So it is certainly possible to make battle casters but it is definitely more challenging.

I was thinking about what might be added to the game to make this easier.

Easy things would be a couple of feats:
Practiced Spellcaster (up to 3 levels outside your class get added to caster level)

Feat to allow light armor wearing without ASF (bard feature) (or grant -10% ASF)

Still Spell Feat to cast without ASF for 5-10 more spell points.

Prestige classes such as:
Eldritch Knight.

Other thoughts?