Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising: Advance Wars 2 Vanilla "Balance"

The purpose of this mod is to make Advance Wars: Days of Ruin-inspired "balancing" changes to BHR while preserving the game mechanics and overall spirit of the original BHR. So, no new units, no significant changes to gameplay, no Campaign or story changes, etc.. Just the classic BHR, but with improvements.

Instead:

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AW2BHR Vanilla "Balance" Mod by miki_g
mrtdhx@duck.com
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- Probably the plainest, vanilla-flavour mod of all existing balancing mods of AW2BHR.
- The purpose of this mod is to make AWDoR-inspired "balancing" changes to BHR while preserving the game mechanics and overall spirit of the original BHR.
- So, no new units, no significant changes to gameplay (such as hiding units in cities as in DoR), no Campaign or story changes, etc.. Just the classic BHR with improvements.


- Instead:
- Units now have stat. changes patterned to that (but not strictly following) their DoR counterparts.
- Terrains now offer defensive stars similar to their DoR equivalents.
- COs now have "balancing" statistical changes that are more aligned (but not strictly in-line) with the CO dossier and in-game lore of the original BHR.
- Most COs now have a standardized power meter.


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Base ROM and Hash
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An unpatched copy of the *US* version of AW2:BHR is recommended.


Database match: Advance Wars 2 - Black Hole Rising (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Game Boy Advance (v. 20210227-023848)
File/ROM SHA-1: 14DD0B22C894865867AFF89E8116B2DFFAE25605
File/ROM CRC32: 5AD0E571


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Unit statistical changes (highlights):
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21/04/2023: v1.0 changes (from *original AW2:BHR*)

- Cost, movement, and ammunition statistics of DoR units are now applied to their BHR counterparts.
- The same general rule applies to vision, range, and fuel, with some exceptions.
- While BHR Neotanks now have stats reminiscent of DoR War Tanks, they still retain a vision of 1.
- BHR Recons now have the highest vision out of all units in BHR.
- BHR Artilleries retain their original vision of 1, while BHR Rockets now have a vision of 2.
- BHR Subs now have a vision of 3.
- BHR Battleships retain their original vision and range values.
- BHR Infantry have their rations capped at 70 instead of 99.
- BHR APCs keep their original fuel stat..

- In general, damage dealt and received by BHR units are now patterned to that of their DoR counterparts.
- BHR Artilleries now deal about as much damage as a DoR Battleship.
- Against some units, BHR B. cop. primary fire will now deal about as much damage as a DoR Seaplane.
- BHR Battleships now have firepower reminiscent of both DoR Rockets and DoR Anti-Tanks, and is now the only indirect-attack unit capable of laying waste to Cruisers.
- BHR Cruisers can now one-shot both Copter and Plane units.
- Against some units, BHR Infantry will now receive about as much damage as a DoR Biker would.
- Def values of BHR Recons, APCs and Artilleries were patterned to that of DoR Flares, Artilleries, and Rigs, then values were swapped such that the Def of BHR APCs>Recons>Artilleries.
- BHR Battleships are now much more vulnerable to BHR Subs.


30/04/2023: v1.1 changes (from *Vanilla "Balance" Mod v1.0*)

- Updated the unit damage chart so that it now differs a bit less from the original DoR unit matchups.


For more detailed information, see the "U_Attrib" and "U_Dmg" sheets of the "AWBHR_vanilla_balance_mod_[version].xlsx" file.


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Terrain star changes:
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v1.0

- Woods are now 3-star terrains.
- Cities, silos, and reefs are now 2-star terrains.


v1.1
(no additional changes)


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CO stat changes (highlights):
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v1.0

- Standardized the number of stars required for COP and SCOP for all COs to 3 and 7, respectively, except for COs Sami, Eagle, Drake, Sturm, Adder, Hawke, and Hachi.
- Sami and Hachi's required number of stars for COP and SCOP are now set to 3 and 9, respectively.
- Eagle, Drake, Sturm, Adder, and Hawke retain their original required number of stars for COP and SCOP.

