In the dark ages between recombination (~0.4 Myr post-BB) and reionization (~300 Myr post-BB) of atoms, there was not any condensed-phase matter (except maybe some form of dark matter), nor radiation exchange other than Lyman-alpha. The only light was a warm cosmic background, and virtually all ordinary matter was in the form of neutral atoms of primordial elemental distribution (H, He, and traces of Li, B, C, N). Collapse of gas to form stars on any useful timescale was inhibited by the gas's transparency (in the sense of emission, not absorption of photons). Transparency prevented heat loss by radiation, which prevented the compression of the gas under gravity.
A dark, eventless place with few landmarks.
Eventually, somewhere around 100-500 Myr, the expansion of the Universe as a whole cooled it down to where H2 molecules could form, allowing better radiation away of heat when collapsing a parcel of gas. A certain amount of lumpiness is needed however and this structure, perhaps on several scales, along with proper motion, would determine several things: collisions between parcels, scale & timescale of individual star formation, and the amount of chain reaction in star formation (supernovae -> triggering more star formation -> more supernovae).
My intuition is that with 100's of M's of years to even out and settle down, it would be surpassingly smooth and quiescent.
This post imported from StackExchange Physics at 2015-09-27 16:06 (UTC), posted by SE-user Aabaakawad