Bethesda's Starfield

[malchior]

One thing I think works is the skill/crafting system. They have gamified all these systems in a satisfying way. You don't just level up, assign points, and become good at something. You don't become better at R&D because you shot a pirate in the face. You have to do activity within the skill to unlock additional ranks. It also makes scanning planets, collecting resources, and all that an integral part of the gameplay. I could see some people thinking that is artificial box checking but it feels integrated to me.

[Grifman]

Yes this... It's just odd as all their previous games weren't like this one. Oh well. I'm considering loading up NMS as they dropped a new update. I never could get into it for more than a few hours, but maybe this time?

Their other games weren’t like this because they weren’t in space. The problem is that space is very big and very empty. How do you simulate that and make it interesting? It appears that Bethesda has chosen to do that by cutting out space to some extent. That may or may not be the right answer.

I wonder if they would have been better off doing it like Mass Effect - you fly your ship across the vastness of space on a map, then orbit land on planets. It’s not fast travel but it’s not long boring stretches of waiting to arrive at your destination. Of course ME doesn’t have space combat but they could fold that in via random events that take you off the navigation map where you actually fly your ship.

I wonder if people once arriving in a system need to fly around. I’ve read that there are space stations, derelicts, etc. I wonder if people are missing that by over reliance on fast travel. Maybe rather than wandering planetary surfaces, people need to do a little wandering in space.

I don’t have EA so I will have to wait to try some things out.

[naednek]

I played for about an hour last night...it's very pretty. But I do agree, the HUD is currently kind of clunky. Also, I had the game crash on me at about an hour. So that wasn't cool. (Xbox Series X)

But my biggest concern, is...I don't know what to do now. I kind of feel stuck right now and the quest prompts are not helping at all.

Spoiler:

So fought off the pirates (and that reminded me of how much I suck at FPS games). Made it off planet, fought the space battles. My robot tells me to go to talk to the pirate king. I fly to the planet (I think) that I'm supposed to be on, land, and I see from the map a few structures.
So I go out of my ship, thinking I need to go to one of those places, but the guiding bug icon keeps pointing me back to my ship. I ignored it and walked to the largest structure but couldn't find my way in. Then the game crashed and I was annoyed and didn't restart.

So am I missing something? Am I on the wrong planet? I'm finding it rough, because the quest description gives almost 0 details that I can use a a clue to figure out where I'm supposed to go.

I had the same issue with the planet. It kept sending me to the cockpit. Then I realized I didn't land in the marker. You should zoom in on the planet and when you make your selection on where to land, it will be more accurate.

[naednek]

Brief impressions...

• Game immediately unlocked @5pm pst so I was able to decrypt well before I was able to play.
  Son got suspended at school yesterday so I wasn't in a gaming mood. I did play about 30 minutes (made it to the first planet and I couldn't keep my eyes open thanks to a stressful day)
• Graphics: it's ok. Lots of detail in the characters and the ship and inside locations. Outside feels bland and boring
• Voice Acting: Feels like anything else I played
• Robot companion: He needs to stay in his lane during gun fights.
• Performance: I'm getting about 40-45 fps at full settings. Not sure if I will downgrade some of the settings.
• Lockpicking: Why do developers make it so hard. I watched the video linked by jzytemple and others, hopefully it will click (pun intended)
• Space flight: Seems smooth. Wished it was more like NMS in terms of transitions from planet to space
• Gun fights, def an improvement over their fallout games. partnering with id. software was a smart move. It's not extreme action, but it actually feels right, where as their previous games felt janky.

Hoping to play more this weekend.

[jztemple2]

Completely off topic, and I've already posted this on Random Randomness, but I thought folks here might appreciate this (and I like bragging on my wife)

Today is the start of my 70th birthday month (yeah, I talked my wife into celebrating the whole month ) and she surprised me this morning with this tank top:

[jztemple2]

My biggest issue is that there is no map function in New Atlantis. I have to try to remember where the hell everything is. And there is a lot of stuff there. For folks with good memories it shouldn't be a problem, but I'm still getting lost. But just like in GTA5, eventually I'll get familiar with the place.

