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!
This version brings forth significant changes to the game, including a brand-new Desirability and Beautification experience. We’ve also implemented multiple Quality of Life (QOL) improvements in response to community feedback such as the sub-building flow. Without further ado, let’s get down to the details!
New Desirability System
Desirability represents the overall attractiveness of an area within your village and is at the heart of this update. In the past, the Desirability of an area was quaternary: low, average, high or very high. We’re changing this formula to a more binary approach where you have a better control over housing quality.
Housing Quality
The first thing you’ll notice when clicking on a house are new Housing Quality details, the first one of which is to be located within a Residential Area. Furthermore, in order to upgrade, a house will need the following:
Desirable Neighborhood (away from noisy and dirty environments)
Beautification Area (close to buildings or decorations that provide a Beautification bonus)
Villagers of Commoner status or higher looking for such a house
Housing Quality factors
Village Embellishment
As part of the new Desirability system, you’re now encouraged to beautify your village with the help of decorations. Decorations contribute to the creation of Beautification Areas, which are needed to upgrade houses from low to medium quality.
Each decoration applies its own Beautification radius according to a combination of their visual footprint and quality. Adding multiple decorative elements next to each other will increase the Beautification Area by merging their area of effect.
A new Beautification visibility layer has been added so that affected areas can be easily identified.
Beautification Areas merging and expanding
Housing Degradation
Housing Degradation is a new mechanic introduced in Update 1.9.6. Rather than being only able to upgrade, houses can now also degrade in quality. This happens when one of the criteria under Housing Quality is no longer met. Note that this is something you are able to control, when you decide if an area has the requirements for higher house quality or not.
Example of a housing requirement that is no longer met
Changes to Needs
Foundation was always meant to remain a calm and pleasant experience where you can play at your own pace, so it was important for us to ease down a bit the pressure of filling the needs of your villagers, especially when you have your first Commoners. As such, we’ve separated the Needs in two main categories:
Essential Needs – must be fulfilled, else they trigger a shortage leading to a Happiness penalty
Additional Needs – will not trigger a shortage unless they’ve been fulfilled once
This will allow you to progress at your own pace, without the pressure of your villagers leaving because of unfilled needs. Note that once filled once, the additional needs will trigger a shortage if they are not met anymore.
In the same vein, we’ve reduced the amount of information displayed in the villager window, to keep the most relevant information.
Essential and additional needs grouping introduced in 1.9.6
Other Improvements
Improved Monument and Sub-Building Experience
Following player feedback, we’ve made a number of changes taking aim at monuments and sub-buildings’ navigation.
New monument windows
Resources and Progression Tabs Modifications
The Resources tab (F3) from the Book has been simplified for easier identification of tradeable resources. Icons to purchase and sell resources are now disabled by default and only enabled if players have access to a trade route that either purchases or sells said resource.
Updated Resources window
You will also notice that the Splendor cost of each Estate unlockable from the Progression tab (F5) is now displayed in their tooltip, even if the requirements have not been reached yet.
Great Hall Influence cost
If you haven’t already, give our latest Devlog a read if you want to learn more about what’s next for Foundation.
