problem 1
this mod is intended to balance Singistics mod but is incompatible with said mod. i always get an error message when trying to load both mods. something about setup trees from singistics not being valid.

problem 2
(because of problem 1, i don't know how much of this is an actual bug)
the singistics mod has a market near the start, your mod has not. and while i can get most stuff basic easily thanks to your trade balancing, i can't find any of the higher tier stuff, beyond green science.
and i also can't seem to use the science packs for anything.
this makes this mod too incomplete to finish. -->EDIT: i eventually found some higher tier cities, but their spawn distance was way too far away from start. seems i just got a bad seed.

I'm not the original creator, but by "balancing" I think the original creator meant taking the mechanics of the other mod and creating a new mod that was more balanced, rather than making a balance patch for the other mod. I never played a save with both mods, only this one

that is certainly a valid interpretation.
though in my experience, most mods heavily inspired by other mods use the existing mod and build ontop of it, requiring the original mod to work.
i guess in this case the modder just took some of the scripts and created something mostly original from there.

as for the save you mentioned, you won't ever get to play a match with both, since as i said, factorio puts out an error message when trying to use both at once. so at least until the modder makes the necessary adjustments to the mod, that is impossible.