The 1.9.3 Decorations & Action Bar Update Is Now Available!
Hello Lords & Ladies!
A new update has just been released. The two main features are decorations availability and action bar (HUD) improvements. Without further ado, let’s see what this means for Foundation.
Common Decorations
Starting with 1.9.3, common decorative parts are made available for all monuments regardless of their previous limitations. In other words, you can now customize monuments with more freedom. Decorations have been grouped into different categories in the build panel for better understanding. The intended goal is to open up more customization possibilities for your villages.
Common Decorations in the build menu
Decorations grouping in the build panel
As a reminder, common decorations are not only for looks either: they provide a very useful desirability bonus, encouraging villagers to upgrade their houses. Furthermore, common decorations provide beautification, which is taken into account for prosperity—a score that represents your overall progress in the game. Estate and monument-specific decorations, on the other end, provide splendor instead of beautification and desirability.
In summary:
Common decorations are available for each monument and from the build menu
Estate decorations are available across all monuments from the same Estate
Monument decorations are for parts that only work for a specific monument
Action Bar (HUD) Improvements
In past versions of the game, mandates were enacted at the Manor House with the help of a special button. Alternatively, you could click on a specific opportunity in your quest module to enact mandates. Starting with 1.9.3, a shortcut for mandates has been added to the action bar at the bottom of the screen. Clicking this icon will bring up all available mandates, allowing faster access to this feature.
While on the topic of action bar improvements, we also added a shortcut to village aspirations. Clicking on the trophy icon brings all available village aspirations—optional objectives you can aim for while building your medieval village. Village aspirations will appear in the quest module once you start tracking at least one of them. Please note that the Village Aspirations shortcut previously found in the system menu has been removed.
Illustrations Galore
Update 1.9.3 features plenty of updated–and in some cases, completely new–colorful illustrations to breathe life into Foundation events.
We hope you enjoy your time with this newest update. Stay tuned for more details on upcoming content for Foundation.
Changelog
New
Common decorations are now accessible for all monuments
An extensive collection (100+) of new and improved illustrations for events
Added two buttons to the action bar
Mandates
Village Aspirations
Added help topics in the Help (F10) menu
Hunting
Bridges
Motion sickness
Useful shortcuts
The game now has its own icon
Game Balance
Moved tombstones (decoration) from tier 2 to tier 1 of the Clergy progression path
Improvements
Advices from the quest module now display a New prefix, for example New Advice: Increase Taxation
When using more than one monitor, players can now choose which one will display the game (fullscreen mode)
Updates
Batch of unlockables’ icons
Localization
Modding
Villager statuses and profiles now have gendered fields. Therefore, we removed statuses and profiles related to nuns. To convert your mods, read the official documentation here
GAME_ACTION_DELIVER_RESOURCE now has a BudgetCategory property
Fixes
Removed a line from the Book which was displayed before Estates were unlocked
Switching tabs of the Book after deleting a privilege reactivated it and stopped players from removing it again
Death finds a way: right-clicking on tombstone window wouldn’t close it
Dead soldiers were listed as newcomers and still counted for the village’s total population
Bailiff selection window wasn’t closing on a right-click
Foundation’s OST Update Adds 7 New Tracks!
Music enthusiasts, we have great news for you today.
With the help of our partners at Audinity, 7 new tracks have been released for the OST:
22 - Gestalt 23 - Otia Dant Vitia 24 - Apotheosis 25 - Ubi Bene, Ibi Patria 26 - Hearth and Bulwark 27 - Festina Lente 28 - Idyll Moil
These enchanting melodies will carry you back to medieval times and evolve as your village grows, providing new captivating sounds to listen to. The unique use of vintage instruments help bring the audio experience to life.
Note: if you already own the OST, the new tracks will be added automatically.
Patch 1.9.2.6 Is Now Available!
Hello Foundation community!
Patch 1.9.2.6 has been released and fixes a number of issues in the game. It also introduces some improvements and other minor changes. Here’s the full details:
Changelog
Game Balance
Newcomers will be now be taxed progressively instead of to the full extent of your taxation settings
Improvements
The ‘Purchase this territory’ tooltip now features an easier-to-read ‘contain minerals’ string
Wealth factors were outdated and now take into account the following elements:
Taxes balance
Trade balance
Building upkeep balance
Donations
Update
Localization
Fixes
Villagers were so enthusiastic to cook they were using the blacksmith sound effect in the kitchen!
Auto-assign could demote monks and nuns to a lower status
Promoted villagers adjusted the taxation debuff to their previous status over time
Crash related to the Fuel mod after switching a function
Some workplaces could become unavailable on reload under specific circumstances
The Steam Spring Sale Is Here!
Hi there!
We are happy to let you know we will take part in the new Steam Spring Sale spanning from March 16 - 23, 2023.
During this week, a 20% discount will be applied to Foundation.
With the recent release of Update 1.9.2, which introduced several budget improvements and monastery construction steps, now is a perfect time to jump in.
