Thanks to everyone for their great feedback on the game, as well as for all the time you have already been playing! It is heartening to see such a strong average playtime only a week since the game launched!

We are releasing this hot fix to address two specific bugs players found, but it is also a great chance to incorporate some of the Quality-of-Life improvements you requested. Please keep letting us know what would make the game even better for you, and we will see what we can do.

Bug Fixes

• Clicking the “Match” button repeatedly while in the process of selling goods could cause the game to lock up. Now you can spam that button all you please, but we still don’t know why you would want to J
• The game would crash when you tried to remove an active unit, like mercenaries, from your payroll. Now the mercenaries go away like they were supposed to. If they become brigands, that is your fault for not paying them J

Quality of Life

• Pressing ESC on the main screen opens the load/save/quit menu
• Pressing “V” while on the main play screen now opens the Venice screen
• Subscreens accessed from the Venice Screen, like St. Marc’s Cathedral and the Doge’s Palace, should now return the player to the Venice screen when closed
• Added ability to disable storms and pirates while setting up the game
• Added a “Store All” button to move goods to your warehouse on the Bazaar screen
• The header on the Commodities screen is pinned while scrolling
• Automatic scrolling stops if mouse leaves the game window
• Added tooltips to the graphical buttons, like “Build Roads,” on the main play screen

Please check out those tool tips and let us know what other tool tips you would like to see in the game

Check it out on GOG and Steam

If we tried to write up a changelog of everything that has changed with this game line since we first released “Merchant Prince” with QQP in 1993, it would take almost as long as it took us to actually implement these latest changes 🙂 

“Merchant Prince,” which won a strategy game of the year award from Computer Game Review, set the tone for everything that was to come. After American Laser Games bought QQP, we took the game to Microprose and upgraded it to “Machiavelli the Prince,” the name under which most people know the series. We upgraded it again with Merchant Prince 2, published by Take Two Interactive. Unfortunately, we have not been able to contact anyone at Take Two about bringing that game back onto the market, and thus we turned our attention to “Machiavelli the Prince Enhanced.”

Strategy

We learned a lot from “Emperor of the Fading Suns Enhanced,” which may have been the most ambitious game patch in PC gaming history. As with EFSe, we had to migrate our old code over to work in Microsoft’s Visual Studio development environment, which was first released the year we made the original EFS, and well after we made Machiavelli 🙂

We had several key goals for the Enhanced game:

1. Make the game playable under modern Windows systems;
2. Upgrade the game to run on Linux and in Steam;
3. Incorporate APIs for things like Steam achievements, and port these to GOG;
4. Give players greater control of the windowed environment; and
5. Incorporate feedback from players to remove old gameplay annoyances, like the old soundtrack.

Overview

In working on EFSe, we learned that after fixing the key player concerns, we needed to listen to players about what else matters. We have incorporated a number of new patches for that game, primarily responding to quality-of-life issues the players have raised. Many of the things we thought would be important paled in comparison to these. PLEASE continue to let us know what improvements matter to you, and we will look to incorporate them in future patches. Nothing teaches you what makes a game better than thousands of smart players trying it and letting you know.

Windowed Mode

After the new soundtrack, this was probably the second-most common request. Not only can you press Alt+Enter to enter and exit windowed mode, but you can click and drag the borders to resize the window to your choosing! I know, it sounds like a small thing, but not for code from 1995 🙂 Yes, you can also use the minimize and maximize buttons, just like apps originally designed for a Windows environment.

Other Fixes

• Numerous spelling corrections – sorry about those
• Fix letters overflowing text boxes
• Added the game icon to windowed mode
• Fix issue with commodity list when prices get over 1,000 florins
• Fix inability to exit a multiplayer game if you forgot password

The New Soundtrack

Thanks to Paul Mercer, who has worked on other games with us, for these songs. The soundtrack was the most common annoyance we heard when discussing how to improve the game. Apparently very few of you played the game with the old soundtrack still on. We think Paul’s music captures the flavor of the age with a modern twist, while providing a great background for a contemplative, strategic experience like MPe.

