Gandalf,
Mod apply to anyone playing, AI or not. With one mod per nation it won't be hard to enable the "good" ones.
It could be used as a cheat, I've no problem with that, but in MP it won't go unnoticed !
I know that map command can solve many issues, but the problem is that you can't easily apply a set of map command to any/all of your games, whereas it's quite easy with mods.
Tinkthanks
I don't claim I'll make the AI competence increase, just give them cheaper/more stuff
A +1 Research bonus is moddable : giving it to each nation's lowest mage is a good idea, will try that !
For Rainbow mages it could be done by creating a specific unit and putting it in the starting forces, but I'm not sure the AI will use it for searching... There's no way to test AI searches, except by guessing through gem income.
Thx for the praise anyway