Players can also try an experimental version of our medieval city-builder packed with changes to the early and mid game progression. This includes a new meat production chain and upgrades to the tavern, among other exciting features under testing.
If you wish to know more about Foundation and our plans, make sure to give the updated roadmap a read.
Enjoy!
Try Foundation’s New Experimental Build Now!
Hi there!
We have some very exciting news to share with you today.
As revealed in our roadmap update back in February, the team is hard at work on multiple new content releases for Foundation. We are happy to say that starting right now, you can opt into an experimental build focusing on big changes for the early to mid game progression.
Whilst the full changelog and details will only be available once the update is released, here’s some of its key points to whet your appetite:
The new meat production chain - available from the start - uses the hunter’s hut and a butchery to let you turn boars into food for consumption or sale; note that the butchery visual is placeholder
Taxation has been moved to the Labour progression path
Serfs now have two food needs to fulfill
There is a new Entertainment need for commoners and citizens, fulfilled by beer and wine at the tavern…
plus berry brews crafted at the berry brewery, a new tavern sub-building!
You can now promote villagers at will
Several workplaces now require higher villager statuses
A new Levy mandate from the Manor House can be activated to get emergency funds… at the cost of villagers’ happiness!
Villagers are a bit less forgiving about happiness mishandling
Immigration factors have been softened
Traders have more inventory to buy and sell from…
and we’re introducing a new trade route, Kinstone Abbey, affiliated with Clergy!
Wood production has been slowed, incentivizing more planning
Bad weather is less punishing
And lots of other balancing changes and tweaks!
To participate in this experimental build:
Open Steam
Right-click on Foundation
Click Properties
Click BETAS
Select experimental_tavern_taxation in the dropdown menu
Relaunch the game after it’s been updated
Have fun and see you soon!
Patch 1.9.2.5 Is Now Available!
Hello Lords & Ladies!
A new patch is now available. Here’s the rundown of what’s included in 1.9.2.5:
Changelog
Improvements
There is now a maximum distance villagers will travel to during their free time, which is based on the location of their homes
Upkeep categories’ ordering in the Book now follows the same order as the list of building categories in the build menu
Villagers happiness tooltip positive and neutral colors are now easier to read
Fixes
It was possible for builders to reach construction sites and not do any work
The build menu scrolled back to the top after placing a monument part that featured several of them, hindering complex monument construction
Coins total from taxation could exceed the limit set for individual houses
Some resources in storage facilities weren’t displaying a numerical value for their available quantity (they now do even at 0)
The Builder’s Workshop was displayed at the end of the building list unless players reloaded their game
Rare case where the game displayed wrong quantities after switching resources assigned to a Warehouse/Granary/Market slot
Building upkeep costs
Weren’t calculated correctly when pausing/unpausing a workplace
Were wrongly modified when adding more workers, causing players to pay more than intended
Building upkeep costs were wrongly calculated The Sturdy Material edict’s effect wasn’t applied in the real calculation of the budget
The Sturdy Material edict’s effect wasn’t applied to maintenance costs from additional workers
Villagers crossing under a quarry were teleported on its ladder
Some tooltips had more empty space than intended
A number of Mod.io thumbnails’ colors were misinterpreted
Music wasn’t switching when players reached different Estate tiers
Changing the monk/nun dorms function could cause a crash
The Abbatial Gate – Major door wasn’t working
Quick reloading while the “Promote villagers to higher status” list was opened could cause a crash
Rare crash when downloading mods
The 1.9.2 Quality of Life Update Is Now Available!
Hello fellow city-building enthusiasts!
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
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
Our Roadmap Update Is Now Available!
Greetings Lords & Ladies!
We have some important news to share with you about Foundation's next steps. The team is pleased to unveil an updated roadmap! 📅
But first, a 2022 Retrospective
2022 was a big year for Polymorph Games, but also one of transition.
First and foremost, we have worked on our biggest update so far, Foundation 1.9, that has added the remaining systems and bound all of them to shape the core experience we intended for Foundation. We also have included and expanded the monastery gameplay, with a revamped visual, representing our work on the final Art Direction (see: GameDeveloper.com).
Another major feature that we were happy to deliver was the first iteration of the map generator, allowing you to have more maps to play with.
The second important change that happened last year was the expansion of our team, with the addition of team members filling important roles, such as an Art Director, a Lead 3D Artist, an Engine Programmer and a Narrative Designer. This is allowing us to work on multiple aspects of the game at the same time: improving our visuals, the game content, as well as the procedurally generated content like the map generator.
Roadmap Update
In the last couple of months, we’ve made the delicate and thorough exercise of reviewing and completing our game design. Every idea and planned feature has been discussed and questioned, and we aimed to leave no stones unturned. This process had us recenter on Foundation’s strengths, and the result is a better defined feature list.
Today we are pleased to share our updated roadmap – a glimpse of both our major and minor updates left to be released.
Upcoming Major Releases
We are planning five major releases until Foundation’s end of Early Access.