This being 2023, there is already a website with Starfield hub maps

[Daehawk]

Starforge...Asmond Gold's PC company is selling this.

LINK to Starforge's site

[Kurth]

Completely off topic, and I've already posted this on Random Randomness, but I thought folks here might appreciate this (and I like bragging on my wife)

Today is the start of my 70th birthday month (yeah, I talked my wife into celebrating the whole month ) and she surprised me this morning with this tank top:

This is awesome! And congrats on reaching 70!!! Level up.

[Kurth]

Brief impressions...

• Robot companion: He needs to stay in his lane during gun fights.

This. 100X this. Robot keeps cherry picking my kills! Doesn't he know I'm working to level up my pistol skills? Come on.

[jztemple2]

*Lockpicking: Why do developers make it so hard. I watched the video linked by jztemple and others, hopefully it will click (pun intended)

The lockpicking video is very helpful and it turns out that lockpicking isn't very complicated, once you understand the process.

Thinking about that, and having to find the New Atlantis map online, and at a loss on other things, reminded me that I had previously purchased an excellent Fallout 4 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide in hardcover for my Fallout 4 playthrough and wondered... nope, apparently nothing similar for Starfield . There is one for Cyberpunk 2077 though

[jztemple2]

Fair warning, use quicksave often. I've already had two situations that locked up the game, one when I started trying to talk to one NPC while another was talking and another when I accidentally hit the console button .

[Octavious]

Fair warning, use quicksave often. I've already had two situations that locked up the game, one when I started trying to talk to one NPC while another was talking and another when I accidentally hit the console button .

This isn't my 1st rodeo with Bethesda. I think I'll take a day away from this as I'm obviously too negative about it and maybe it will gel. I really hope so. I love me some janky Bethesda games.

[jztemple2]

I just realized what the music in the game reminds me of. I'm reminded of EPCOT at Walt Disney World, the music in general playing on the PA system. Really has the same vibe.

[Octavious]

This 1st city certainly has an Epcot vibe too.

[Blackhawk]

Fair warning, use quicksave often. I've already had two situations that locked up the game, one when I started trying to talk to one NPC while another was talking and another when I accidentally hit the console button .

And use multiple hard saves, preferably when starting or finishing any significant task.

This kinda sounds to me that they just don't have a very modern game engine. I looked it up and Starfield uses Creation Engine 2 which is a modified version of Creation Engine 1 which came out in . . . checks notes . . . 2011.

That's misleading - the Creation Engine 1 was a rework of the version of the Gamebryo Engine used in Fallout 3 (not a new, from-scratch engine), which itself was a renaming of the NetImmerse Engine, which came out in... checks notes... 1999. Think Prince of Persia 3d, Dark Age of Camelot, Freedom Force, and (for them), Morrowind. It's an engine that's been updated extensively, which is fine (after all, there is Windows 3/NT code hanging around in Win11), but some of the core pieces of the engine haven't been able to be completely revamped, and they're what cause issues. The real reason that space, for instance, is a series of arenas rather than an immense area (like No Man's Sky) isn't because of some decision on how to keep it interesting, it's because their engine can't handle a single, massive area like that. It wasn't designed for that kind of open world, which requires some sort of sorcery that streams content in around you dynamically as you move.

Was it Oblivion on PC that had the "loading" message every 10 seconds when you were walking around outside? I seem to remember enabling a mod someone created on Day 0 to remove that message because it was absurd.

And Morrowind. Their engine loads the maps on a grid (think graph paper), loading the square you're standing in, plus a certain number of squares around you. Sort of like being the middle space in a game of tic-tac-toe. Every time you step across the line into a new square, it unloads a whole row of squares behind you, and loads a whole row of squares in front of you. That's why Morrowind and Oblivion used to 'freeze' for a second or two every couple of minutes as you were running along - you were crossing a grid line.

[Blackhawk]

My biggest issue is that there is no map function in New Atlantis. I have to try to remember where the hell everything is. And there is a lot of stuff there. For folks with good memories it shouldn't be a problem, but I'm still getting lost. But just like in GTA5, eventually I'll get familiar with the place.

