1. I think this post would be better moved to a more appropriate topic; it doesn't seem relevant to this one.
2. The influence of the HD mod is very possible, as there are many changes in versions 3.xx that affect the gameplay, and enabling/disabling different options could also have different effects.
4. To avoid abstract and purely theoretical discussions, it would be helpful to provide save files and describe the discrepancies.
As for the Prospector: as far as I know, it doesn't change the starting save.
(Василь Симоненко. Люди – прекрасні)