The Dream - Totally Off-Topc

[The Soldier]

So, I'm just posting this here to record it down before I inevitably forget it.

The dream for the next game after this - yes, dreaming of the next game before this one is even complete, but what can I say?  I love this game and everything about it. The dream is this: Federuci da Montefeltro's campaigns and exploits as an Italian mercenary and prince of Urbino during the mid 1400s.

So, as an absurdly short overview of Federuci da Montefeltro's life - born as a bastard, he was legitimized by the Pope and served as a hostage as payment of his family's offenses.  Later on, at age 16 living in the city of Urbino, he became a condottiere - a mercenary.  Since Urbino wasn't in any trade route or had any good, the people of Urbino were used to fighting as mercenaries.  Long story short, he never lost a battle and he never reneged on his word - a man to be feared and respected.  With all the money he acquired from these wars, he build up his beloved city of Urbino to become a center of the Renaissance, a light in the middle of war.  He build up a massive library rivaling the Vatican's, an inspiring and revolutionary court, and kept the Renaissance going.  But after his death, war would reach Urbino, and his beloved city would be extinguished.  Extra Credit's video here is a beauty for this:

 

The thing I love about both this particular man, time period, and place - there's literally so much you can do with it.  This time period in particular was the start of the arquebus and cannon and firearms, but where knights, pikemen, archers, crossbowmen and foot infantry still tramped along the fields en masse - there's a revolution of infantry tactics just around the bend.  The man never lost a battle, a goal a player in such a game might want to achieve.  And the place - Urbino is practically a character in and of itself, growing as Federuci da Montefeltro does.  But most of all, there's a touching and enlightening story behind it.  The start of the Renaissance and the perhaps the seeds of the Enlightenment with his humanist beliefs.  The player can see the path of war that spreads like a fire throughout Italy - but once it reaches Urbino, now out of reach, you really see the tragedy that happened, but you also see the embers that were still there to start the Renaissance.

The player can see both sides of Federuci da Montefeltro's life - the life leading the army and his life at Urbino, military and economic, political, and home.  There's battles galore to fight, though while smaller in size than UG:CW, would present the same tactical problems as it.  Urbino would serve as the hub where you park yourself between jobs as a mercenary, to grow your home city and reap the rewards of such a unique and talented court.  As one grows, so does the other, and the goals that are set before the player will actually have happened.  A game such as this would be intensely engaging, but also teach the player some valuable and unique aspects of history.

Edited April 1, 2017 by The Soldier