An additional bonus when playing the Improved Computer Opponents mod is the computer global casting. This setup probably comes close to replicating MP global casting.
When I made these mods I gave the boosted nations significent additional gems: motivation was partly whimsy, partly intentional and partly out of "it was the easiest way to go".
Anyway, I'm deep into a MA game and the Improved Opponent modded AI nations are throwing up a global just about every turn. As a SP player, I never had to fight off globals like I do now. I'm using up all my pearls on Dispel so I can keep my favorite globals from being randomly displaced (what is the term for that?). And the computer seems to be adapting to this because I think it is putting more and more gems into protecting the globals.
I do play on easy research. I got tired of never getting to the really cool spells by the end of a game.