Graphics Update Coming + The Future of Founders' Fortune
Attention! After checking out the news, we'd love to hear your opinions on the update and our future plans. When you're done reading, check out the 2 minute survey! https://forms.gle/d8u9K377FxiCPDTB8
The Graphics Update
A lot of people have been asking me for news about the next update, so I'm really happy to finally reveal the main part of the next update: Founders' Fortune is getting a full graphics overhaul! It's basically like getting a remastered edition of the game for free.
Our previous updates have been focused on gameplay expansion and have been well received. But since the beginning, we've also been getting feedback on the graphics that has been unaddressed until now. No more!
Check out these screenshots to get an idea of the changes:
Other Update Features
New graphics are nice, but a lot of people are looking forward to new gameplay stuff as well. Since the graphics update is such a large amount of work, we can't provide a ton of new features, but there are some you might be interested in:
Ghost Quest
Animal Area feature to keep them in pens
World creation settings like No Aging, Peaceful Mode, Larger Maps
We're also working on a pretty large project concerning the build mode, but we're not sure if we can finish that in time, so it'll stay secret for now ;)
How the Early Access Phase has gone
When Founders' Fortune released 14 months ago, the interest from the community surpassed our expectations! That's why we were able to make the Early Access phase a lot longer than we originally intended, release more updates and add more content. Now, it's time to check in again, see what promises were met, and talk about the future of the game.
Duration of Early Access
From the beginning, it said on our Steam page:
Thanks to your support, we're able to not only meet the maximum amount promise, but also surpass even the best case promise. The Graphics Update will be released in October and Version 1.0 will be even later.
Roadmap
We have always been very careful to never promise too much. Still, players wanted to see where we're going, so we made a roadmap of "things we'd like to do". Check it out:
Let's talk about some of the specifics.
Mod Support, Multi-Floor Buildings, and Roofs have been implemented pretty much exactly like we expected it. No major changes were required and players have been happy with the results.
The Animal Update focused on farm animals instead of pets. The reason for this was a survey we conducted on the Discord server:
For the Relationship milestone we actually went above and beyond and converted it into a full Family Update complete with children, child furniture, old people, education, etc. in addition to all the interactions, the new expectation, and the new thoughts.
This hopefully makes up for the multiple islands idea we decided to drop. The idea behind multiple islands was originally that in the endgame you could have multiple villages running at the same time and switch back and forth between them while the rest were running in the background.
However, when we tried designing the gameplay for this setup, we quickly found that it didn't work well with the main game. Founders' Fortune has been designed with one island in mind and changing the core of the gameplay this substantially actually took away from the experience. If we did that, it wouldn't have been Founders' Fortune anymore, so we decided to put that work into features that fit better with the game, like the Family Update or the Quest System we have added even though it has never been on the Roadmap.
We think it's important that developers in Early Access have the freedom to deviate from the roadmap somewhat in order to make a better game, as long as they don't overdo it and deliver something substantially different than what was originally sold.
Finally, the "Other Factions" milestone was realized in the Diplomacy Update and the Pirate Update.
Community
The community has been a great help, on Steam and on the Forums, but especially on Discord. We extensively used the feedback for game balancing when we didn't have the time to play to the endgame ourselves and were able to fix bugs quickly after they appeared since so many people sent their savegames to us for investigation. Thanks a lot.
The community translations have been a resounding success and enabled Founders' Fortune to also be played by a lot of people who'd rather play in their native language. Thank you for that.
Finally, the supporters who have purchased extra supporter packages on our website have been with us and motivating us from the very beginning. So thank you all for all the help. Founders' Fortune wouldn't be the same without you.
Beta 1 and beyond
So what's going to happen now?
The Graphics Update is going to be Beta 1. Since Founders' Fortune contains many hundreds of models, animations, icons, and textures, this update will take longer to make than most previous updates. Our current estimate is Mid-October, but it also could take until Halloween (Ghosts and skeletons are already in anyways ;)
Once Beta 1 is released we'll take a much closer look at any bugs that are left, integrate final community suggestions on balancing and small features, and polish the game for final release. There are some features we have been pushing to the very end of Early Access, like Steam Achievements. Version 1.0 will also be the place for those.