This being 2023, there is already a website with Starfield hub maps

Map Genie is great with their maps, and they usually get them out early and update them often. I actually subscribe - $10 per year to be able to save my progress and notes on that many maps has been worth it.

[naednek]

I feel like, this would be the best time for Bethesda to start with a new engine on a new franchise. I just sat and listenend to a conversation upon entering New Atlantis. IT was like 5 minutes, which was great, but enough time for my view to turn into 3rd person because I hadn't touch the controls. This goes back to the Fallout and Elder Scroll games.

Call of duty used to just update their engines minorly. They finally created a new one some years back and it made the game feel forward thinking.

This engine is too limting and they need to start making things fresh. ElderScrolls 6 will suffer if they don't.

[Smoove_B]

This engine is too limting and they need to start making things fresh. ElderScrolls 6 will suffer if they don't.

I saw a suggestion that this was an experimental title for them so the "B" team was working on it. The current "A" team of developers is working on Elder Scrolls 6 and/or the next Fallout game.

[jztemple2]

So I played another three hours this afternoon, bring me up to seven hours in total. I spent those three hours in New Atlantis doing activities (actually, Activities) some of which had quite a few objectives. None of them required any combat. As I went back and forth New Atlantis I would stop to listen to conversations, accost perfect strangers and try locked doors. I sold items, I bought items and I stole items . And I had a good time overall

[Max Peck]

This engine is too limting and they need to start making things fresh. ElderScrolls 6 will suffer if they don't.

I saw a suggestion that this was an experimental title for them so the "B" team was working on it. The current "A" team of developers is working on Elder Scrolls 6 and/or the next Fallout game.

That sounds more like Fallout 76 than Starfield. Starfield is their big XBox IP -- supposedly one of the reasons that Microsoft bought them was so that Starfield wouldn't end up as a Playstation exclusive -- so I can't see how it would have been relegated to the status of a side project.

[Smoove_B]

That sounds more like Fallout 76 than Starfield. Starfield is their big XBox IP -- supposedly one of the reasons that Microsoft bought them was so that Starfield wouldn't end up as a Playstation exclusive -- so I can't see how it would have been relegated to the status of a side project.

Have you played it yet?

[Max Peck]

That sounds more like Fallout 76 than Starfield. Starfield is their big XBox IP -- supposedly one of the reasons that Microsoft bought them was so that Starfield wouldn't end up as a Playstation exclusive -- so I can't see how it would have been relegated to the status of a side project.

Have you played it yet?

Yes, and I like it.

[Smoove_B]

I'm hoping my feelings change, but it didn't feel like a AAA title to me. I fully acknowledge I only spent 60 minutes, but I really wasn't feeling it.

[Grifman]

This engine is too limting and they need to start making things fresh. ElderScrolls 6 will suffer if they don't.

I saw a suggestion that this was an experimental title for them so the "B" team was working on it. The current "A" team of developers is working on Elder Scrolls 6 and/or the next Fallout game.

I doubt that. Both of those games are years off, very few people would be working on them. I even doubt that anyone is working on the next Fallout.

[Blackhawk]

I doubt that Fallout 5 is anything more than brainstorms on paper at this point. ES6 has probably been in some level of 'concept' for a while now, or maybe at the proof of concept/tech demo level. I doubt they put much real effort into it until Starfield went gold and they were able to start setting up new teams.

All they've said is that it's at least another five years away (so 2028 or later.) And Fallout 5 is after that.

[Max Peck]

I'm hoping my feelings change, but it didn't feel like a AAA title to me. I fully acknowledge I only spent 60 minutes, but I really wasn't feeling it.

If you don't like the game, you're entitled to not like it. It's just that the things you said about it being developed as some sort of an experimental side project while the real effort has going into the next Elder Scrolls or Fallout game just doesn't jibe with anything I've seen from any of the coverage of the game that I've run across. It does, however, align with a lot of what I've read about Fallout 76. That can easily be characterized as an experimental design, since it was the first time they had tried to make a multiplayer GaaS title. It sounds to me as though someone conflated information about Fallout 76's development history with Starfield's.

