Foundation’s Update 1.9 is finally available on GOG and Steam.
The team has been hard at work to bring you quality content as part of a new and improved gameplay experience.
Here’s a quick overview of what’s included.
Village Aspirations
A fundamental aspect of Foundation is the customisation of your experience, which is reflected in the game by the organic growth that makes each village unique. With 1.9, we wanted to go one step further and give you the ability to achieve Village Aspirations: optional objectives that offer different ways to play in order to nab sweet GOG or Steam achievements. Examples include building an Abbatial Church or having 100 citizens in your village
Village Aspirations are another way for us to not only increase the replayability of Foundation, but also to make it a somewhat more challenging experience.
Progression revised from the ground up
Update 1.9 changes several elements of Foundation, including the way you progress into the game. Now, each EstateUpdate 1.9 changes several elements of Foundation, including the way you progress into the game. Now, each Estate—whether it be Labour, Clergy or Kingdom—has several unlockables of its own. Investing influence in and thus favouring one Estate makes it more difficult to progress with the others. This dynamic requires more planning on your part and adds weight to your decisions without restricting your ambitions.
In addition to Estate-specific progression paths, there is also a common progression path, which includes quite a few essential production buildings in Foundation, such as the Warehouse, the Stonecutter Camp and the Fishing Hut. In e
In addition to Estate-specific progression paths, there is also a common progression path, which includes quite a few essential production buildings in Foundation, such as the Warehouse, the Stonecutter Camp and the Fishing Hut. In either case, you will need to reach different tiers of Prosperity before being able to unlock some of the most desirable options. This new measure of your success takes into account six factors: wealth, territory size, trade, population, splendor and beautification.
Our next updates will focus on upgrading both the Kingdom and Labor progression paths.
Edicts and privileges
You may have noticed that the progression page has a tab dedicated to edicts and privileges. This is another new feature introduced with Update 1.9. The first case represents what may be described as laws that you enact in your village. The second case represents rewards given by the different Estates to their most loyal Lords or Ladies.
Edicts and privileges grant important boons such as reducing a Splendor penalty between two Estates, increasing the market value of certain resources or reducing the maintenance cost of production buildings by half. They are unlocked with coins or influence points. Afterwards, you just have to choose the edicts or privileges you want to activate.
Buildings and sub-buildings
The city-building aspect is at the heart of the Foundation experience, so we wanted to let you expand the capabilities of your buildings. You can now assign functions to a group of building parts (what we call sub-buildings) instead of individual parts. Each sub-building will therefore be linked to a single function (e.g. Treasury) which you can change should you desire so.
In a few words, this means that a Monastery can now be home to a Chapel, a Scriptorium, a Hospitium, a Monastic Garden and so on. The same goes for a Market, which you can expand by adding a sub-building associated with a separate function from the parent building if you wish, such as a Luxury Goods Stall. At any time, it is possible to browse each of the functions of a parent building thanks to the “Parts List” tab.
A glorious Monastery
Progressing on the Clergy path, you’ll soon notice important changes. For starters, there are several new functions available, including a Hospitium that will host visitors, a Scriptorium that will help you produce Manuscripts used to promote your faithfuls or a Cloister where they can medidate while fulfilling a new need. Moreover, you will have the pProgressing on the Clergy path, you’ll soon notice important changes. For starters, there are several new functions available, including a Hospitium that will host visitors, a Scriptorium that will help you produce Manuscripts used to promote your faithfuls or a Cloister where they can meditate while fulfilling a new need. Moreover, you will have the pleasure of building a prettified Abbatial Church: our artists have done a great job upgrading its visuals for your enjoyment!
Taxation
Previously, Foundation’s economy was largely tied to market stalls. With Update 1.9, taxation replaces the main way to fill your coffers. The Manor House now has a Tax Office function, which is combined with the Tax Collector job. Each house accumulates coins over time, and it’s up to you to decide how heavily your village will be taxed. But beware: people are not too keen on having to pay much, so there is a balance to be struck so as not to collapse your global Happiness factor!
