Starfield: General talk

01 Sep 2023, 3:22pm
Well, at this point I am starting to envy you - I've spent a large portion of the day with putting data together and adding them on Inara (like an almost complete list of all planets, the details for most of them are still missing through). It's still a some kind of fun, but... you know. But hopefully I will play a bit tonight.

CWolfXUKI think the link to these needs to be on the Inara Starfield home page:
https://bethesda.net/en/article/ddtEkby0KjT7Vkjj5ycXU/the-settled-systems-a-starfield-animated-anthology

That's not a bad idea, I will think about some way for it.
02 Sep 2023, 7:59pm
This question is adressed to the folks, which has access to Starfield: what does Rage Quit button? I know about it from one review, but not its purpose
03 Sep 2023, 12:24am
Adam 'The detective' ŠtefánikThis question is adressed to the folks, which has access to Starfield: what does Rage Quit button? I know about it from one review, but not its purpose

Nothing, you cannot interact with it. It's just some kind of an easter egg, I presume.
03 Sep 2023, 6:38am
Artie
Adam 'The detective' ŠtefánikThis question is adressed to the folks, which has access to Starfield: what does Rage Quit button? I know about it from one review, but not its purpose


Nothing, you cannot interact with it. It's just some kind of an easter egg, I presume.

Oh ok. Thanks for info
05 Sep 2023, 5:38pm

Just a little summary about the state of Starfield data on Inara:

As stated on the front page, a big part of the data is already here. As many things need to be done semi-manually at the moment, it was quite a work, but the major things like the lists of weapons, spacesuits, and mods, including their properties, are complete (excluding the named items). Similarly, the lists of ships and ship modules are also pretty extensive (although not entirely complete yet). From the "minor" things there are all the character skills, traits, companions, crafting resources, and so on and so on.

One of the biggest priorities at the moment is to fill in planetary data like where to harvest resources and such. Although some stuff is there already, it's not complete. Other things I would like to focus on are vendor lists, outpost modules, and research (this one is partially done). Not to mention other "smaller" things related to it. There is still some work ahead, but I believe the data here are in pretty good shape in regard to the fact the game was released in an early access just 5 days ago.
07 Sep 2023, 7:15am
So, is the game any good? I'm still on the fence about buying it. Give me the sales pitch please.
07 Sep 2023, 7:34am
Yuna SakashiroSo, is the game any good? I'm still on the fence about buying it. Give me the sales pitch please.

Yeah, I like it. If other Bethesda's RPGs like Skyrim or Fallouts are your cup of tea, you will like Starfield too. Do not expect anything like Elite, NMS or Star Citizen, it's still their classic RPG format in a different setting and with some new stuff. What I like the most is a freedom to do things you want - you can follow the story or ignore it and just simply explore planets, hunt (and seize) pirate ships, run the missions from the board or just slack around and admire views. The game is fun, looks nice, runs smooth and has no serious bugs. Not the best sales pitch, but I can certainly recommend it.
07 Sep 2023, 8:24am
I know it's not a space flight simulator like ED, but I keep hearing complaints that the game world feels disconnected due to excessive use of loading screens, cut scenes, and fast travel. The planets are basically rectangular maps with some procedurally generated content. I've seen very weird NPC behavior, e.g. enemies that barely react when getting shot at, not returning fire, not seeking cover, just continuing on their path until critically wounded. Nothing like the NPCs of Fallout 4, for example.

But what I'm most worried about is the lore. This is a new IP, there's no history to draw from. Fallout 4 was full of lore and quirky characters, companions, full of references to earlier games and events, and it didn't take itself too seriously. Does Starfield have similar depth?

The base building in Fallout 4 was a lot of fun because it affected the rest of the game, but how about Starfield? What are the benefits of adding parts to your ship or building an outpost somewhere?
07 Sep 2023, 9:39am
Yes, there are loading screens, but only when going to/from areas like large interiors or caves, smaller spaces are without loading screens. If you played Skyrim or Fallout 4, you have an idea and it's definitely not worse than this (and on SSD which the game requires is the loading time just something like 2-4 seconds). It certainly would be nice to have it seamless, but the current state isn't bothering me. The fast travel is very convenient, but if somebody thinks it ruins the experience, it can be avoided in most cases. I had no big issue with the NPC's AI so far (just a common behavior, nothing standing out).

The planets have a mix of procedurally generated content and hand-authored stuff, it seems alright to me as there is always something to find and you are not just walking around. I've heard about the boundaries, but realistically, you will only reach them if you will be walking really far from your landing spot (I also think there is already some mod that is removing them). But, I never had an urge to go too far.

About the lore - there is a great tour in a history museum during one of the quests I liked a lot, it summarized quite nicely what happened to Earth, what mankind did in the past centuries, etc. and more stuff is sometimes hinted in various dialogues. It doesn't look lore-heavy (so far, I am just in the beginnings), but it gives the context sufficiently. I think, in the general broad scope, it's not worse than Fallout 4 as far as I remember it.

No idea about the outposts yet, I didn't try it, but it seems it can be a crafting resource generator and money maker (or you can just hang out there), something like the bases in Fallout 76.
07 Sep 2023, 10:51am
Someone described it like this:

Let's say you wanna do a simple task, go sell your junk after a simple fetch quest and go talk to NPC on another planet, you have 15 loading screens coming.

"
Exit planet loading screen
Enter orbit loading screen
Land planet loading screen
Exit ship loading screen
Enter shop loading screen
Exit shop loading screen
Enter ship loading screen
Exit planet loading screen
Enter orbit loading screen
Land planet loading screen
Exit ship loading screen
Enter building loading screen

Talk to NPC!

Exit building loading screen
Enter ship loading screen
Exit planet loading screen
Enter orbit loading screen
Land planet loading screen
"

It's atrocious design.

