An "Accelerated Start" feature is enabled in many system-generated games. The purpose of this feature is to speed up the first few moves of a game, so that the players can get to the interesting moves more quickly.
Accelerated Start is enabled in most System-Generated games. It is not enabled in Classic games, Slow games (2 turns per week), Melee games and Team games.
For beginner games, Accelerated Start is set to five turns. For other games, it is set to three turns.
When Accelerated Start is enabled in a game, the player can play the first few moves without waiting for other players to make their moves. The player will not receive any scan information on enemy colonists, and missions that effect colonists of other races (e.g. RGA) will not have those particular effects. In addition, there will be no interaction with the starships or minefields (normal or web) of other players. Finally, the Time Machine, when used later in the game, will not provide any information about the planets, starships or minefields of other players during the Accelerated Turns.
After the Accelerated Start turns have completed, the first full Host run will happen. This will merge the explored area of the players, provide the first scan information on enemy colonists and resolve conflicts.
A conflict will occur if multiple players have colonized the same planet. The resolution will be in favor of the race with the most clans. No combat modifiers (either from race or from planetary defense) will be applied. The race with the greatest number of clans will continue to own the planet, with no noticeable effects. The race with fewer clans will notice that they do not own the planet, and everything they placed onto the planet will be gone. When the losing race scans the planet next, they might notice that it belongs to the winning race (depends on chance and what construction has occurred).
The overall process for a game with a 3-turn Accelerated Start (5-turn Accelerated Start is similar but longer) is as follows: