Bethesda's Starfield

[jztemple2]

I like the exploration, scanning/surveying and the fighting bits (absolutely hate the UI) - I have wasted so many grenades because "G" is "surface map" when you have a scanner up but "throw grenades" when you don't and what is the point of having key binds if you are going to force the player to use the same ones for walking and flying the ship (W/S keys!!) hopefully the modding community can separate those.

You can deselect any grenades you have selected. I keep them deselected until I go into combat.

[Kurth]

Just hacked my first expert lock. Not too bad since I'm now at tier 2 of the skill.

Master locks actually take some forethought. It's... interesting.

I think this lockpicking mechanic is pretty well done.

[jztemple2]

Just hacked my first expert lock. Not too bad since I'm now at tier 2 of the skill.

Master locks actually take some forethought. It's... interesting.

I think this lockpicking mechanic is pretty well done.

Agreed. I'm glad there's no timer or tiny adjustments. I'm using scratch paper and my own notation system.

In other aspects, boy does it take a long time to gain levels! I see though that doing exploration can generate points for me so I'm doing more of that.

[Smoove_B]

Ok, after about ~9 hours, my feelings are much, much better. For me, this game did not make a good first impression. However, after things started moving along I can definitely start to see the various elements and how you can get roped into any number of *things* you'd like to focus on.

I'm still not really into the ship-to-ship combat but I'm not going to lie - disabling a ship and then boarding it for a firefight is kinda fun.

There's lots of good tips out there, but here's one I figured out on my own regarding scans:

Spoiler:

When you finish scanning a planet you generate a data file that's in your inventory. That file can be sold to vendors and depending on the planet will have a higher or lower value. I think I sold Earth's for about 2K in spacebux; Mars was closer to 9K.

Cash doesn't seem to be a problem but (so far) but I'm guessing the value associated with the spoiler might go up the further you get in the game.

So I guess to circle back - my impressions are trending upward. I doubt I'm at the ~12 hour mark that's been mentioned as I've spent quite a few hours wandering around various planets (and the Moon!) just checking things out. But it's definitely getting better...

[coopasonic]

48.4 hours and credits roll. I completed a couple faction questlines, a couple companion missions, got married, gathered six ships and dinged level 40 on the final mission. I didn't find random surface exploration interesting so I didn't really do it or things could have taken way longer. Overall I will say I really enjoyed it. It's no BG3, but once I got past the sadness of all the loading screens and annoying levels of menus and various other quirks, I had a lot of fun. Also, the game has a LOT more to offer and I will definitely be exploring NG+ but maybe after a bit of a break.

[Punisher]

I really dislike the inventory system/transfer ui and cannot wait until we have a defUI equivalent mod. At least if I am overloaded, allow me to have my crew jump the ship the 2km over the hill to me so I don't have to literally crawl back to it.
I am still a helplessly afflicted packrat and have now gotten in the habit of dumping all of my stuff from my personal inventory when I leave the ship so that my cockpit/ship hab module literally looks like the Black family vault at Gringots.

If you are OK with that sort of thing, there is a trainer out that among other things give you max inventory size and 0 inventory weight.
If you are ok with ot you can leave it running in the background and only toggle it on when you are overweight.
WARNING!!! While the file itself is perfectly safe, it will most likely turn you into more of a pack rat.
Not sure if it's ok to post links to that kind of thing so pm me if you are interested.

[Punisher]

I had my first zero-g gun battle with some spacer squatters in an abandoned orbital hotel/casino. That was fun.

Not sure I've seen anything on this.
Is it more arcadey or more realistic? Like does shooting push you back? Will you bounce around all over or just stop on a dime?

[Blackhawk]

I'm sure that the people behind iHUD/SkyUI/FallUI, etc will be redoing the entire interface and menu system soon.

It releases tomorrow night for use plebs, so I'll see how Bethesda the interface is then.

[jztemple2]

I've got 24 hours in now and I guess I still don't understand the gripes about the UI. And if you're having issues with picking up too much stuff, stop picking up too much stuff. You can use your companion and your ship for storage, but mostly you just need to realize that picking up stuff for resale isn't worth the trouble except for some really high end stuff like weapons and suits. And a game with this can't be all bad (except for the raisins )

[jztemple2]

I do have a gripe though, the damn console key is too easy to hit. For some reason I don't even need to hit Shift+"`", just the "`" is triggering the console and once it pops up the message about how cheats might kill my accomplishments, I can't remove the message to I have to restart the game. It's annoying but I've only done it a couple of time in the game. And apparently that key can't be rebound. I'll have to ask on the forums how to unbind it.

[Punisher]

And if you're having issues with picking up too much stuff, stop picking up too much stuff.