Older Bethesda games had loading screens for indoor/underground areas, but the main map was a continuous space with hundreds of POIs and random encounters scattered all over the place. Just getting from A to B was an unpredictable experience, and fast travel was optional (and sometimes intentionally blocked, e.g. in survival mode).

It seems they took the worst bits of ED, i.e. the procedurally generated content, but left out the parts that make it fun (manual takeoff, flight, landing/docking).
07 Sep 2023, 11:10am
Although technically correct (if by enter/exit shop is meant a physical location), it's worth to be mentioned that some loading screens are masked, for example like star system jumps and such stuff, basically as any other game will do (even if there were no loadings at all, you will play some animation anyway, so the complaint about it isn't entirely valid). So it's just about entering/exiting some of the interiors where the loading is "in your face", as in previous Bethesda games. But as I said, although it would be nice to have the interiors seamless, it's doesn't bother me much. Procedurally generated content in Starfield and Elite cannot compare in my opinion, I think Elite can learn a few tricks from it (like the terrain quality or having an entertaining content around). It may be best to watch some uncut gameplay to get a better idea, than to read "compressed" and usually biased opinions.
07 Sep 2023, 11:18am
I did watch some gameplay, which is why I'm concerned.

I'd be fine with skipping the FTL travel. But some manual flight would be nice to have.
07 Sep 2023, 11:38am
In regard of a manual flight you will be rather disappointed - you can fly in space, but... that's it. No manual landing, manual docking or so (you can dock stations or other ships in space, but it's just about getting close enough and pressing a button). In my eyes, it's somewhat basic but sufficient for this game, but the option to customize or entirely rebuild your ship is great. The flight mechanics are nowhere near Elite's though, as the focus appears to be on the on-foot stuff.
07 Sep 2023, 1:41pm
Just to add to what I meant by that Elite can learn some things. Here is a randomly picked location on an usual rocky potato planet. It looks quite nice and it has also some stuff around (there is some abandoned mining station ~600 meters afar). So even when random/procedural, it still provides something meaningful (viewing pleasure, exploration, etc.).

09 Sep 2023, 1:56am
Yuna SakashiroSomeone described it like this:

Let's say you wanna do a simple task, go sell your junk after a simple fetch quest and go talk to NPC on another planet, you have 15 loading screens coming.

"
Exit planet loading screen
Enter orbit loading screen
Land planet loading screen
Exit ship loading screen
Enter shop loading screen
Exit shop loading screen
Enter ship loading screen
Exit planet loading screen
Enter orbit loading screen
Land planet loading screen
Exit ship loading screen
Enter building loading screen

Talk to NPC!

Exit building loading screen
Enter ship loading screen
Exit planet loading screen
Enter orbit loading screen
Land planet loading screen
"

It's atrocious design.


Older Bethesda games had loading screens for indoor/underground areas, but the main map was a continuous space with hundreds of POIs and random encounters scattered all over the place. Just getting from A to B was an unpredictable experience, and fast travel was optional (and sometimes intentionally blocked, e.g. in survival mode).

It seems they took the worst bits of ED, i.e. the procedurally generated content, but left out the parts that make it fun (manual takeoff, flight, landing/docking).


I saw that post too, and it's completely wrong.
You should read the reply that was given to it.

d-_-b;3824174193414634276
Conky;3824174193414438699

Confirm please. Let's say you want to do a simple task. Go sell your junk after a simple fetch quest and go talk to an NPC on another planet, you have 15 loading screens

Exit planet loading screen
enter orbit loading screen
land planet loading screen
exit ship loading screen
enter shop loading screen
exit shop loading screen
enter ship loading screen
exit planet loading screen
enter orbit loading screen
land planet loading screen
exit ship loading screen
enter building loading screen

TALK TO NPC!

exit building loading screen
enter ship loading screen
exit planet loading screen
enter orbit loading screen
land planet loading screen

Is this what exploration is?


rofl.

Someone hasn't bothered to learn how fast travel works.
Once you've discovered a location you don't even need to be in your ship to Fast Travel to it, you can go directly there. It's your personal teleport. It's almost the same as the teleports that you can manually set up in NMS, except they get added automatically to the Fast Travel network when you discover a location/mission etc, and quicker to use. ED could have used teleports, but the tedium players shouted that down.

But, sure, if you want to go the long route you can go back to your ship, take off, yadda yadda and do the long way if that's your thing. Up to you.

To sell your junk can be done in a couple of clicks. eg:
I can fast travel to any New Atlantis location (Commercial, Residential, Mast) in one click from anywhere, enter a store (one click), Talk to NPC (click), Sell (click).

More or less the same number of clicks and interactions you would do landing in NMS , getting out of your ship and then running to an NPC to "talk" (sic) or terminal to sell something. Ditto for ED.

In other words, no difference. Well, one big difference...it's way faster in Starfield.

As for "exploration" I can see you've never played NMS or ED, plant/object "exploration" scanners par excellence that they are. Or suffered through endless ED hyperspace loading screens to get to a system, them supersnooze for ages to get somewhere, then have to spend ages scanning planets, then you have to play a timewasting busy work game actually trying to find the resources on the planet because you have to drive around to stumble across them. The ultimate grind work.

This Starfield "loading screen" angst is hilarious.
You spend your bulk of the time in the world doing stuff, they're not deal breakers at all.
Making a mountain out of a molehill as much as the pearl clutching over "no space travel" or "can't walk around the world".

Starfield is fine.
If it's not for you, don't play it, play something you like and let people who don't have a problem with all the fake peal clutching bs enjoy it.


There's some great essential mods available now to also tweak your experience such as StarUI (inventory) and Increased Ship Transfer Distance etc.


Last edit: 09 Sep 2023, 2:06am

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