We have some important news to share with you today about the ongoing development of the game.
The final gameplan and core game is now at a stage where we can work towards a full release of the game. All of the major features still to come are being worked on simultaneously and are in most cases intertwined. Due to the way these features are reliant on each other it no longer makes sense to continue with our previous plan of releasing smaller updates that ultimately won’t work well as standalone features.
Due to this we have decided that the next major release will be the full release. This will allow us to focus on integrating all remaining features into the game and delivering a more polished, higher quality game. It will also have the added benefit of reaching the full release sooner so that you can get the best gaming experience and enjoy Foundation to its fullest.
We know you will all want to know how soon, however, we don’t have a release date to announce at this time as we still have plenty of work to do, but do know that development is progressing well. Foundation is an ambitious game, and we will of course keep you updated with any news as soon as we have more to share.
Early Access Adopters
For all our Early Access backers, this doesn’t mean we won’t be releasing any updates before the full release. On the contrary, we will continue to work on bug fixes as well as Quality of Life (QOL) features and improvements, based on community feedback, so that we can improve on the core game experience in preparation for the final release. With this in mind, we will be announcing our next QOL update soon!
A BIG Thank You!
Foundation’s development journey has been an unbelievable experience made so much better by all of you, the fantastic community, that has helped us along the way. We would like to thank every Early Access adopter for supporting us and helping us deliver a high quality game that we wanted to create and also one that you want to play for many years to come. We continue to welcome all feedback from the community and we can’t wait to unveil the full release of the game for you all to enjoy!
Hello everyone and welcome back to Devlog’s! Today we present you with Devlog #17 and news from the team. We know it’s been a while since the last Devlog but now is a perfect time to update you all on the current progress of upcoming updates and what we have been working on.
First, we would like to take a moment to thank everyone for their feedback on the recent updates. There have been a lot of changes to the game which we have been happy to see very positive feedback for. We are aware of some needed quality of life (QOL) improvements highlighted by the community, such as the sub-building flow which we are working on improving for the next update. Please do keep your feedback coming as it helps us improve the game as we continue development.
Fall Plan
With the now expanded team we are working on multiple updates concurrently. These are namely the upcoming 1.9.6 update which focuses on Housing Desirability & Beautification, the new Safety system and the Kingdom update. Let’s take a closer look at what we have been working on…
Though not a major update, calling it a minor update doesn’t do it justice. Update 1.9.6 brings some significant changes that will pave the way for the Kingdom update. More on the Kingdom update in a moment.
This update will bring a change to the Desirability system. Where currently houses will be allowed to upgrade if a housing area is desirable enough based on a single factor, with the new system houses now have different requirements in order to upgrade to the next tier. Essentially, Beautification will be an additional and separate factor when it comes to housing upgrades.
With the new system, houses will only upgrade from low to medium quality if all of the following criteria are met:
Desirable neighborhood – Build away from undesirable buildings
Beautification – Build within a Beautification area
At least one villager of Commoner status or higher looking for medium-quality housing
Note: Removing a house requirement will eventually result in the house being downgraded or its occupant moving away.
These changes will allow you to have better control over where you wish housing to upgrade as well as potentially downgrade housing.
Desirable Neighborhoods
Houses need to be built in pleasant neighborhoods, away from noise, bad smells and grime and hence undesirable environments. Some buildings will now have a clearly defined undesirable area based on the building’s footprint. These will include buildings such as the Lumber Camp, Sawmill, Gold Smelter and all types of Quarries. Medium-quality housing needs to be outside of this undesirable area.
Beautification
Beautification is now becoming a Desirability factor in its own right. For houses to upgrade they must be in an area of Beautification, i.e. within a clearly defined Beautification area created by decorations or buildings that provide Beautification.
The range of the Beautification area will be based on a decoration’s Beautification value combined with its footprint. The overall Beautification area will increase if placed next to another similar area.
Information Layers
In order to accommodate the above changes we will be updating the visibility layers.
The Housing Desirability layer will now show residential areas, undesirable areas as well as any medium-quality housing areas.
