Mods vs Original SE4

[Wenin]

I've had SE4 for years and never touched mods. Don't know why, I guess I just simply liked Vanilla SE4. Well in the past couple of weeks I've learned the joys of playing with Mods. The problem I have is that I don't want to get rid of my Vanilla SE4. So when Mods are asking me to replace my Race's AIs and such, I'm refusing to do so... so then when I play a Mod the Vanilla AIs flail against me in a world they aren't designed for....... blah...


Is there something I'm missing here?

Can you have a Mod in a Mod Folder, that utilizes whatever files are in the Mod folder and if a file is missing it then goes to the Vanilla SE4 Data and Pictures folder and find the needed file?

I've tried the ModLauncher, but it didn't seem to do this. Perhaps I'm using it wrong.

Need help, getting my setup squared away.

Thanks