Starfield Direct News Rundown

With Summer Game Fest in full swing, there are a lot of highly anticipated games on everyone’s minds. Starfield is among those anticipated games, though we haven’t seen too much information on it yet. I was underwhelmed during the last Starfield presentation since we saw a lot of white, grey, and barren landscapes.

I love Fallout, but if we’re going Sci-Fi, with over a thousand planets, give me some biodiversity ya know? The Starfield Direct was advertised for June 11^th and was meant to give a wide array of details on the upcoming Bethesda RPG. Let’s see what they have for us, shall we?

The Starfield Direct started with Todd Howard, Director of Starfield, and the guy most Bethesda fans either really like or really hate. Todd Howard explained the idea behind Starfield and that it was a project the teams at Bethesda had talked about long before the project was greenlit. Starfield is Bethesda’s first new universe (and IP) in over 25 years.

Todd Howard reiterated that there are over 1000 worlds in Starfield. He also mentioned that it will be up to the player to explore and go wherever they want. As he was discussing this, we got a glimpse of just a few planets, and they all look very different. I’m curious as to whether they’ll be empty copy-pastes of each other (aside from story-based ones) or if they will all have unique elements and stories hidden away. Open worlds can be rendered pointless if the environments don’t have a wealth of content in them after all.

He also made a point of mentioning that if you see a moon or another planet while exploring another, you can visit it. There is nothing stopping you from exploring the galaxy as you play. Their new lighting engine also simulates realistic lighting depending on the type of star in the solar system you’re in, as well as the makeup of the planet’s atmosphere. There is an all-new animation system as well, and Starfield can be played in both First-Person and Third-Person perspectives.

As Todd kept talking, we transitioned into a gameplay sequence where Todd explained that you’ll be able to mine resources, do missions, and even possibly find unexpected locations as you explore. It seems like you’ll be armed with weapons, a mining laser, and even a jetpack (called a boost pack) to get you up to a higher area. Also, as you play it seems like you’ll be able to level up various skills by fulfilling objectives. It seems almost like an updated form of Skyrim and Fallout 4’s skill-leveling system.

We also got to see a lot of collectibles, which transitioned straight into a discussion on the Data menu. The Data menu is essentially everything you could need. It houses your inventory, your skills, everything. During this segment, we got to see different space suit designs, weapon models, and even detailed food models. The attention to detail in Starfield is extensive.

Todd Howard also made a point to mention that not only can you fast-travel back to your ship once you’re done exploring, but you can also take companions with you. Bosco is a robot companion you’ll meet, and he can even say your name, most likely like Cogsworth in Fallout 4, having a list of names he can speak.

With Todd’s first segment done, we move on to Art Director Istvan Pely, who explained that they wanted to convey the romantic notions of the golden age of space flight. Internally, this design motif has been known as “NASA-Punk”, advanced tech that still looks grounded, relatable, and somewhat familiar to us today.

The ship was showcased next as a hub and home for you and your crew. It has a retro, lo-fi aesthetic that makes it feel similar to what you might see in space films like Alien. They also aimed for a cozy, lived-in vibe for the spaceship you live in and use to travel.

You can view all the planets in a system on your star map or even just look at points of interest on specific planets. Planets that have key locations and missions will be highlighted, but Todd Howard made a point (again) to express how big Starfield is, and that it is up to you where you go and explore.

To travel to other systems, you’ll need to use your ship’s Grav drive. You’ll have to upgrade your ship periodically to be able to travel farther distances. This led to a sequence that showcased travel to the Alpha Centauri system to find the city of New Atlantis. According to the dev team, New Atlantis is the biggest city that Bethesda has ever made.

It is also obvious that cities will have verticality to them, with tall buildings and skyscrapers reaching toward the sky. New Atlantis (and other cities) will have small stories and side content, as well as larger ones that serve the overall main storyline. New Atlantis is where your interactions with the organization known as Constellation begin.

Constellation is a group that is practically a myth at this point. People don’t really know that Constellation exists, much less what their goals are. They are searching for the answers to some of the largest questions of Human history, as well as trying to discover the source of mysterious alien artifacts.

Constellation consists of a wide array of characters, from Sarah Morgan, a former adventurer who now leads Constellation, to Mateo who is a religious theologian who believes that the source of Humanity’s creation is out there. Then there are people like Noel, Sarah’s protégé and a gifted scientist, as well as Walter, Constellation’s financier.

