  We have performed a large set of high-resolution cosmological simulations
using smoothed particle hydrodynamics to study the formation of the first
luminous objects in the LCDM cosmology. We follow the collapse of primordial
gas clouds in eight early structures and document the scatter in the properties
of the first star-forming clouds. Our first objects span formation redshifts
from z~10 to z~50 and cover an order of magnitude in halo mas. We find that the
physical properties of the central star-forming clouds are very similar in all
of the simulated objects despite significant differences in formation redshift
and environment. The physical properties of the clouds have little correlation
with spin, mass, or assembly history of the host halo. The collapse of
protostellar objects at higher redshifts progresses much more rapidly due to
the higher densities, which accelerates the formation of molecular hydrogen,
enhances initial cooling and shortens the dynamical timescales. The mass of the
star-forming clouds cover a broad range, from a few hundred to a few thousand
solar masses, and exhibit various morphologies: some of have disk-like
structures nearly rotational supported; others form flattened spheroids; still
others form bars. All of them develop a single proto-stellar `seed' which does
not fragment into multiple objects up to the moment that the central gas
becomes optically thick to H2 cooling lines. At this time, the instantaneous
mass accretion rate onto the centre varies significantly from object to object,
with disk-like structuress have the smallest mass accretion rates. The
formation epoch and properties of the star-forming clouds are sensitive to the
values of cosmological parameters.