I'm sorry but I have to ask.
Have you ever been diagnosed with insanity? Because that sounds like crazy talk.
If you weren't supposed to pick up everything not bolted down they would have just bolted it down!

[Blackhawk]

Bethesda likes to hard-code controls. It was a huge problem in Fallout 4 if you didn't use standard bindings.

If you have a programmable keyboard, you might try rebinding it to something innocuous (like a second '1' key), and then binding shift (or control) and that key to tilde. Then the key wouldn't even exist unless you pressed the modifier.

[jztemple2]

Bethesda likes to hard-code controls. It was a huge problem in Fallout 4 if you didn't use standard bindings.

If you have a programmable keyboard, you might try rebinding it to something innocuous (like a second '1' key), and then binding shift (or control) and that key to tilde. Then the key wouldn't even exist unless you pressed the modifier.

Thanks, I'll try that. If it was just the tilde key it would be alright. Funny, it used to be that devs would hide the console key behind some kind of unlocking protocol.

[Blackhawk]

the console and once it pops up the message about how cheats might kill my accomplishments,

They've also pulled that one for a long time. Thanks - it reminds me that the very first thing I need to do is install a mod to enable achievements on modified games. The console is just too useful for problem solving/bug fixing to never use.

[Max Peck]

I had my first zero-g gun battle with some spacer squatters in an abandoned orbital hotel/casino. That was fun.

Not sure I've seen anything on this.
Is it more arcadey or more realistic? Like does shooting push you back? Will you bounce around all over or just stop on a dime?

I didn't notice any recoil effect from shooting, but I was using a laser pistol so I wouldn't expect any. Movement was reasonably realistic albeit simplified, and it took me a few minutes to get the hang of it.

[jztemple2]

This is a useful article from Xbox.com, Starfield Starters: Space Combat 101.

Space isn’t always a friendly place in Starfield. You might come across Spacers, the villainous Crimson Fleet, or the zealots of House Va’ruun – each vying to destroy you for different reasons. Then again, you might not be the friendly one – you may decide upon a life of space piracy, invoking the ire of peaceful travellers, and racking up bounties from Settled Systems’ various peacekeepers.

All of this is to say that you’ll not just need to know how to fly your ship, but how to fight with it. Space combat is a very different proposition to fighting on ground level, with numerous mechanics to consider while trying to survive in the yawning voids between planets. Consider this your first day in flight school, then – this is our guide to succeeding in Starfield’s space combat:

[naednek]

Well, 18 hours over the last 4 days. Pretty good for a dad

Loving the game. Somethings I don't like, mainly inventory and the back and forth quests. But liking the sidequests and the story line so far.

I went to a moon to rescue someone and took a detour. I ran into a scientist who was walking her 6 eyed pet. Her spaceship was just past the research station and I decided to "check it out"

The entry hatch was locked, but it was an advanced lock. I mean, who leaves a weak lock on a big science vessel. Well I broke through, and thought, lets try the pilot seat. Before I knew it, I was orbiting the moon. Free ship for me!

[Pyperkub]

Thanks for reminding me, I have a nice joystick somewhere I haven't used since Elite Dangerous.

Same. My Saitek x52 HOTAS has been gathering dust for years now.

Me too. I bought it for Star Citizen....

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

[coopasonic]

I do have a gripe though, the damn console key is too easy to hit. For some reason I don't even need to hit Shift+"`", just the "`" is triggering the console and once it pops up the message about how cheats might kill my accomplishments, I can't remove the message to I have to restart the game. It's annoying but I've only done it a couple of time in the game. And apparently that key can't be rebound. I'll have to ask on the forums how to unbind it.

Close the console first by hitting the back tick again, THEN you can close the achievement popup.

[jztemple2]

I do have a gripe though, the damn console key is too easy to hit. For some reason I don't even need to hit Shift+"`", just the "`" is triggering the console and once it pops up the message about how cheats might kill my accomplishments, I can't remove the message to I have to restart the game. It's annoying but I've only done it a couple of time in the game. And apparently that key can't be rebound. I'll have to ask on the forums how to unbind it.

Close the console first by hitting the back tick again, THEN you can close the achievement popup.

Never tried that, thanks!

[disarm]

I'm on the moon (suck it Neil Armstrong! ). My question is, why are there wind turbines on the moon?

Make something big enough, and it can work off the solar wind...

[Grifman]

I really dislike the inventory system/transfer ui and cannot wait until we have a defUI equivalent mod. At least if I am overloaded, allow me to have my crew jump the ship the 2km over the hill to me so I don't have to literally crawl back to it.
I am still a helplessly afflicted packrat and have now gotten in the habit of dumping all of my stuff from my personal inventory when I leave the ship so that my cockpit/ship hab module literally looks like the Black family vault at Gringots.