Even more modding possibilities
In keeping with our commitment to the modding community, we’ve outlined several new features that are sure to have a snowball effect in the coming weeks. Without getting too technical, the major changes to unlockables, the progression system and narrative choices will certainly result in the creation of mods that we’ll be happy to share with you!
Looking forward to a bright future
Foundation’s 1.9 update is multi-faceted and marks an important milestone in our Early Access (EA) journey. We hope you will enjoy how we reimagined some of the existing systems while adding more depth to the core medieval city-building experience.
As for what the future holds, in the short term work has already started on a first patch to fix newly discovered bugs. At a later date, and after focusing a lot on the Clergy progression path—particularly the Monastery—we want to give the other two Estates the attention they deserve. We plan to overhaul the Kingdom and Labor progression paths, in that order.. We will let you fill in the gaps as to what that might entail.
Now that the holidays are decidedly behind us, it’s time to think about what the future holds.
There’s little doubt that 2022 will be a pivotal year for Foundation. We know you’re eager to learn more about the game, hence why we’re sharing an exclusive look at what’s going on behind the scenes…and hopefully answer some of your burning questions!
Laying down the cards
After three years in Early Access (time flies!), we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Looking back, we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished so far, but acknowledge that there’s still a lot of work left to do. Still, we’re confident that we’ll cross the finish line before long.
Our current focus is on Core Game II (1.9), which we’ve actually already talked about last year. We can’t stress enough just how much of a game changer this new release will be. We’ll have more details to share about it very soon. In the meantime, here’s some up-to-date info about the new features being worked on right now by the team for this massive update:
Gameplay Types & Progression
Prosperity
As part of our overhauled progression system, your village will now score points according to various metrics (territories, population, etc.). We’re calling this system Prosperity (which is not to be confused with Splendor). The idea behind it is to allow you, the player, to progress in the game without imposing a specific playstyle. For example, you will be able to progress by focusing on a large populated city, but you’ll also be able to progress by focusing on a prolific monastery. Aiming for higher scores isn’t just for bragging rights: you’ll unlock new buildings and put in place new politics (edicts) along the way.
Estates
The Estates are evolving and will be closely tied to different gameplay types. Each Estate will have their specific advantages over some core features of the game. For instance, the Labor Estate will fare well in villager taxation, the Clergy Estate on luxury resources and the Kingdom—you probably guessed it—on military campaigns. Also, get ready as having a high Splendor with an estate will negatively impact influence with other estates. This is just a quick overview of our intentions. More on that later!
Victory conditions
We know several players would love to see endgame content added to Foundation and 1.9 will deliver on that front. Victory conditions are late game objectives you can complete to score rare player celebrations in Foundation—and their own achievements. Pick one or more victory conditions to track and try to complete all the prerequisites…if you dare!
Narrative
If you’ve been following us on social media, you know we hired a talented narrative designer a couple of weeks ago. Core Game II will be the first occasion to see his work applied to the world of Foundation. What does that mean?
Well…we’re not ready to spill the beans quite yet, but here’s a nugget of information for you: our new narrative events aim to make your experience more open-ended. Since 1.9 redefines our global game progression, we wanted to establish the first step of what we could describe as a “dialogue” between players and Foundation. In that sense, the game will feel a lot more responsive by serving events tailored to your play style.
New onboarding
Core Game II is an opportunity for us to review Foundation’s early game and more precisely its onboarding. Since we’re introducing a lot of new features to the game, it’s important that our tutorials and in-game messaging are on point. We’ve put a lot of effort into explaining our systems and helping players understand the steps they need to take in order to build—and maintain—successful villages.
And more! Look forward to our new blog series that will delve deeper into upcoming features included in 1.9
The Core Game II (1.9) update is scheduled for release in the first half of 2022.
Looking even further
Apart from the work being done on Core Game II, our team is working in parallel on other important additions that will see the light of day before/at release. Here’s a few of them:
Residential Revamp
We are rehauling the residential experience to make it more fluid and informative while improving the game’s overall organic layout. Villagers will still build and upgrade (up to a 3rd level) houses by themselves but through blood, sweat, and tears, they’ll be better at it than ever!
