Machiavello was an outstanding mod developed by Italian users in an Italian TW forum time ago. The Housekeeper was the man behind all, implementing various scripts and interesting features. The mod portrayed an unique although neglected atmosphere - that of mid-XV century Italy.
There is a mod on "Renaissance Italy", which sets its start in XVI century. Now, this is a painful for historiography, as for Italians the Renaissance could be enclosed in the XV century; what come after is identifed as the period of the Reform and Counterreform, in which Italy was just a mere battleground for Spain, Habsburgs and France. English historiography instead label "Renaissance" the XVI and early XVII century as they were a golden age of discoveries and economic growth for England. But I digress.
Mid-XV Century Italy is a fascinating land in which constant wars reshaped the peninsula: we see the exponential increase of mercenaries who now form entire armies and manage to conquer whole states like Francesco Sforza, the rising power of Venice, the shaking throne of Naples between the Angevin-Aragonese wars, the fall of an imposing dinasty such as the Visconti, the struggles of medium and small powers to resist conquest and invasion, the rise to power of the Medici, popular revolts that led to short-lived republics, the growing power of the Ottomans, and more, and more.
Now, to the mod. As the original one was become outdated and unsupported since The Housekeeper retired from modding, I thought it would be awesome if I saw ingame better things. Better units, a more realistic representation of the states, their power, the map and so on. So I did it with other modders, such as LucianoB and Francesco Forel, who spent an incredible amount of time for it. The map. The map is as detailed as possible due to the limit of 200 provinces. It represents Italy and its immediate surroundings.
With the cities, representing the main settlement of a province, there are many "Secondary settlements" represented ingame as forts/towers, but looking like castles and villages. Every italian political subdivision is correctly implemented. Borders are correct, rivers flows by the hundreds, mountains and mountain passes are hand-made on real world maps. Smaller political entities that depended nominally from the Holy Roman Empire are part of a singular "Free Cities" province.
A second map is present for a provincial campaign on the rise and fall of the Ambrosian Republic that focuses on North Italy, in which the level of detail is even more accurate, such as San Marino that gets its own province there.
Yes, I know people prefer to see rather than read. Here is a small preview. With stratmap models on it.
***CAMPAIGN MAP PREVIEW - MARQUISATE OF ESTE & LORDSHIP OF FERRARA***
As said before, here is a preview for the campaign map regarding the Marquisate of Este & Lordship of Ferrara.
The area encompass most of Emilia, situated in north Italy. Ferrara and its surrounding is a swampy land around the river Po delta, while Modena and Reggio, the other two cities, lie in the open Padane plain, on fertile agricultural soil.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The first information the player gets is on the Mod itself
And one in particular for the Abbot of Nonantola, a prosperous and well-known Benedictine monastery (and that's why we see that the "priest" has black robes on).
If you wonder if the abbot's name is just put there or is historically correct, well, yes: according to the abbey's chronology until 1447 the abbot was Gian Galeazzo Pepoli.
Now, let's have a look at the family tree. Ahhh, here things gets swell. I've tried to represent as accurately as possible the family branches and the connection of the House of Este with the other noble families.
And his brother, Borso.
In case you wonder: yes, those unique portraits has been hand-made over existing M2TW portraits to represent as close as possible the real people. How do we know how they looked like? Renaissance artworks.
But a ruling family alone does not rule by itself: so we have several other noble houses who are interwined in their family tree, each with his CoA and the explanation of who they were, their allegiances and so on.
The factions.
Here is the list: Ottoman Empire
Kingdom of France
Kingdom of Hungary & Croatia
Kingdom of Aragon, Sicily and Sardinia
Kingdom of Naples (Anjou)
Papal State
Hafsid Caliphate
Marquisate of Mantua
Marquisate of Montferrat
Marquisate of Saluzzo
Marquisate of Fosdinovo (Malaspina) Marquisate of Este & Lordship of Ferrara
Duchy of Austria
Duchy of Burgundy
Duchy of Savoy
Duchy of Milan
Most Serene Republic of Venice
Florentine Republic
Republic of Genoa
Republic of Siena
Republic of Lucca
Republic of Ragusa
Swiss Confederacy
Lordship of Rimini
Lordship of Urbino
Sforzeschi
Bracceschi
The characters. As the mod is rooted in historical facts, characters ingame should strive to be as more real as possible.
Most of them will have a unique portrait (there are already 30+ unique charachter portraits). As this is not enough, there will be several unique characters/leaders with their own stratmap and battlemap model (and in some cases a unique hovering description for them!). Wanna see them?
Click down the spoiler!
The resources. New and modified resources should try to look like smaller settlement; to quickly identify what they provide, they will feature some unmistakable element, as far as possible. I mean, a giant grape should be easy to associate with wine, right?