If you are OK with that sort of thing, there is a trainer out that among other things give you max inventory size and 0 inventory weight.
If you are ok with ot you can leave it running in the background and only toggle it on when you are overweight.
WARNING!!! While the file itself is perfectly safe, it will most likely turn you into more of a pack rat.
Not sure if it's ok to post links to that kind of thing so pm me if you are interested.

Much easier, there is a console command to increase your carry weight.

[Grifman]

the console and once it pops up the message about how cheats might kill my accomplishments,

They've also pulled that one for a long time. Thanks - it reminds me that the very first thing I need to do is install a mod to enable achievements on modified games. The console is just too useful for problem solving/bug fixing to never use.

Yep, the mod was one of the first on Nexus.

[jztemple2]

I've stayed away from mods so far. I see the weight limitations as a challenge rather than an issue.

I went to a moon to rescue someone and took a detour. I ran into a scientist who was walking her 6 eyed pet. Her spaceship was just past the research station and I decided to "check it out"

The entry hatch was locked, but it was an advanced lock. I mean, who leaves a weak lock on a big science vessel. Well I broke through, and thought, lets try the pilot seat. Before I knew it, I was orbiting the moon. Free ship for me!

Sweet! I had to kill the crew to get one for me. Did that action put a bounty on your head?

The ship I took was smaller and less capable than my starter one so I registered it to see if I could strip it for parts but no luck. So I'll just sell it at some point if I need the cash.

[naednek]

I've stayed away from mods so far. I see the weight limitations as a challenge rather than an issue.

I went to a moon to rescue someone and took a detour. I ran into a scientist who was walking her 6 eyed pet. Her spaceship was just past the research station and I decided to "check it out"

The entry hatch was locked, but it was an advanced lock. I mean, who leaves a weak lock on a big science vessel. Well I broke through, and thought, lets try the pilot seat. Before I knew it, I was orbiting the moon. Free ship for me!

Sweet! I had to kill the crew to get one for me. Did that action put a bounty on your head?

The ship I took was smaller and less capable than my starter one so I registered it to see if I could strip it for parts but no luck. So I'll just sell it at some point if I need the cash.

As far as I know, I didn't get a bounty. I might go get my original ship back as I had upgraded it and the one I found while bigger not as powerful.

[Smoove_B]

Is this a first?

Modder makes a file that adds DLSS support for NVidia to Starfield and charges $5 for access via Patreon. Community responds as you'd expect.

[Octavious]

I haven't gone back since trying it on day 2. I figured something was wrong with my mindset and I'll tackle it again later in the week. Seems like a lot of people are enjoying it which is good.

[Kurth]

I've stayed away from mods so far. I see the weight limitations as a challenge rather than an issue.

I went to a moon to rescue someone and took a detour. I ran into a scientist who was walking her 6 eyed pet. Her spaceship was just past the research station and I decided to "check it out"

The entry hatch was locked, but it was an advanced lock. I mean, who leaves a weak lock on a big science vessel. Well I broke through, and thought, lets try the pilot seat. Before I knew it, I was orbiting the moon. Free ship for me!

Sweet! I had to kill the crew to get one for me. Did that action put a bounty on your head?

The ship I took was smaller and less capable than my starter one so I registered it to see if I could strip it for parts but no luck. So I'll just sell it at some point if I need the cash.

I haven’t taken another ship yet, but I am interested in a little space piracy. Question: How does the game handle taking another ship? Do you have to have spare crew members to crew it? Does it follow you around on auto-pilot? I’ve only read that when you capture another ship, it is “added to your fleet.” What does that mean? What’s the deal?

[naednek]

I've stayed away from mods so far. I see the weight limitations as a challenge rather than an issue.

I went to a moon to rescue someone and took a detour. I ran into a scientist who was walking her 6 eyed pet. Her spaceship was just past the research station and I decided to "check it out"

The entry hatch was locked, but it was an advanced lock. I mean, who leaves a weak lock on a big science vessel. Well I broke through, and thought, lets try the pilot seat. Before I knew it, I was orbiting the moon. Free ship for me!

Sweet! I had to kill the crew to get one for me. Did that action put a bounty on your head?

The ship I took was smaller and less capable than my starter one so I registered it to see if I could strip it for parts but no luck. So I'll just sell it at some point if I need the cash.

I haven’t taken another ship yet, but I am interested in a little space piracy. Question: How does the game handle taking another ship? Do you have to have spare crew members to crew it? Does it follow you around on auto-pilot? I’ve only read that when you capture another ship, it is “added to your fleet.” What does that mean? What’s the deal?