Since releasing the demo, however, we have heard from defenders of the old soundtrack. Please let us know your thoughts. Would it be worth it to include both with the game?

Song List

1. TANTO NOMINI NVLLM PAR ELOGIVM –  composed and performed by Paul Mercer
2. Arnos Vale – composed and performed by Paul MercerMercer and Sheryl L Bielewski
3. The Bloody Eye Gang – composed and performed by Paul Mercer
4. Ghost Ship Gang – composed and performed by Paul Mercer
5. Orphan Kings Return I – composed and performed by Paul Mercer and Sheryl L Bielewski
6. Orphan Kings Return II – composed and performed by Paul Mercer and Sheryl L Bielewski
7. Rouse the Beasts of War I – composed and performed by Paul Mercer
8. Rouse the Beasts of War II – composed and performed by Paul Mercer

Check out the newsletter HERE

We have an old HDI email list that we have not used in a while, but we are going to dust off and restart. We will try to never send more than two newsletters a month (barring some really unforeseen issue), and we really expect it to be more like quarterly. We will send out a blast the week of March30 with news about the Machiavelli the Prince launch for April 2. If you would like to be on the newsletter, go to the below link. There are about a minute’s worth of questions, but all we really need is your email address. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdzAojW90EZ_H0Mw_T3Nn6xlhbPuMkjfeRhcHi9FcVwOGLJzg/viewform?usp=publish-editor

EFSe is part of Steam’s Turn-Based Thursday Fest, and we have released version 1.52e of the game to celebrate!

1.52e Changelog (Released March 9,2026)

• Steam workshop integration: mod descriptions are now preserved, and modders can now include preview images (preview.jpg in mod directory)

• Implemented fixes for cargo handling

• Unit cargo capacity is now displayed in the interface

• Fixed a regression causing automatic rejections of some diplomatic contracts

• Fixed a bug with air units running out of fuel prematurely

• Fix bug with towing units and cargo

• Fixed the Linux launcher so it can start from a different directory

• Right clicking on a space group containing hidden units now behaves correctly

• Fixed save corruption error caused by cargo group as last unit

Phoenix Mod 1.3 Changelog (also includes 1.20, 1.21)

Technology

• Increased maximum Like Level cap to 100
• Added new Structure Technology category
• All structures now have dedicated technologies with proper descriptions
• Apothecary now requires Regenerative Biology (formerly Hospital tech) —

Units & Recruitment

• Stealth War Marshal camouflage increased to 20 (matching Rangers)
• Star Carriers are no longer medics and now serve carrier-only roles
• Naval Replenishment Ships are now healers (as originally intended)
Militia • Can now be built anywhere
• Can only be built by houses (AI and human alike) • Bulldozers can now only be built in Districts
• Fixed graphical issues on several units —

Economy

• Reduced price of Monopols
• Reduced price of Reactors —

AI

• Independents (Rebels) can now produce units —

Galaxy

Starting Units

Reworked starting units to: • Better communicate unit variants to players
• Reinforce correct perception of unit roles
• Rebalanced star terrain to support new negative sect healing mechanics
• Star routes adjusted for improved flow and balance
• Starting star assets massively reworked

New System: New Mariana

• Added New Mariana (formerly Vril-Ya)
• Handcrafted shared start system
• Designed for slow progression gameplay
• Initially inaccessible from the rest of known space

Starting Setup Changes

• All factions now receive starting resources on Byzantium and New Mariana
• Added Logistics Truck to all B2 starting setups
• Ministry starting units massively overhauled
• Rebels now begin with star units in select locations
• Added various minor unit placements across the galaxy

Map Changes

• Criticorum replaced with Lyssar, a handcrafted rebel-controlled city planet with extensive infrastructure
• Removed Rebels over Pandemonium
• Fixed another hidden Symbiot homeworld star zone —

Misc

• Added experimental Manowiz tutorial system (early/barebones)
• Main menu adjusted — galaxy must now be selected manually
• Asteroid graphics updated to be more striking and compatible with future variants —

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Empty Planet bug caused by incorrect duplication of another planet