A new Beautification layer will show Beautification areas, items supplying Beautification and housing affected by Beautification.
Other Improvements
Update 1.9.6 will also come with more QOL improvements to the game as a whole including an improved Monument experience with improved sub-building flow and a new dedicated Monument tab in the Build menu, and more. You can check out the full changelog on release.
The 1.9.6 update is very close to an experimental deployment, so keep an eye out for further announcements if you would like to try it out before its full public release on the main branch.
Also In The Pipeline…
As mentioned earlier, we are working on multiple updates concurrently, so what else is in the pipeline?
Safety System
The Safety system will be a new way to control Housing Density via Patrols and Fortifications. The system itself requires a number of changes to integrate it into the game and work is progressing well. We will bring you more news on this in a future communication.
Walls
The current system for walls has always been a temporary measure and we are now working on incorporating walls into the construction flow. Walls will be integrated into Monuments with their own construction costs and visual building steps.
Kingdom Update
The Kingdom update is also being worked on and it is going to be huge! We won’t go into too much detail here but progress on this update is now well under way. The new Castle Monument is under construction (hype!) as well as a new system to create Companies and Battalions to send your Army off to war. Stay tuned for more news but we will leave you with this teaser…
Don’t forget to follow us on social media to keep up-to-date with future developments, teasers and more!
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.
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)
Today is the day we know many of you, including ourselves, have been looking forward to: the release of the 1.7 New User Interface (UI) update!
As you will see, everything has changed. In the actions bar, you will find all the tools you need to build, zone and delve further into your village details (with the multi-pages Book feature!). You’ll also enjoy a much more detailed informative module at the top, revamped building and villager panels, a new quest module and more streamlined notifications.
You will find a new Quest panel where you can pin quests and keep a track of available missions and an overhauled help menu that will give you some further pointers and information on the games’ systems.
Saves now have a screenshot to help you identify your save at-a-glance, and the settings menu (and game) in general, is much more easy to use and navigate.
That’s not all of course! We have made further improvements to the engine during this time, that should see your fps improve as well as further bug fixes.
In summary, anything and everything is new and we hope you enjoy the new experience the UI will bring to the game!
Behind the scenes of last year development
This last year has been very busy for our small but passionate team. As many of you know, Foundation is made with its own game engine. This gives us the liberty we need to create the game as we envision it, but it also requires more time to develop some features as we also have to develop the tools we require beforehand.
Much of the team have been focused on the programming that was required to implement a whole new UI:
Creating a complete GUI Editor from scratch
Improve massively on our GUI engine
Improve our 2D rendering pipeline
Develop a completely new font rendering system to support font variety and scaling
Refactor the whole UI code base around the new UX
Implement all the new QoL that the new UX required
An overview of our engine custom GUI editor
Other members of the team also worked with Dan, our UI/UX developer to create the multitude of custom art that can be seen throughout the new interface.
With the UI/UX phase one complete and the major groundwork set for later phases, we can now switch our main focus and push on with more gameplay and content additions still to come, in the upcoming Core updates!
1.7 Changelog
add: new HUD
add: new help menu
add: new actions bar
add: new Book feature
add: new sortable villager panel to Book
add: new sortable workplace panel to Book
add: new trade and resources panel to Book
add: new budget overview panel to Book
add: new estates panel to Book
add: new army manager panel to Book
add: new log panel to Book
add: new buildings panels
add: new building status indicators
add: new construction menu
add: search function to construction menu
add: category filters to construction menu
add: new Information panels
add: new issues counters
add: new monthly budget reports
add: new quest Module
add: new pinnable quests
add: new notifications system
add: new tooltips
add: new event pop-ups
add: new custom art – events
add: new custom art – information panels
add: new resource icons
add: new main menu
add: new load/save windows
add: new mods window
add: loading screen
add: new settings window
add: new achievements window
add: savegame – automated thumbnails + save meta info (villager count, playtime, etc)
add: new audio
add: more control remapping options
fix: tavern bridge placement
update: community localizations
improve: building overview tab with worker assignation shortcut
improve: UI Scaling, including clean font scaling
improve: language switching
Modding:
add: static sized arrays support
add: support for atlas cell image assets
expose additional animations
fix: mod unload order
fix: custom type list property always using default value instead of assigned value
A preview build of the upcoming 1.7 UI update is now available via the GOG or Steam beta option tab (access instructions below).
