In fact, it's not that hard once you learn how to use the DB Editor and the ESF editor.
I have my own set of modded files for it which address some of the concerns you raised earlier. As you said, Portugal and Holland were major naval powers but in the game they have no shipyard facilities to enable them to build larger ships. My mod gives the commercial ports the ability to build larger warships.
I also take England, Sweden, Spain, France, and Russia in the late campaign and give them the capacity to build heavy and first rate ships right from the start as there were 100-gun ships in the 17th century let alone the 18th.
Lastly, since I usually play as France, I have eliminated the cost differential between the cheapest and costliest land units which is an idea I stole from Darth who did it with the navies in order to get the AI to stop building fleets of cheap trading ships. If you give the AI a choice between recruiting a cheap militia unit or an expensive Swiss Infantry unit it will take the militia every time. By making them cost the same I suddenly find myself fighting armies that contain some quality opponents. Then the only question is what buildings they have that can recruit those units in which regions.
That's the bulk of it.
I have my own set of modded files for it which address some of the concerns you raised earlier. As you said, Portugal and Holland were major naval powers but in the game they have no shipyard facilities to enable them to build larger ships. My mod gives the commercial ports the ability to build larger warships.
I also take England, Sweden, Spain, France, and Russia in the late campaign and give them the capacity to build heavy and first rate ships right from the start as there were 100-gun ships in the 17th century let alone the 18th.
Lastly, since I usually play as France, I have eliminated the cost differential between the cheapest and costliest land units which is an idea I stole from Darth who did it with the navies in order to get the AI to stop building fleets of cheap trading ships. If you give the AI a choice between recruiting a cheap militia unit or an expensive Swiss Infantry unit it will take the militia every time. By making them cost the same I suddenly find myself fighting armies that contain some quality opponents. Then the only question is what buildings they have that can recruit those units in which regions.
That's the bulk of it.
