Cloning and compatibility

Hey guys! I was wondering if I could maybe dig the brains of all you object-talented people. I have a project with Gina that I wanted to get started on, and I'm trying to figure out compatibility. It's going to be a modded object based on one of simlogicals objects. The original comes has a BG, NL and Pets (and above) version. If possible I'd like to keep it that way, and ideally I'd just clone her objects, but they are calling on maxis shape and don't have a mesh of their own. We're going to change the mesh, so we need the object to have mesh parts and it seems easier to clone a different object and move over code.

I know how to clone an object and make it compatible with an earlier EP, what I'm unsure about is what parts of the package and how they are affected by cloning with a specific EP in mind. I've been taught that cloning with EPs checked means it won't work with lower ones, so I know I should use the lowest required EP, but I'm wondering if I can use a base game object for all of them or if I should clone different ones for each version.

I know BHAVs have changed formats as EPs were made and that newer formats don't work in earlier EPs, so I'll make sure the BHAVs are in the right format for each EP, and that it doesn't use functions not available in that EP. I also know pie menu functions has had format changes, so I'll make sure those are whatever that EP uses. Do any of the other resources have that kind of thing? I seem to recall reading that the later bhav formats are better and support more functions and that it's best to use the latest ones, so I wondered if there are other parts like that that I need to keep in mind.

And lastly a stupid question just to make sure I understand this properly. Let's say I clone a base game object with all EPs up to pets checked, and the downloader only has BG and AL. Will that object still work for them? AL is a higher game engine, so I would think it can handle it, but I don't trust logic when it comes to EA