Foundation - Mike


Hi all!

Get 20% OFF Foundation’s regular price starting right now up until November 29, 2022.

See for yourself all the new features, overhauled systems and experimental map generator introduced in Update 1.9.

Now is a great time to jump into our medieval city-builder and build a thriving village!
Foundation - Mike
Hello everyone!

Patch 1.9.0.37 is now available. Here’s what’s included:

QOL/Tweaks
  • Builders will be more efficient
  • Cloister improvements:
    --Added new Entrance & Hall descriptions to parts
    --Moved the Rustic Cloister wall to the Decorative category
    --Updated Decorative category and description
  • Destroying a sub-building no longer closes the building window, instead going back to the parent building window
  • Updated Help topics and tooltips for Influence, Splendor & Splendor Rating
  • Minor music improvements

Bug fixes
  • Debuff timer for the Monastery Trade Favour was set to 0
  • Construction requirements were displaying wrong font colors and a double space
  • The Traders panel was displaying wrong colors for both Wants to buy and Wants to sell categories

Crash Fixes
  • Crash related to Trade Routes when clicking on a Courier in your village

Modding
  • Exposed Agent need and building function for the Monastic Cloister
  • Exposed the Behavior Transporter function
  • Exposed the Behavior Tax Collection function
  • Exposed sitting animations
Foundation - Mike
Hello Lords & Ladies!

We have a great announcement today about something that has been cooking for a while and that we’re finally ready to lift the lid from.

The first iteration of our random map generator is now available to experiment! To do so, switch to the Map Generator branch on Steam and GOG (see how that works below).

Experimental yes, but here to stay

If you start a game using the map generator, you will be able to keep playing it with further updates, as long as you stay in the experimental branch, until we deploy the map generator on the public branch. We won’t remove access to the experimental branch until then. The experimental branch will also benefit from the same updates as the public build. So feel free to move to the experimental branch as you see fit.

Map Generator Highlights

Map Settings

In this first beta version, you will be able to generate random and unique maps based on 3 settings:
  • Hills
  • Fluvial
  • Coastal




Organic Territories

Gone are the days of hex-shaped territories: they now procedurally fit with the topography of the area, like an island, or a promontory, but also with what’s in it. For instance, a territory containing a mineral deposit will be much smaller than one without one.



Note that this is our first take at procedural territories. We plan to improve them in further iterations with the help of your feedback.

How to Generate a Map

Generating a unique map is done quickly. Here’s how:
  • Click on New Game
  • Under Procedural Maps, choose your topography
  • Click Generate to see a preview of your random map
  • When you’re satisfied with the preview, click Confirm


How to access the experimental branch

Opting into the experimental_mapgen branch to test the map generator’s experimental release is quick, here’s how:
  • Open Steam
  • Right-click on Foundation
  • Click Properties
  • Click BETAS
  • Opt into the experimental_mapgen branch. This will initiate an update of your game files
  • Launch the game



What’s planned for the future
  • We know that many of you will ask for more customization options, and in time, we plan to give you these options
  • More map types will also be added over time
We hope you enjoy this first iteration of the map generator. Feel free to discuss this new feature and share your own results!

-The Polymorph Games team
Foundation - Polymorph Games
Hello builders!