For the past months, we have been working hard on a complete rehaul of the UI. Phase I is almost complete and we are excited to bring you a preview build, so that you can all take a first hands-on look at the new revamped Foundation interface.
We still have some outstanding improvements to make in Phase I, but now is the perfect time for us to gather your feedback. We would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions in the preview feedback thread here (Steam) or GOG forums. Alternatively, join us on Discord where we have a dedicated channel for the 1.7 UI preview.
Vanilla (non-modded) save games from the current live build should, in most cases, be compatible with the preview build. However, as always with a preview build, we thoroughly recommend trying a fresh game to get the full benefit and experience from this update.
Many mods will require a migration update and will not initially work, and as such, modded saves will likely need to wait for mod updates and the full 1.7 update. We will be working closely with the modding community to help them get updated as quickly as possible during the preview stage.
Preview build saves will be compatible with the full release of the 1.7 UI update
Phase I is a huge foundation [Warning: pun overuse] for more improvements to come with subsequent phases looking to fine-tune the art style, improving usability and UX as well as looking deeper into accessibility features and then final UI polish.
We hope you enjoy the new look UI and we look forward to hearing your feedback.
Access instructions
If you would like to take a look or help test out the update preview you can gain access via:
Steam
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.
Please note: The preview build is work in progress and may contain some bugs. Any Bugs you might find can be reported here on the Steam forums or you can join us on Discord where we have both feedback and bug reporting channels.
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.
Please note: The preview build is work in progress and may contain some bugs. Any Bugs you might find can be reported here on the GOG forums or you can join us on Discord where we have both feedback and bug reporting channels.
It’s been a little time since our last communication but this does not mean we have been resting on our laurels. We know you are all eagerly anticipating the new UI and the improvements that will come with it.
An update on the UI rehaul progress
The very first phase of the new UI implementation is nearing completion. With that said, we would like to share with you some of the work that has been involved with creating the new UI, and to let you know what has been going on in the background for the past few months.
Late last year, we teased you all with some sample images of our UI rehaul. These initial images were conceptual and only a taste of what to expect. Since that time, our UI/UX designer and a good chunk of the team have been busy implementing the full redesign in-engine.
If you have played the game and seen the old UI you will be well aware that although it was functional, it was lacking in many places, not particularly intuitive and also not very aesthetically pleasing. As such, the redesign has required major work. Every menu, icon, HUD element, feedback module… it’s a long list… needed to be updated, redesigned and in some instances built from scratch. Such is the cost of progress.
Once the new design foundation (pun intended) was laid out and agreed upon, work could begin on asset creation, whilst in the background, we ramped up work on the engine. What came out of this was a brand new Interface tool (imaginatively called the GUI editor). This tool effectively allows us to build, visualize and tweak the interface without programming (because yes, the old interface used to be generated purely by code). As we progress, we’re constantly making the editor even more powerful, to allow for new features in the game for you, the players.
On top of this we have been making further updates to the engine to allow for enhanced UI visuals including better font rendering, to improve scaling, for the large differences in resolutions throughout the player base.
Much of the new interface is now in place and we are on the final run toward testing, feedback, tweaking and subsequent release. There are still a few elements that need to be worked on, some remnants from the old UI that need to be replaced and we will need to further tweak and improve on the work so far before release.
We know you are eager to see more teasers of what’s to come and of course we wish to oblige…
In other news
The UI has not been the only focus of recent development work. Some of the team have also been working in the background on more long-term goals such as overall art direction and preparation for future content updates.
Some of you may have noticed the changes to the market tents in a social media post some time ago, this was only the start of a broader improvement in the overall art direction. Further work has since been carried out on buildings such as the bakery and in time we will revamp and enhance the majority of the art and assets within the game.