Once 1.0 hits, proabably at the end of 2020, we'll take a break and take a look at how much time people spend with the game. If there are a ton of players, we may be able to make time for a Version 1.1, but we won't promise anything. Let's focus on a clean, nice Version 1.0 first.
Your Opinion
This post contains a whole bunch of news and is a pretty important announcement for the game. Some Early Access games have disappointed players in the past, so we always wanted to make sure we communicate our intentions clearly, underpromise the milestones, and overdeliver the features.
Now it's your time to tell us how we've been doing, what you think of the graphics update, what you would still like to see in Founders' Fortune if possible and how happy you are with the game in general.
This survey has been kept short so you can answer it in 2 minutes, but there are text fields to give more details if you like: Survey
If you would like to get news on our future projects, you can sign up here.
Happy playing!
The Animal Update is released!
The time has come and we’re ready to release Alpha 14, the Animal Update!
We made a small trailer for the update, so I’ll let the video do the talking:
[previewyoutube="4Tq8Dz0tONk;full"]
With the Animal Update, we wanted to put a heavy focus on the mid-game. Besides the the animals and animal interactions, we extended the food and textile industries and added a new quest system with a couple of quests for starters. Additionally, we added some smaller stuff like new traits and improved the modding capabilities.
We hope you enjoy all the new stuff and will continue giving us the feedback and support we need to improve the game even more!
Changelog
Features
New animals: Cows and pigs
Animals can reproduce and have children
Animals can be tamed and become part of the community
Adult tamed animals will help defend the village
Buying and selling animals with Traders’ Guild
Shearing, Milking, and Butchering
Textile Industry: Use the loom to turn cotton and wool into cloth
New meals: Milk, Meat and Potatoes, Cheese
New traits: Vegetarian, Lactose Intolerant, Animal Lover
New quest system
Quest: Inspiration for Masterpiece. If successful, villagers build unique furniture, like Scarecrow, Tool Chest, Medical Tool Chest, Dream Catcher, Bed of Tranquility, Painting of Good Vibes which give bonuses on all kinds of things
Quest: Treasure Storage. The pirates contact you with a request…
Info panels for resources, plants, and buildings from other factions show stuff like “resources left”, “time to regrow”, etc.
New event: Depressed villager gains negative trait
Modding: Back button for object inspector
Modding: UI now supports more than 13 villagers if modders have changed max number
Modding: Can now load 3rd-party dlls
Modding: Can specify mod load order in config.json relative to other mods
Balancing
Strawberry Cake now requires milk, but gives positive thought when eaten
Forester profession now has specialization to cut tree stumps or not
Construction is handled by the “Builder” profession now
Players can now cut down apple trees and cotton plants
Bugfixes
Sheep no longer sit on chairs from time to time
Fixed memory issue
Saves are compatible! If you encounter any issues, let me know. Have fun!
Founders' Fortune Animal Update coming next Friday, July 17th!
Dear Founders' Fortune Players!
It's time for another big release. This time, we're proud to present to you... Alpha 14, the Animal Update!
After we released the first version of the sheep with Alpha 13, you have probably expected the rest of the animal industry to follow soon. We're happy to oblige!
For next Friday, July 17th, we can confirm:
New Animal Types: Cows and Pigs!
Animal Taming and Care
Shearing, Butchering and Milking
Quest System
You may have expected the animals already, but we still have one surprise in store!
Building a large settlement in Founders' Fortune can take a substantial amount of time, so we're taking steps to expand the mid-game content by adding a new quest system.
For Alpha 14, we made two quests about craftsmanship and pirate collaboration. As a result, you can get some new unique rewards, like the dream catcher to prevent nightmares or the scarecrow that protects plants and lets them grow faster.
Thanks again for all of your support, keep the feedback coming. We hope you're going to enjoy the Animal Update as much as we enjoyed making it!
The Founders' Fortune Profession Update is out!
Hello everyone! After a short break, it has finally arrived: Alpha 13, the Profession Update, is available.
From the beginning, we have been getting feedback that villagers should be able to take on more than one job at the same time. Well, not only is that now possible, each job now also has a full skill tree. That way you can choose what abilities your villagers need to unlock first.