Patch 1.9.0.35 is now available. Here’s the details:
Game Balance
    Reduced Negative Impact of Taxation
  • 2nd Level reduced from -10 to -5
  • 3rd Level reduced from -40 to -15
  • 4th Level reduced from -70 to -25
  • 5th Level reduced from -100 to -50
  • 6th Level reduced from -130 to -100
    Balanced Upfront cost of multiple workplaces
  • Added an upfront cost of 10 coins to the Warehouse
  • Reduced the upfront cost of Well from 20 coins to 10 coins
  • Reduced the upfront cost of Bakery from 150 coins to 100 coins
  • Reduced the upfront cost of Berry Table from 20 coins to 10 coins
  • Added an upfront cost of 300 coins to the Candle Workshop
  • Increased the upfront cost of the Cheesemaker from 150 coins to 200 coins
  • Added an upfront cost of 300 coins to the Common Wares Workshop
  • Increased the upfront cost of the Dairy Farm from 75 coins to 150 coins
  • Added an upfront cost of 10 coins to the Forester
  • Added an upfront cost of 500 coins to the Glass Smelter
  • Added an upfront cost of 500 coins to the Gold Smelter
  • Reduced the upfront cost of the Granary from 50 coins to 10 coins
  • Added an upfront cost of 500 coins to the Jeweler
  • Added an upfront cost of 10 coins to the Sawmill
  • Reduced the upfront cost of Stonecutter from 25 coins to 10 coins
  • Reduced the upfront cost of Weaponsmith from 500 coins to 200 coins
  • Reduced the upfront cost of Weaver’s Hut from 100 coins to 50 coins
  • Reduced the upfront cost of Wheat Farm from 75 coins to 50 coins
  • Reduced the upfront cost of Windmill from 100 coins to 75 coins
  • Reduced the upfront cost of Woodcutter from 20 coins to 10 coins
    Increased Trade Route capacity from 10 to 12
    Balanced Unlockable cost
    Common Path
  • Reduced cost of Bailiff from 100 coins to 25 coins
  • Reduced cost of Warehouse from 50 coins to 25 coins
  • Reduced cost of Clothing from 100 coins to 75 coins
  • Reduced cost of Decorative 1 from 100 coins to 50 coins
  • Reduced cost of Bailiff Edict from 200 coins to 100 coins
  • Reduced cost of Farming from 100 coins to 75 coins
  • Reduced cost of Fishing Hut from 100 coins to 50 coins
  • Reduced cost of Stonemason from 100 coins to 50 coins
  • Reduced cost of Beer Production from 200 coins to 150 coins
  • Reduced cost of Common Goods from 350 coins to 200 coins
  • Increased cost of Cooperage from 100 coins to 200 coins
  • Increased cost of Dairy Farming from 200 coins to 250 coins
  • Reduced cost of Decorative 2 from 400 coins to 200 coins
  • Increased cost of Double Mineral Edict from 200 coins to 400 coins
  • Increased cost of Bulk Trade Edict from 200 coins to 400 coins
  • Increased cost of Hunter from 100 coins to 200 coins
  • Increased cost of Candle Tech from 300 coins to 400 coins
  • Increased cost of Common Wares Tech from 300 coins to 400 coins
  • Reduced cost of Jewelery from 500 coins to 400 coins
  • Increased cost of Stone Bridge from 250 coins to 400 coins
    Clergy Estate
  • Reduced cost of Monastery from 50 coins to 25 coins
  • Reduced cost of Rustic Church Splendor from 50 coins to 25 coins
  • Reduced cost of Hospitium from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Reduced cost of Refectory from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Reduced cost of Monastery Rustic Decorative from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Reduced cost of Monastery Treasury from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Reduced cost of Small Stone Wall from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Reduced cost of Church Bell Tower from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Increased cost of Clergy Kingdom Splendor Privilege from 10 Splendor to 15 Splendor
  • Increased cost of Tithe Taxation Privilege from 10 Splendor to 15 Splendor
  • Increased cost of Trade Influence Privilege from 25 Splendor to 30 Splendor
  • IIncreased cost of High Upkeep Privilege from 25 Splendor to 30 Splendor
    Kingdom Estate
  • Reduced cost of Military Fort from 50 coins to 25 coins
  • Reduced cost of Wooden Wall from 50 coins to 25 coins
  • Reduced cost of Military Fort Splendor from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Reduced cost of Stone Wall from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Increased cost of Bonus Territory Splendor Privilege from 10 Splendor to 15 Splendor
  • Increased cost of Knight Privilege from 25 Splendor to 30 Splendor
  • Increased cost of High Upkeep Privilege from 25 Splendor to 30 Splendor
    Labour Estate
  • Reduced cost of Hedge Wall from 50 coins to 25 coins
  • Reduced cost of Manor Splendor Part from 50 coins to 25 coins
