The latest version of First strike now has the FS_SP mod incorporated and its been greatly improved upon.  As Joshino pointed out, there is an SP mappack that will allow you to play the FS_SP maps in First Strike.

Languere's Outpost Hoth map includes static ATATs as props, which is what you are seeing.   The team has playable ATAT's in development which will be released when the team releases the official Hoth map.

I played the sp package. It was nice but I wanted to fight against AT AT walkers. I assume the sp package didnt have AT AT's.

http://forums.fsmod.com/viewtopic.php?id=10345

Includes sp hoth, anchorhead, bloodgulch and more.

If you want to change your bot amount navigate to your ea/bf2142/mods/firstrike/ai/aidefault.ini and follow the instructions below the main command line.

As for a mod detecting you have the latest version of a game, I'm afraid thats the end users issue not the mod teams. Some people don't update if they are on a pirated copy. Mod teams cant be seen to be endorsing piracy, plus they may want to make use of new features in a game update, so they will often change their mod to run on latest game patches. If the end user doesn't want to update his game, then the mod team isn't responsible for that.

Newest version of FS has singleplayer built in already, no need to download FS_SP unless there are extra things in it you think the mod isn't providing. And the Rogue Tribe server runs the co-op versions of those maps, which means bots online.

The aircraft in FS are pretty simple to fly IMO. Certainly a lot better than in BF3!

I'm installing FS_SP, I'm going to try and get away with the newer version of FS 1.5 instead of downgrading to 1.4 becuase it takes "forever" to install. I don't mind this as the content is great, just trying to save time.

The launcher application is great. It behaves nicely, and professional. Click a button and it searches and installs updates for you. I'd suggest the following for a newer launcher, in a newer game like bf3:

-Automatically detect if user has correct version of the game. I had v1.50, but needed v1.51.

-Automatically correct the resolution for the user. Ask if user wants to use what the launcher suggests, (their native resolution) and tell them they can change it later.

-Show % complete when installing, downloading. The launcher does this in some parts of the installation, but not all. I was trigger happy with ctrl alt delete, but stayed patient.

The levels created are really nice. I like them better than Battlefront 1 & 2. I felt more imersed in Endor, in a forest. I felt more engaged to explore the imperial base in that planet. I still need to install FS_SP to get a better experience, as I found the base vacant of bots, and no speeders or AT-STs present.

The bots hurt. I like it. Pew Pew I'm dead. And Pew Pew they missed. A lazor does hurt them, not like Battlefront where you hit them 8 times in the head to kill them.

Aircraft. I think this is a Bf2142 problem, not the mod. Controlling aircraft isn't fun. Hard to maneuver.