1: I have the same issue, and it's been that way on and off during this whole development process. One beta seems to keep them, the next returns them to default. They do carryover to any standalone that I make. Sorry, can't help you, but then it's a beta engine.
2: Titlesbank in the Game Creators/ FPSC Reloaded/Files directory, not the standalone. While I haven't tried changing them in a standalone, I probably wouldn't even bother because the standalone media are encrypted; not sure it would work. Feel free to try it!
3: Per Lee: @Jerry Tremble : We had to make some HARD choices for the product, and one of them was to suspend any work on Rift/DK2/Gear until we have a solid dependable core engine. I think it's the right approach as it benefits the many. Definately coming back in 2015, VR is SO cool!!
I'm looking forward to it too! Steam release estimated March 2015! It worked in an earlier beta, but it needed a little work and performance was already an issue.
4. The engine is still in beta. Not sure about a "licensing" system, but the .exe is there and all the media (as far as I know) is encrypted. (Just try editing it). I haven't checked the scripts (they weren't encrypted earlier) or other things though in this new beta. As for now, a stand alone installer should work. But then, why would you want to release anything with the current engine? It's not done!
MAME Cab PC: i7 4770@3.4Ghz (passmark 9945), 12GB RAM, Win 8.1/64, GeForce GTX645 (passmark 1898); Shiny new laptop: i7 4800MQ@2.7Ghz (passmark 8586), 16GB RAM, Win 8.1/64, GeForce GTX870M (passmark 3598); Old laptop: i5@2.3Ghz, 8GB RAM, Win 7/64, Intel 3000 graphics