I'm not a modder, but I have learned to make certain changes to the game. I downloaded the reference files, and alter things that annoy me sufficiently. I started off with a mod that removed superweapons from the game, by changing the cost so that they would be so expensive that they were unusable (not very elegant, but it worked). Next up was a mod that made the Orkulus starbase immobile, which also worked like a charm. But then something happened. I decided to try the game without mines, which seemed easy enough, but proved somewhat difficult. From changing research costs, to research requirements, to mine cost, to even just trying to remove mine cloaking, all were in vain. After a couple of weeks of on and off tinkering, I realized that while my new mods changed the checksum while they were loaded with older mods, it would stay at zero if they were by themselves, and would not work in either case (and when I say not work, I mean they changed nothing, not that they crashed the game). Finally, just before I started writing this, I copied the three entity files from my original mod (called "superweapon removal") and put them in a file next to the original, called "superweapon removal2)". Despite being identical (aside from the name), the original worked perfectly, and had a checksum of around 6000, while the new mod did the opposite of working, and had a checksum of exactly zero, which makes me ask:

What Is Going On?

Accepting all explanations, advice, or conspiracy theories.

(and I am pre-embarrassed, because it is probably something very simple that I have missed)

Notes: This problem started on diplomacy 1.34, and has continued over to 1.37

PS: Any grammar advice would not be offensive, since this is not my first language, and rely heavily on spell check and google translate.