Update 1.9.2 has just been released. This version of the game focuses on four key points: improving the budget breakdown, adding new construction steps to the Monastery, using right-click to close windows and hitting ESC to close (or open) the system menu. But that’s not all: we took this opportunity to introduce some quality of life (QOL) changes as well as fix multiple bugs—including one where villagers would trek far and wide to find the most comfortable benches!
Here’s more details of what you can expect in this update:
Budget breakdown
Understanding Foundation’s economics makes all the difference between running a thriving or a struggling medieval village. For this reason, we now offer a more in-depth budget breakdown. It should help you plan better, but more importantly, get a clearer picture of your expenses and income as they roll in.
Here’s an overview of what’s been added to the Budget tab:
Quantities for resources bought and sold
Upkeep costs per buildings’ categories and types, each with their respective quantities
Territory costs, including those purchased and maintained
Taxes per type, including how many villagers and/or buildings are affected
New categories for data previously displayed under Miscellaneous
Tooltips for all categories
Every single feature mentioned above will work with previous Foundation saves. You will also notice some quality of life changes included in the budget breakdown such as the possibility to collapse/expand data either individually or globally and better category grouping and visibility. On a related note, save files have been considerably shrinked thanks to the compacting of budget data.
Modders will be happy to learn the new, detailed budget breakdown leaves room for custom upkeep costs, i.e. something not called coins.
New construction steps for the Monastery
Last year, one of the biggest changes to Foundation was how players would progress through the game by specializing in different Estate paths. Clergy in particular was completely reworked with the addition of several new building functions and events. Back then, our art team laid out the groundwork for a new and improved vision of what the game should look like, previewed first with the Abbatial Church.
It’s not just about raising the visuals bar either: adding construction steps to the Monastery is something we had planned for a long time, which better reflects the evolution of this prestigious monument and helps bring it to life—complete with scaffoldings for all of its variants!
What you see from the Monastery in this newest update sets a new benchmark for the future of architecture in Foundation. In time, our goal is to apply the same principles to other buildings and thus bring them to higher quality standards.
User experience (UX) improvements
Part of being game developers is taking the pulse of what the community wants so we can deliver a frictionless experience. An oft requested quality of life feature has been added in Update 1.9.2 with the ability to close windows by simply right-clicking on them. In the same vein, we have added the expected behavior of opening (or closing) the system menu when pressing the ESC key.
This concludes the core features added or improved upon with Update 1.9.2. For more details, read the full patch notes below.
1.9.2 Changelog
New
Budget breakdown overhaul
Monastery construction steps
Right-clicking on panels will now close them
ESC key will bring up the systems menu or close it if it’s already open
Improvements
The Daily Average Balance now displays more accurate information about whether you are making money or not
Save files’ size have been considerably shrinked—up to 70% less!
Updates
Housing help topic
Editing buildings help topic (refund)
Localization
QOL
The special panel style for buildings now only applies to the parent building, which should help distinguish them from sub-buildings
Added a confirmation pop-up when unassigning a slot with stocked resources (example: Warehouse)
Improved the resource refund feature when destroying parts to be more consistent across the board
Wealth calculation from the Book will now display a score after the first month regardless of your income status positive or negative)
Improved performance for densely populated villages
Fixes
Fix: in some circumstances, the game wouldn’t properly close on exit
None of the shortage events (except for service) were displayed in the Happiness tooltip
Villagers trying to fulfill needs spread too far from each other on the map would get stuck in a needs loop, which led to further issues
Added a distance limit so villagers won’t be traveling far and wide to use benches
Destroying a monument before its completion refunded too many resources
While a game rule that modified the trading price was active, the “Buy from village” price was rounded before calculating the quantity available for purchase
The Rustic Gate – Elevated part from the Monastery snapped inside the model, which blocked entry to the location
Multiple scrollbars could be displayed when building a Cloister
Modding
The Unlock Trade Route button wasn’t displayed when mods added new resources for trade. The GUI now handles up to 5 resources rows without a scrollbar
Switching a sub-building function in the Fuel mod (1.9+) crashed the game
Exposed the Hospitium, Monk Dorms and Nun Dorms functions for the Monastery
Update 1.9.1 has just been released on Steam & GOG. Here’s what you need to know:
The Map Generator is Now Public!
