This guide will explain the various options available when starting a new game. I feel like it's rather straight-forward. Some have asked about this. So I thought it best to make a guide.

The first screen when you press "New Game" has the following options:

Save game as:
Some of the options you'll choose won't be viewable in-game. I suggest using a name to remind you of the diffculty setting.

Select a starting year:
No matter where you start, there will be challenges. The overall difficulty varies depending on the starting date. Broadly speaking starting before 1950 is harder and after 1950 is easier. (There are some pitfalls which will be explained further down.)

Select a difficulty setting:
This is mostly just templates for other settings. The description box next to the settings will tell you everything you need to know.

Select Map
Maps are more than maps. They contain a timeline of historical events. The Base City Map is the most refined. It's my recommendation in most cases. The other maps are worth a try if you're looking to mix things up.

On the left you will find:

• No starting factory or branch. (Harder)
  
• No wars - Throughout the game there will be wars between nations. Any region caught up in the war will not be able to sell or produce vehicles. (However, factories can aid in the war efforts by producing munitions. This is also a source of revenue.) Turning off wars makes the game easier, but less dynamic.
  
• No major economic fluctuation - In real life, individual nations' economies do not simply rise steadily over time. They boom, and they collapse. This is reflected in the game. It creates more interesting gameplay. It can, however, be a little overwhelming for newer players. This tones it down a great deal.
  
• Start with a bank loan. (Harder)
  
• Can be fired. (Harder)
  
• Enable Benefits System - This will cause your employees to demand benefits (or more of them) under the threat of a strike. As long as you are fair, they (generally) aren't going to strike or make demands. It does, however, cause spiralling expenses that add-up over time.
  
• User Defined Starting Funds (Variable)
  
• Disable Contracts For Player Race - Selecting this will remove your ability to recieve and fill contracts. It is a big handicap. As contracts tend to be lucrative. In fact, you can run your business on contracts alone. Only disable contracts if you feel you've mastered the game.
  
• Monopoly Lawsuits (Harder)
  
• Limit New Branches (Harder)
  
• Increased Branch Costs (Harder)

Most of this is self-explanatory. Note that some of these in combination make the game impossible. (Ex: Setting starting funds low and also lacking the starting factory/branch. This can easily result in not having enough cash to build the first factory and design the first vehicle.)

On the right you will find:

• Customer Base - Changes the percentage of the population that is interested in buying a car.
  
• Purchasing Power - Gives people interested in buying a car more money to spend when shopping.
  
• Calculate AI Production Every X Turn/s - If you have a high-end cpu (Ryzen or i7) you can safely leave this all the way to the right. On lower-end cpus you may want to slide this to the left to decrease the amount of time it takes to calculate the A.I.'s turns.
  
• AI Starting Funds - Determines the amount of money your rival companies will begin the game with. This is further randomized for each AI company at the start of a new game. Slide left for easy, right for hard.

On the left:

• Disable Marketing - A double-edged sword. Simplifies the game and reduces costs. Eliminates additional sales revenue.
  
• Disable Technology Introduction - Normally, the game will restrict the development of certain technologies until certain dates. By removing this, your only restriction is the skill of your design teams.
  
• Enable All Vehicles at Start - Unlocks all vehicle types.
  
• Unlimited Money (Sandbox) - God mode. Disables most achievements.
  
• Component/Vehicle Inflation - Whenever you build something it recieves a material cost. Normally, this cost remains the same over time. This option will cause the cost to rise over time.
  
• Establish AI - Normally, AI's will start with a fresh new company like you. If you check this? They will have pre-existing (a.k.a. "established") businesses. It makes the game more realistic, but also much harder.
  
• Random History - It's easy to stow away money for world wars. Much harder to do that when they can happen at random. A fun challenge for experienced players.
  
• Import Tax - Imposes a tax for cars produced outside of the country in which they are to be sold. Harder and more realistic.
  
• Random Vehicle Popularity - Once you've played through the game a few times, it's a bit predictable. Certain vehicle types will always be better than others during certain time periods. If you're tired of starting every game by building a sedan... this option is for you.
  
• Disable Static Vehicle Popularity Change - The game changes vehicle popularity over time. It is greatly tied to historical data. This option makes it so that the only influence on vehicle popularity is player and AI actions.

On the right:

• Customer Fluctuation X% from normal - Each turn the game determines how many vehicles you sell. The game then applies a bit of randomization to it. While you cannot disable the fluctuation, you can lessen or increase the effect.
  
• RnD Estimation Gap X% More - While developing a vehicle you can press the "Preview Vehicle" button. The rating you see will not be accurate. You cannot disable this feature, but you can control the intensity of the effect.

The left column sets the skill level of your various employees.

The middle column controls the skill of your design teams.

The right column reflects how the general public sees your company.

Although increasing these values can give you an edge, it can backfire. If you have high quality designers but low quality designs? Your design skills will fall anyway. The same goes for the image ratings.

Press continue when done.

Now you are ready to choose a city. (On older maps this might be a territory.)

There are a number of buttons on the left. Pressing any of them will apply color-coding to all available cities. With a corresponding legend in the lower-right corner. I'll skip over the obvious ones.

• Per Capita - This is the amount of income that an average person makes in a year, in that city. These values scale depending on the starting date. Simply put, you'll sell the most cars in the richest cities.
  
• Infrastructure - This represents how well-developed roads and transportation are in the area. A higher rating will result in relatively lower transportation costs to/from this location.
  
• Manufacturing - This (along with labor skill) determines your "build quality". A hidden game stat that impacts the image of the vehicle in question and the entire company. Having a low build quality can harm sales, but results in lower costs. (Low quality can also mean more revenue from the sale of after-market replacement parts.) Having a high build quality increases sales, but also costs.
  
• Population - More people means more potential customers... generally. If those people don't have any money, they probably won't be buying any cars.

Ah! We are finally at an end. This is the last screen. The only thing of note is the AI Settings.

Here, you can choose the number of opponents. Very simply, less opponents results in less competition. Which makes the game easier. The reverse is true for increasing the number of opponents. It makes the game harder.

I find that the "Top 25 Companies..." setting provides the best balance of competition and opportunity.