Question about how long should it take to open a game?

Assuming that is a tersely worded request and not a note to yourself:

The speed test results I mentioned already, 2Mbit/s, it was done immediately prior to opening the PA Launcher.

My HDD is a run of the mill 7,200RPM 1Tb SATA2 device that is ~50% full.
But I fail to see how it could be an issue given that its throughput is orders of magnitude faster than my net connection.

Just tried again and it took 35s after I got 4Mbit/s in my ISP connection test.
It's now close to midnight here so the WiMAX spectrum should be less congested hence my greater speed.

Edit:
Definitely starting to look like a map download thing.

Thinking out loud...

Would it be worth exploring generating the map after creating a new game but prior to letting other players in?
Obviously once the full system generation system is in there'd be an intermediate step where the host fiddles with the sliders etc.

That way people could see a system preview before joining, have a better idea of what size download they're in for prior, and begin progress on it while in-Lobby deciding on teams/chatting/etc.
They can then better choose what games to choose or leave/be kicked if get in-Lobby and it's gonna take too long.

As opposed to finding out "in transit" when it's already too late to not delay everyone else or stuff up the game by bailing out on it.

Assuming that is a tersely worded request and not a note to yourself:

The speed test results I mentioned already, 2Mbit/s, it was done immediately prior to opening the PA Launcher.

My HDD is a run of the mill 7,200RPM 1Tb SATA2 device that is ~50% full.
But I fail to see how it could be an issue given that its throughput is orders of magnitude faster than my net connection.[/quo

The ssd i think was needed for supcom therefore I assumed PA would need it too. And 2mbits is small .

No, it wasn't. No, it doesn't. I know, but it's the best I can get.