There are a variety of others, but it will be interesting to figure out if they are more than just their descriptors, or if they’ll be one-note characters that just serve a minor purpose. According to Bethesda, the Settled Systems are home to all manner of people, creatures, and places to discover. New Atlantis is part of the United Colonies and is the first major human settlement in space.

The people of New Atlantis and the United Colonies consider themselves the “true children of Earth” dedicated to law and order in space. It seems a fair bit like the Union in The Orville or the Federation in Star Trek. Mars’ city of Cydonia is a United Colonies affiliated city that serves as the largest mining facility in the United Colonies organization.

Out of the United Colonies’ reach, you have the Freestar Collective, a more lawless, wild-west type of coalition. Akila City is the capital of the Freestar Collective, while Neon is a “pleasure city” that started out as a fishing town.

Outside of civilized space are unclaimed systems and galaxies, but they are home to hostile factions such as the Crimson Fleet. There are a lot of enemies and conflicting factions, but it’ll be up to you to decide who you join up with and who you trust. The Bethesda team says they’re pushing cities and settlements further than ever before, but only time will tell.

The next segment went into detail on the vast number of character creation options. With their new systems in place, you’ll be able to look however you want, while also meeting a truly diverse and varied group of NPC’s over the course of the game. You’ll start as a recruit for the Argos Extractors, where you’ll be tossed into character creation. You’ll start by picking 1 out of over 40 presets, and then you’ll be able to customize it from there.

Character customization is dense with options, but also simple in terms of ease of use. During character creation, you also pick a background, which gives you a bit of backstory and three basic skills to start with. You also get to pick up to 3 traits which are optional but come with advantages and disadvantages.

With the Hero Worship trait, for example, you get an adoring fan, which is a reference to Oblivion and is even voiced by the same guy. He’ll join your crew and give you gifts, but he’ll have constant commentary for you to put up with. The Kid Stuff trait requires you to pay credits to support your parents. However, you get unique interactions with them as a result.

Other traits allow you to bypass certain enemy factions or help you get in with other factions you might want to join. The Wanted trait gives you a damage buff when your health is low, but mercenaries will randomly show up to try and attack you. These traits seem like a great way to customize a playthrough, but you can always remove them if you dislike them later.

The new skill system takes the things people liked about skills in previous games and merges them together. Each time you level up you gain a skill point that can be used to unlock (or rank up) skills. Ranks are unlocked by completing challenges related to that skill, to make things more dynamic. As you go to higher ranks, challenges get tougher.

There are five skill trees with four ranks per skill, so there are a lot of ways to customize your character and build. They also showed off a wide variety of skills in Starfield. Some are familiar from other Bethesda games, while others (like Boost Pack Training AKA Jetpack Training) are unique.

The Starfield Direct’s next segment focused on exploration. The dev team tried to strike a balance between realism and fun, studying information from NASA and other sources to craft these planetary worlds. Planets have differing weather, atmospheres, and biomes depending on their position in the star system and the type of star they orbit.

In space, there are also asteroid fields, encounters with strangers, dogfights, and derelict ships to explore. The team wants to reward player curiosity and give them a reason to explore cities, planetary wilderness, and even the boundaries of space. Personally, that’s why the claim of “1000+ Planets” bothers me. How can you fill 1000+ planets with meaningful content?

Spaceship customization also offers a wide degree of freedom and flexibility. You can buy a ship, customize it how you want, and upgrade it to suit your needs. You’ll also be able to hire a crew to keep it up and running. Every Spaceport has a ship technician that allows you to purchase, sell, or upgrade a ship. You might want a fast ship for bounty hunting, or a space freighter with storage capacity so you can run cargo missions. Perhaps that freighter might also be used for smuggling? I won’t tell if you won’t.

You can either quickly upgrade ship elements and systems through a menu or use the Ship Builder mode. The Ship Builder is used to not only upgrade systems but also lets you change the appearance and layout of all sorts of elements on your ship. From amenities to a better Grav Drive for longer trips, there’s a lot to upgrade.

Additionally, you can change the paint job on your ship to get the exact look you want. The parts you build your ship from also influence what you can do inside the ship. There are crafting modules, storage modules, and more. Each ship manufacturer has a different look and feel on the inside as well. You’ll also need sleeping quarters and a mess hall since your crew will accompany you on your journey.

