I'm hoping maybe Voodoo47 can help me out with this?

I'm kinda confused about what to install. Seems like there's a number of updates, patches, mods, installers, and guides... but I don't know which one I should use?

I wanted to edit the difficulty of the game as a private mod for friends and anyone else who wants it, so I guess I should use what ever patches and updates, and use what ever mod guide or mods installer is the most up to date and popular?

Figuring out the updates and mods usually ends up being more tricky for me than editing the game.... and this game has been around so long, there's TONS of stuff. Can someone just tell me what to install? lol I asked a while back, but that was a good deal of time ago and that info I'm sure is very out of date.

I really wish every year someone would pin at the top of this area of the forum, an updated guide for installing all the latest patches and mods.

I plan on installing all the mods and patches, THEN editing the game and listing everything I installed so the file I provide is compatible if the other person installs the game the same way.

He's already done it? Follow the link to the mod guide on systemshock.org, last edited 2014-12-31. To patch up run the latest version ss2tool.