First and foremost, the experimentalmap generator is now part of Foundation’s public build. Everyone can now discover the joys of building a village on a procedurally generated map. Choose from one of the three available topographies (Hills, Coastal, Fluvial), roll the dice and jump into an infinite number of maps, each with their own unique landscapes.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the players who helped us with the map generator’s initial release in the beta branch about three weeks ago. Also, quite a few things you asked for are already planned down the line! One such case relates to overly hilly maps, something we plan to mitigate with flattened “plains” clusters.
Resources Tooltip: Now With More Details!
As part of our continued efforts to improve your medieval city-building experience, we added a detailed breakdown of each resource’s physical location in the resources tooltip. For instance, hovering over the wood icon will show you how much of that resource is currently available in storage, in production, in stalls or in transit. In a similar vein, if you have wood which is already in use, the tooltip will clue you in: it may be in production, in construction or in transit.
Delivery quest changes
The delivery quest window now clearly shows how much of the required resources are accumulated in your warehouses. Furthermore, reserved resources from your warehouses are now included in the calculation of the delivery quests. We also made it so reserved resources from your warehouses will now be cancelled in order to complete delivery quests.
Loading Screen Tips
You may have noticed new loading screen art, which has been added as part of the 1.9 update. From now on, this loading screen will be enhanced with easy to understand tips about some of Foundation’s best kept secrets. Our first batch includes 5 of them, with more to come.
Update Notes
New: the map generator is now available for everyone! Three topographies are included in this beta version: hills, fluvial and coastal
New: resources tooltip details
New: loading screen tips
Balance: Monastery parts
Balance: traded resources
Fix: mineral deposits were sometimes unreachable
Fix: mineral deposits were sometimes falling into the ground
Fix: crane storage was sometimes displaying wrong values
Fix: the bonus effect of a Masterpiece only affected the sub-building it was built in. If it was built in the root of the parent building, none would benefit from the effect
Fix: when any privilege that modifies an upkeep cost was applied, the modifier only applied to the parent building’s parts and not the sub-buildings’
Fix: Lord Manor (Stone Office) had negative Desirability
QOL: delivery quest changes
QOL: added a yellow highlight when hovering another sub-building from the EDIT tab in the builder window
QOL: Bell Tower sound improvement (some large bell towers had the small bell tower sound effect)
Modding: couldn’t override TRADE_SETTINGS
QOL: updated localizations
Modding: expose PARTICLE_SYSTEM_CHIMNEY_SMOKE
That’s it for today. Stay tuned for further update news coming up in 2023.
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.
It’s been a while since we’ve posted on the blog, but today marks an important milestone in the development of Foundation and we couldn’t pass up such an opportunity. From now on and for a limited time, all players can participate in the public playtest of our upcoming 1.9 update!
Over the past few months, we’ve worked tirelessly to redesign some of the game’s core features and improve the overall experience.
We encourage you to playtest the Clergy progression path, which has been reworked the most. In a few words, what this means is that we’ve focused on this Estate in terms of unlockables and narrative for the time being. The Monastery—crown jewel of this Estate—has undergone several changes. You can now build new parts such as the Hospitium (to host visitors) and the Scriptorium (to produce manuscripts with copyists). You can also build Nun Dorms and yes, even concede female villagers to your monasteries!
A new Monastery awaits!
A crucial element of the 1.9 update is all about progression. Some buildings are now part of what we call a common progression path, i.e. without any investment towards a particular Estate. Others are linked to one of the three available Estates—Labor, Clergy or Kingdom—and require you to reach specific Splendor thresholds to be unlocked by spending Influence.
A preview of the Clergy progression path
The dynamics between Estates are very important in update 1.9. The more you invest in a particular Estate, the harder it becomes to progress with others’. This is our way of adding weight to your decisions, but it doesn’t mean you’ll be handcuffed to the Clergy should you choose this progression path, for example.
Update 1.9 introduces sweeping changes to Foundation, including to its economy, which is now largely tax-based—something that was attributed to markets in the past. You can now tax your villagers and send a tax collector to collect the precious coins that will soon fill your coffers. Trade remains another viable avenue for accumulating wealth; the introduction of upgradable trade routes makes all the difference! Oh, and military missions are still a surefire way to get valuable resources, as always.