This includes some members of Constellation and various companions you meet along the way. Each companion has a variety of skills that make them effective in certain situations. They also have unique quest lines and preferred jobs on your ship or while traveling. Bethesda also confirmed romances for certain companions as well.

Some crew members can be hired at spaceports, while others may be found out in the world on various planets. You can also assign crew members to outposts as well, which are similar to settlements in Fallout 4. During the Starfield Direct, they also revealed that you can get in the cockpit and fly your ship however you like. You are in complete control of spaceflight, including allocating resources during combat.

Boosting power to your engines will make your ship faster while powering the grav drive will make the time it takes to make a jump faster. Moving power to weapons and shields is important for combat situations, putting you in the perfect position to take on enemies. You’ll also be able to unlock skills that allow you to target certain systems of enemy ships.

You can loot destroyed ships from your cockpit. However, you could take a personal approach, and instead of blowing up a ship, you can board it and take it for yourself. This allows you to either customize it at a spaceport or sell it later. There are also Staryards and space stations to explore, where you can talk to crew members, look for things, buy new ships, and more. You can also dock with battleships, luxury cruise ships, and neutral factions, to talk with the inhabitants and find new quests.

There are also characters and events you’ll meet out in space. You can talk to other ships, trade, or even become a pirate and try to take their belongings. There is so much to do, both on planets and in space. The development team clearly wants this to feel like a game of exploration and discovery. It shows the amount of detail put into it, though I do still have a few reservations.

Now we get into the Collector’s editions of Starfield as if this didn’t blow up in Bethesda’s face spectacularly in the past. This time around, they’ve made a watch called the Constellation Explorer’s Watch. The watch connects to your phone to give you various information and comes with a carrying case. Why do you need a carrying case for a watch if you’re meant to wear it?

The case comes with a Constellation patch, a strap, and the watch inside. The case’s mechanism to open it looks cool, but I still can’t figure out why you’d want it. Here’s hoping they’ve already started production on them, so people don’t have to wait months. There is also a custom, limited-edition Starfield controller, and a custom Starfield headset for Xbox consoles.

They also went into detail on how Starfield generates both procedural and handcrafted content for each planet as you reach it. With your scanner, you’ll be able to learn about exotic wildlife and materials. With the right skills, you’ll even be able to learn how to gain resources from certain plants and animals for your outposts.

The Starfield dev team also went into detail about their process of creating creatures and environments for the game. It adds an interesting level of detail when you see just how much thought went into the creatures you are going to encounter. This transitioned into a segment talking about outposts.

Outposts can be built almost anywhere on any planet, which means that you aren’t restricted to weirdly shaped areas like certain settlements in Fallout 4. Outposts can be manned by your crew members and companions and can be modular, with all sorts of building options and all sorts of amenities. You can even use an extractor to extract resources from a planet while you’re away.

A major upgrade from Fallout 4’s building system is the flycam, which gives you an option to build at eye level, or from a top-down isometric perspective. This segment also went into detail on weapon modification, which offers things like scopes, larger magazines, grips, barrels, and different ammunition types. There was also a glimpse at a robust number of melee weapons like knives, rescue axes, and more.

This led to a combat-focused segment, showing off the way things like gunplay, grenades, the boost pack, and even melee weapons work together. There’s a large amount of weapon variety, and different environments may require different combat approaches. Gravity is also different on each planet, so the boost pack is highly important for traversal as well as combat.

Zero gravity environments also have an effect on combat. Depending on your weapon type (ballistic, energy, mag, etc) you may have a different physical reaction to shooting your weapon in zero gravity. With that, they led into a closing montage of the developer’s favorite things about Starfield. They also gave a release date of September 6^th, 2023.

This Starfield Direct gave me a much more positive picture of the game than other showcases and teasers had before. I’m much more excited about Starfield than I was, though the 1000+ planets thing and the procedural content side of it has me a little concerned that certain planets might be copy/pastes of one another. With that said, I can’t make that judgment for certain until the game is out and in people’s hands.

Regardless, it is clear that Bethesda has put a lot of love and a lot of content into Starfield. It is clear that they are trying to establish a new IP here, something more grounded in reality than we might have expected with other Bethesda games. September is going to be very interesting as far as Starfield goes.