1 - Residential Density and Safety Concept
The next Major Update we are working on is about adding Safety, a tool players can use to control the density of housing in specific zones. Safety is also something that will be used and extended by the Castle in the Kingdom progression path. This will also integrate the walls into the construction flow. We will provide more details soon.
2 - The Castle (Kingdom Progression Path)
We know you are eager to get your hands on this one, and we are already working on it. In addition to the new Castle monument, expect more gameplay options from overhauled military missions (including squads!), and more interaction with the new safety concept.
3 - Labor Progression Path
This update will round off the final Estate gameplay and its visual overhaul. It will focus on giving the tools to improve happiness and taxation capabilities.
4 - Environment Rehaul
As you may know, we are working to revamp our building and environment visuals: environment biomes, skyboxes, lighting, map edges.
5 - End of Early Access Release
This one will have all the completed game content, with the improved residential zoning, and tier 3 housing.
Along the way toward Foundation's full release, the team will continue to add minor features, to include new quality of life (QOL) changes as well as game content.
Some Planned Minor Releases (not in release order)
Continuous Monument Experience Improvements
Continuous Map Generator Improvements
Continuous Quality of Life Improvements
Continuous Accessibility Improvements
Continuous Modding Improvements
Continuous Balancing Improvements
New Productions Buildings and Production Building Extensions
Fertility
Scalable Quests
New Mandates
New Information Layers
Job XP Implementation
Paved Roads
Some shelved or on hold features
As mentioned earlier, the process of reviewing and completing our game design had us focus on Foundation’s strengths. But that also means that unfortunately, some features we have added to the roadmap during the Early Access won’t make it to the full release, as we realized that they will not add any significant fun to the game and will create more micromanagement than we wish to push on the player. We are thus shelving housing decay, aging and families, and graveyards from the roadmap. The disease feature and vehicles are also postponed, meaning they might become part of the game at some point, but not before the end of the early access. Steam Workshop Integration has also been dropped as we continue to focus on mod.io and its cross-platform modding capabilities.
We know some of you will be disappointed about this news, especially the aging and family, but the average village size in Foundation has a higher population count than first anticipated, and having a feature like this would have brought us on the path of survival, micromanagement and overcomplexity.
We have reasserted our inspirations - Pharaoh, The Settlers and Anno - all games that don’t feature aging and death, but are still unique in their own ways and most importantly, great city-building experiences. With that in mind, we are confident that we are on the right path with Foundation’s design plans.
Putting an end to the Trello and to Mantis Public Bug reporter
As many of you may have realized, the Trello board was not being updated often. It has shown to be a lot of work to maintain, and it also creates a divergence with our internal planning tool. Hence why we are closing the Trello, and will instead share updates and progress on the roadmap on posts such as this one.
We are also closing our Mantis Public Bug reporter. We realized that the most efficient way to track bugs and get feedback is through Discord or right here on the Steam forums. It is also a better way to filter what is a bug and what is not, because the community usually provides help as well. So don’t hesitate to join our Discord server to share your bugs and feedback!
Experimental Builds
In 2023 we also want to give you access to experimental builds. Their goal will be to test new features and progression changes before they're applied to the live version of Foundation. This is a way for us to get important feedback from you, that will help us deliver polished updates. The first experimental build will be the next minor update that changes a lot of the early/mid game balancing.
When are the next updates planned?
As of now, we are currently working on multiple updates:
1.9.2 is about an improved budget breakdown and multiple Quality of Life improvements, like the ESC and right-click handling (Estimated Release Date: February 2023)
Minor Update: We are preparing an experimental build that changes early progression in the game (In Progress, Experimental in March 2023)
Taxation will be moved to the Labor progression path
Tavern will become a need for the commoners
The early and mid game progression will be reviewed
Trade revenue will be more generous
Minor Update: Plains terrain type (flatter) will be introduced in procedurally generated maps (In Progress, Estimated Release Date, March 2023)
Major Update: Residential Core + Safety (Being prototyped, No ETA yet)
Major Update: Castle (Kingdom Progression Path) (In Progress, No ETA yet)
Note that this planning is subject to change along the way.
Conclusion
In 2023, we are full speed ahead to deliver consistent and substantial updates that will keep improving the overall quality of the game.
We thank you for your continued support, we are lucky to have such a loving and dedicated community!
—The Polymorph Games team
Quality of Life Update Preview 1.9.2.3.0221 Now Available
Hello everyone!
A new version of the preview build (1.9.2.3.0221) is now available.
Here's what's changed:
Improvement: added a construction step between steps 0 and 2 of a part without tiling
Modding: Mod custom type properties weren't deserialized
We will keep you informed about future developments of this update. Thanks!
Quality of Life Update Version 1.9.2.2.0220 Now Available
Hello Foundation players!
A new version of the preview build (1.9.2.2.0220) focused on Quality of Life (QOL) is now available.
Here's what's changed:
Fix: crash when selecting a part from a building (in the Edit tab)
Modding: expose the Hospitium, Monk Dorms and Nun Dorms functions for the Monastery
We will keep you updated with further changes to the preview build before its release. Thanks!
