I'm making a PC game set in Medieval Europe where you take control of a nation. I've already made the map, but I have a problem: I'm not sure which nations to include. I can only have fifteen, so which ones should I add based on the time period?

I am a bonified history buff. Here it is, order does not mean rank.
1) England
2) France
3) Sweden
4) Poland
5) Russia
6) Spain
7) Portugal
8) German confederated states i.e Prussians
9) Hapsburg i.e. Austria Hungarians
10) Serbian and confederate states
11)Scottish and Celtic states
12) Unified Italian states
13) Turkish Sultanate
14) Kingdom of the Netherlands
15) Bulgars and Romanians

This is 100% my best effort.
Can I have feedback if I was helpful?

Hmm, that's interesting...

Well, any anglophile gamer would want the Britons, so that's a definite.
Also, the Spanish Berbers should be worth considering. I'll try for a list:

The Britons (a gaming standard)
The Spanish (you could possibly divide this between Christian Spain and Islamic Spain)
The Franks
The Hungarians
The Russians
Papal States
The Swedes
The Celts
The Byzantines
The Serbs
The Bulgarians
The Norwegians
The Ruthenians
The Danes
The Swiss

OK a list of European countries and city states 13.00 14 00...Some of them ocupy land just outside what is called modern day europe......hope this helps
Achaia
Aragon
Athens
Bedouin tribes
Berber tribes
Bulgaria
Byzantine Empire
Castile
Cyprus
Denmark
Empire of Trebizond
England
Finns
France
Gascony
Genoa
Georgia
Granada
Hafsids
Navarre
Holy Roman Empire
Hungary
Ilkhan Empire
Ireland
Khanate of the Golden Horde
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Knights of St. John
Lapps
Lithuania
Libyan tribes
Majorca
Mameluke Empire
Marinids
Mazovia
Norway
Norwegian Iceland
Papal_states
Poland
Portugal
Sardinia
Scotland
Serbia
small Turkic states
Sweden
Teutonic Order
Vassal states of the Golden Horde
Venetian Crete
Venice
Wallachia
Zayyanids

if u cud...i'd advice changing the theme frm 'EARTH' to 'MARS'...hear me up...most strategy games (be it medival or futuristic) are made on the 'EARTH' platform...ofcourse these games are great...but if we change the war area from 'EARTH' to 'MARS' then u can add new chracters,nations,weapons,abilities et-cetra et-cetra...and since 'MARS' has no practical map u can make ur own...its just an advice...gud luck with the gamemaking...
p.s:if u may need anymore advice here's my e-mail; obedjamir@yahoo.com or predop293@gmail.com

same as the person uder neath me

I believe you should hav the following factions

Scotland- cause we're awesome
England- eh they beat us suppose they can't be that bad
France- Scotlands old allies against the English
Spain conquerers of South America
Russia- Cause Russian's are cool
Germany- Cause u know those Germans
Ottoman Empire- They had big Guns
Byzantine Empire- They kept the roman empire alive
The Golden Horde- a.k.a Mongolians
Denmark- Where the Vikings originated
Finland- some bloodcrudling warriors came from there
Italy- cant think of much cept they had Merchants
Egypt- Home of Pyramids
Poland- dunno what to say really
Sweeden-were one of the big players back then


Bonus Factions if in the future you could make these Factions unlockable

Knights Templar famous for there Destruction on Friday the Thirteenth

The Teutonic Order- They were the Knights who conquered Lithuania at Poland's request but grew too powerful for them to control.

Ireland and Wales Traditionally Englands Enemies

I just typed "medieval europe map" into google images and got tons of results, perhaps you want to do the same

Suggestion: try to find a copy of Games Workshop's board game "Blood Royale" for some excellent ideas as to how to do this, though on a PC you'll be able to go fare more in depth than they ever did - and they only had 5 powers, not 15. (A great game, but it's been out of print for almost 20 years ... God I'm getting old!) Also, check out the PC game *EUROPA UNIVERSALIS II*: it begins a little late (1430) but the map of European provinces will be most useful.