Edicts and privileges change the rules of the game in your favor. Once unlocked, these options can, among other things, mitigate a penalty or improve your trade with a neighboring village. Be careful though: if you change your mind about a specific edict or privilege, you will need the help of a Bailiff.
Players looking for an extra challenge will be pleased to know that we’ve added Village Aspirations. These are long-term goals that you can try to achieve, with some of them being pretty hard! Eventually, we’d like to tie these goals to GOG/Steam achievements and give them a bit more fanfare. At this point though, their integration is not final, but gives a good idea of our intentions with this system.
A work-in-progress view of Village Aspirations
You will notice that narration plays a bigger role in Foundation than ever. Indeed, our Narrative Designer has been pretty busy and added a large number of interesting events and opportunities, ranging from hosting fairs to improving trades with neighbors and much, much more. In that same regard, players will feel they have more of a say as Lord/Lady thanks to the addition of more extensive narrative choices.
In order to better guide you through Foundation’s many interconnected systems, we’ve thought of a series of one-off (and entirely optional!) advice to guide you through your first steps as Lord or Lady—what we call Onboarding. This helps smoothes the learning curve and makes you feel more in control of your village’s development.
The 1.9 update includes lots of other new features and changes, but we want to leave you the pleasure of discovering them on your own terms. This post just skims over the scope of the changes to give you an updated look at Foundation.
You’ll soon notice that the game remains true to itself, but that its form has matured to a degree we’re very proud of. Expect a more detailed breakdown of the many new and improved features once the update is officially released to all Steam and GOG players around the world!
How can I participate in Foundation’s Update 1.9 Public Playtest on Steam?
Open the Steam client
Right-click on Foundation
Click on Properties
Click on BETAS
Under Select the beta you would like to opt into, choose preview
Launch the game
How can I participate in Foundation’s Update 1.9 Public Playtest on GOG?
Open the GOG client
Navigate to your owned games, then right-click on Foundation
Click Manage installation – Configure
Under Beta channels, choose Preview
Launch the game
Where can I talk about Foundation’s 1.9 Public Playtest?
General discussions take place on our official Discord server, in the dedicated #public-playtest-1-9 channel. You can report bugs or technical problems in the #bug-report-public-playtest-1-9 channel. If you would rather write us, please do so using the following email: support@polymorph.games. It’s always a pleasure to read about what you have to say!
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.
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.
With the new UI out it’s a good time to take a look at what else we have been working on and where our focus is now headed.
Before we do though, we would like to mention our growing team here at Polymorph Games. As a relatively new indie studio we are always looking to expand the team and as such we have seen some new faces since the last Devlog.
We have recently been joined by a senior gameplay programmer that will help us as we move our focus to new and improved gameplay features. We also have been swelled in ranks by a new engine programmer as well as a gameplay programmer that is completing an internship with us.
Getting back to the team’s focus, the first thing of note is that in a revised change to our roadmap earlier this year, we are planning to bring you a game update in the Autumn/Fall whilst in the background we also work toward the bigger Core II update.
Let’s take a look at what the team has been working on…
Art
The art team have been hard at work overhauling the current buildings to create a more cohesive and detailed style throughout the game.
You can see an example below of the completed bakery revamp in all its splendor.
Before/after shot of the Bakery
You’ll see the majority of these as part of a larger update, most likely sometime next year, however we will be bringing 2 new buildings to the game much sooner that have been designed from the ground up with the new and improved styling already implemented.
Currently the focus is on these two buildings which will see both a Candle Workshop as well as a Common Wares Workshop added to the game in the Fall Update. Check out some concept art of the Common Wares Workshop below.
Common wares workshop concept art
Gameplay
In the longer term the gameplay team is now focused on Core Update II which will see a complete overhaul of the Estate system and progression. The final design of the Estate system overhaul is now almost complete and work has begun on its implementation. The team are also working on balancing tools to make for easier balancing as we add more content to the game.
In the more immediate future however, the team has also been working on implementing a new feature for the Fall Update that will bring more immersion when building your village. This feature will see construction step bundles implemented to the game.
These bundles will create a more logical construction process, where materials will be required on construction sites in a relevant order. For example a building’s foundation/basement will be built first and require a specific portion of the overall building resources on site before construction begins. The next step might be walls that require the next bundle of resources.
