Another great newbie question - mods

[Nscaler]

Probably a bit early in asking this as FedEx still is in the process of bringing it to me but...

I've pretty much burned a hole through my Master of Orion II cd when a buddy pointed out SEIV to me, of course I got hooked instantly and ordered it that night, as it basically did everything I wished woulda been added to MOO-II (or a MOO-III that I've yet to see). I've never really added any modifications to my games but digging through the mod archives I see some stuff I want as soon as I get familar enough with the game. (Taking the advice to play it first before I go mucking around with add-ons.)

Anyways my question is (drumroll):
Mods, I know what they basically are, but only the basics, or less.
One thing is comments I've seen on game Version #'s, I plan to get the newest patch but notice that many of the mods seem to be Version specific. I really want Devnullicus's compilation mod for example, but it mentions it's meant for v1.19.
So help on understanding mods would be greatly appreciated (probably like directions to a newbie-friendly website or something similar.

Thanks in advance,

Nscaler

Yeah, I do model railroading too, along with Society of Creative Anachronism, and many other fun stuff. Too many hobbies, too little hours in the day, and I got a feeling that once the game arrives, everything else will get put aside (and finals are coming up, oh boy).

[Nscaler]

Murr, I search don't find anything, post, and bango, find the answer to my question (in the sound/speech thread).

So...questions pretty much answered.

Nscaler

[khanuk]

Yep, I think Dogscoff and Master Belisarius have pretty much given an idiot's guide to modding in that one - certainly helped me I can tell you

Could also be a good thing to post in some kind of Beginner's Guide FAQ section