When I took it, it said that the ship I took is now my home ship and if I wanted to go back to the other ship, I would have to go to a spaceport and speak to some tech and then reclaim the ship as my home ship. So basically the previous ship(s) sits in storage.

Before knowing all of this, when I took the ship, I took off and landed near my original ship which away from the scientist I stole it from.

I get out and my old ship is nowhere to be found. So it just gets warped into storage.

[coopasonic]

Yeah, only one player ship exists in the universe. At a settlement you can change your home ship at the person that lets you repair/modify/buy ships. When you change your home ship, the inventory is moved over whether it fits or not. You can also sell ships at the same person. I really wish I could move ship components between ships. I would happily pay a fee for the service.

[Exodor]

Not sure if this is knowable but...

I got a free GamePass sub with my PC which I finally activated for Starfield. Are saves made with Starfield when using Gamepass transferable to Steam if I buy Starfield there later?

I doubt I'll keep GamePass once they want money for it and I don't want to put a bunch of hours into a save that I'll have to abandon if I wind up purchasing the game on Steam.

[coopasonic]

Not sure if this is knowable but...

I got a free GamePass sub with my PC which I finally activated for Starfield. Are saves made with Starfield when using Gamepass transferable to Steam if I buy Starfield there later?

I doubt I'll keep GamePass once they want money for it and I don't want to put a bunch of hours into a save that I'll have to abandon if I wind up purchasing the game on Steam.

If I remember, I can try it... though it might take a couple days to get to it. I have had issues with saves not being compatible between gamepass and steam installs before. sometimes a conversion tool is created and sometimes you can easily do it manually, renaming stuff, but it seems very inconsistent.

[Smoove_B]

I remember seeing speculation it would be something supported, but I can't honestly say I've seen anything confirming it. Feels like it should be but like everything else, wouldn't surprise me at all to learn it's not, because reasons.

[Freyland]

I will be in the same boat as Exodor in a few days. I'm assuming the Reasons for not allowing it is that Game Pass wants to keep your monthly $$, instead of you spending it on somebody else. It's pleasant when businesses provide little QoL things, but I have little faith in them providing one that affects their bottom line.

[jztemple2]

Hmm, here's a spoiler, it uses an bug/exploit in the game to get a super fancy spacesuit, helmet and pack for players early on.

Spoiler:

Starfield bug means you can just stroll up and take one of the best spacesuits right at the start of the game with no skill or repercussions

Starfield poses many threats to the willing space adventurer, from hostile Spacer pirates to alien beasts to extreme planetary environments, so the importance of a good spacesuit cannot be overstated.

Now you could buy a basic suit and upgrade it, or slowly find spacesuits with better specs as you play. Both are perfectly fine options.

Or, you know, thanks to a Bethesda whoopsie discovered by gamer Patrick Maka, you could simply stroll into the basement of Constellation's headquarters and take the elite Mark I Spacesuit, helmet and boost pack, which not only looks a million dollars but also has some really sweet specs.

Watch the video below to see where and how to grab the Mark I.

[jztemple2]

For those of you just picking up the game today

[Octavious]

I'll watch that before I try again. So tired today that I'm not touching anything when I get home. I've never not liked a Bethesda games so I'm thinking I was just approaching it wrong. We'll see.

[jztemple2]

I'm really enjoying how Starfield can take rather unexpected turns. I was at New Atlantis, planning on going out in the countryside and doing some surveying, when what seemed to be a casual request turned into something with terramorphs, ambassadors, blackmail and straightforward B&E .

I am finding that I'm a bit Indiana Jones at times. In the sense in the first movie where the big guy in the turban swings a giant blade around and Indy just shoots him . Although in my twist on it, I've used my Persuade skill to avoid a bunch of entanglements and just convince people to help me. Maybe on the next playthrough(!) I use a completely opposite background and be less diplomatic. For now though, if I can convince you to give me the keys to your spaceship rather than beating them out of you, I'm going to do that

[Blackhawk]

Is this a first?

Modder makes a file that adds DLSS support for NVidia to Starfield and charges $5 for access via Patreon. Community responds as you'd expect.

Nothing about it is a first.

[Max Peck]

Yeah, I picked the Han Solo background (Piloting, Pistol, Persuasion) so I've talked my way out of a few sticky situation already.

In other news, I had no idea that skill magazines were a thing again. I just found my first one sitting on a desk in an abandoned UC facility that I assaulted because a miner at a base I visited while searching for a source of repair supplies for my ship hired me to clear out a bunch of pirates who were holed up there.



When I get around to building a base, I hope I can make some sort of rack or shelving to display my collection of books and magazines.