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 As the original one was become outdated and unsupported since The Housekeeper retired from modding, I thought it would be awesome if I saw ingame better things.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.
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Oh, and we will use the city stratmap models made by Tzardoms: have a look at them!
THE CASTLE OF BUDA
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
FLORENCE
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
GENOA
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
MILAN
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
NAPLES
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
PALERMO
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
ROMA
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
***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 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 units.
Yes, I know that people prefer to see the units. They usually post pics of ingame screenshots.
But why doing that if you can just see them in their 3d beauty? Alas, is not possible to show some preview in 3d here, from sketchfab, so you have to click here: https://sketchfab.com/mylae/models
ITALIAN UNITS
To compensate for it, here are some italian units in 2d
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!
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
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?
Previews from 3d
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Ingame
(sorry for the low quality, but I had a problem that forced me to load campaign map without antialiasing, no shadows and with low stats...)
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The ships.
No naval and commercial power could exist without ships. And what could sustain the economy afloat if not some competent navy?
Previews from 3d
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Ingame
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
The artillery.
Isn't XV century the best time for doing experiments with new artillery? here are the first results you may see of a new ribaudequin.
Ingame
Spoiler Alert, click show to read: