So what do the difficulty settings do?

[unmerged(142769)]

I typically play the game on "normal" difficulty and normal AI. Butwhat exactly happens on the hardest/most furious settings?

Are potential enemies more likely to DOW?
Is supply harder?
Are there more negative events?
Are enemy units and sliders better?

What is the difference between normal and the most difficult, in actual game mechanics etc?

 

[unmerged(105989)]

Difficulty primarily affects how much IC you and the AI get. Easy settings mean that you get IC bonuses while the AI gets IC detractors. normal, neither side gets IC advantages. the harder levels, you get the IC maluses and the AI gets the IC bonuses.

 

[LiamRiordan]

Just think of them as handicaps.

 

[blue emu]

It affects a lot of other things, too. Here's a single block out of diffficulty.csv:

INDUSTRY;40;20;0;-20;-40;;X
RESOURCES;40;20;0;-20;-40;;X
MANPOWER;30;15;0;-15;-30;;X
RESEARCH;20;10;0;-10;-20;;X
ORGANISATION;30;15;0;-15;-30;;X
COMBAT;10;5;0;-5;-10;;X
MOVE_SPEED;10;5;0;-5;-10;;X
DISSENT;40;20;0;-20;-40;;X
DIPLOMACY;50;25;0;-25;-50;;X
INTELLIGENCE;10;5;0;-5;-10;;X