I tried to install that patch you linked to, but it didn't work. It fails to install every time I try. Is there anything else I can try?

Hello all, I'm new here. I just rediscovered Freelancer after many long years. I had a good time playing through the story, but one thing that really bothered me is how the story mode messes with your reputation with the various factions to the point that earning reputation during the story is essentially meaningless. It makes sense for Liberty's peacekeeping factions to turn hostile when you get publicly shitlisted by all of Liberty in-story, it makes sense for the Rheinland Military to become hostile once you start openly fighting them in-story, and it makes sense for various criminal factions to become neutral or friendly when the story requires you to cooperate with them. But the other scripted reputation changes feel excessive. The first mission in the Bretonia arc resets your reputation with the Bretonia Police and Armed Forces back to neutral for some reason. After one late mission, nearly every faction becomes hostile except for certain criminal gangs and a small handful of other factions. And when you finish the story, your reputation with nearly every faction (if not all of them) is changed to what appears to be the default values. I'm really not a fan of this. I spent a lot of time and credits trying to build up my reputation as I went through the story, and with it effectively being reset at the end of the story, it feels like all that effort was pointless.

So I ask, is there a mod that tones down those story-based reputation changes to not effectively reset everything towards the end? If not, could one feasibly be made without being too much of a hassle? Ideally, the only reputation changes I'd want to happen as a result of story progress are the ones that I said "made sense" up above, as well as Liberty peacekeepers/Rheinland Military becoming friendly/neutral again at the end of the story.

Thanks in advance to anybody who can help me out with this. I greatly appreciate it!