Start at max level but still play the story?

Progress is based on increasing level, so I don't think it would be possible to start at max, but 16 levels less than max might work (so level 22). If it's just access to equipment you want, have a look at my site (FL Hack has an option to ignore level when purchasing equipment and there's a savegame that starts with a decked-out Eagle).

I wanted to know if you could use the hack with mods or not? I tried to use it with mods and for some reason the game just closes in the middle of me doing things.

It should work. What's the mod and exactly what are you doing?

It doesn't seem to matter which mod I try. After a while, the game minimizes to the bottom of the screen as if I wanted to go back to my desktop and then it closes. It seems to happen the most when I try to fly to a wreck to get loot. I end up having to run the game again and start from the last save point. It doesn't actually hurt my game, it's just very annoying.

Are you using the official patch? In theory I support the original files, but I only ever tested with 1.1. It's possible a mod might be detecting it and shutting down, but not if it happens with any mod, unless a previous mod got left behind. Have a look at [Libraries] in EXE\dacom.ini - these are the vanilla ones, anything else is added by a mod.