Changelog
New
Houses now have House Quality requirements to upgrade, which are displayed in their building window:
Desirable Neighborhood
Beautification Area
Villager of Commoner (or above) status looking for such a house
Tooltips have been added to the the house window UI
Buildings providing Beautification now have a Beautification Area. The range is based on the decoration’s Beautification value and its visual footprint
Noisy or filthy buildings can create an undesirable area, which affects Neighborhood Desirability. Such is the case for the following:
Brewery
Butchery
Cheesemaker
Charcoal Hut
Dairy Farm
Fisher’s Hut
Gold Smelter
Hunter’s Hut
Iron Smelter
Quarries
Sawmill
Sheep Farm
Stonecutter Camp
Stonemason Hut
Upgraded houses can now revert to a prior level if their Desirability requirements are not met. This happens after reaching a deadline and only if players don’t remedy to the situation
Added the following visual filters:
Beautification
Undesirable Neighborhood
Needs are now split into two categories:
Essential Needs (must be fulfilled)
Additional Needs (facultative)
Contextual help
Housing Quality
Beautification
Prosperity
Help menu:
Beautification
Important notification : Equipping your soldiers
Update
Renamed the “Comfort” need to “Housing”
Localization
Help menu
Desirability
Housing
Balance
Legacy Desirability (House Placement)
Pre-1.9.6 Desirability (Legacy Desirability) has been specialized into a system that dictates Villagers where to settle
Beautification no longer provides Legacy Desirability
The following buildings provide Legacy Desirability:
Village Center
Churches (except Chapel and Abbatial Churches)
Market Stalls
Tavern’s Service Counter
Well
Villagers now follow these rules:
They settle in Residential Areas
They settle close to the Village Center
They aim to settle close to Need providers
They aim to settle close to their Workplaces
The Desirability Visibility layer has been removed
Decorations’ Costs & Effects
As Beautification Decorations no longer provide Legacy Desirability; costs and Beautification values have been modified:
Village Tree Beautification value has been increased from 1 to 2
Village Tree upfront cost has been increased from 7 to 20 coins
Tall Banner upfront cost has been reduced from 25 to 20 coins
Fountain upfront cost has been reduced from 330 to 320 coins
Plant Arch upfront cost has been reduced from 82 to 80 coins
Knight Statue upfront cost has been reduced to 320 coins
Sheep Statue upfront cost has been reduced from 325 to 320 coins
Cypress upfront cost has been reduced from 47 to 45 coins
Large Wall Banner upfront cost has been reduced from 90 to 80 coins
Polished Stone Arch upfront cost has been reduced from 50 to 45 coins
Stone Gateway upfront cost has been reduced from 85 to 80 coins
Stone Arch upfront cost has been reduced from 25 to 20 coins
Grand Fountain upfront cost has been reduced from 730 to 720 coins
Elegant Fountain upfront cost has been reduced from 255 to 245 coins
Marble Basin upfront cost has been reduced from 415 to 405 coins
Elegant Stone Arch upfront cost has been reduced from 130 to 125 coins
Polished Fountain upfront cost has been reduced from 135 to 125 coins
Elegant Tree Planter upfront cost has been reduced from 82 to 80 coins
Large Tree Planter upfront cost has been reduced from 127 to 125 coins
Elegant Post upfront cost has been reduced from 47 to 45 coins
Polished Basin upfront cost has been reduced from 135 to 125 coins
Large Font Beautification value has been decreased from 6 to 4
Large Font upfront cost has been reduced from 190 to 80 coins
Small Font upfront cost has been reduced from 190 to 180 coins
Elegant Balustrade upfront cost has been reduced from 47 to 45 coins
Simple Tree Planter upfront cost has been reduced from 22 to 20 coins
Polished Planter upfront cost has been reduced from 22 to 20 coins
Wall Fountain Beautification value has been increased from 2 to 5
Wall Fountain upfront cost has been increased from 25 to 125 coins
Quatrefoil Basin upfront cost has been reduced from 50 to 45 coins
Masterpiece Beautification
Masterpiece parts now yield Beautification in addition to Splendor at no extra cost
Automated Fountain
Automaton Tower, Columns yields 1 point
Marble Basin yields 1 point
Marble Steps yields 1 point
Automation Tower, Spire yields 1 point
Automaton Tower, Fountain yields 1 point
Bird Automaton yields 1 points
Jacquemart yields 2 points
Fountain Sculpture
Fountain Pedestal, Quatrefoil yields 1 point, plus 1 point per tiling
Fountain Pedestal, Hexagonal yields 1 point, plus 1 point per tiling
Axe Lady, Gold yields 3 points
Laborer, Gold yields 3 points
Shoveler, Gold yields 3 points
Pickman, Gold yields 3 points