Gone are the days where unused space could really hinder your village’s development. Improvements to our painting tool will help determine more precisely where districts are formed and ensure residential space (as defined by the player) is sufficient. The tool will be able to predict how many villagers can be housed within a specific zone.
Map Generator
We already gave you a glimpse of our Map Generator. Work on this feature has progressed steadily since then and is already showing promising results. We know this is one of the most anticipated features and we want to make it right, hence why we’re keeping things a bit under wraps for now.
New Terrain Biomes
One way to add more uniqueness to maps is by making sure biomes are different enough from each other. How are we going to do it? Well, for starters, we want to improve vegetation a lot—even going as far as having different vegetation depending on elevation. Think leafy on lower altitudes and coniferous on higher altitudes. What we’re not aiming for is to add tropical or desert biomes, as we feel they don’t quite fit with our design.
Accessibility
We strive to make Foundation more functional, accessible and enjoyable by all types of players. Expect even more accessibility options in the future, including improved colored text contrast and colorblind-friendly signs/feedback.
Modding
We will continue to support the modding community. One way to do so will be by exposing more real-time interactions, but we also plan to let modders edit the user interface (UI), among other things.
Quality of Life (QOL)
Delivering a smooth gameplay experience has always been a top priority for us. On that point, we can say this year will introduce a number of interesting QOL changes, included but not limited to: more tooltips, improved handling of panels and ESC key behavior, new Book shortcuts and UI customization (resize).
We are doing everything in our power to get Foundation our of Early Access before the end of 2022. We will keep you updated as we go.
Today we are proud to announce that Foundation’s 1.8.1 update has just landed.
Following a successful and mostly incident-less preview version, we’re releasing this content a bit ahead of time.
Let’s take a tour of the new and updated features, shall we?
Resource Tracker
The biggest and most exciting feature added to 1.8.1 is without a doubt our brand-new resource tracker tool.
It allows you to see where resources are located in your village by right-clicking on a resource icon from the info module, located at the top of your screen.
Left-clicking on the same resource will bring you to its associated entry in the Book, under the Trade tab. We are confident that this addition will make it easier to manage your village and its numerous supply chains!
Understanding Resource Icons
As we pointed out earlier, the resource tracker tool adds useful icons above entities in the world. They’re used for construction, storage, transport and production (input and output).
Here’s a quick definition of each icon type you will see in Foundation:
Resource in storage
Resource in transit
Resource production input
Resource production output
Resource available for consumption
Resource used in construction
Enhanced Construction Step Bundles
Another goal we’ve set ourselves for the 1.8.1 update was to achieve better HUD efficiency.
As of 1.8, we’ve added construction step bundles to Foundation. Since then, most buildings are built progressively. This feature adds a lot to the immersion and can even help you plan ahead as each step requires different resources. But we felt like there was room for improvement about how we communicated this information to you.
If you take a closer look at the above building panel, you’ll notice we now display ready-to-build bundles in the progress bar (second background layer). One of the pitfalls or the previous iteration of this feature was that it involved too much guessing. With 1.8.1, we felt the need to share more information about construction steps—clear the fog, in a way.
Modding Additions
Foundation’s mod scene is still going strong years after we first entered early access. True to our habits, we’ve worked closely with the modding community to fix bugs and crashes related to 1.8.1. But that’s not all: browsing the changelog reveals the newly added exposure of single-property types. Combined with COMP_SOLDIER, we can’t wait to see what modders will create next. As a reminder, we share our favorite mods here every Monday. The talent at work is nothing short of amazing!
1.8.1 Changelog
General
Add: Resource tracker (resource icons are shown above entities when right-clicked in info module)
Add: Resource tracker windows open entity panels
Add: Resource tracking button in the book (resources list)
Add: Shortcut from resources in info module to book
Add: Resource row highlight in the book
Add: Ready-to-build bundles are now shown in construction progress bars
Improve: Construction and Bailiff progress bars are no longer shown behind prioritize and cancel buttons
Improve: parts list and jobs ordering
Fix: color when conditions are met from green to gold (quests)
Fix: missing tooltip on delete savegame button
Fix: buildings generating resources have duplicated descriptions
Fix: missing localization on Controls window title
Fix: crash after building the Village Center is the Build menu was already opened
Fix: if there is at least one incomplete part in a multi-part monument when a reload is performed, all the parts that were previously completed will turn invisible (monuments)
Fix: walls disappear upon reload
Fix: Market Goods and Luxury tables are not unlocking
Fix: crash when building a village center
Fix: crash no crane on mineral deposit
Update: community localizations
Update: rename good and luxury market stall part set category
A preview build of the upcoming, still-planned-this-December 1.8.1 update is now available via Steam and GOG (access instructions below).
