Mod is up, called Enhanced Beams. Let me know what you think!

I guess my error is something on my end then, I will reinstall the game and see 

Yes, I noticed the ship design bug too. We are working on it.
For your error, I followed your steps 2 times but I had no errors ... I continue to investigate :)

I tried to create another "Reskin mod" to test the ship's reskin and it seems to work during combats: 

ReskinCravert.zip

It changes the Craver's small exploration ship (more easy to test).

Ok I check that and keep you informed ;)

Good job Knyghtfall!
I will try it too (and will seek what can break the scan mode during battles ...)

I will check it out in my next play-though, I may have to rethink my standard load-outs with this enabled

I've been trying to affect damage at specific ranges. Looking through the various xml files, I've found the following:

<Modifier TargetProperty="DamageShort"              Operation="Percent" Value="$(DamageShort)"                  Path="ClassShip/ClassSection/ClassModuleWeapon" />
<Modifier TargetProperty="DamageMedium"          Operation="Percent" Value="$(DamageMedium)"             Path="ClassShip/ClassSection/ClassModuleWeapon" />
<Modifier TargetProperty="DamageLong"               Operation="Percent" Value="$(DamageLong)"                   Path="ClassShip/ClassSection/ClassModuleWeapon" />

I'm guessing these are for reporting only? I've been trying to use them like such:

<Modifier TargetProperty="DamageShort" Operation="Percent" Value="0.1" Path="ClassShip/ClassSection/ClassModuleWeapon,!ClassModuleWeaponFlack" />

...to give a weapon a bonus 10% damage at short range, but it doesn't seem to work. 

How can I mod the damage of weapons at the various ranges?

It's good to hear that its possible to mod after all.

Eureka, I finally figured out how to do it! It was kind of a pain, especially when you misspell the property you're trying to attach :)

Anyhow, I figured out how to create a new property and can now mod weapon effects at any range increment discreetly (rather than just damage over all). My code is a mess at the moment, but I'll post a mod once I've got it cleaned up. 

At it's most basic, it's a combination of modding the BattleEffectDefinitions.xml and SimulationDescriptors[ModuleWeapon].xml files.

I also found 

public enum WeaponRange
 {
     DeadZone,
     Short,
     Medium,
     Long
 }

So there is a 4th range type, they are numbered 0 - 3

Also found

public enum WeaponType
 {
     Undefined,
     Kinetic,
     Missile,
     Laser,
     Beam,
     Flack,
     Destruction
 }

Which are numbered 0 - 6, I don't remember seeing the destruction type but it might be the planet destroyer

In the Available range code there is a reference to another piece of code /Assembly-CSharp/EncounterTargetingRangeDefinition

Might also be of use

Thanks for posting the code. I believe that pertains to the highlighted portion of the XML below (providing the entire Weapon Module entry for completeness):

    <WeaponModule Name="ModuleWeaponBeam1" Type="Beam" Family="BeamBase" Level="1">
        <Cost ResourceName="SystemProduction">20</Cost>
        <!-- ** START AI DATA ** -->
        <!-- Weapons types -->
        <AIBattleSituations Situation="EnergyWeapon" Mode="Use" Value="1"/>
        <!-- Armor types -->
        <AIBattleSituations Situation="EnergyDefense" Mode="Against" Value="-1"/>
        <AIBattleSituations Situation="ProjectileDefense" Mode="Against" Value="1"/>
        <!-- Specific weapons -->
                <AIBattleSituations Situation="Beam" Mode="Use" Value="1"/>
                <AIBattleSituations Situation="Kinetic" Mode="Against" Value="1"/>
                <AIBattleSituations Situation="Missile" Mode="Against" Value="-1"/>
                <AIBattleSituations Situation="Laser" Mode="Against" Value="-0.5"/>
   