  • Reduced cost of Market Splendor Part from 50 coins to 25 coins
  • Reduced cost of Tavern from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Reduced cost of Tavern Wall from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Reduced cost of Miling Tax from 10 Splendor to 5 Splendor
  • Increased cost of Extra Tax Privilege from 10 Splendor to 15 Splendor
  • Increased cost of Labour Kingdom Privilege from 10 Splendor to 15 Splendor
  • Increased cost of High Tax Privilege from 25 Splendor to 30 Splendor
  • Increased cost of Trade Influence Privilege from 25 Splendor to 30 Splendor
  • Increased cost of High Upkeep Privilege from 25 Splendor to 30 Splendor
    Balanced trade values of resources
  • Reduced value of Tools
  • Import: 4 coins to 3 coins
  • Export: 8 coins to 7 coins
  • Reduced value of Iron Bar
  • Import: 5 coins to 3 coins
  • Export: 10 coins to 6 coins
  • Increased value of Polished Stone
  • Import: 2 coins to 3 coins
  • Export: 5 coins to 6 coins
  • Increased Milk Input Storage of Cheesemaker from 15 to 25
  • Increased Cloth Input Storage of Tailor from 10 to 15
  • Added Worker Ratio Capacity of 0.5 to the Monastery Kitchen Function
  • Changed the construction cost of Rustic Gate, Elevated
  • 10 to 5 Polished Stone
  • 10 to 15 Stone
  • Changed the construction cost of Rustic Facade (Root)
  • 25 to 15 Polished Stone
  • 15 to 25 Stone
  • Changed the construction cost of Rustic Facade (Tiling)
  • 5 to 3 Polished Stone
  • 3 to 5 Stone
  • Reduced cost of Beautification Decoratives to 100
  • Added upfront cost to Market Tents
  • Doubled Keep Splendor to compensate with lack of buildings
  • Monastery Rustic parts are now included in the basic set
  • Removed the Monastery requirement for the Gemmed Cross Masterpiece
QOL/Tweaks
  • Upgrading a trade route with coins or influence will now trigger an outcome panel
  • Added a tooltip when hovering over a construction requirement
  • Edicts and Privileges with multiple effects will now be separated by bullet points
  • Privileges’ icons will now display a tooltip of their respective Estate
  • Rustic, Modest and Legacy Cloister parts’ exterior navigable area is now connected to its internal part
  • Updated Legacy Cloister
  • The Work Progress bar now applies to all workplaces. It includes both the Production Cycle Duration and the Work Cycle needed
  • Cloister condition will now accept only one cloister shape
  • Visitors on horseback will now properly show their scrolls
  • Added new sound effects to the Sawmill
  • Added a button to devote villagers inside dorm sub-buildings
  • Quest timers are now inline with the quest title
  • Cloister shapes must now be adjacent to any building part to be valid
  • Villager requirements is now better communicated in-game
  • Updated localizations
Bug fixes
  • Moving a monument part was resetting the rotation of all connected parts
  • Villagers’ hair color was reset upon loading a save
  • The tooltip for higher job status on hidden jobs was still showing up
  • During a trade route upgrade quest, the ‘A Courier is approaching’ notification wasn’t displayed unless the game was paused
  • Room capacity and room size values of the Wooden Chapel, Inclined part (from Rustic Church) weren’t increasing
  • The sound effect from painting a zone continued to play if the player pressed the ESC key while painting and moving the mouse at the same time
  • A door from the Rustic Monastery wasn’t working properly with the Chapel
  • Evicting villagers didn’t incur a happiness penalty
  • It was possible to have a Masterpiece in an unfinishable state
  • Fixed a typo in the Labour Fair event text
  • Destroying the first Cloister while having a preview part for another one wasn’t resetting the "Enclosed Area" special requirement
  • Houses accumulated taxes while being built
  • Incorrect values were being displayed in the UI for upkeep costs
  • Pilgrims didn’t reach the visitor location to pray at a Shrine and instead went to the village center
  • Hedge walls sinked into the ground when edited
Crash fixes
  • Crash related to custom mandates when placing a Great Hall sub-building with modded games
  • Crash related to closing the building zone editor
  • Crash related to a cloister with the Shrine Masterpiece
  • Other rare crash fixes
Modding
  • Covered Bridge mod: when snapping a house from the “Covered bridge” monument to one of the nodes on the “Center” parts, if you didn’t attach it on your first try, you wouldn’t be able to snap the house to any nodes
  • Livestock Farms mod: some buildings showed up twice in the building parts list
  • Ruins mod: loading it would cause an instant crash

