I believe it is possible to make a "mod loader" similar to GTA San Andreas modloader for Age of Empires, also similar to Voobly mods, but for singleplayer.
Modloaders work like this, you put the mod folder inside the "modloader" folder or in voobly "data mods" and the mod is loaded when opening the game, without the need to replace any files.
Unfortunately I don't know much about coding, but I leave the idea here for those who do.
The
Ultimate ASI Loader (base) project and Mod Loader (ASI mod) are open-source.
I'll also leave the link to ModdedSAA (ASI mod), which is a similar, but much smaller version of Mod Loader, as it loads few files, which is simpler and can help.[This message has been edited by AsenV (edited 01-14-2022 @ 11:26 AM).]