• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.

Tinto Flavour #2 - 17th of January 2025 - Florence

Hello, and welcome for the second week to Tinto Flavour, the new series in which we will show the flavour content of the latest super secret Project Caesar!

Today we will be taking a look at Florence! I hope you get visually stunned by what you see, but not a rapid heartbeat, fainting, confusion, or hallucinations, as it happened to Stendhal when he visited the city in 1817. So, let’s start!



The Florentine domain stands strong at the cusp of a new age! Our republic has stood the test of time and is located in a prime position to take advantage of our region's prosperity and affluence. Around us, rivaling states and potential allies all make their moves in a bid to influence and expand their territory in Italy. \n\nHowever, few are as well known for their aptitude in arts and cultural influence as our forums of thought in Florence. Under the guidance of a capable administration and an educated people, the coming century will elevate our people and have us shine brightly as pioneering innovators during a time of great enlightening.

Country Selection.png

As usual, please consider the UI, 2D and 3D art as WIP.

We have two elements here that appear in the Country Selection screen, AKA the Lobby. The first is the flavour immersion text that countries with unique content have. They have dynamic localization keys, which are the two words in bold that appear in the text, and which while hovered, allow to check a game concept. The second is a screenshot of the country name, flag, ruler, and the three main elements that define the country - Government Type (Republic), Country Type (Settled Country), and Country Rank (County). The courtroom illustration is the generic one for European countries, but it can potentially be unique.

Let’s jump into the country itself...
Florence.png

Tuscany is a lovely place, isn’t it?

The Republic of Florence is a Signoria, which is a unique, major Government Reform for Italian countries:
Signoria.png
Signoria Description.png

This reform unlocks a Succession Law, the Elective Potestate:
Elective Potestate.png

Florence also has a unique Estate Privilege for its ‘Senate’ (the flavour name of ‘Nobility’ for Republics, the ‘Signoria Council’:
Signoria Council.png

And a unique Estate Privilege for the Burghers, ‘Florence Guilds’:
Florence Guilds.png

This unlocks a unique Socioeconomic Law, the ‘Primacy of Florentine Guilds’, in which you can pick one of three different policies to embrace, promoting one of the three different types of Guilds:
Primacy of Florentine Guilds.png

Primacy of Florentine Guilds 2.png

Florence has another unique policy for the Legal Code Law, which is the 'Consiglio Maggiore':
Consiglio Maggiore.png

Florence also has unique advances, 13 in total, spread among the different Ages, of which I’m going to show a few selected ones:
Arte della Lana.png

Fiorino d'Oro.png

Florentine City Militia.png

Uffizi.png

You might notice that 3 of them have unique icons/illustrations, while the one for the Florentine Citizen Militia still uses a generic one.

Speaking of the Florentine Citizen Militia, it unlocks a unique type of Army Levy Unit:
Florentine City Militia 2.png

Florentine City Militia 3.png

And the Uffizi unlock a unique building:
Uffizi 2.png



All that I’ve shown you so far is what we internally consider ‘structural content’, that is, the type of content that would show up and could be (mostly) checked when starting a new game and digging and hovering over the different panels in the game. Let’s now start with the ‘narrative content’, the one that appears dynamically as you play the game. Oh, and one comment: although we usually have a minimum amount of 'structural content' and 'narrative content' for each country with unique flavour, it's widely diverse, so some countries have more 'structural ones' than others that have more 'narrative content', and vice versa, with others having a balanced amount of each type.

Florence can suffer two disasters during the game, an outlier in the game. You may see that they have some associated effects as long as they’re active, and that they also have associated events that may also trigger (8 for the Ciompi, 13 for Savonarola). Here you have the first one, the 'Ciompi Revolt':
Ciompi Revolt.png

Ciompi Revolt.png

And here the second one, 'The Rise of Savonarola':
Savonarola 1.png

Savonarola 2.png

Savonarola 3.png

Savonarola 4.png

The background illustration is the generic one, but it will receive a unique one. Oh, also, inviting Savonarola to Florence might not be a wise decision…

Besides disasters, there are a bunch of interesting flavour DHEs (‘dynamic historical events’) that can happen to Florence, of which I’m going to show you a selection.

The first is the creation of the Medici bank, in the form of a Building Based Country, ruled by a member of the Medici family, of course:
Medici Bank.png

If you select the first option, you will continue playing as Florence, while the second makes you to continue playing as the Bank of Medici! This is not a common type of content, at all, but a very special one, worth showing.

The event creates a building in the location of Florence, a Bank, and also an independent BBC, the Bank of Medici:
Bank.png

Bank of Medici.png

Two more banking countries are starting in Florence in 1337, the Banks of Peruzzi and Bardi:
Peruzzi, Bardi, Medici.png

It also showcases the Medici, after triggering the event.

There are more events related to the Medici's rise of power in Florence, but let me not reveal all the interesting content today, so let’s continue with other events…

An interesting historical character in Florence’s 14th century is Sir John Hawkwood, an infamous condottiere:
John Hawkwood.png

If you decide to hire him, you will be able to hire a unique mercenary company, the ‘White Company’, led by Hawkwood as general:
White Company.png

We also have some famous artists from the Florentine Renaissance, such as:
Leonardo Bruni.png

Da Vinci.png

Donatello.png

Do we have here two of the Ninja Turtles, maybe?

But besides characters, you also have events that may be related to buildings, such as the construction of the Duomo of Florence, that may end up with a unique Work of Art:
Event Florence Cathedral.png

Duomo.png



… And much more Florence-related content, as there are dozens of unique flavour events! But I think that this is enough showcase for today, as we don’t want to spoil the fun of starting a game for the first time! Next week we will be taking a look at the unique flavour content for Novgorod, cheers!
 