As always, we are more than happy to read your feedback about this new patch. Head over to our Discord channel if you want to chime in!
Foundation - Mike
Welcome everyone to this new community broadcast!

Starting today at 1PM EST and until the 26th at 1PM EST, delve into Update 1.9 with players from all around the world.

Watch as new medieval villages get built, decisions are made and a lot of fun is had with the new features!

If you emjoy what you see, make sure to let it be known in the stream chat. Enjoy!



Foundation - Mike
Greetings Lords & Ladies!

Foundation’s Update 1.9 is finally here.

The team has been hard at work to bring you quality content as part of a new and improved gameplay experience.

Here's an overview of what's included.

Village Aspirations

A fundamental aspect of Foundation is the customisation of your experience, which is reflected in the game by the organic growth that makes each village unique. With 1.9, we wanted to go one step further and give you the ability to achieve Village Aspirations: optional objectives that offer different ways to play in order to nab sweet GOG or Steam achievements. Examples include building an Abbatial Church or having 100 citizens in your village

Village Aspirations are another way for us to not only increase the replayability of Foundation, but also to make it a somewhat more challenging experience.



Progression revised from the ground up

Update 1.9 changes several elements of Foundation, including the way you progress into the game. Now, each Estate—whether it be Labour, Clergy or Kingdom—has several unlockables of its own. Investing influence in and thus favouring one Estate makes it more difficult to progress with the others. This dynamic requires more planning on your part and adds weight to your decisions without restricting your ambitions.



In addition to Estate-specific progression paths, there is also a common progression path, which includes quite a few essential production buildings in Foundation, such as the Warehouse, the Stonecutter Camp and the Fishing Hut. In either case, you will need to reach different tiers of Prosperity before being able to unlock some of the most desirable options. This new measure of your success takes into account six factors: wealth, territory size, trade, population, splendor and beautification.



Our next updates will focus on upgrading both the Kingdom and Labor progression paths.

Edicts and privileges

You may have noticed that the progression page has a tab dedicated to edicts and privileges. This is another new feature introduced with Update 1.9. The first case represents what may be described as laws that you enact in your village. The second case represents rewards given by the different Estates to their most loyal Lords or Ladies.

Edicts and privileges grant important boons such as reducing a Splendor penalty between two Estates, increasing the market value of certain resources or reducing the maintenance cost of production buildings by half. They are unlocked with coins or influence points. Afterwards, you just have to choose the edicts or privileges you want to activate.



Buildings and sub-buildings

The city-building aspect is at the heart of the Foundation experience, so we wanted to let you expand the capabilities of your buildings. You can now assign functions to a group of building parts (what we call sub-buildings) instead of individual parts. Each sub-building will therefore be linked to a single function (e.g. Treasury) which you can change should you desire so.

In a few words, this means that a Monastery can now be home to a Chapel, a Scriptorium, a Hospitium, a Monastic Garden and so on. The same goes for a Market, which you can expand by adding a sub-building associated with a separate function from the parent building if you wish, such as a Luxury Goods Stall. At any time, it is possible to browse each of the functions of a parent building thanks to the "Parts List" tab.

A glorious Monastery

Progressing on the Clergy path, you’ll soon notice important changes. For starters, there are several new functions available, including a Hospitium that will host visitors, a Scriptorium that will help you produce Manuscripts used to promote your faithfuls or a Cloister where they can meditate while fulfilling a new need. Moreover, you will have the pleasure of building a prettified Abbatial Church: our artists have done a great job upgrading its visuals for your enjoyment!



