The current survey being undertaken at the Amiga Nutta web site indicates that Foundation is currently the most eagely awaited Amiga game. People have been waiting for the game for a very long time now and the release date has constantly been put back, however, you will not have to wait much longer. The game will almost certainly be ready for December. Below you will find the latest information on how the game is progressing and some more screenshots from it.

Over the past few months the author has been able to work on the finer points of the game and it is now looking very special. One of the major additions is a new medium-resolution set of graphics (Which are for 640x256 resolutions). This has been added for those that want a something more then the Low-Res version but don't have the power to run the High-Res. To be able to run it you'll probably be needing an 030/50Mhz at least, for those with lesser Amigas the Low-Res version will run nicely on a plain A1200 with Fast RAM. As for the High-Res version you'll almost certainly need a GFX card with an 040 processor (Preferably Zorro III, although Zorro II should be Ok), it will be possible to run it on an 060/50Mhz without one though but you'll need lots of free memory. Currently, a 800x600 screenmode is playable on a GFX card equiped system.

A word about the levels in the game, currently it is planned to have 40 mission levels in the game, these will take place over 4 different terrain types - Summer, Winter, Gloomy and Lava. Each map will be different in size from a rather small 64x64 to a massive 512x512. As well as these there will also be a random level creater included with the game, this will allow you to create some great personal levels. There will also be the option to feed Greyscale images and have the system add trees etc to it. I have also heard talk of a map editor program that allows you to design your own levels, however, this is unlikely to find its way into the final release.

One of the excellent new features that has been added is the implementation of air-ballons, these will allow transport of your people and also can be used to make air-raids on your enemies - something that sounds very good. While on the subject of the fighting features the game will now implement an archers hut and a gun tower to help you protect your land. Place loads of these on the borders of your land and you'll be sorted =).

Presentation is also another part of the game that has been worked on a lot recently. The game now has some stunning looking menu screens and also has a rendered intro screen for each level. There will able be a number of animations in the game that will all help to make it look the part. Also the sound part of the game has been reworked, there is now a system implemented that will allow up to 500 speech samples to be added to the game.

A part of the game that lots of people are keeping a close eye on is the multiplayer aspect of the game (Especially those on the Internet). Currently the game allows up to 4 players to fight against eachother, however, I'm told that this can be easily expanded to 8. The only thing that is worrying the author is the TCP link, currently play over the Internet is un-tested and he is not sure how well it will work. However, he is hopefull that any problems that do arise could be sorted out.

Well, thats enough about the game for now :). Just a few last things to mention. Anyone that thinks that development on Foundation will stop as soon as it's released are very wrong. The author plans to make numerous free updates on such things as GFX card support, the level editor, TCP play and more. After which he will be starting development on his new game, I'm not going to say much about this for now but I can tell you that it will be a wargame allowing 16 or more players to play at once and that it will be developed with TCP play and GFX card support very much at the top of the list.

For those of you that are eager to play the game, a demo of Foundation will be available in about 2 weeks. Obviously, I'll let you know the minute it is available.

By the way, in this very issue of What's Hot On The Hot Magazine there is a collection of screenshots from Foundation and can be at Foundation Screenshots article.