Very impressive! This period is very fascinating. I'd love to lead some free companies into battle!So what's the status of this mod, exactly? I realize it's a WIP, but is progress moving along nicely? Do you need additional help?Thanks! Keep up the great work. :)
May 10, 2018, 09:22 AM
Mylae
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
The mod has a large part of its units done, the map is complete, and a large chunk of scripts are done.
It still needs a proper recruitment system to be tought upon (aor vs. recruitment via script and so on).
There is new music, the xenophonia project give units and faction voices in different languages, many stratmap items are complete.
Actually is undergoing a rationalization of the 250+ units already completed to eliminate older models, textures and so on.
I'd say that is a 75% complete.
There was a silent development of two years, that will be previewd here in the next days.
May 10, 2018, 10:34 AM
Dead*Man*Wilson
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
Very cool, thanks for the reply. Nice to see amazing new content for M2. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for this release. Feel free to PM me if you need any testing done.
May 10, 2018, 02:50 PM
stevietheconquer
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
very cool to see the units in 3d,and they are very good done
May 10, 2018, 09:31 PM
Diocle
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
I played Hosekeeper's Mod a lot of time ago, I still remember that the map was absolutely great as the fun of wargaming the Italian Renaissance, your new units are simply AWESOME! What can I say? Fantastic idea of reviving a great mod, thanks for your efforts and your art, keep up the work, give us this new masterpiece! :thumbsup2 .. +MEGA-REP!
May 11, 2018, 02:19 AM
Mylae
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
thanks!
Later in the day I will set up a proper map preview with more infos about the regions involved.
May 11, 2018, 08:25 AM
Crociato78
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
Good idea!
I really liked Macchiavello TW (divided into 3 versions), especially "Spicciolati", on the campaign with the Italian map.
I am also a user in the "Medieval Total War Italia" forum.
I hope you will make excellent Estensi units, I am from the province of Ferrara.
May 11, 2018, 10:00 AM
Mylae
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crociato78
Good idea!
I really liked Macchiavello TW (divided into 3 versions), especially "Spicciolati", on the campaign with the Italian map.
I am also a user in the "Medieval Total War Italia" forum.
I hope you will make excellent Estensi units, I am from the province of Ferrara.
ok then I will preview the map around Ferrara later today :D
As an example of map accuracy, the Po will flow in the pre-1608 bed, with a larger swamp around Comacchio and the subdivision of that area between the Po di Primaro and the Po di Volano.
May 14, 2018, 09:57 AM
Dead*Man*Wilson
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
The TW community need more condottieri in their lives! :)
Could you let us know which factions are playable and perhaps what their relative strengths & weaknesses are?
I must admit that I'm not very knowledgeable of this time period, though it is very fascinating.
May 14, 2018, 12:10 PM
Mylae
campaign map preview - Este
CAMPAIGN MAP PREVIEW -
MARQUISATE OF ESTE & LORDSHIP OF FERRARA
As said before, Here is a preview for the campaign map regarding the Marquisate of Este & Lordship of Ferrara.
The area encompass most of Emilia, situated in north Italy. Ferrara and its surrounding is a swampy land around the river Po delta, while Modena and Reggio, the other two cities, lie in the open Padane plain, on fertile agricultural soil.
The first information the player gets is on the Mod itself
And one in particular for the Abbot of Nonantola, a prosperous and well-known Benedictine monastery (and that's why we see that the "priest" has black robes on).
If you wonder if the abbot's name is just put there or is historically correct, well, yes: according to the abbey's chronology until 1447 the abbot was Gian Galeazzo Pepoli.
Now, let's have a look at the family tree. Ahhh, here things gets swell. I've tried to represent as accurately as possible the family branches and the connection of the House of Este with the other noble families.
And his brother, Borso.
In case you wonder: yes, those unique portraits has been hand-made over existing M2TW portraits to represent as close as possible the real people. How do we know how they looked like? Renaissance artworks.
But a ruling family alone does not rule by itself: so we have several other noble houses who are interwined in their family tree, each with his CoA and the explanation of who they were, their allegiances and so on.
Renaissance Italy is one of my favourite time periods +rep
May 15, 2018, 09:13 AM
M.A.E
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
i have a question what is the difference between this and the italian wars ? is it the map and developers ?
May 15, 2018, 09:19 AM
Dead*Man*Wilson
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
Totally different mods. Different creative team, time period, etc. The eras are not that far apart, but besides that, the only similarity is that both mods focus on Italy. Rejoice! We have an exciting new project to further enrich our community. Saluti!
May 15, 2018, 03:06 PM
Hrobatos
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
Amazing work!
May 15, 2018, 05:53 PM
Mylae
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
Quote:
Originally Posted by M.A.E
i have a question what is the difference between this and the italian wars ? is it the map and developers ?
ad @Dead.Man.Wilson said: different timeframe, different developers, different map, different units, different focus. I appreciate their work, though.
May 17, 2018, 06:13 AM
Cesco
Re: Machiavello TW (mid XV Century Italy)
Enjoy this brand new model made by me and Mylae from a Narf one! https://skfb.ly/6yWLF