Taxes for all

Previously, Foundation's economy was largely tied to market stalls. With Update 1.9, taxation replaces the main way to fill your coffers. The Manor House now has a Tax Office function, which is combined with the Tax Collector job. Each house accumulates coins over time, and it's up to you to decide how heavily your village will be taxed. But beware: people are not too keen on having to pay much, so there is a balance to be struck so as not to collapse your global Happiness factor!

Even more modding possibilities

In keeping with our commitment to the modding community, we've outlined several new features that are sure to snowball in the coming weeks. Without getting too technical, the major changes to unlockables, the progression system and narrative choices will certainly result in the creation of mods that we'll be happy to share with you!

Looking forward to a bright future

Foundation’s 1.9 update is multi-faceted and marks an important milestone in our Early Access (EA) journey. We hope you will enjoy how we reimagined some of the existing systems while adding more depth to the core medieval city-building experience.

As for what the future holds, in the short term work has already started on a first patch to fix newly discovered bugs. At a later date, and after focusing a lot on the Clergy progression path—particularly the Monastery—we want to give the other two Estates the attention they deserve. We plan to overhaul the Kingdom and Labor progression paths, in that order.. We will let you fill in the gaps as to what that might entail.

Until then, have fun!
Foundation - Mike
Hello everyone!

We've updated the public preview to version 1.9.0.22.0928.

Please note that this update is currently still in development. In order to try it, you have to first opt into the preview beta channel on Steam (right-click on Foundation, click Properties, click BETAS, choose preview from the dropdown, launch the game).

Here's the highlights of this latest patch:

Tweaks/QOL

  • Once the Edit tab is accessed from the Build menu, the scrollbar will now reset
  • Added a slot description for locked Privileges
  • The Estate Upkeep cost modifier now always shows Reduced by 100%
  • The free territory value will now be updated live in the menu
  • Added a Taxes tooltip for villagers
  • Improved the balancing and naming of Stone Bridge parts
  • Improved the Giant Gate monument
  • Improved/Updated the names and descriptions of various monuments, categories
  • Moved the Logistics building category to the first position in the Build menu
  • Important audio effects improvements
  • Various onboarding enhancements
  • Various performance enhancements
  • Various localization enhancements

Bug Fixes

  • Delivery Quests couldn't be completed even though the right amount of resources needed were in granaries/warehouses
  • Food never depleted after hosting a fair
  • Additional Edict slots were unlocked after a reload
  • Trader from Northbury could get stuck on the Mountain map
  • The Scriptorium (from the Monastery) was missing from the list of workplaces in the Book
  • The Confirm Delivery button for a Delivery Quest was missing
  • The Sturdy Material Edict showed a 0 Days Left duration
  • Quests could be obtained a second time before the deadline of the first one was over
  • Blueprints could be studied by the Bailiff and give no rewards
  • The sub-building Create button had the wrong tooltip
  • Information from taxes could be cumuluted as you switched between sub-buildings and their parent
  • The Advice can be heard event was missing instructions to activate it
  • There were inconsitencies between the listed effects and the Bulk Trade Edict's tooltip
  • Workers could be in surplus after removing rooms from a workplace
  • The lodging dropdown (Hospitium) displayed profile statuses instead of names
  • The nun need for Stone Cloister was misplaced
  • The Sub-Buildings string was missing for localization purposes (in the Parts panel)

Crash fixes

  • Crash when a market was deleted while there was an active reservation
  • Crash related to an abandoned territory
  • Crash when a Military Fort was switched to another function
  • Crash when you switched from Edit Building to Parts List on modded monuments
  • Crash due to missing workplace data on modded worplaces after loading a save

Modding

  • Exposed some taxation assets
Foundation - Mike


Hello Lords & Ladies,

As promised, we are happy to let you try Foundation’s upcoming 1.9 Update before its official release.

Starting right now, you can opt into the public playtest on Steam and have a taste of what the team has been working on for the past several months. You will find detailed instructions on how to configure your game further below.

Update 1.9 marks a significant milestone in the development of our medieval city-building game. We encourage you to play on the Clergy progression path, as it is the most advanced in terms of narrative and unlockables out of the three available Estates in Foundation.