Construction step bundles essentially break down the overall resource requirements into separate bundles that need to be delivered to construction sites prior to builders starting work on each construction step.
UI/UX
We are still working to further improve the UI with subsequent updates such as the recent UI/UX patch. We still have many more improvements to come.
To this end, the UI/UX team is working on a number of important small improvements and fixes that will come in the Fall Update. Alongside this the team is also working on UX design for the bigger core update, in support of the Estates overhaul, which will require a number of new screens and information panels.
Game Engine & Modding
As you can probably imagine the Engine team is busy working to support any processes that the whole team are working on, such as new Hurricane editor tools for feature integration.
Furthermore the team continues to collate and analyse any crash reports coming in and fixing any instability as quickly as possible. Our crash rate is at an all time low with the biggest crash issue now being graphics drivers. Note: if you are experiencing any crashing on startup please update your GPU drivers with (importantly) a clean install of the GPU drivers.
Modding is also one of the larger projects for the Engine team which has seen them continue to work on exposing more features, such as exposing the mandate system to create custom mandates. They have also been looking to support modders even further with work on Lua debugging support.
In addition to this we continue to work closely with the modding community to gather modding feedback and suggestions, as well as look at ways to improve our feedback gathering to better support the modding community.
We will bring you more news as soon as we have it and keep an eye on our social media channels for more teasers, as we get closer to the Fall Update release.
We hope that everyone has been enjoying the new user interface (UI) which, as mentioned previously, was only the 1st phase of a continuing UI/UX development.
Today we have released patch 1.7.11 which brings some further quality of life (QoL) features to the recent 1.7 UI/UX update, as well as some overall user experience (UX) and accessibility improvements.
The patch will also squash a few medieval bugs as well as address some crash fixes, as we continue to improve on the already stable 1.7 update.
Here are a few highlights of what you will find in today’s patch…
New counters
The recent new UI introduced clickable counters that would help track issues such as missing resources or workers.
Two new counters have now been added that will let you know, at-a-glance, how many buildings are under construction as well as a counter for paint zones issues. Clicking these counters will cycle through said buildings locations for easy tracking.
Manual input: trade quantities
Based on community feedback we know many of you will be happy to see this next feature added.
The trading resource quantities can now be edited manually via numerical text entry, directly into the resource table. The buttons are still there of course and don’t forget you can click and hold the buttons to increase or decrease the quantities in larger steps.
Tree and grass sway
Another great example of community feedback comes with this next change. Tree and grass sway animations have been normalized to run at x1 speed no matter the speed setting above pause. This should help those that suffer from motion/simulation sickness and even those that don’t.
For more severe cases we have also added the option to turn off the environmental animations entirely.
Main Menu improvements
When starting a new game, the map selector now shows a short description of the map, as well as a handy thumbnail image of the map itself. Modders are also able to add thumbnails and descriptions with their own maps, though current ones will need to be updated.
Layouts for both the loading menu and save menu have been improved, making it easier to find the save you wish to play. It’s now much easier to see information pertaining to a save file, whilst easily sorting the list via various sort options. Additionally, it is now possible to filter out autosaves and remove them from the viewable list.
And more…
Distance to workplace information returns with this patch. More specifically when assigning villagers to a workplace using the dropdown, you will now see the distance that workplace is from the villager’s home or village center if homeless. We all love an efficient village!
We are aware of some issues relating to zooming, specifically around elevated terrain, so we have made some improvements to the way that zooming is handled. More work will be done on the camera in future updates but this should help to improve the control over high terrain areas.
Text contrast and shadows have been enhanced throughout the game, which brings a cleaner look but more importantly, increased readability for everyone. Further improvements are also planned as we continue to refine the new UI.
There are many more tweaks in the 1.7.11 patch, as well as a bunch of medieval bugs vanquished and a number of crashes addressed.
As always, we would like to say a big thank you for your continued support and invaluable feedback.
Changelog
add: Textfield functionality to resource trade quantity in the Book
add: Counter – missing paint zone
add: Counter – ongoing construction
add: Collapsible monument parts groups when editing (reintroduced)
add: Distance to workplace when assigning worker via dropdown
add: Full tooltips – estate unlockables
add: Military mission, panel sorting
add: New map selector integration (first iteration)