The art team has also been working to design and create tools that will allow for a better way to render environmental aspects and transitions within the game, such as those between grass, sand and rocks. Similarly, they have been looking at ways in which to improve the look and variation of environmental factors such as vegetation, lighting and overall ambiance.
These changes and improvements to the art style will not be part of the upcoming UI but you will be seeing more of them in the future.
We will update you all with an ETA for the release of the UI update in the coming weeks.
Happy New Year everyone! We hope you all had a wonderfully festive holiday!
We are thrilled to present to you today, an updated roadmap that contains information on many of the new features and content coming to Foundation this year.
Updated Roadmap & Release Schedule
Our objective is to release 3 major updates over the course of 2021. The first of which will be the much anticipated new UI.
This will be followed by 2 Core Updates that will bring an array of new features and additionally continue to improve on the UI and UX.
We have set out below further information on what you can expect to see in these updates.
Update 1 will bring a major improvement to the game in the form of the UI rehaul. You can expect to see a new HUD, building menus, villager menu, information panels and of course much, much more.
The main HUD will see a plethora of improvements that will contain easily identifiable information on resources, events & quests as well as more information panels for quick overviews of your current village.
Many of the information and management panels will all be tied together in an easily navigable and streamlined “Book” (name subject to change). The Book will include tabs and shortcuts that will link directly to facets including: Villager information, Workplaces, Estates, Budget, Resources and your Army. Each tab will include improved ways to sort and search for information that you need, all at your fingertips.
A new main menu will include more detail when looking through saves, a new options menu, help menu, mod menu,… in fact every aspect of the UI will be new and improved and as such will also bring a host of UX improvements.
We will continue to build upon the UI/UX Update with further updates and improvements after its initial release.
Estate Mechanic
Core Update II will focus on improving the Estate mechanic. Your influence with an estate will vary over time, creating a choice of which estate(s) to invest in. Increasing your influence with one estate will have an effect on other estates and as such will affect the path you choose when building your village.
Building Decay
A new feature will be introduced with Core Update II in the form of Building Decay. Every placeable building will require maintenance and if not maintained the building will decay over time.
In order to maintain buildings within your village, you will need to place and staff a maintenance workshop. Each workshop will prioritize and maintain buildings that require repairs and pull resources that are needed to repair those buildings.
As buildings decay, productivity and desirability will be affected and if allowed to decay too far, buildings will become unusable and will need to be dismantled.
Houses occupied by villagers of lower status than the house, or left uninhabited for too long will begin to decay and may require repair.
Further UI/UX Improvements
Core Update II will also continue to improve upon the UI and UX with more accessibility options and menu improvements, taking into account player feedback as we further build on the previous UI/UX update.
Core Update III will add a number of new features that will change the way in which your village population can vary as well as bring new and improved detail to maps.
Families & Aging
A family mechanic will allow for the birth of children who will age, work, create their own families and eventually pass away, bringing a full cycle to village life.
Diseases
Varying factors will increase the chance of villager disease that will come with consequences to your workforce if left unchecked.
Graveyard
As your villagers now walk through the valley of death they will need a place to be laid to rest.
Map Visual Edges
Map edges will be visually improved.
Terrain Biomes
Varying biomes will add to the variety of map environments.
Resource Fertility
Land fertility will differ, depending on environmental factors allowing for crop-specific fertility.
Cobblestone Roads
A much requested feature will see the introduction of cobblestone roads that will increase efficiency in your villages.
The updated roadmap can be found over on Trello where you can keep up-to-date with all the progress.
Up to Full Release
More features will be implemented up to the full release, including:
A major expansion and overhaul of the narrative elements & events
Vehicles – where appropriate, villagers will be able to own and use horses
A third level of housing status and density
A Safety need will see more use for soldiers and defense structures
New monuments
Information map – a zoomed out map showing an overview of available resource nodes and layers
Map generator
Pastures – allowing for zoning of livestock areas
…and more!
Post Release
The full release will not be the end of development and we will continue to work on features not yet implemented such as a map editor, creative mode and a photo tool as well as work on further DLCs that were planned as part of our original Kickstarter campaign.