Here’s some highlights from Update 1.9:

  • The Monastery monument (from the Clergy Estate) has been significantly enhanced. There are plenty of new functions available, including a Hospitum (to host visitors), a Scriptorium (to produce Manuscripts, a new resource) and Nun Dorms to which you can concede female villagers for the first time!
  • Monuments can now have sub buildings. For instance, you can build a Chapel inside your Monastery, or a Great Hall in your Manor House, both made from multiple parts. You can also switch the functions of sub buildings at will should you require so.
  • Progression in Foundation has been completely redone. At the beginning, you will unlock buildings from a common progression path, then you will have to choose which of the three Estates—Labor, Kingdom or Clergy—you want to invest towards.
  • The economy has also shifted dramatically from being market-centric to now relying heavily on taxation. You will have to build a Tax Office, assign a Tax Collector and strike a balance between filling your coffers without tanking your global Happiness factor!
  • You will notice that narration plays a bigger role in Foundation than ever. Indeed, we’ve added a large number of interesting events and opportunities, ranging from hosting fairs to improving trades with neighbors and much, much more. In that same regard, players will feel they have more of a say as Lord/Lady thanks to the addition of more extensive narrative choices.
  • Edicts and privileges let you bend the rules in your favor. The former are laws you enact for your village, while the latter are special ‘gifts’ handed out by Estates to their most loyal followers.
  • Onboarding quests will help new and returning players alike get their bearings. Of course, you can choose to skip them altogether!

How can I participate in Foundation’s Update 1.9 Public Playtest on Steam?

  1. Open the Steam client
  2. Right-click on Foundation
  3. Click on Properties
  4. Click on BETAS
  5. Under Select the beta you would like to opt into, choose preview
  6. Launch the game

We hope you have fun while you give this update a go! Feel free to discuss the update here on Steam or on our official Discord channel.


Foundation - Mike
Hi Steam community! Today we have awesome news to share with you.

For the past few months, we've been hard at work on Foundation's Update 1.9.

We are happy to confirm that you will be able to participate in a public playtest starting next Monday, September the 19th.

This will be an opportunity to explore several new gameplay features and overhauled mechanics, including:

  • Taxation
  • Sub buildings
  • Progression paths
  • Estate system with trade-offs
  • Narrative choices
  • Edicts and privileges
  • Village Aspirations
  • Onboarding
  • And more!


Stay tuned for more details as the public playtest draws closer!
Foundation - Mike
Hello everyone!



Progress on our next major update (1.9) is going at a steady pace and today we have yet another new feature to delve into, so let’s get started!

While overhauling the progression system—one of our priorities for 1.9—we have thought about new ways to reward your efforts after investing time and resources either in the common progression path or towards specific Estates.

We also wanted the unlockables to feel impactful and add a new layer of decision making to the game. This is how edicts and privileges and technologies came to life, each influencing the inner workings of your village.

Edicts are special laws you can enact in your village. More often than not, they have a negative tradeoff you should be aware of, which adds to the weight of your decisions. Reaching new progression tiers, which is achieved by raising your Prosperity, will let you enact even more edicts.

Edict examples:
  • An edict that double minerals production but halves food production
  • An edict that halves serfs’ comfort need but reduces their taxation rate
  • An edict that refunds half of the tools spent after completing a construction but slightly raises construction time
Privileges let you bend the rules of the game and reflect how well you are doing with a specific Estate—be it Labor, Clergy or Kingdom. As you gain Splendor for each Estate, you will be granted various benefits that will make your city-building experience that much more immersive…and fun!

Privilege examples:

  • A Labor privilege that allows you to develop your splendor with another estate at half the net splendor penalty
  • A Clergy privilege that adds a new taxation type, the Tithe (revenue with churches), and you will get a share of it
  • A Kingdom privilege will half the normal territory recurring fees



At the moment, the number of edicts and privileges you can have at once depends on the progression tier you’ve reached either in the common path or with a specific Estate.

We hope this preview has you pumped about the future of Foundation. More details about the evolution of the 1.9 update and the availability of a public playtest will follow soon.
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