How the hell do I properly download the Merciless mod?

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I've tried several things and can't get this to work. I seem to download everything correctly, but when I start the game, there are zero changes.

Some points that might matter or be helpful to know:
-The mod requires patch 1.3 to run, but when I download the 1.3 patch, it says the patch is not applied due to my game being up to date. I assumed there's nothing more for me to do then.

-Every time I have downloaded the Merciless mod, it for some reason deletes 10 files from my game directory, including the SIngleplayer and Multiplayer .exe files. I verified integrity of game files which made the files all reappear, and the mod files remained after doing so as well. I assumed there was nothing left for me to do here also.

-I created the shortcut for the singleplayer .exe file, then edited the target exactly as the instructions specified. The shortcut then launched the game as intended, though as I've said the game is still vanilla once launched.

If anyone can tell me if I'm doing anything wrong I'd appreciate it. Like I said, it launches fine, but the mod makes zero changes. Thanks.


For reference, I am downloading the version found here: https://www.moddb.com/mods/merciless-mod/downloads/merciless-matador-cod2-single-player-mod.