyone using that toilet while others are eating would draw their wrath. Toilet/canteens should be in invitation for disaster. Perhaps a visual stink cloud that lowers environment rating of the area and can't be cleaned by janitors cuz it's air. Or just have exclusions for rooms. Like how a canteen requires a table to be valid, but have it be invalid if it includes a toilet or shower.
Speaking of tables, you need one table in a canteen for it to be valid, but prisoners only need a seat to eat. Sitting also satisfies comfort need at the same time. I'd suggest that sitting and eating without a table should not satisfy comfort. Thus more than one isn't required, but would be useful.
As for just in general having so much stuff that no one ever has an unmet need, I'd suggest having prisoners become "spoiled". There's already a negative effect on punishment ratings for having free time, but they can do most things outside of free time anyway. Thus I think if a prisoner gets too much opportunity for recreation need they get the same penalty to punishment score as from free time. Maybe have it be like the opposite of surpessed, encouraging bad behavior. Like a prisoner can't be both spoiled and surpressed, so suppression effects turn a spoiled prisoner back towards normal and vice versa.
One other thing
Last one for now because I'm tired of typing, I wanted to do something I want to do with the shop but can't. It functions by having the working prisoner on one side of a wall with a counter on the wall and the buyer on the other side. Makes me think cuz there's a wall I could safely have protective custody serve supermax (or any combination) but not have them mingle in any other way. But it doesn't work. Even though business is conducted from outside the room and the buyer never has to enter, if the buyer can't access the inside of the room due to security level they can't shop from outside. I would like this fixed. I've tried many set ups to try and get it to work but none have allowed the shop to operate without free mingling among security types. I have one more idea where I have an unlocked door on the high security/buying side with a pressure plate that locks it if someone steps to the door. The room would read as accessible, but would lock if someone actually tried to use the door. I'll try it later and if it works another fix might not be necessary.
Existing issues
There's a bug where a kitchen will shut down and cook nothing. The staff will stand around and not put anything on the cookers. When it happens I've seen an ingredient on a cooker that seems to never finish cooking and no one ever moves it. If I manually dump it the kitchen will start working again. I think it may be related to having high variety meal policy. There are four ingredients but they often won't be distributed evenly so a kitchen may not have some on hand. So I think it might get stuck trying to cook a full set of ingredients but it can't find them and gets locked up. Maybe.
There's some weirdness with staff fulfilling needs. This applies to prisoners in similar circumstances. For example, I'll have several areas where there's a breakroom with food and a nearby toilet. A guard starting in breakroom A will go to area B to use the toilet, then to area C to use a second toilet, to area D to pick up food, and to area E to eat it, and then back to A to relax on a couch in front of a tv, but when they're rested they get up, sit right back down, and begin watch the tv that was already in front of them beforw.
I think the game works where when a character decides to do something, it reserves a place for them somewhere to do it, and they start walking. Then if someone closer to their destination also needs to use the same type of object they have to walk away from the closer one to another location. Thus there's a shuffle of staff from one location to another. A solution may be to allow someone to get in first if they're closer and if someone arrives while the target is in use, have a line (or queue) form, although some work would need to be done to make sure a central toilet doesn't get a large line while another is idle. The code seems to already exist. On Armistice day a stall sets up in the yard and prisoners turn in their weapons, and they line up for it!
Exploits
There's an exploit with the cell grading system. It's effect is based on the average cell rating. Prisoners with below average cells are more trouble, and those in above average cells are less. It all evens out. However it counts all cells, even unusable cells, when calculating the average. So one could create many 0 grade cells that aren't even intended to be inhabited, mark them staff only, and then all prisoners will be happier in their above average cell. Universal approval.
It should either not count uninhabited cells or at least not count cells that can't be used at all.
There's another issue though. Many of us, myself included, like going around looking for prisoners who deserve better cells and improving them. However those prisoners are already well behaved so improving their cell would likely do nothing. It would actually be beneficial to have prisoners in incorrect cells, as the bad ones are who are in need of incentive to behave. May I suggest additional behavior? Have other prisoners be angry and possibly attack someone with a cell they don't deserve. As for good prisoners in good cells, could they be even gooder? Like if someone starts a fight with them, flee rather than fight back? Or activity inform on others voluntarily? Does being in a good cell improve mood and make them more likely to participate in programs and work? I don't know, but if not it should.
There somewhat of an exploit in that you can put everything in the canteen and satisfy all needs in the same place. Food? Of course. Phones? Yes. Radios? Yeah. TVs? A little too much. Showers? Toilets? Eff no. While having a toilet in a shared eating area is already not something I think exists anywhere, I'd suggest that if it did, anyone using that toilet while others are eating would draw their wrath. Toilet/canteens should be in invitation for disaster. Perhaps a visual stink cloud that lowers environment rating of the area and can't be cleaned by janitors cuz it's air. Or just have exclusions for rooms. Like how a canteen requires a table to be valid, but have it be invalid if it includes a toilet or shower.
Speaking of tables, you need one table in a canteen for it to be valid, but prisoners only need a seat to eat. Sitting also satisfies comfort need at the same time. I'd suggest that sitting and eating without a table should not satisfy comfort. Thus more than one isn't required, but would be useful.
As for just in general having so much stuff that no one ever has an unmet need, I'd suggest having prisoners become "spoiled". There's already a negative effect on punishment ratings for having free time, but they can do most things outside of free time anyway. Thus I think if a prisoner gets too much opportunity for recreation need they get the same penalty to punishment score as from free time. Maybe have it be like the opposite of surpessed, encouraging bad behavior. Like a prisoner can't be both spoiled and surpressed, so suppression effects turn a spoiled prisoner back towards normal and vice versa.
One other thing
Last one for now because I'm tired of typing, I wanted to do something I want to do with the shop but can't. It functions by having the working prisoner on one side of a wall with a counter on the wall and the buyer on the other side. Makes me think cuz there's a wall I could safely have protective custody serve supermax (or any combination) but not have them mingle in any other way. But it doesn't work. Even though business is conducted from outside the room and the buyer never has to enter, if the buyer can't access the inside of the room due to security level they can't shop from outside. I would like this fixed. I've tried many set ups to try and get it to work but none have allowed the shop to operate without free mingling among security types. I have one more idea where I have an unlocked door on the high security/buying side with a pressure plate that locks it if someone steps to the door. The room would read as accessible, but would lock if someone actually tried to use the door. I'll try it later and if it works another fix might not be necessary.