We look forward to hearing any feedback and please let us know if you find any issues. Feedback and bugs can be posted on the Steam, GOG forums or alternatively you can join us on our official Discord server.
1.8.1 Preview Build Highlights
Here are some interesting new features included in this new version of Foundation.
Resource Tracker
Ever wondered where to find resources across your village? No more!
The resource tracker tool adds useful icons above entities in the world. Bread, berries, wood, rocks, name it: every resource is shown in real-time.
This feature is toggled on and off by right-clicking on a given resource at the top of your screen (info module).
Left-clicking on a resource will bring you to its book entry, under the Trade tab.
Construction Bundles Improvements
The 1.8 Fall update added construction step bundles to Foundation.
With 1.8.1, we wanted to improve upon this feature by delivering better HUD efficiency.
We’ll go a bit more in-depth with the official release later in December, but know that we put a lot of effort into making sure our whole construction progress is more accurate.
Preview Build Access Instructions
Note: Preview build saves will be compatible with the full release of the 1.8.1 update. Most mods will require migration for the full 1.8.1 release. We recommend starting a fresh save or playing vanilla (no mods) for the preview build.
Steam
If you would like to take a look or help test out the preview build, you can gain access via the Steam betas tab in Foundation properties.
Right-click Foundation in your Steam library
Click on Properties
Navigate to BETAS
Choose the ‘preview – Next Build Preview’ option
The game will automatically update but if it does not you may need to restart your Steam client
GOG
Open Foundation’s Options menu in your GOG Galaxy library
Select Manage installation, then Configuration
Select Preview in the Beta tab
Click OK
The game will automatically update. If it’s not the case, you may have to restart your GOG client for changes to apply.
We hope you’ve been enjoying the user interface update we pushed last June. We know you’re eager for even more Foundation content, which is why today should be of particular interest to you as we officially launch the 1.8 Fall Update to shake things up!
New Buildings For All!
One of the most widely requested features for Foundation is the addition of new buildings for your settlements. You’ll be glad to know that the team has been hard at work to introduce not one, but two fresh production buildings for the game: the candle workshop and the common wares workshop!
Candle WorkshopCommon Wares Workshop
Sharp-eyed players will also notice “Citizen” promoted villagers now have a second “Goods” need under their status. In addition to common clothes, they will now require common wares to be 100% satisfied. Talk about being entitled!
Construction Step Bundles for Added Immersion
While looking at ways to improve Foundation, it became apparent that the construction process for buildings needed work. We’ve asked ourselves how we could create a more logical and immersive experience. Before 1.8, builders would try to complete their tasks and stop if resources were insufficient. Now, they have to gather the required materials to the construction site beforehand. Only then will they be able to start working.
To go into more details, materials will be brought following the bundles’ order, to complete them as fast as possible. If a bundle is missing a material that is not in inventory, then the transporter will start to bring the resources for the other bundles.
Building parts’ progression can be easily seen by hovering over the construction progress bar
Construction steps allow more flexibility for your city planning with the added benefit to be more in line with what you’d expect from working on buildings. You can start with the foundation of, say, a church, and come back to it later in order to complete work on the next step. This way, you’re never stuck in a rut!
The Ins and Outs of Stockpiling
One feature we recognized as in need of improved communication relates to stockpiling.
This feature allows you to prevent villagers from using resources by toggling the stockpiling function on or off in the resource panel. Or, alternatively, directly in the resource list of the Book. Very helpful when looking to complete delivery missions!
With 1.8, we have improved this communication with a warning when there are missing resources in a workplace due to stockpiling. Additionally, the stockpile icon now shows over resource icons in other panels and windows such as workplace inventories.