[Smoove_B]

Maybe "experimental" is the wrong word here. I maintain my limited time with it had me feeling it was not a AAA title. Maybe it just has a really bad introductory sequence and maybe I'll get over the UI "jank" I was fighting.

It just doesn't feel like a game that was released in late 2023. It feels like a throwback. Again, I'm going to give it more time and I'm really hoping my feelings change. Fallout 4 was ultimately a disappointment (I never finished it) but I did enjoy it enough to tool around the world and see "stuff". Fallout 3 and Skyrim? Both enjoyable.

I guess I had mentally set my bar low for this and during my first 60 minutes they managed to somehow actually go under it. Maybe I'm just not a space-game guy (despite trying).

[Punisher]

Been between bed, couch, and toilet all day due to sickness.
I'm VERY limited in what im allowed to take and how much. Ivplayed a bit more in between my brain visions (or may i was just playing my brain visions. Definitely can't tell the difference)
I made it to New vegas just fine but no idea why i didnt just kill the whole pirate crew up in thev1st place

I alswant to learn how to disable, board, and steal another ship. Just not sure if it's something that can be done right off the bat or if i need to learn specific skills or something.

Not a fan of lockpicking yet and find it very confusing so far. The video didnt help much.

From reading hear, there is apparently no in gane map for some places such as new vegas. If it's small (i just landed at the spaceport and had to end game before going further ) I "think" that I mught be able to manage. If it's large and complex I might be screwed navigating around. My current escalated foggy condition just make my preexisting foggy condition 1o x worse.
Imgonna hope/assume that someone makes a free map mod for all locations

I'm still emjoying what little I've played so far though.
I wouldlikw a ton on new game options for replays.
1. Start from the beg.
2. Start from where and when ever you want. Want 5o start at first landing in new vegas? Go for it. What to start in the 3nd game with only the previous required quests completed, a calculated level for your characters skills, wealth, and assests, but mo extra quests in your list, then go for it.
Ex. To lill the end boss, along the way you needed find and secure the egg of great omleyt. This is in your inventory. If you had played through, you cpuld have also found the spatula of girth, and the olive oil of Olive as assists and buffs, but these aren't required so you dont get them.
This way, you can still see the mrw stuff without having to slog through the whole game again.

[malchior]

Maybe "experimental" is the wrong word here. I maintain my limited time with it had me feeling it was not a AAA title. Maybe it just has a really bad introductory sequence and maybe I'll get over the UI "jank" I was fighting.

It just doesn't feel like a game that was released in late 2023. It feels like a throwback. Again, I'm going to give it more time and I'm really hoping my feelings change. Fallout 4 was ultimately a disappointment (I never finished it) but I did enjoy it enough to tool around the world and see "stuff". Fallout 3 and Skyrim? Both enjoyable.

I guess I had mentally set my bar low for this and during my first 60 minutes they managed to somehow actually go under it. Maybe I'm just not a space-game guy (despite trying).

This is where I am. I've put in well north of 60 minutes (Steam says 7 hours) and I'm pretty surprised that people think this is what a full price AAA game experience should be like. Again it's enjoyable but it's still a major disappointment.

[jztemple2]

I was at eight hours in, doing this activity and that at New Atlantis and suddenly... boom

Anyone remember the movie "Life of Brian"? There was a sequence in there where Brian is walking through some town in Judea in the first century CE when suddenly boom, he is scooped up in an alien spaceship and spends several seconds freaking out then suddenly he is dumped back out on the ground. Well, something like that just happened to me, only I didn't end up back on the ground, I ended up... well, it would be a major spoiler, so I won't even type it out. Suffice to say that things, which were already pretty interesting, just jumped up another level of interesting. Maybe even to really interesting

Folks who are griping about the game... I'm wondering if we are even playing the same game

[Carpet_pissr]

This is where I am. I've put in well north of 60 minutes (Steam says 7 hours) and I'm pretty surprised that people think this is what a full price AAA game experience should be like. Again it's enjoyable but it's still a major disappointment.