        <!-- Ranges -->
                <AIBattleSituations Situation="Short" Mode="Use" Value="1"/>
                <AIBattleSituations Situation="Medium" Mode="Use" Value="0.75"/>
                <AIBattleSituations Situation="Long" Mode="Use" Value="0.75"/>
                <AIBattleSituations Situation="Short" Mode="Against" Value="1"/>
                <AIBattleSituations Situation="Medium" Mode="Against" Value="0.75"/>
                <AIBattleSituations Situation="Long" Mode="Against" Value="0.25"/>
        <!-- ** END AI DATA ** -->
       
        <PathPrerequisite Flags="Edition" Inverted="true">ClassShip,CannotHaveWeapon</PathPrerequisite>
        <PathPrerequisite Flags="ShipHasDestructionModule,Edition,Disable" Inverted="true">ClassShip/ClassSection/ClassModuleDestruction</PathPrerequisite>
        <SimulationDescriptorReference Name="ClassModuleWeapon"/>
        <CategorizedSimulationDescriptors Category="CategoryBaseWeapon">
            <SimulationDescriptorReference Name="ModuleWeaponBeam1"/>
        </CategorizedSimulationDescriptors>
        <CategorizedSimulationDescriptors Category="CategoryModuleWeaponBeam">
            <SimulationDescriptorReference Name="ClassModuleWeaponBeam"/>
        </CategorizedSimulationDescriptors>
        <BattleActionReference Name="Weapon_Initialize"/>
        <BattleActionReference Name="Weapon_SalvoHitFlotillaShield"/>
        <BattleActionReference Name="Weapon_SalvoHitShipShield"/>
        <BattleActionReference Name="Weapon_SalvoApplyShieldDamage"/>
        <BattleActionReference Name="Weapon_SalvoLaunched"/>
        <BattleActionReference Name="Weapon_SalvoPrepareHitTarget"/>
        <BattleActionReference Name="Weapon_SalvoHitTarget"/>
        <BattleActionReference Name="Weapon_SalvoPostHitTarget"/>
        <BattleActionReference Name="Weapon_SalvoPostHitTarget_StatisticsRecording"/>
        <BattleActionReference Name="WeaponBeam_SalvoPostHitTarget_StatisticsRecording"/>
        <BattleActionReference Name="Weapon_UpdateAccuracyAfterMiss"/>
        <SalvoReference Name="SalvoBeam1"/>
        <AvailableRange RangeName="Short" PenaltyPropertyName="ShortRangePenalty"/><!--Standard Beam weapon range availability--> 
        <AvailableRange RangeName="Medium" PenaltyPropertyName="MediumRangePenalty"/><!--Added this so Beam weapon can fire at this range-->
        <AvailableRange RangeName="Long" PenaltyPropertyName="LongRangePenalty"/><!--Added this so Beam weapon can fire at this range-->
        <TargetSortingCriterion Name="Type">
            <ScoreModifier Name="Ship">1</ScoreModifier>
        </TargetSortingCriterion>
        <TargetSortingCriterion_PropertyMultiplier Name="PropertyMultiplier">
            <ScoreModifier Name="OffensiveMilitaryPowerIfWeakestTargeting">-1</ScoreModifier>
        </TargetSortingCriterion_PropertyMultiplier>
        <TargetSortingCriterion Name="Role" ScoreModifiersDefaultValue="1" IgnoredWhenCheckingTargetValidity="true"/>
        <TargetSortingCriterion_PropertyMultiplier Name="PropertyMultiplier">
            <ScoreModifier Name="TargetersCount">-1</ScoreModifier>
            <ScoreModifier Name="TargetingWeightBonus">1</ScoreModifier>
        </TargetSortingCriterion_PropertyMultiplier>
    </WeaponModule>

I been looking around the Assemblies and in Assembly-CSharp/WeaponModuleDefinition/AvailableRange looks like code that might have some answers (might not) 

https://pastebin.com/fBwWQpjE (Best if you know C#)

I haven't look through it in-depth so it might be useless to you, but I thought I would give it to you in case it might be.