This is an AoW1 mod I've been working on for months, to combine ruleset changes with the new modding tools we have thanks to And G and IniochReborn, who both showed me how to modify AoWEpack.dpl using PE Explorer and HxD. Thanks! - also thanks to Lagi for some improved unit graphics.

Download and Changelog links:
http://aow.heavengames.com/downloads/showfile.php?fileid=1231
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11VB9Llq4fYBER-YU4jT9ovPlkKCuzDP-rLTm7kt0Ayc/edit#gid=0

To install, simply copy-paste the contents of this folder into your Age of Wonders directory. You might want to copy-paste your entire age of wonders directory first as a backup.

The main changes are:
Spellcasting levelup cost from 20 to 12
DEF levelup cost from 5 to 10
Archery, Hurl Stones, and Poison Darts had their ATK reduced by 1
Unit upkeep by unit tier is now 2/4/6/8, not 4/6/8/10.
Most units have had stats and ability changes.
Race relations have a lot more wary and Neutral, and a lot less Polite and Hostile relationships.
Each race has their own ability which they gain at gold medal, and which their heroes all have by default.
All spells have been made cheaper and easier to research, but some have also had their ATK/DAM values changed.
Most abilities are available at levelup, but heroes start with -4 fewer movement points for most races.
Smaller cities cost a lot less to upgrade - it's now 80 gold for 2-hexers, and 160 for 3-hexers
Vision has been reduced by 1 point for units, and altered for some buildings too. Concealed units won't be detected if they stand next to buildings, only if next to units, and they can hide in any forest, even sparse trees and giant toadstools.
Altars cost less mana to fire and recharge more swiftly.
Silver Medal and Gold Medal each grant +1ATK/+1RES/+2HP, instead of +1ATK/+1DEF/+1HP followed by +1DAM/+1RES/+1HP
Morale no longer affects DEF, but it has a more varied RES malus - from -3 RES at terrible morale, to +1 RES at perfect morale.
Leadership now grants +1 ATK and +1 DEF, and some units like Warlords, the FirstBorn, and the Yaka Avatar have Leadership. All leaders have leadership by default.
Raze defenders are now the defender, not the attacker, in the simulated battle which decides if the razer is strong enough to raze a structure. This means a Great Eagle can't simply raze a building because the defenders had no ranged weapons. Thanks for showing me how you did this in AoW+, And G!
I'm still working on full lore-tab expansions - I am very proud of the expanded descriptions I wrote for the neutral races so far.

ANY OPINIONS AND BUG REPORTS ARE VERY WELCOME!

The download link is still an upload link.

ty

The "construct" ability was unlocked for custom leaders... I think that was the funniest way to lose the game. "Construct Tower? --- Your rule has ended!"

I like this mod; it makes the game seem fresh again. I like the much better customability of the heroes. Instead of everyone ending up as nearly invincible melee juggernauts, there's more emphasis on spell casting now. And with more units having Concealment, True Seeing becomes more important.

All the unit changes also provides more variety.
The AI also seems to play more aggressively with his mod, but with limited testing that may be just my impression.

But playing the old classic map Coming of the Dread Lord, the hero leveling is bugged, with heroes getting minus skill points. It's really too bad, since I think it's the best AoW1 mod I've played so far.

Turns out I was using a slightly older version.
With the newest version the leveling up bugs seem to have been fixed. So this is now definitely the ultimate AoW1 mod so far as far as I am concerned!

Yeah I am definitely enjoying this mod as well. To my knowledge, the odd level up costs only occur when mods are upgraded or added because the costs for certain abilities have been changed around.

Well there IS one remaining levelup bug: you get 20 points, not 10, at level 6. I suppose I should pretend it was intentional.