Hello everyone!
The time has finally arrived... Foundation has officially left Early Access, and version 1.0 is now available!
After 6 years of new features, bug fixes, and improving the game with the help of your feedback, we are proud to finally wrap up Foundation's incredible journey in Early Access!
Since the last major update, we have worked tirelessly to deliver the game we envisioned and the game you want to play. The full release comes with a large number of changes. So many, in fact, that it may seem like a whole new game!
If you want to know what's new, grab a medieval drink and some snacks while the game updates, and we'll take a look through the patch notes.
New and Updated Content
New Main Menu and Rulesets
The first thing you will see is an overhauled main menu that now includes rulesets! Customise your new games using a selection of adjustable rules. Whether you prefer a more relaxed and creative experience or wish to challenge yourself with a higher difficulty, you can now do so at your leisure.
All New Heraldry System
Display your banner with pride! You can now create and customise your village with the new Coat of Arms editor.
Revamped Aspirations
Will you dedicate your efforts to building a thriving priory or craft a magnificent stronghold to win the King's favour? Choose an Aspiration to uncover new ways to play, challenging you to create a unique and distinctive village.
New and Improved Villager Residential Tiers
Residential housing has been revamped for a more seamless and organic experience. Additionally, you can expand your city further with the highest density and quality residential tiers, allowing for more village customisation options.
Improved Progression System
Unlock content seamlessly and enjoyably with a refined progression system, adding depth and strategic opportunities to your city-building adventure. We have also removed the estate trade-off, so you can now concentrate on a single estate or aim to keep everyone happy.
Each estate has a different focus, whether that be a focus on Kingdom Military rewards, Labour estate taxation, or improving trade relations via the Clergy pathway. The choice is yours!
New Onboarding Experience
Whether a new player or a seasoned veteran, the updated onboarding quests and visual aids are now easier to follow, helping everyone find a perfect start to their village.
New Military System and Castle Monument
Take on new challenges with a refreshed military system that will have you create Companies to send abroad and have them bring back precious resources and gold coins.
Naturally, these Military Companies need a home fit for a king, and what makes a better home than a Castle! Flex your creativity by building and customising your Castle from various parts, much like other Monuments.
New and Improved Walls
Walls are now fully integrated into the building system. Plan and build your walls to add fortification coverage to your village. Some buildings require fortification coverage to function.
Patrols and Fortifications
Alongside the new buildable walls, you will also discover Watchtowers and Guard placements adding further fortification options to your settlement.
Medium-density residential tiers now require consistent patrol coverage. Patrols can be formed from a City Watch in the Labour estate or by tasking your Military with the job of keeping your village secure.
Paved Roads
Meet the needs of the new high-tier housing with our new paved road mechanic, tailored to support your most developed areas. A new paint tool is now available to give you complete control of where you wish paved roads to be created.
Extendable Buildings
Some workplaces, such as the Woodcutter Camp, Warehouse, and Stonemason, can now be expanded with new parts to increase storage, worker slots, and more!
More Building Customisation
Most Monuments can now have their roof colour customised to your liking, offering more choices for their appearance. Additionally, some building parts have varying cosmetics and can be easily switched while editing via the new part-switcher feature.
Enhanced UI
We have significantly streamlined the user interface throughout the game. From a new main menu, progression tree, and tooltips, to an improved Book providing in-depth information about your village, not to mention a massively overhauled Monument design experience. All implemented to improve gameplay and enhance your city-building efficiency.
Monument building has evolved, allowing you to move and replace parts with minimum fuss, helping you customise your Monuments more seamlessly.
Enjoy a Completely Revamped Art Direction!
Dynamic Environment Overhaul
Your Cities will now take on a completely new look and feel, helping you experience Foundation in a whole new way. Enhanced map creation, refined lighting, map edges, and major environmental changes, all of which bring more depth and immersion to your city-building adventure.
Revamped Art and Assets
Discover updated visuals to all buildings, including an elaborate new Manor House and the brand new Castle Monument. With more detail and realism for every building, your cities will be the talk of the realm!
New and Improved Animations
Get a closer look at your Woodcutters as they chop down trees, observe your Villagers during their leisure time, or track your Hunters as they look for animals to hunt. All new and enhanced animations bring your Villagers to life, adding greater immersion to your cities.
New Cosmetic Time of Day Switcher
Switch between day and night to see your village come to life during the darker hours.
New Photo Mode
The new photo mode lets you capture in-game moments to keep for yourself or share with the community. Don't forget to tag us on social media when you share your creations.
Will I Still Be Able to Play My Old Cities?
Early Access Saves
Due to massive changes to the game, saves from early access will not be compatible with the full release version. However, if you wish to continue your Cities from Early Access, you can access the old 1.9 version in the Steam Betas options. Choose early_access_1_9 in the beta options
Note: the older 1.9 version will likely receive no updates and may be shut down eventually.
Demo Saves
Demo saves can be continued in the full release version.
Modding
Mods will need to be updated and, as such, will not be available during the initial release from Early Access. We will be collaborating closely with mod creators in the coming weeks to update their mods and will also introduce new modding features in the future.
Supported Languages
The following languages will be officially supported on release:
- English
- French
- German
- Italian
- Japanese
- Portuguese (Brazilian)
- Russian
- Spanish
- Chinese (Simplified)
What's Next for Foundation
This is not the end of the road for Foundation. We will continue to add free quality-of-life updates, bug fixes, and further improvements to the game, including modding features and tools.
Beyond the full release, we also have exciting DLC content planned, with more details to be revealed in upcoming announcements.
If you encounter any issues with this new release, please let us know over on the Steam forums or join us on our Discord server. We always appreciate your feedback and bug reports, and we aim to address any new issues ASAP.
Thank You to All Our Supporters!
To all our early access supporters, we extend our heartfelt thanks! Your invaluable feedback over the years has been instrumental in shaping the game. We deeply appreciate your unwavering support, thoughtful insights, and kind words. Thank you for fostering a warm and welcoming community, playtesting countless iterations, and being an essential part of this incredible journey with us!
Some of you have asked how you can support us further, which means so much to us! We have created a supporter pack that you can upgrade/buy on our store page containing a unique building, the Guivre Garden, along with the original Foundation soundtrack. The Guivre Garden consists of 19 parts, including a main statue and 3 secondary statues, giving you even more options to embellish your city.
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/49979/Foundation_Supporter_Edition/
Thank you all once again. We hope you enjoy the new update!
The Polymorph Games team
