Shipsets, AIs and Mods

[deccan]

Okay, this is a newbish question but I'm still having problems with it. How do you guys manage multiple shipsets, AIs and mods efficiently?

I find that I install a shipset in the default folders, then any games that call for them, even modded games, will correctly find them. But I won't be able to create an empire under that mod using a shipset in the default folder, as opposed to the mod's folder.

Furthermore, some mods have AIs that are optimized for them, i.e. Proportions, Devnull etc. If I want an AI to use a special shipset within a mod, do I just copy the bitmaps and leave out all the text files, hoping that the mod will correct pick the right modded AI for that race?

When I setup a single-player game, and the mod doesn't include pre-defined emp files, how does the game create AI-controlled empires? How can I make sure that the generated AIs are correctly optimized for that mod?