@kyogre12: TY for clear explanation. When you say "5. Use Impulse to update the original to 1.16.", would that mean go through the entire 250Mb download I had to do for that (slow Internet connection) to get it again, because Impulse procedure doesn't let me just save the patch to disk??
I wonder if I could do it the other way round: my SoaSE is currently Impulse-patched to 1.16, I have original (boxed) disc plus 1.05 downloaded from somewhere; can I, like, copy current 1.16 somewhere, uninstall/reinstall from disc + 1.05 patch, copy elsewhere, restore copied 1.16, and keep Impulse happy I'm at 1.16?
Meanwhile, I only play vs AI, with any of these mods does the comp really know how to play (decently) with changes or do I really need to stick to non-modded if I expect AI to cope?
That should work, although I can't say I've tried it myself.
As for the AI, it works for the most part in 7ds. There are a couple races (Arilou and Rogue) that have more unique play styles, to the AI doesn't perform incredibly well, but the other races it can handle fine. The Arilou don't actually build ships, and just have them spawn form other ships, and the Rogue have to research a certain ship (the LHD) before they can colonize, both of which the AI has problems with.