Finally got v1 working on PC with mods - first time ever (I've only played v1 on PS4 before I think)! I just couldn't wrap my head around the instructions but
@cb7's post got it into my head (nice to see you BTW)!
Installing it via Origin with the latest patch, starting it up once (I had to start it multiple times because Origin seemed to stop repeatedly before it had fully downloaded), swapping the folder names (between the original and "naughty" version), booting THAT once with Origin in offline mode (logging in with the email and password when prompted), then coming out of it and installing all the mods as normal did the trick.
(Baaically, what both
@Anth James and
@papinho81 already told me, multiple times, but I just wasn't getting it.

)
It does feel different - the biggest difference I've noticed is that the AI seem 10x sharper. I haven't won a game since switching to v1...
What difficulty level do you v1 guys play on? And do you play around with the sliders at all (
@papinho81, bearing in mind I'm using your gameplay mod linked to in the first post in your "modding mess" thread)?