My BoA Mods

[Stwa]

[Lafrite]

Woua, patch and mod, boa is far from dead

[Carnium]

Excellent stuff Stwa !

I just bought the game yesterday and I wonder when will your work be released ?

[arclight]

Very nice, indeed - do you have a timeframe for release?

[Stwa]

Thanks for your interest in the mod.

I have moved on to other modding adventures with a few different games. But, I think I may have this stuff on a back-up disk somewhere.

My back-ups are put on a USB hard drive, so they are pretty easy to retrieve.
So I'll check and see if I can find em.


Regards,

Stwa


P.S. You guys couldln't hold out until BoA2, eh?

[Carnium]

P.S. You guys couldln't hold out until BoA2, eh?

Why should we if we have such great modders around

[arclight]

P.S. You guys couldln't hold out until BoA2, eh?

Why wait for tomorrow when you can demand today

Besides - it keeps a classic purring along, just a bit longer.....

[FM WarB]

These are changes I'd mostly have made. I'd like to see it. Spring '08 for BoA2, and many may wish to stick with BoA1. Many may be happy to have both.

[Carnium]

Any luck with finding the mods Stwa ?
Just watched The Last of the Mohicans again and would like to play BOA a bit more

[Stwa]

Any luck with finding the mods Stwa ?
Just watched The Last of the Mohicans again and would like to play BOA a bit more

I found em, like I said they were just on a USB hard drive, no big deal.

I'll check some stuff out. If I do upload, it won't be before BOA2 is released. Also, its very large, because of the graphics stuff, and renaming, etc.. so I am not sure if I would put it here, but maybe at an alternate site.

[Carnium]

I'll check some stuff out. If I do upload, it won't be before BOA2 is released.

There is no need to hurry tho, but why did you decide to release it AFTER BOA2 ?
Many thanks for you hard work. You can upload it to filefront when its ready :
http://www.filefront.com/

[lodilefty]

Hi All,

I am getting to a good stopping point with some of the modifications I have done for BoA. I began work just after Thanksgiving and since BoA2 will be out very soon, there will not be much interest in this mod. Also, since many of the graphic files have been changed, renamed, or deleted, the mod must include these changes, and therefore is large. Because of its size, it cannot be uploaded here, so I must find another site that will host it.

I have made many changes, so many I probably can’t list them all. I have included several new scenarios, and made changes to all the others. Some scenarios were deleted, like the Tutorial, and the 1775 Alternate Campaign. Many events have been changed, and the reliance upon the auto-raise feature has been much reduced.

I have included some new graphics that were really created from copies of BoA originals. I am not an artist, but this work was really more like knitting than artistry.

I am still testing some of the modified scenarios, but should be finished soon.

Here is a partial listing of what I have done:

New scenarios:

1. 1812 Campaign (but not Huron area)
2. 1778 Campaign (north and south together)

Files:

1. Eliminated all files that were not being used by the game.
2. Eliminated redundant graphics files.
3. Renamed all graphic files to a consistent naming convention.
4. Modified battle report back and detail back graphics.
5. Modified ribbon graphics for ledger.
6. Added new German and British (line infantry) AWI graphics. (modified from original BoA graphics)
7. Provided a better 1813 American militia graphic from existing BoA set.

Maps, Areas, Regions, and Weather:

1. Added Great Lakes and Vermont Areas.
2. Added Great Lakes Weather Pattern.
3. Modified all other Weather Patterns, particular attention to the Deep South.
4. Modified all map edge and OMB graphics for a uniform border appearance.
5. Eliminated the Vincennes OMB and “Great Plains” from corresponding graphic files and modified adjacent links in the region files.

English Language Game Strings:

1. Changed all scenario historical backgrounds for content, indention, and grammar.
2. Changed all scenario objective descriptions for content, indention, and grammar.
3. Changed all Army names used by tabs.
4. Changed most all event texts (line and full).
5. Many, many, minor context modifications to AGE and BoA strings.

Data:

1. Changed all German model, unit, and leader data.
2. Added composite German grenadier and fusilier units.
3. Separated German leaders from their units and eliminated fictional German units.
4. Eliminated fictional American Privateer units.
5. Modified protection values for all leaders.
6. Modified command costs for some leaders (3 star), and many units.
7. Made naming consistent throughout the database, particular attention to short names, use of titles, initials, and prepositions (von, van, de, etc.).
8. Eliminated tracks from all regions.


Scenarios:

1. All scenarios re-built under v 1.12a with required data base corrections.
2. Louisiana, Pensacola, and West Indies, “ownership” corrected in all scenarios.
3. New or modified objective and strategic cities in most scenarios.
4. Many of the shorter scenarios have longer durations.
5. 1776 and 1778 Campaign auto-raise feature has been completely re-worked.

Wow! I just re-read this! These are great ideas!

While some of these concepts and ideas are already 'in' or 'being put in' to WIA, it would be great if you could share this in detail for further review and incorporation! WiA is already a collaborative effort between developers and modders....