New stockpiling presentation within workplaces
Even more QOL changes
Each new update is a chance for us to optimize the overall gameplay experience and refresh our existing systems. The 1.8 update is no exception. Here’s a preview of what’s in store for you the next time you launch Foundation:
Added related resources in the villager needs tooltips
Added tooltips on information module checkboxes
New trader blocked notification
Added inventory for all workplaces in condensed view
Improved inventory issues feedback
Building panels remember collapsed groups of parts
Estates layout is now more compact
Confirm renaming with Enter key
And more!
The new Needs tooltip in all its glory!
Continued support towards the modding scene
Modding is close to our hearts. We enjoy how imaginative some of you are with Foundation. Get your creative juices flowing, because 1.8 introduces custom mandates for bailiffs! You heard that right: thanks to mods, bailiffs are no longer limited to gaining influence or inspecting mineral deposits. We can’t wait to see what you’ll end up with!
Previously, one of the only ways to contact modders was through the report tool—which proved to be a problem, as it’s not designed for this. Starting with 1.8, we fixed this by adding web links to all mods so it’s easier for you to connect with mod creators. The new link will open a browser where you can comment and get help directly from the mod creator.
Weblinks to Mod.io in Foundation
We also added a dropdown filter for your mods. Rejoice!
Mods dropdown in Foundation 1.8
We are eagerly looking forward to hearing from the community about the 1.8 update for Foundation!
1.8 Changelog
add: Common Wares Workshop add: Candle Workshop add: Additional parts can be unlocked for these buildings add: construction step bundles add: new tooltips add: new resource icons add: workplaces condensed view now displays a combined inventory (condensed view) add: “trader blocked” notification add: confirm renaming with Enter add: collapsed masterpiece parts groups are remembered through all building panels add: construction bundles topic in the help menu add: tooltips and localization for building parts “Locate” and “Destroy” buttons
update: community localizations improve: stockpile communication improve: storage issues feedback improve: hyperlinks style improve: buttons (red/disabled/small) improve: compacted estates layout improve: now communicates max instance of a part improve: dynamically update when unlocking building parts
fix: wooden keep doors fix: info module buttons
Modding
add: custom mandates for bailiffs add: debugging tools add: weblinks to mod.io add: mods dropdown sorting add: expose wax resource
improve: minimized text cutoff in mod buttons that were too short
Modding Wiki
Modding documentation and changes can be found over on the modding wiki.
A preview build of the upcoming 1.8 Fall update is now available via the Steam betas option tab (access instructions below).
Whilst we continue to work toward the core updates, the 1.8 Fall update comes as a bonus that also enables us to add in some smaller features in preparation for the bigger updates.
We look forward to hearing any feedback and please let us know if you find any issues. Feedback and bugs can be posted on the Steam or GOG forums or alternatively you can join us on our official Discord server.
Preview build highlights
Two new production buildings
The Candle Workshop and Common Wares Workshop
Construction steps and bundles
More logical construction steps for buildings, including the addition of resource bundles for each step.
QoL and UI
New tooltips, improved layouts and a number of QoL improvements such as improved stockpiling feedback.
Modding
An enhanced mod browser, including direct links to mod.io to allow for easier communication with modders.
Modders also get some new stuff, including a debugging tool. More info can be found on the modding wiki.
Preview Build Access Instructions
Note: Preview build saves will be compatible with the full release of the 1.8 Fall update. Most mods will requiring migration for the full 1.8 release. We recommend starting a fresh save or playing a vanilla for the preview build.
Steam
If you would like to take a look or help test out the preview build, you can gain access via the Steam betas tab in Foundation properties.
Right-click Foundation in your Steam library
Click on properties
Navigate to BETAS
Choose the ‘preview – Next Build Preview’ option
The game will automatically update but if it does not you may need to restart your Steam client.
GOG
Open the Foundation game, options menu within your GOG Galaxy library
Choose Manage installation -> Configure
Within the Betas channels choose preview
Click OK
The game should automatically update but if it does not you may need to restart your GOG Galaxy client.
