Age of Ethanols change log (From Japanese 1.36 to English 1.01a)

General changes:

The Join and Create lobby buttons were removed from the Vs.Network screen. This is because Lobby games were essentially random games with other players using the game, and it would be possible to join a game with someone using a Japanese version of the game, desyncing both players shortly after the game started. (From testing that we did, even changes to the game that had no effect on game play would desync the game every time.)

The "Practice" difficulty AI was remade so that it was no longer a copy of the Lunatic AI. It will not attack the player and only defend its base.

The Lunatic AI was changed to remove almost all cheats that it did. It no longer gains extra resources through any means. It now has a better understanding of macro which we deemed a sufficient replacement. This new AI was made to hopefully be a possible replacement for a player in a team match.

Normal and Hard AI no longer gain extra resources over time.

Story mode changes:

Level 4: The Layout was changed so that the AI's units would not get stuck due to the map's design. Remilia and Flan will also wait at their base rather than trying to attack you as soon as the level started (But getting stuck anyways).

Level 4: The enemy spawn rate was reduced by half. (In order to compensate for the enemy units being able to reach your base, rather than getting stuck.)

Level 4: The SDM's are at full health, rather than being damaged. (This is to try and encourage the player to tech up to hard and get books to quicken the job)

Level 5: The enemy bases have towers now. (This is because the Eientei and UFO factions could kill each other without the player doing very much.)

Level 5: Your AI partner will now generate units slowly, and attack after collecting enough. (Originally, they would just sit around.)

Level 6: Yukari will no longer mass units forever, and will attack after reaching 70 units. (Before, she would never attack, spawning an infinite amount of units around her base. This made the level extremely difficult.)

Level 9 (AoE): The enemy hero was made much stronger, and the enemy has multiple bases and towers. (This was because many players believed the last level was too easy and anti-climatic)

Level 9 (AoE): The player starts off with a much larger resource pool. (2000/2000/1000, compared to 200/200/100)

Gameplay changes (What you're probably interested in more. The majority of these were not changed by the developer, so say what you want. We hope that these changes will make the game more enjoyable by making factions more balanced. If you do not like any of the changes put below, the most I can say to defend them is that the group that translated the game are RTS enthusiasts, and we have a lot of experience in the game. If you are upset at the changes, then you can download the original Japanese version, and use the knowledge you got from the English version to understand what everything does. If there is enough demand, I will make a patch for the Japanese version that does nothing but translate text.)

Hakurei: The Alcohol exchange rate for Suika's spell was changed from 400/800/1200 to 200/300/400. The hard cool down of the spell was changed from 20 seconds to 15/10/5. The cool down of the spell was changed from 180 to 30/20/10. The point cost of the spell was reduced from 250 to 50. (The reason behind this change was because converting such a large amount of alcohol would usually leave you with nothing left. The player would usually leave Suika at N so the ability could still be used.)

Hakurei: Marisa's master spark now deals 6x damage to buildings, changed from 25x. (This change was done because Marisa's master spark was powerful to the point where it was a game breaker. Just at Normal power, Marisa would do 1000 damage to buildings with the spell.)

SDM: Flandre's Laevithan now kills workers if it hits. (Sakuya outclassed Flandre by far, so this change was added to make her more viable for early game. Flandre would still workers in one hit without the buff at Lunatic level.)

SDM: Sakuya's attack speed during her spell was changed from 0.5/0.5/0.5 to 0.5/0.4/0.3 (Sakuya becomes fairly weak later, so this buff helps her stay viable. Otherwise, players would only bother to boost her to N just for the ability to scout and harass workers.)

IN: Erin's nightmare pill now correctly deals 20% of the unit's health as damage. (The Japanese description says 20%, but it would incorrectly deal only 5% of the unit's health as damage.)

IN: The area of effect for Reisen's spell was increased by 1/1/0. (The field was too tiny early game to make much use of.)

IN: Upgrading Kaguya also passively increases the health of red units greatly, but lowers their speed. (Kaguya was a joke hero before. If you've seen her, you probably know why.)

IN: Hospitals heal garrisoned units for 5% of their health per second, changed from 1.5%. The garrisoned unit limit was changed from 10 to 5. The health of Hospitals was changed from 1000 to 500. (Hospitals required a buff because the heal rate was too small for 10 units at a time. Main bases also gained the ability to heal, so the Hospital gained a much higher heal rate. To prevent proxy hospital abuse, the hospital can only hold 5 units and is much weaker.)

PoFV: Medicine's Poison Breath spell had its damage changed from 100/200/300% to 33/66/100% of the target's max health. The Area of effect was changed from a 2x2 radius to a 3x3 radius. (Medicine's poison deals damage equal to the target's max health, making a rate like 300% over the top. However, the Area of Effect was very small, so it was useless if your opponent could micro well. The damage was nerfed in order to increase the size of the poison cloud.

MoF: The Moriya shrine correctly fires bullets like other bases. (A glitch in the japanese version caused the base to never fire bullets normally, and only fire 1-3 bullets if fully loaded depending on the version.)

MoF: The Area of Effect for Kanako's spell was increased by 2. However, it no longer moves. (The range of Kanako's spell originally was too small to make any use of it before higher difficulties. The inability to move is to prevent the spell from being too powerful.)

MoF: Upgrading any hero gives a passive benefit to a unit. Refer to the unit descriptions for all of them. (To make up for the fact that they are unable to generate free alcohol.)

MoF: Workers cost alcohol, rather than faith. (Requiring faith slowed Moriya down so significantly early game that your opponent would always out-tech you.)

MoF: The resources you start off with are the same as other factions. (Japanese versions of the game started you with no alcohol, and was then further nerfed to having 100 less magic.)

SA: Zombie fairies give 0 points on death, changed from 8. (A weak unit that does almost nothing should not give almost 3x the points as a worker does. It was changed so that you can safely use them, rather than having to use them for building garrison)

UFO: The hard cool down on Murasa's sinking anchor was reduced from 60/50/40 to 40/40/40. (Murasa is already much weaker early game because you have fewer ships to fire from. This makes her more viable early on.)

Hisouten: Catfish's Fleeting world spell has a 50%/25%/0% larger area of effect. (This is because he was useless early game because his area of effect was far too small to hit more than a couple buildings.)

Three fairies: Each of the hero units have a cost of 100 resources on each of them, Sunny has alcohol, Luna has magic, and sapphire has faith. (Three fairies were extremely strong in the Japanese version because they only costed points, rather than resources to make. This allowed you to rush your opponent with three N heroes and several units in only 6 minutes, which was impossible for the majority of factions to deal with.)

Alice: Alice now has a range of 4/4/5 during her spell, changed from 0. (This change was made because Alice would originally try to melee attack during her spell, even though her damage was 0. This put her in danger if you weren't controlling her very well. The added range just makes her stay a slight distance away from the opponent.)

General: All units heal 1.5% of their health each second while inside of a base. (Originally, factions other than IN could not heal and would permanently have crippled units. This would not be a problem if it were not for the fact that points are given to enemies on kill. A weakened cluster of units was a free source of points for enemies, and therefore players would always self destruct weakened units.)

General: Blue and green magic books deal 50% more damage, but fire 50% slower. (This makes massing books easier to micro around, but still retains the book's ability to be a strong seige unit due to being able to heavily damage or outright kill what they do hit.)

General: White and Black books now have an attack range of 8, changed from 0. (Same reason as Alice. They would try to melee enemy units for little damage, meaning that they required constant attention to prevent them from killing themselves.