Would you say....87/100 is a fair rating if you had to give it one?

[Grifman]

New Vegas?

You’re definitely playing your brain visions

[malchior]

This is where I am. I've put in well north of 60 minutes (Steam says 7 hours) and I'm pretty surprised that people think this is what a full price AAA game experience should be like. Again it's enjoyable but it's still a major disappointment.

Would you say....87/100 is a fair rating if you had to give it one?

About 15 points too high. It is pretty mediocre. It's a C- to C game IMO. Not bad in any way. It is competent but at $100? No way. I read a couple of people got refunds and were going to wait for it to become discounted. I bought from GMG so I don't think I had that option but I wish I did. I said it before but I feel a bit ripped off at this price point.

[Octavious]

I tried it again tonight and got pretty much instantly annoyed and just turned it off. Maybe I'm just not in the mood. I'll circle back another day. I accepted a quest and then couldn't figure out what the heck the game wanted from me. Just totally not clicking with me.

[Max Peck]

Not bad in any way. It is competent but at $100? No way.

Luckily it isn't a $100 game. It's a $70 game, with a $35 expansion that hasn't been released yet, which came bundled with some extras like a few days early access.

[wonderpug]

I alswant to learn how to disable, board, and steal another ship. Just not sure if it's something that can be done right off the bat or if i need to learn specific skills or something.

Pick up the skill in… I think Tech? The rightmost one? Get the skill that lets you target ship systems. Destroy a ship’s engines. Dock with it, then board it. Once you kill everyone, pilot the ship and land it, and now it’s your main ship.

[jztemple2]

I had a Diplomatic background so I've been building up my Persuading skill, it's been pretty helpful... except when I had to blow up a ship full of innocent civilians .

At 9.7 hours gameplay hours now... I'm enjoying this game more than I remember enjoying Fallout 4 or Fallout New Vegas at this point. There's been a lot more to see and do. I think perhaps what is off-putting to some folks is the time they are spending tramping around some planet's surface collecting rocks and such. I didn't do that at all, I went right from introductory mine to Crimson Fleet outpost to New Atlantis to... well, I can't mention where I am now as how I got there is a big spoiler.

I won't give it a rating value as I believe those are meaningless until a dozen or so hours at least. And for a game this big, maybe several dozen hours.

And just to make things clear... there might be Crimson Pirates in this game, but there is only one Crimson Pirate!

[malchior]

Not bad in any way. It is competent but at $100? No way.

Luckily it isn't a $100 game. It's a $70 game, with a $35 expansion that hasn't been released yet, which came bundled with some extras like a few days early access.

Ok...it isn't worth $70 then.

[naednek]

Had more time today.

Downloaded the dlss mod. didn't seem to matter much but it ran smooth enough.

I think my main gripes are.

The game doesn't really tell you what items are useful and ones that are junk, or at least I could find anything that labels it.

The menus are a little confusing

While load times are fast, it's just too often, again the limits of the engine. See my previous post.

Dog fighting in space is pretty challenging and I can't seem to stay alive. I'm very familiar with energy management from the good old star wars days of video gaming. I just don't know if I'm too low to be fighting or just suck. I tend to not suck at similar space sims with the same mechanics

I really like the story and the dialogue choices.


One thing I learned is Todd Hines loves to overhype. He's done it with every release. Morrowind was the worse.

You just have to accept what the game is. I will say I feel Starfield is very similar to the Fallout series, not in story, but in-game mechanics. I think they should have branched out instead of reskin. This would have been the time to do that.

I reloaded back to a previous save and upgraded my ship, hoping the extra shields and power will get me by. I'm level 5 and I put two points into the tech side (shield and lasers) I tend to not spend my points early as I'm not sure what direction I want my character to take. I'm not sure if you can respec and if so, I'm sure it's expensive.

[Max Peck]

It appears that there is no respec (I'm sure someone will address that with a mod) but since there is no level cap there doesn't really need to be one. Instead of retconning the character into a new build, you can simply put new skill points into new skills.

But more importantly...