Foundations

Foundations are tile-able structures that can be used to make platforms for other buildings to be built on. When stacked on each other with adequate spacing, they can be used to build multi-story factories. Foundations provide a grid of snap points for all buildings and allow for the construction of walls and walkways, facilitating the construction of organized factories.

Ramps
Default Ramp= Double Ramp= Corner Ramps=

Ramps Inverted
Inverted Ramp= Inverted Ramp Corner =

Usage
The foundation not only serves to flatten your production line but also has an 8x8 "grid" linked to it, which allows for perfect alignment and non-colliding side-by-side structures.

While you must construct the very first Foundation block on the ground, valid ground objects, or attached to a valid vertical surface (such as a cliff or a tree trunk), you can attach subsequent foundation blocks on top, under, and/or on any of the 4 sides. You can dismantle that first starting block later to make a floating platform.

With Foundations, you can create multiple floors so you can expand a production facility vertically to save horizontal space. While this brings a few construction challenges, building vertically reduces the footprint of your facilities.

Using long connected foundations, you can construct large unsupported bridges and work floors, even floating in mid-air (although you need to temporarily construct a support structure when building them which you can destroy afterward). For a more realistic appearance, there are pillar structures that can be built beneath the constructed bridges.

Ramps are sloped structures that allow for the construction of foundations, other ramps or Walkways on 3 of its sides. For vehicle automation, it is advised to use Ramp 8m x 2m instead of Ramp 8m x 4m since vehicles can struggle to climb up the steep slope. The maximum speed a tractor can go up this ramp is 11km/h and the max speed a truck can is 24km/h. The 1-meter ramp height is also meant for matching the height of the train station platform, and is suitable for inclined railway due to its gradual slope.

Tips

 * Small production facilities can easily be set up without Foundations. But making large facilities without Foundations will be challenging or even impossible due to the uneven terrain and inability to align buildings accurately.
 * It is a good idea to always have enough Concrete in your inventory when you go exploring so that you can create bridges and ramps with Foundations to reach places you cannot otherwise walk, jump or fly to.
 * If you are going to build an outpost far away from your main base or hub, it's a good idea to first find a nearby Limestone deposit and build a small concrete production facility with one or two Storage Containers attached to the output. This could save you several time-consuming trips back to base to fetch more Concrete. A Miner or Miner Mk2 and two Constructors can easily be powered by a single Biomass Burner. You can fuel the burner with organic material you collect nearby (or more ideally a stack of Solid Biofuel you brought with you or make on the spot with a Craft Bench).
 * Generally thinner foundations are preferred to create large floors because of the height saved.
 * In a pinch, it is easy to make extra Concrete in the Craft Bench manually mined from Limestone chunks which you can find all over the map.
 * With some practice and a good technique, you can build large foundations very rapidly.
 * Foundations can be built on natural cliffs with a positive slope. Foundations can be built on floating items dropped by an engineer, such as Wire.
 * The 1m height foundation was added to fix the height difference for the train station platform.
 * Proprietary and Top Secret FICSIT technology has created Foundations that do not need support from the ground.
 * Quarter pipes can be combined to form a tunnel-like structure or even a tunnel network, to form man-made 'underground' networks.
 * When built in a spiral, Stairs have a square hole in the center of the stack that leaves enough clearance to fit a vertical Jump Pad, or a pillar.
 * Corner ramps up do not have an encroachment box, so they are ideal for covering up holes between foundations due to intersecting infrastructure such as conveyor lifts and pipes.
 * Frame Foundations allow some other infrastructure to be built within them, such as belts and pipes.
 * Unlike normal Ramps, Double Ramps can snap to all four sides, allowing fast creation of long slopes.

History

 * Patch 0.3.2.0: Introduced Curved Ramps, Quarter Pipe corner pieces, Inverted Ramp Corners and Double Ramps in all sizes
 * Patch 0.3: Introduced Quarter Pipes, Double Ramp 8m x 8m, Inverted Ramp 8m x 4m and Ramp Corner Down (4m, 2m, 1m). Foundations now have a new underside and can be painted.
 * Patch 0.2.1.8: Fixed Ramp 8m x 1m disappearing from the hotbar
 * Patch 0.2.1.6: Introduced Ramp 8m x 1m
 * Patch 0.1.17 build 101353: Introduced Foundation 8m x 1m
 * Patch 0.1.12: Fixed the 8x2 Ramp mesh so they don’t miss their bottom side anymore

Trivia

 * There are 46 metal strips within the framed strip down each edge of a foundation tile.
 * There are 20 circular bumps per row in the middle segment of a foundation tile, with 30 rows of circular bumps.

Reference
Fondations