AS to your map questions:

First problem: in Medieval Europe there are not "nations" as such -- at least as "nation states". As far as who the players should be, players should represent dynasties, not nationalities. (After all, the "nationality" of every prince of Medieval Europe was the same as every other prince's nationality: Franco-German -- just like today!)

Second problem: The Time period is also vast (500-1500 AD), and things change. The political boundaries and the locations of peoples are in constant flux (the latter, more than the former). Consider the following maps (which are crude to say the least, and give the wrong impression that these were actually monochromatic unified nations rather than patworks of feudal estates)

998 AD: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Europe998new.png
1328 AD: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Europein1328.png
1470 AD: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Europe_in_1470.png

Third problem: the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire, were typically just confederations of (often inter-warring) feudal states - many of them great powers in their own right (Burgundy, Saxony, Florence, Venice, Normandy, to name but a few); strong kins and emperors were rare. And then there's the problem of overlapping domains: e.g., Henry II of England who was also Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou, Maine & Touraine, Duke of Aquitaine (Guienne & Gascony), Count of Poitou - and thus a "vassal" of the king of France - who ruled 5x more of France than the king did.

Additionally, there's the problem of the trbal peoples of the frontiers (the Welsh and Irish in the West, the Slavs in the East) who had no central government or monarchy, and were gradually conquered and colonized by their "chivalric" neighbors. Then there's the problem of the Moslem Moors in Spain and the Turks in the East. And do you want to include the Crusader States of The Holy Land and the Teutonic Knights?

Finally, you have to figure out what you're going to do about elective monarchies and the great republics: The Holy Roman Emperor (King of Germany (and northern Italy)) was elected by 4 great princes (Duke of Saxony, Margrave of Brandenburg, King of Bohemia, Count Palatine of the Rhine), and 3 great prince-archbishops (Mainz, Cologne, and Trier) of the Empire. Similarly, the Pope (and Patrimony/the Papal States with him) was elected by the Cardinals. If you have the Teutonic Knights (ruled Prussia & Livonia), they were ruled by an elected Grand Master subject (in theory) to the Pope. And finally how will you handle the Venitians, the Genoese, the Florentines, and the Hanseatic League?

All that being said, if you want to go for national/cultural/regional/traditional boundaries, rather than feudal political ones, then you can pretty much use most of the country names we have today:

1 *Germany (which would included Austria, Switzerland, BeNeLux,
eastern France, and western Poland)
2 France (minus Aquitaine, Franche Compte, Alsace &Lorraine)
3 England (but Ireland is ruled by many petty kings, and Wales is a
bunch of tribes under chiefs until conquered in the 1280s.)
4 Scotland
5 "The Spains" (only the far north of the peninsula at first, as the rest was controlled by the Moors, and there were several "kingdoms" over the period, most at the same time: Castille, Leon, Asturias, Aragon, Navarre, Valencia, & the County of Portingale (Portugal)).
6 Norway
7 Denmark (includes southern Sweden)
8 Sweden (not much of player until the Reformation, though -- might want to forget it and split "The Spains" into Aragon & Castille.)
9 *Italy (which in medieval times was strictly NORTHERN Italy, including Rome) - always subject to the Holy Roman Emperor, who was also king of Italy as well as Germany.
10 *Siciliy (including southern Italy and Sardinia)
11 Hungary (includes Slovakia, and most of Romania)
12 *Bohemai (Chzech Republic and Silesia in southwest Poland)
13 Poland-Lithuania, lead by an elected king and a parliament of nobles where every noble had an absolute veto power.
14 The Byzantine Empire (Turkey, Greece and the Balkhans)
15 Aquitaine (southern France) - ruled by a duke vassaled to the king of France

*Note: The Holy Roman Empire included Germany, Bohemia, Italy, and sometimes Sicily (as defined above)

Don't use real names for a game, Man!

You make up the game?
You make up the name!

How many top-selling novels do you know that use real country or city names??

Make up some fun titles, such as : Atu, Gabbaland, etc.
Invent ya stuff.
Look at Hogwarts!
... and Lord of the Rings!
They just is not real.

If it helps, here's a political map of Europe at 1100 A.D.:

http://www.euratlas.com/big/europe_1100.jpg