Axe Lady, Marble yields 2 points
Laborer, Marble yields 2 points
Laborer, Gold yields 2 points
Shoveler, Gold yields 2 points
Quatrefoil Basin yields 2 points
Octogonal Basin yields 2 points
Gem Encrusted Cross
Large Pedestal, Hexagonal yields 1 point, plus 1 point per tiling
Small Pedestal, Hexagonal yields 1 point, plus 1 point per tiling
Small Pedestal, Square yields 1 point, plus 1 point per tiling
Large Pedestal, Square yields 1 point, plus 1 point per tiling
Cross of the Faith yields 10 points
Stepped Base, Hexagonal yields 2 points
Stepped Base, Square yields 2 points
Knight Statue
Octogonal Plinth yields 2 points
Octogonal Pedestal yields 1 point
Small Octogonal Pedestal yields 1 point
Alcoved Pedestal yields 1 point
Square Plinth yields 2 points
Large Pedestal, Square yields 1 point per tiling
Blue Banner, Swallowtail yields 1 point
The Vainquisher, Gold yields 5 points
The Peacekeeper, Marble yields 3 points
Small Bowmen, Marble yields 2 points
Small Knight, Marble yields 2 points
Blue Banner, Round yields 1 point
Lush Garden
Stone Pillar yields 1 point per tiling
Stone Basin yields 1 point per tiling
Bush Pergola yields 1 point
Royal Balm Bush yields 1 point
Stone Planter, Quatrefoil yields 1 point
Pear Tree yields 1 point
Plum Tree yields 1 point
Almond Tree yields 1 point
Stone Planter, Diamond yields 1 point
Almond Espalier yields 1 point
Plum Bush yields 1 point
Stone Fountain yields 1 point
Ogive Bush yields 1 point
Oval Bush yields 1 point
Roses Pergola yields 1 point
Round Bush yields 1 point
Stone Planter, Round yields 1 point
Stone Bench yields 1 point
Officinal Garden
Sunvines Planter yields 1 point
Tailor’s Tongue Planter yields 1 point
Treillis Fence yields 1 point
Royal Balm yields 1 point
Cleansing Fountain yields 1 point
Sunvines Pergola yields 1 point
Crossmint and Pennybane Planter yields 1 point
Cattlegold Planter yields 1 point
Rainmilk and Tailor’s Tongue Planter yields 1 point
Knightworth Planter yields 1 point
Seeling Planter yields 1 point
Royal Balm Planter yields 1 point
Crossmint Planter yields 1 point
Rainmilk Planter yields 1 point
Shrine
Stone Alcove, Wide yields 1 point
Stone Alcove, Narrow yields 1 point
Marble Altar, Wide yields 1 point
Marble Alter, Narrow yields 1 point
Votive Candle yields 1 point
Votive Candles yields 1 point
Indigo Spire Flower yields 1 point
Fragrant Bouquet yields 1 point
Pleasant Bouquet yields 1 point
Cardinal’s Robe Flower yields 1 point
Sunvines Cluster yields 1 point
The Mother of Peace, Marble and Gold yields 10 points
Stone Steps yields 1 point
Stone Bench yields 1 point
Votive Stone yields 1 point
Majestic Stained Glass
King and Monk, Stained Glass yields 15 points
Mother and Child, Stained Glass yields 15 points
Giant Gate
Buttress yields 1 point
Fortified Gatehouse yields 5 points, plus 1 point per tiling
Round Turret yields 1 point
Great Tower, Rounded yields 3 points
Great Tower, Squared yields 3 points
Watchtower yields 1 point
Wooden Brattice yields 1 point
Stone Brattice yields 1 point
Wooden Hoarding yields 1 point
Stone Gate yields 1 point
Small Window, Closed yields 1 point
Small Window yields 1 point
Small Window, Fortified yields 1 point
Wall Banner, Blue yields 1 point
Wall Flag, Blue yields 1 point
Wall Heraldic, Blue yields 1 point
Wall Heraldic, Spliced yields 1 point
Wall Heraldic, Splits yields 1 point
Wall Heraldic, Striped yields 1 point
Lancet Window yields 1 point
Porticullis yields 1 point
Stone Bridge
Beautification values have been removed from the Stone Bridge structure (its decorations still yield Beautification)
Masterpieces’ Costs, Splendor & Ordering
Golden Cross
Large Pedestal, Hexagonal base Splendor yield has been reduced to 2 Splendor
Large Pedestal, Hexagonal base Tools cost has been reduced to 5 Tools
Large Pedestal, Hexagonal base Upkeep value has been reduced to 2 Coins
Small Pedestal, Hexagonal base Marble cost has been reduced to 10 Marble
Small Pedestal, Hexagonal base Tools cost has been reduced to 5 Tools
Small Pedestal, Hexagonal tiling Tools cost has been reduced to 5 Tools
Small Pedestal, Square base Marble cost has been reduced to 10 Marble
Small Pedestal, Square base Tools cost has been reduced to 5 Tools
Small Pedestal, Square tiling Tools cost has been reduced to 5 Tools
Large Pedestal, Square base Splendor yield has been reduced to 2 Splendor
Large Pedestal, Square base Tools cost has been reduced to 5 Tools
Large Pedestal, Square base Upkeep value has been reduced to 2 Coins
Stepped Base, Hexagonal base Marble cost has been reduced to 40 Marble
Stepped Base, Square base Marble cost has been reduced to 40 Marble
Stepped Base, Hexagonal and Stepped Base, Square have been reordered before the other bases.