- COs can now vary in their Lck and Dis values.
- Lck will play a lesser role in combat, and Dis more role. The %Lck and %Dis values most COs can have range from 5 to 8. Nell, Flak, and Sonja are exceptions.
- Nell is now the only CO that will always deal more damage than expected (0%Dis). In return, nerfed Nell's COP and SCOP Lck bonuses from 60 and 100 to 40 and 60, respectively.
- Sonja will now always deal less damage than expected (1%Lck, 15%Dis), but not during her COP (8%Lck, 8%Dis) and SCOP (5%Lck, 11%Dis).
- Buffed Flak's D2D and SCOP Lck so that he is a bit more of a force to be reckoned with.

- Max's direct units now have +15%Atk, +5%Def, and 1.08x CA as a D2D ability instead of the usual flat +20%Atk.
- Made sure Max only gains a net total of +5%Def to his direct units during his COP and SCOP.

- During random weather, chance of snow at the start of the turn as a D2D ability for Olaf is increased to 7%.

- Edited Sami's stats so that her D2D CO ability matches the original BHR in-game description more.
- Sami now has -20%Atk and -5%Def on all direct-attack vehicular units and -10%Atk & -15%Def on all indirect-attack vehicular units instead of -10%Atk on all direct-attack units.
- Sami's infantry now has +15%Atk and +10%Def on a D2D basis instead of +30%Atk. Also, they are now immune to the effects of snow on MC.
- During her D2D and COP, Sami now captures properties 1.38x faster rather than 1.50x.
- Samis's infantry %Atk stat. is now +50 during both her COP and SCOP.
- Made sure Sami's infantry never receive +Def during her COP and SCOP (%Def still at +10, not +20). Her other units will still gain passive +10%Def when using her powers.
- Sami also no longer has +1Mov on her transport units.
- Instead, Sami's transport units now have +25%Def.

- Grit now has -10%Atk, -10%Def, and 0.92x CA on his direct-attack units as a D2D weakness instead of the usual flat -20%Atk.
- Grit's COP and SCOP +Atk to all indirect units are now 40% and 60%, respectively, instead of 50% for both COP and SCOP.

- Sonja now also has +5%Def to "Sentry" units (Infantry units and units with D2D V=5 in DoR) as a D2D bonus, and to all other direct units during her SCOP (stacks with passive +Def bonus).

- Reduced Eagle's air unit D2D and non-D2D +Def by 5% and 10% (%Def is now +10 and +20 instead of +15 and +30, respectively). D2D and non-D2D +Atk remain unchanged from the original BHR.
- Increased Eagle's sea unit Atk from -30% to -10%. In return, non-lander and lander sea units now have -15%Def and -25%Def, respectively.
- Made sure Eagle no longer receives +Def to all non-infantry units during his SCOP (passive +10%Def negated by adding -10%Def to said units). Infantry and COP passive +Def are unaffected.

- Drake now has +30%Def on his naval units instead of +10%Def as his D2D ability.
- Drake's vision will no longer be affected during rain brought about by using his SCOP. Regular D2D rain or rain caused by an enemy Drake's SCOP will still affect his vision.
- As his D2D weakness, Drake now has -20%Def on his air units instead of -30%Atk.
- Made sure Drake only gains a net total of +5%Def to his naval and air units during his COP and SCOP. His infantry and ground units will still gain passive +10%Def when using his powers.

- Sturm no longer has +20%Def on all his units as a D2D ability.

- Lash now has perfect movement during snow when using her COP and SCOP.
- In return, made sure Lash does not receive any +Def to non-air units during her COP and SCOP (%Def of said units still at 0, not +10. 2x Def per terrain star using her SCOP still apply).

- In addition to +10%Atk, Hawke now has 1.06x CA as a D2D ability.

