Starting a game is something that every player has to do, so I think there is some cause for doing it in an exciting way that helps lessen the fear of the options screen (that's where things start to get intimidating for new players).
I'm thinking a nebula cloud, maybe with random explosions, or ship shadowing. Maybe the sound of thunder.
"There's a storm coming…" as the cliche goes. The sounds of war. Put your suggestions here. Think of it like writing a script.