Knight Statue
Octagonal Plinth base Splendor is set to 2 Kingdom Splendor
Octagonal Plinth base Upkeep is set to 2 coins
Octagonal Plinth base Marble cost has been reduced to 30 Marble
Octagonal Plinth base Tools cost has been reduced to 5 Tools
Octagonal Pedestal base Splendor is set to 1 Kingdom Splendor
Octagonal Pedestal base Upkeep is set to 2 coins
Octagonal Pedestal base Marble cost has been reduced to 10 Marble
Octagonal Pedestal base Tools cost has been reduced to 5 Tools
Small Octagonal Pedestal base Splendor is set to 1 Kingdom Splendor
Small Octagonal Pedestal base Upkeep is set to 2 coins
Small Octagonal Pedestal base Marble cost has been reduced to 10 Marble
Small Octagonal Pedestal base Tools cost has been reduced to 5 Tools
Alcoved Pillar base Marble cost has been reduced to 20 Marble
Square Plinth base Splendor is set to 2 Kingdom Splendor
Square Plinth base Upkeep is set to 2 coins
Square Plinth base Marble cost has been reduced to 30 Marble
Square Plinth base Tools cost has been reduced to 5 Tools
Removed Costs and Yields from Large Square Pedestal as it is stored in the Tiling part
Fountain Sculpture
Fountain Pedestal, Quatrefoil base Splendor has been reduced to 2 Kingdom Splendor
Fountain Pedestal, Quatrefoil base Upkeep has been reduced to 2 coins
Fountain Pedestal, Quatrefoil tiling Marble cost has been reduced to 5 Marble
Fountain Pedestal, Hexagonal base Splendor has been reduced to 2 Kingdom Splendor
Fountain Pedestal, Hexagonal base Upkeep has been reduced to 2 coins
Food Grace Period Delay
Increased Villager Food first consumption Grace Period delay to 180 days
Increased Monastics Food first consumption Grace Period delay to 180 days
Improvements
Monuments
Monuments now have their own category filter in the Build menu
Monuments’ building windows have been cleaned in a bid to enhance the player experience:.
Down to two tabs: Monument Overview and Sub-Buildings
Upkeep and effects have been moved below the monument’s description
The Edit Building option now shows all Sub-Buildings with their respective Upkeeps and Effects
Players can change the functions of existing Sub-Buildings
Players can add more Sub-Buildings
The list of parts in Preview mode has been simplified to only show the size and the action buttons
The Sub-Building back button has been simplified to only show the Parent Monument’s name
Free Build is now found at the end of all available Sub-Building functions
Book
Resources tab (F3): label icons used for the Buy from them and Sell to them sections have been modified to up and down arrows in an effort to convey trading feedback more efficiently
Progression tab (F5): Influence cost information for Estate unlockable elements is now displayed in the tooltips
Main menu
Players can now sort mods using a Date Updated filter
Other Fixes and Tweaks
Advanced Onboarding Starting Conditions
In addition to previous conditions, the Commoner Promotion Advanced Onboarding now checks for either:
You have at least 30 population
You have a job that requires a Commoner
You have a Serf is ready to be promoted
Decorative Advanced Onboarding now checks for either:
You have unlocked the first Decorative unlockable
You have a Commoner
The quest for the Decorative Advanced Onboarding now requires you to unlock the first Decorative unlockable.
In addition to previous conditions, the Monastery Promotion now checks for either:
You have 10 Manuscripts
You have a job that requires a Monk/Nun
You have reached the Tier 3 Clergy
Fixed incorrect notifications in the the Monastery Promotion Advanced Onboarding
In addition to previous conditions, the Second Food Advanced Onboarding now checks for either:
You have at least 30 villagers
You have a job that requires a Commoner
You have reached the Tier 3 Common Path
Bug Fixes
Churches could only have one masterpiece part
Rare crash with a monk visiting a Hospitium
The ‘Near Riverside’ masterpiece condition wasn’t updated when removing or adding an individual part
Workers didn’t fetch additional resources if they were missing some during a work cycle
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!
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)
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.