Our intent is to make WiA the best it can be.... ouet:

[Stwa]

Wow! I just re-read this! These are great ideas!

While some of these concepts and ideas are already 'in' or 'being put in' to WIA, it would be great if you could share this in detail for further review and incorporation! WiA is already a collaborative effort between developers and modders....

Our intent is to make WiA the best it can be.... ouet:

Recently, I drug these back out because some of the guys above were interested. And started re-testing some of the scenarios, etc.. Alas, I just don't have time for any of this.

It's probably inappropriate to speak about the features of Boa2, but maybe I wont' get in trouble by saying, that the map is vastly improved, and will be a compelling reason by itself for anyone to upgrade to Boa2.

Down the road, I will probably make some of these same changes to Boa2, after it comes out. As you mentioned some things might be included by the scenario designers.

Most of these things are very simple changes or mods that most anyone can perform, but re-building and testing the scnearios become the real time consuming portion.


Regards,

Stwa

P.S.

1. Another mod, that had a real impact on gameplay in all scenarios was Jagger's terrain mod. I felt the idea behind this mod was of great merit, and would encourage others to tweak this mod to their liking.

2. OK, how about my Data mods 1-6. If I remember correctly, this renames the USS Insurgent to something else, since this name is purely fictional from an AWI point of view, its shift in 20th century usage notwithstanding.

[Stwa]

HELLO

Is this thing on? <thump, thump>

[lodilefty]

HELLO

Is this thing on? <thump, thump>

From your descriptions, it seems that quite a few of these ideas have been adopted, at least partially.

If you could upload your DB files, we could, as a team, evaluate the specifics...

[Stwa]

From your descriptions, it seems that quite a few of these ideas have been adopted, at least partially.

If you could upload your DB files, we could, as a team, evaluate the specifics...

OK, I'll PM them to ya. The models and units spreadsheets that is...

[lodilefty]

OK, I'll PM them to ya. The models and units spreadsheets that is...

Great!
But I don't think you can attach anything to a PM.
Feel free to email them to me!

[Stwa]

see first post above...

[Stwa]

Please see the Post Script (P.S) of the first (top) post.


Regarding 15 day turns,

1. This mod already has tracks removed from the game, which slows movement in Wilderness and Forrested regions.

2. In many cases your stack needs more than 15 days to leave or enter the region.

3. In the case of retreats item 2 above can be a real drag.

4. Moving basically 1 region at a time just to have 15 day turns may create granularity that seems exciting, but the excitement may wear off after the first 10 moves or so!

[Stwa]

[Stwa]

[Stwa]

I have returned to a previous design for the 15 day scenarios, and now you can have 15 day and 30 day scenarios in the same mod.

I have tested this method before, many times, and it just produces the best result. IMHO.

Also, I have returned the mod to BoA v 1.12a. There were many neat aspects of 1.13d, but in the end some of the more nagging issues could not be solved to my satisfication.


Regards,

Stwa

[Stwa]

Hi all,

I have been very busy this spring, but it looks like I will have a window this summer to do some more modding for BoA. Of course, I checked out WiA again, since the database is now released, but my main interest still resides with BoA. I could enumerate my reasons, but why?

Anyway, I picked up BoA in the summer of 2007. I believe it was released in 2006. I have made mods to this game when I get free time usually around holidays or during the summer. This will be my third iteration of mods and I am looking forward to them.

I will not publish these mods in any large way, but as before, I will share my ideas in the forums as I go along.

Obviously, I like this game a lot, and being able to mod it to suit my tastes has been a large part of my enjoyment of the game.

This year, before I get started, some revelations about last year, since I did manage to play several campaigns since last summer (or since the Market crash).

First, I have moved the mods back to 1.12a. The 1.13d version has some critical bugs, but also some mismatched features that did not altogether work well with BoA. The 1.13d IMHO was kinda rushed in for some "other" reasons, and its impact on the game data was rough in a few spots.

I find 1.12a very acceptable, and over time (with more modding), the game gets better and better. Even the AI seems smarter (its not), but this proves good data/scripting decisions can influence the behavior of the AI.

Regarding 15 day turns. I have studied this for BoA about as much as anyone else around here, and in the end, I find 30 day turns more realistic and fun.

I have updated the features lists above, to reflect where I am now, and I will make additions if I add anything of interest.


Remember, the first game in a series, is always the best game!

Stwa

[Stwa]

Very interesting, after all these years. A catastrophic AI event.

I am still playing and enjoying, and BOA has reached a perfection state on my system.

In the North East, this might be a good rule change, but in the South and West, maybe not. Who knows.

[Stwa]

Well, here are some more interesting screen shots. This time the AI Assaults multiple locations on the move in the same turn to GREAT EFFECT.

It's Yorktown, of course, and poor Cornwallis gets the bad end of the stick.

There are really 8 pics in this sequence, but I will show 4, which should be self explanatory.