Picking one of the preset empires provides the quickest start, as the player can immediately start a new game.That leaves two options: preset empires and a custom-made one. To learn how to create a custom empire or gain some general information into how the empire structure works, proceed to Section 2.1 ( #Empire creation) of this article, and read through all of its subsections until you get to the header "User interface", then return here.Brand new players may want to avoid choosing overtly aggressive empires, as provoking an early game war can be overwhelming. Once in-game, keep the game paused and invest some time into exploring the user interface what the different buttons do and where they lead. Section 3 ( #User interface) of this article provides a basic overview of the interface, but for an optimal experience, it is recommended that the player themselves figure out how the UI works and how to use it. If one wants to create a safe environment for figuring out the most basic game functions before taking to the stars for real, it is possible to do so by creating a galaxy and removing all AI empires, Fallen Empires, Primitive Civilizations, Marauder Empires, and disabling Endgame Crises by setting all the appropriate sliders to zero in the game settings when starting a new game.