This build of the developer editor comes with independent library packages and does not require file switching.

Download at AoW Heaven

Edit: Updated to v1.36.56; see link for info.

Nice, I've been using a separate copy of the entire game directory with all files for DevEd, to avoid having to switch. It works for some reason, but sometimes leads to me looking in the wrong copy of the game directory for stuff, which is annoying. I've deleted that copy now, thanks.

You been up to much using DevEd yourself?

These days I'm doing more with the engine itself; AoWEd v1.36.55 came about as a byproduct when I realised I could make different builds of the same version compatible by simply moving the linked libraries to separate files.

Hope you keep us posted. Are you gunning more for bugfixes, highly technical modding, or something else?

Have you figured out how to change specific states for units? (e.g. preinstalled units, units with different stats than default, etc.)

Any luck figuring out how to change city upgrade costs based on the number of hexes (e.g. 2 block costs less for upgrade than 4 block)? I've seen mods with these and always wished I had the tools to fine tune my own maps.

What about changing how spells work?

Thank you for your efforts, and thanks for sharing your findings

In theory you can do whatever you want with the engine but there's effectively an exponential complexity curve where some changes (e.g. modifying a fixed value) are trivial to implement while others (e.g. adding a 13th race) might as well be impossible. Making upgrade cost dependent on city size is actually quite straightforward since there's already a data table with separate (currently identical) entries for each city size. This table is in AoWEPACK.dpl at 0x001E7BE1 to 0x001E7BE3; if you want to modify the values use a hex editor, not a text editor, and always work with backups.

Ultimately I want to create a large campaign that feels different from the original game. As a proof of concept I've built a patch that contains some of the planned changes and hopefully makes the old campaigns and maps a bit more fun to replay. I call it a patch because it modifies only the engine itself, which means it won't interfere with any "rule-sets" made with the developer editor.

The patch should be released soon-ish. Here's a preview of some of the major gameplay changes:
- All races have slightly worse relations and no one likes the Undead.
- The spell Animate Ruins always builds an Undead city.
- Neutral cities may rebel if left ungarrisoned.
- Friendly cities will join for free.
- Heroes gain fewer skill points per level.
- Heroes and high-level units gain less XP from killing low-level units.
- Low-level units require less upkeep while high-level units require more.

Woow And G
thanks for your work. Im waiting for your patch-mod.

Im mega hype for the upkeep cost change. This always hurt, that you don't make swordsman to defend rural cities because they sink all money.

Would be great if you limit heroes attributes, increase cost or maybe just make a hard barrier (no more Def than 6). I just launch AoW1 and play like 2 maps of campaign, and my Defense is 10 :-D

hmm... can you increase importance of Resistance? make it magic defense valid like in AoW3?

also spell could be cheaper to cast

Fantastic, race relations being so good always got on my nerves. Especially Dark Elves and Humans getting along fine. Unit and racial morale is often just not a thing in the base game, this change will also make terrain happiness/unhappiness more important.

For heroes, could you increase the pointcost of raising DEF from 5 to 10? Currently the main way to build a hero is just rushing 10 DEF. And could you reduce the levelup point cost of Spellcasting? Unlike most abilities, multi-level abilities can't have their levelup cost altered in Deved.

What about a spell/ability revamp?

Also, wooden and stone walls feel a bit samey, would you be able to make stone walls more durable (and maybe more expensive)?

But of course you'll do what you think best.

Most of what has been suggested here has already been implemented (raising DEF cost to 10 was one of the very first things I did) and what hasn't been implemented has been considered and discarded.

I welcome further suggestions and I'm absolutely intending to support the patch with balance updates, but please wait until the patch has actually been released and you've played it. The patch is largely finished and I do not intend to make major changes before the release.

AMAZING

Can you give 0 defence to troops/heroes that retreat from a battle? (To avoid the 2 archers killing dragons thing)

Currently a Great Eagle can, by itself, raze a full-size city 30% of the time.

This occurs when the city 'Raze Defenders' have 0-1 ranged units, or they have two but roll badly in the simulated battle. Since the rest of them - typically swordsmen or cavalry - can't kill the flying Great Eagle, the game decides the Great Eagle is strong enough to raze the city.

Anyone with a ruleset can make other buildings harder to raze by boosting their Avenger lists, but city defenders are autogenerated. I think you should be able to make them stronger with your hex editing, though I don't know how difficult it would be.

In AoW2 there is a parameter for the gold value of city defenders, which can be accessed via the MPE mod editor.

I think it's the same for AoW1's city defenders and dungeon guards, the guards generated from the unit list are limited by a gold value. So increasing that gold value with be very desirable!

I actually did do something about that, but the way I did it was to switch attackers and defenders, so that instead of the Swordsmen having to kill the Great Eagle it is the Great Eagle that has to kill the Swordsmen. However, there's still a lot of randomness involved and the Great Eagle is a very strong unit that is sometimes capable of razing L2 cities on its own.

Oh boy, this patch is going to be great!

I basically need to test a couple of things and write the readme, so maybe sometime next week? Longer if I decide to implement anything new.

Or I could try fixing the crash that occurs when casting Animate Ruins on a map without Undead, in which case we're looking at ca. 2030.