- Reduced production cost markups and discounts of Kanbei, Colin, and Hachi, respectively.
- Kanbei now has increased D2D CA but decreased D2D, COP, and SCOP Atk and Def bonuses. Also made sure Kanbei no longer has the possibility of having invincible units during his SCOP.
- Colin's D2D CA is now reduced from 1x to 0.84x.
- Colin's SCOP is now modified to deal +2%Atk/1000G instead of the usual +3.33%Atk/1000G.

- Jess now has +20%Atk on her vehicular units on a D2D basis instead of the usual +10%Atk.

- Sensei now has +30%Atk on both B. cops. and infantry as a D2D ability instead of +50%Atk and +40%Atk, respectively.
- Reduced Sensei's B. cop. %Atk from +75 to +50 during both his COP and SCOP.
- Made sure Sensei only gains a net total of +5%Def to B. cops and infantry during his COP and SCOP.


v1.1

- Increased the range of Lck & Dis for most COs from 5-8% to 6-9%. Nell and Flak are exempted from the changes.
- Sonja now has 1 & 11%, 9%, and 6 & 9% Lck&Dis values for her D2D, COP, and SCOP, respectively.

- Max now has -10% Atk&Def for all his indirect units as a weakness (same as his AW1 weakness).
- Nerfed Max's COP and SCOP %Atk boost from 40 & 60 to 30 & 50.
- Buffed Max's COP and SCOP net %Def from +10 to +15.

- Sami's capture rate is now increased to x1.50 during her COP.
- Sami now has -10%Atk & -7%Def for all non-APC vehicular units as her weakness instead of -20%Atk & -5%Def for direct vehicular units and -10%Atk & -15%Def for indirect vehicular units.
- Nerfed Sami's transport unit %Def from 25 to 20.
- Removed x1.06 CA for all of Sami's direct-attack units during her COP and SCOP.

- Nerfed Grit's D2D, COP and SCOP %Atk boost from 20, 40, and 60 to 15, 30, and 50, respectively.

- Reduced Kanbei's D2D transport unit %Def from 20 to 15.

- Eagle now has -20%Atk & -5%Def for all his attack-capable naval units as a weakness instead of -10%Atk & -15%Def.

- Nerfed Drake's naval unit D2D %Def from 30 to 25.
- Buffed Drake's air unit D2D %Def from -20 to -15.

- Removed Hawke's +5% bonus Def during his SCOP (net SCOP %Def now at +10, not +15).
- Increased Hawke's SCOP CA from x1.06 to x1.08.

- Removed Colin's +5% bonus Def during his COP (net COP %Def now at +10, not +15).


For more details, see the "CO" sheet in the "AWBHR_vanilla_balance_mod_[version].xlsx". Unless indicated in the "Additional Notes" section, "—" means no *detrimental* change from D2D stat..


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Other changes:
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v1.0

- Fixed the incorrect firepower rating of Artilleries vs. sea units in the Unit Info Screen.


v1.1
(no additional changes)


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Known errors:
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- While some units provide correct firepower ratings in the Unit Info Screen, they will still provide incorrect text descriptions on how effective they are against other units.
- B. cop. Info Screen will mention that they have the highest vision out of all air units. This is no longer the case.
- In Mission "Lash Out", Nell states that Sami has superior transport unit movement range. This is no longer the case.
- In Mission "Flak Attack", Flak will state that bombers are indirect units. This has never been the case.


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Acknowledgement:
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- Big thanks to the following:

- hectorofchad - Nightmare 2.0
- Xenesis - NM2 Modules, Pointer Hack Ultra
- Mark999 - Updated NM2 modules
- CodeReaper, Xenesis - AW Unit Damage Editor
- FuSoYa - Lunar IPS

Database match: Advance Wars 2 - Black Hole Rising (USA)
Database: No-Intro: Game Boy Advance (v. 20210227-023848)
File/ROM SHA-1: 14DD0B22C894865867AFF89E8116B2DFFAE25605
File/ROM CRC32: 5AD0E571