Prison Architect 2 Preview – Incarcerating the third dimension

thesixthaxis.com:

There’s something very different about Prison Architect 2 compared to the original, and I’m not just talking about the jump from 2D to 3D. This game’s whole conception and creation has charted a very different path when compared to the “Early Access before Early Access was a thing” release and public development of the first game. Developed by Double Eleven and now under the stewardship of Paradox Interactive, its creation and planned future will be much more like a Crusader Kings or Cities: Skylines, with a base game to be followed by a steady chain of expansions and DLC.

Yet there’s suddenly some uncertainty floating around Prison Architect 2. Announced at the start of this year, it’s been delayed twice, and has now been revealed that Double Eleven has handed over continued development and support to Brazilian team Kokku. To the backdrop of Cities: Skylines 2’s troubles, that feels like cause for concern, but also for a little optimism – it’s not being forced out the door and the stated reason for the delays is to optimise the game further for lower-end hardware.

I’ve been able to sample the first handful of levels from the game’s career and… well, it’s Prison Architect, but translated into a full 3D game engine – the original had a kind of hacky 3D mode, but this has been designed from the ground up for it. Prison Architect 2 does a really good job of keeping the look and feel of the original game, thanks in large part to the character designs with their perfectly spherical heads, tubular bodies and Rayman hands. You can almost strip away that extra dimension by angling the camera to look straight down on your prison, which can help when laying out buildings, rooms and all the rest.

Something certainly very important for existing fans will be that Prison Architect 2 retains the same construction mechanics as the original. Walls still take up squares on the grid, so a 4×3 cell requires you to lay foundations with a 5×4 footprint, and you have to drag to create a