With the addition of the skill tree it made sense to include a bunch of new skills as well: Educated villagers can now plant pine trees, apple trees, and cotton, get additional resources by opening a deep mine, master martial arts, sneak through enemy camps at night, and more!
You might also notice some new four-legged neighbors on the maps. These are not tameable yet – but it’s supposed to give you a taste of what’s in store for Founders’ Fortune in the future (and give us an opportunity to test the animal behaviors live!)
And finally there are some additional extras, like the new doors and fortifications. Savegames are compatible, too.
We hope you like Alpha 13! Let us know what you think, especially if you happen to run into any issues. In the meantime, check out this mini-trailer:
[previewyoutube="Acv3HkJNfiE;full"]
Main Changelog
New Stuff:
Profession overview panel
Multiple professions per villager possible
One Skill tree for each profession. Educate your villagers to unlock more
New Skill: Plant Pine trees, apple trees, and cotton plants
New Skill: Open a deep mine to get additional resources
New Skill: Learn martial arts and defend yourself without weapons
New Skill: Learn the art of sneaking and don’t wake sleeping enemies
New Skill: Educate children (2x as fast than having them learn by books)
Fortification gates! (I know you have been waiting for these)
5 new doors that actually open and close properly
First steps to include animals: sheep
Balancing:
Villagers live 50% longer (we heard your feedback)
Relationships are a little easier to develop
The skill trees will obviously take a bit longer to complete than the previous 3 experience levels
Since we now have deep mines: rocks, iron ore, and crystals on the surface will yield fewer resources
Founders' Fortune Profession Update set to release this Saturday
Hey guys!
Title says it all, we're planning to release Alpha 13, the Profession Update, this Saturday. If you haven't seen it yet, check out this forum thread with all kinds of news and information: https://forum.foundersfortune.com/t/alpha-13-dev-news/1069/29
Here are some screenshots to give you a taste:
Not sure if the sheep will be tameable and usable for this update already, or if we'll push that feature to the next update ;) If you have any questions or thoughts, let us know.
Happy playing and stay safe! Ponzel
Alpha 12.2 brings another batch of fixes and minor balance changes
Hi everyone, I just uploaded Alpha 12.2. Here is a quick overview for you:
Balancing
Pirates arrive a little later and late-game tributes don’t get as high any more.
Migrants arrive a little quicker for endgame colonies (I spaced it apart too far, because I thought families would easily provide all the necessary new villagers)
Bugfixes
Fixed a bug where you couldn’t drink the elixir of youth if you didn’t have any healing potions in store
Fixed a bug where hugging a child could lead to strange teleporting
Snowmen can no longer be built inside (though you can still move them there if you really want)
Fixed bug where 1 lone floor tile on the top of stairs was not walkable
Fixed a bug where children were immediately angry after growing up for not having received a salary yet
Fixed a bug where the game wouldn’t save properly
Minor translation issues, typos
“Talk to other tribe” wish now fulfills properly
Other
You can now load saves even if you don’t have the required mods installed
"Hug member of other faction changed to “tell joke”, because you need to be buddies for hugging and cross-faction relationships do not exist in the game as of now
In-game error logs now prints more details
Automatic error reporting tool now tracks long frame freezes to help with fixing it (see this post on Steam)
We’ve received a ton of feedback on Alpha 12 now and I think as a dev it’s now time to start thinking about Alpha 13. I’m still going to write down bugs you report and feedback you give, but unless there are any gamebreaking things, Alpha 12.3 is probably not going to be necessary. :smiley:
Happy playing!
Alpha 12.1 adds relationship balance changes, explanations, and bugfixes
I've spent the last couple of days listening to your feedback on the update and prioritizing the most important bugs. Alpha 12.1 is supposed to address most of it.
Balancing changes
People age 12% slower now
If that's not enough, modding aging speed is super simple now (just change the days variable in `gameConfig.json`)
It's now forbidden to trade when your stockpile is already full (earlier, the new items would just disappear)
Insults are a little bit less strong
The good or bad outcome of conversations depends more on the natural relationship tendency between the participants
Explanations
Improved relationship panel now shows the natural relationship tendency between people as well as info on children:
Bugfixes
Fixed a bug where a child would die of old age instead of growing up
Fixed bug where you couldn't load a save if a migrant had built a snowman
Fathers are called "father" now
Fixed a bug where you weren't able to store the elixir of life
I have heard some reports of children not being born despite the conditions being fulfilled. If you encounter an issue with that, open a thread about it and let me know! If it turns out it's actually a bug and I get a broken save file, I can easily fix it.
