After Starfield’s big reveal in June 2022, the sci-fi role-playing game was pretty quiet. A short video showed us for the first time how the dialogues work, but apart from that there was hardly any news. However, that is changing now: in a three-hour period Interview mit YouTuber Lex Fridman Game Director Todd Howard reveals numerous details about the gameplay and development of Starfield.
By the way, if you want to have all the information from the big reveal and see all the gameplay, then take a look at our preview:
Starfield
With our preview you won’t miss any detail of the reveal
Updates on planets, space suits and companions
It’s just a comparatively short, about 20-minute excerpt of the interview that specifically talks about Starfield. Nevertheless, there are some interesting details hidden there:
No survival mode at release
In Fallout 4 there was recently a survival mode in which you had to pay attention to food, drink and your health. Something similar would also be conceivable for Starfield, but it will probably have to be a long time coming. As Todd notes, there will probably be no survival mode at release. However, something like this would be conceivable in principle and will perhaps be submitted later. Most likely, however, modders will also take on this topic.
This is how planets are built
Starfield’s landscapes look promising, but can all 1,000 planets look this good?
There are said to be over 1,000 planets in Starfield that you can land on and explore. Of course, such huge land masses must be created using procedural generation and are not built entirely by hand. So that the planets still look realistic, the developers have come up with a system:
Thus, first large landscape pieces are created by the developers, which are then automatically combined with each other, adjusted and around a planet wrapped
will. With this system, it was fairly straightforward to create a large number of planets and give players the freedom to explore them all.
Then why aren’t there more planets? One wanted to have a number of planets and systems that still controllable
is. For although some planets will be quite empty, each system and celestial body should still be chosen, created and named with a design goal in mind.
Companions become more complex
1:13
Starfield: New Trailer introduces you to your first AI companion
Like Skyrim or Fallout, Starfield will again have companions that you can take with you on your travels. These are said to have been further developed for Starfield, and relationships are said to be possible with four of them.
While in previous games in the background of theirs sympathy bar
has been filled or emptied, to a point where a romantic relationship has become possible or ended, this is supposed to be more complex in Starfield. In this way, companions can temporarily resent you, but still like or love you.
More new details about Starfield
- Distinguishing between handmade and procedurally generated content: It is made clear where content created by the developers is located, and where there are only planets and places to explore and resource gathering.
- Simulated planets and solar systems: The movement and rotation of planets is simulated, so you can see the suns and moons rise and set in real time.
- Star systems with levels: Each system has a certain level, you will encounter there opponents with, for example, level 40. So, as an inexperienced traveler, you should stay away from certain planets.
- Space suits not only look chic: Apparently things like the temperature and atmosphere of planets should also play a role. Different space suits can then protect you differently from toxic gases or great heat.
- Fuel: As already known from the video below, when traveling with your spaceship you should originally be able to use up fuel and be stranded. In this case, you would have sent a distress signal and an NPC might have come to your aid. But that probably wasn’t fun and you don’t need any more fuel in the finished game.
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Starfield: New video explains fuel and dialogue systems
- Robot as Hellfer and Enemy: Robots don’t play a very important role, they mostly serve as practical helpers. Some enemies are also robots.
- NPC spaceships: Ships should always land and take off in spaceports. You can also encounter large cargo ships in space, which sometimes contact you. We will probably get small quests from them.
By the way, in the interview, Todd Howard didn’t just talk about Starfield. The Elder Scrolls 6 was also a topic, we have summarized all new information about the next fantasy role-playing game from Bethesda Game Studios here.
What do you think of the new Starfield details? Do they make you more curious about the game, or more skeptical? What are your expectations of the sci-fi role-playing game? Write us your opinion in the comments!
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