Okay. *pant* Almost got this working.
Events in FRED are correct, since I set the relativity to True. I know it's working because the ships aren't operating due to the FS2 RETAIL ai profile being active.
I created a new Ai_profiles.tbl with newtonian physics turned on. This is how it looks:
#AI Profiles
$Default Profile: BURNING HEAVEN
$Profile Name: BURNING HEAVEN
$Player Afterburner Recharge Scale: 5, 3, 2, 1.5, 1
$Max Beam Friendly Fire Damage: 0, 5, 10, 20, 30
$Player Countermeasure Life Scale: 3, 2, 1.5, 1.25, 1
$AI Countermeasure Firing Chance: 0.2, 0.3, 0.5, 0.9, 1.1
$AI In Range Time: 2, 1.4, 0.75, 0, -1
$AI Always Links Ammo Weapons: 95, 80, 60, 40, 20
$AI Maybe Links Ammo Weapons: 90, 60, 40, 20, 10
$AI Always Links Energy Weapons: 100, 80, 60, 40, 20
$AI Maybe Links Energy Weapons: 90, 60, 40, 20, 10
$Max Missles Locked on Player: 2, 3, 4, 7, 99
$Max Player Attackers: 2, 3, 4, 5, 99
$Max Incoming Asteroids: 3, 4, 5, 7, 10
$Player Damage Factor: 0.25, 0.5, 0.65, 0.85, 1
$Player Subsys Damage Factor: 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1
$Predict Position Delay: 2, 1.5, 1.33, 0.5, 0
$AI Shield Manage Delay: 5, 4, 2.5, 1.2, 0.1
$Friendly AI Fire Delay Scale: 2, 1.4, 1.25, 1.1, 1
$Hostile AI Fire Delay Scale: 4, 2.5, 1.75, 1.25, 1
$AI Turn Time Scale: 3, 2.2, 1.6, 1.3, 1
$Player Shield Recharge Scale: 4, 2, 1.5, 1.25, 1
$Player Weapon Recharge Scale: 10, 4, 2.5, 2, 1.5
$Max Turret Target Ownage: 3, 4, 7, 12, 19
$Max Turret Player Ownage: 3, 4, 7, 12, 19
$Percentage Required For Kill Scale: 0.30, 0.30, 0.30, 0.30, 0.30
$Percentage Required For Assist Scale: 0.15, 0.15, 0.15, 0.15, 0.15
$Percentage Awarded For Capship Assist: 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5
$Repair Penalty: 10, 20, 35, 50, 60
$Delay Before Allowing Bombs to Be Shot Down: 1.5, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5, 1.5
$big ships can attack beam turrets on untargeted ships: NO
$smart primary weapon selection: NO
$smart secondary weapon selection: NO
$smart shield management: NO
$smart afterburner management: NO
$allow rapid secondary dumbfire: NO
$huge turret weapons ignore bombs: NO
$don't insert random turret fire delay: NO
$hack improve non-homing swarm turret fire accuracy: NO
$shockwaves damage small ship subsystems: NO
$navigation subsystem governs warpout capability: NO
$ignore lower bound for minimum speed of docked ship: NO
$disable linked fire penalty: NO
$disable weapon damage scaling: NO
$use additive weapon velocity: NO
$use newtonian dampening: YES
$include beams for kills and assists: NO
$score kills based on damage caused: NO
$score assists based on damage caused: NO
$allow event and goal scoring in multiplayer: NO
$fix linked primary weapon decision bug: NO
$prevent turrets targeting too distant bombs: NO
$smart subsystem targeting for turrets: NO
$fix heat seekers homing on stealth ships bug: NO
$multi allow empty primaries: NO
$multi allow empty secondaries: NO
$allow turrets target weapons freely: NO
$use only single fov for turrets: NO
$allow vertical dodge: NO
$fix AI class bug: NO
#End
EDIT: Just found the Profiles tab in Mission Specs.
It works! Woot! Thanks so much for the help along the way!