Alpha 12.0.1 also fixed a bunch of smaller bugs here and there, I released this one silently short after release ;)
I hope the update improves your experience!
The Family Update is available!
If you have been following the forum thread during the last week, you already know a whole lot about what’s new. If not, you can either read it now, or check out the sweet new mini-trailer for this update:
[previewyoutube="rEkgWio8Ans;full"]
It’s called the Family Update, but let’s not forget the Relationships, that are new as well! Villagers can now become friends (and enemies!) with each other. Once your village has grown, they will also require a minimum amount of friends to be happy.
Another important change is that villagers now age and die. Unless you can find the famed, and possibly cursed, elixir of youth…
I’m quite curious what you think of this update. Let us know if we should continue heading in a direction like this, or get back to adding more typical survival/building gameplay features in the next update.
For a detailed list of what’s new, check out the changelog.
Changelog
Features
Relationships, ranging from “Nemesis” to “Love of their life”
New social interactions: joking, impressing, insulting, apologising, and more
Villagers can be annoyed at each other and refuse talking
Age levels: Child, Adult, Elder
Children don’t have expectations or jobs, but require positive childhood happiness and education to grow up well
Upon growing up, villagers get new traits + education levels
New wishes for friendship/enemy levels, social interactions, kids, education, and more
Bed + Bookshelf for Children
2 new carpets
Building a snowman together, just for fun
Elixir of Youth
Gameplay Changes
Community Expectation: Villagers want to have friends
Raised villager limit from 11 to 13
Reordered expectations to make the first few colonists slightly easier
Hugs only available after relationship status “Buddies”
Attack strength is now capped for endgame colonies in calm and exciting worlds
It now takes a little time to fulfil simple wishes like “relax”
Since children get education in their youth, educating adults is now slightly harder
Added all of the new social interactions to villagers’ party behavior
Rocks and iron ore patches now contain a lot more material – this is important for large end game villages
Villagers eat a little bit more
Tiki + pirate equipment now less valuable and some require experience, to be more balanced
I hope you all enjoy the heck out of the Family Update!
Alpha 12 News and Community Movie
Hello everyone, I hope you're having a great day!
It looks like we'll be able to release Alpha 12 soon, so from now on, i'm going to release one small thing about 12 every 24 hours, every day on 6pm CET to be precise - until we release.
All of the news are going to be posted in this forum thread (but you're welcome to discuss it on here as well, of course!) https://forum.foundersfortune.com/t/alpha-12-news/1023
I'm going to start small and release more and more things as time goes on. I hope you're going to love Alpha 12 and the new game mechanics!
Community Movie
As for the second piece of news: Alena, a regular community member has recently finished a long movie project.
With over 1000 scenes filmed on 4 islands, this is definitely one of the biggest projects yet and features quite the story. Plus, there are some great build ideas in there as well.
Check it out on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umZxbeYc8Kc
Alpha 11.3 fixes a bunch of bugs - Happy Holidays
(Showcased picture by Alena on the Discord Server)
Alpha 11.3 is a small update that fixes a bunch of bugs
Can carry people to bed even if in combat mode ( @eveloine )
Keybindings for floor switching now changeable properly ( @Alena
myWitch* )
Stockpiles at proper fullness level after loading ( @Alena
myWitch* )
Colonist floor teleportation occurs a lot less now
Fixed some AI failures when moving objects
Colonists now visible on top of guard towers when view on the same floor as tower
Bows now visible again (@MasterCelebi )
Fixed missing texts for forge and well interactions ( even into Australian @roo ;)
Popups that appear while you're dragging to select colonists are no longer blocked (@Mr.Koala )
Added explanations that goblin statues can be used as diplomatic presents
Lots of spelling fixes (thanks @MoeGraph @MarpoLoco | Thomas d. Gemütliche )
Fixed bug where you were able to build walls for free in certain conditions ( @Mcdonngle )
