1) The forum of mod discusssion is Holowan Labs, not Republic Newsfeed.
2) Not all mods are posted at PCGM's, therefore just because you don't find one there doesn't mean that it doesn't exist.
3) Since the game came out in 2004, wouldn't a mod made in 2004 be applicable?
4) Did the thread that you found have a link to where you could find the mod? If so did you try looking there?
5) "i have done quite a few searches here". Does that include the aforementioned Holowan Labs? Did you try looking in any of the stuck threads (I don't know...like maybe "Where Can I Find Mods (
http://www.lucasforums.com/showthread.php?t=143413)") for instance. If someone named Talchia made a hardcore mod, maybe it would be listed there. How hard did you really look?
And now that I've gotten that off of my chest, here's the link
http://www.sternenschmiede.de/downloads/HardcoreMOD1.zip)
Merry Christmas