Attachments

  • Medici Bank.png
    Medici Bank.png
    1 MB · Views: 0
  • Ciompi Revolt 2.png
    Ciompi Revolt 2.png
    809,6 KB · Views: 0
  • Florentine Guilds.png
    Florentine Guilds.png
    291,5 KB · Views: 0
  • Florentine Guilds.png
    Florentine Guilds.png
    291,5 KB · Views: 0
  • Savonarola 3.png
    Savonarola 3.png
    1,1 MB · Views: 0
  • Ciompi Revolt.png
    Ciompi Revolt.png
    1,1 MB · Views: 0
  • 189Love
  • 98Like
  • 5
  • 3
  • 1
Reactions:
Livorno did not have any significance in this area until the 16th century in this area, by the way.
 
Looks great.

Does the eligible score imply that characters from foreign countries in the region are equally weighted as those from Florence?
Wouldn't that mean that Florence rarely elects its own people as rulers - or is there additional electoral score rankings not listed here?
 
  • 7Like
Reactions:
Great Britain is a geographical region here, not a country.

Could the region be renamed to British Isles? That way it includes all of Britain as is intended but at the same time doesn't use the modern names of Great Britain or Britain.
 
Last edited:
  • 12
  • 5Like
  • 1Haha
  • 1
Reactions:
True, changing!
You could make them eligible but give them a massive (-300 or so) debuff, to allow for the historical cases where women had de facto rule being represented by DHEs, such as Caterina Sforza in Forli and Imola (though those may be represented by feudal rule)
 
  • 4Like
  • 1
Reactions:
Link it please, but that's not necessarily our approach. Italian Late Medieval Signorias evolved from High Medieval Commune, indeed, with a city usually become the 'Signor' ('lord') over its hinterland ('il contado'). In that regard, if it was ruled by a communal govern, by a podestà or by a lord would greatly vary. We also have a different type of succession law for inherited podestates, BTW.
My understanding was always that Tuscany kinda lived like Northern Italy with a 50-100 years delay, by 1337 pretty much all the north should be Signoria but not Tuscany, and some of Emilia Romagna, which are in very complicated shapes. I'm struggling to recollect from the quick re-readings I'm doing! And Florence should have a particular of a particular form of governance there.

Also is Signoria Council as a name ideal? What about Cives, Milites, Magnati, Grand Council, etc?
 
  • 3Like
Reactions:
They're currently just units, we discussed that it would be interesting to have Mercenary ABCs, but didn't make the cut. Maybe in the future...
Merc DLC in the future then??

(tbf Merc companies being ABC is sorely needed, given how most rulers when they lost their land, such as Prince Wilhelm of Oranje, resorted to become Mercenary captains, while other rulers based off the economy of their kingdom as being mercenaries, like Federico da Montefeltro or Ambrogio Spinola)
 
  • 2Like
Reactions:
Will all characters even artists and such be displayed with families? If so, will you end up with descendants of characters such as Machiavelli and Columbus in the 1700s who may be assigned as generals/admirals or even rulers?
Artists don't have families and descendence, that would be too performance-heavy, and Project Caesar is not a game based around characters, as CK3 may be, so we prefer to put the performance cost in other fields (such as markets and trading!).
 
  • 72Like
  • 17
  • 2
  • 1Love
Reactions:
Artists don't have families and descendence, that would be too performance-heavy, and Project Caesar is not a game based around characters, as CK3 may be, so we prefer to put the performance cost in other fields (such as markets and trading!).
can artists have a descendance if they end up as rulers of a country tho? (like as monarchs or dictators)
 
  • 1Like
Reactions:
Could the region be renamed to British Isles? That way it includes all of Britain as is intended but at the same time doesn't use the modern names of Great Britain and Britain.
Great Britain is the most accurate name for the region of England, Scotland, and Wales. British Isles almost always includes Ireland but that's a separate region.
 
  • 45Like
  • 21
  • 18
Reactions:
"For some time, the Grand Cathedral in Florence has approached us with ambitious designs..." This text from the event about the Florence Cathedral should be rewritten. It doesn't make any sense: the Grand Cathedral is a building, it can't propose any designs to anyone!


Bank of Medici.png


Likewise, this is also a bit jarring to read and should be changed: it should be "Florence is in THE Holy Roman Empire and in THE Catholic Church" not "in a Holy Roman Empire and in a Catholic Church", since there is only one of each of those international organisations.
 
  • 10
  • 7Like
Reactions:
can artists have a descendance if they end up as rulers of a country tho? (like as monarchs or dictators)
They can't be rulers in general terms.
 
  • 20Like
  • 9
Reactions:
ohhhhh

so they can elect the pope as their ruler, or the Duke of Milan, so on so forth

are there any chances you can rig your way as another Italian country into becoming elected as the head of Florence as well?
It would be accurate

Sometimes, however, politics can resume its normal course once the crisis is over: thus for example in 1266 Charles of Anjou is made podestà of Florence for six years, in order to coordinate the Italian Guelphs and prepare the conquest of the kingdom of Sicily. He occupied a similar position in Rome for a long time, of which he was appointed sole senator, with almost dictatorial powers.
From The Italian Communes by François Menant
 
  • 4Like
Reactions:
A question about Savonarola disaster:
It seems that all events during his rise have an equal chance of appearing at a given time, but judging by their names at least some suggest a logical order of gradual escalation. Shouldn't it be more weighted, as in you have a higher chance of "Savonarola preaches" as the first event, and "Savonarola Takes Control" has no chance until couple other events happen?
 
  • 9
  • 3Like
Reactions: