STARFIELD discussion

[snowbro]

Biggest disappointment in years.

 

[blaseblase]

Well, it's not "garbage", it's just confused, and perhaps a bit too ambitious. You gotta walk before you run, and I think this game might be where huge single player RPG's are headed, just with a better UI and path finding. The game itself is loaded with content and gives you bang for your buck, but it's the little issues that fuck it up. The architecture in the game for instance, is mind blowing. You've got so many gigantic areas that that beg for exploration and discovery, but there's something missing to drive you forward. Whether it's the bland writing, or just simply confusing the player with such a grand scope, guided by outdated mechanics that simply need an upgrade for a game as huge as this one is.

Somebody posted an "Honest Conference" vid, and one thing nailed it for me. Something like:

"I have a house in New Atlantis, and I still can't find it after 100 hours of gameplay"

That's the kind of shit that sunk it for me. I love big games, but you can't just plant me in a gigantic world, and go "have at it". It's a bit too realistic, where if you put me in a town or whatever, that I've never been to before, and then task me to find a specific house somewhere in it, with no hints, no guides, no nothing. I'd just walk around aimlessly and then give up. It's not that bad, but that's what this game feels like a lot of the time.

They don't have a city map with your house marked on it? That's a pretty big oversight.

 

[HereticBD]

They don't have a city map with your house marked on it? That's a pretty big oversight.

Not really(although it's just a comment on how big and confusing the environments are in this game). Thing is, you shouldn't need a map to navigate a hub world that you visit a million times throughout the game. In any other game like this, you get acclimated to the hub worlds fairly quickly, and can map out all the hot spots in your head within minutes. In this game, you practically need a tour guide to find all the shops and whatnot, even after being there multiple times, because the areas are just so big and confusing to navigate due to their sprawling area and verticality. Take a wrong stairwell, and you're lost. You could have the map marker like 30 feet away from you, and you can still easily get turned around and start going in circles trying to get to it, because the area is just not designed in an intuitive way, that naturally relays the path finding to your brain.

There's a technique to videogame mapping that makes that shit easy to relay to the player, that is just completely missing in this game. It's kind of like trying to familiarize yourself with an actual city in real life. It's like getting dropped off in New York City for the first time, and trying to find a house with nothing more to go on than "It's on John Street".

 

[HereticBD]

Okay, I have finally gotten into this. Forced myself through the initial "this game is too fucking big and confusing" phase, ran the UC faction quest line(which was awesome and offered some interesting choices) and I got a handle on this fucker now. It's all starting to click. Still have lots of complaints, but I'm actually into it now. It's amazing at what adding simple map markers can do for a game. Now I actually know where I'm going. Got my brand spanking new Penthouse in New Atlantis, which finally introduced me to some crafting, so I'm getting used to that now and having fun with it.

Getting a handle on all the different systems and whatnot, and slowly starting to appreciate the immense size and scope of the game, and overall just becoming familiar with what this game was trying to accomplish. Bottom line, I got the Bethesda fever now. Everything is playing off everything else, and I've finally settled into a loop of exploring, story, and crafting.

As much shit as I've talked about this game, I also figured it would take a few tries to get into it, since it was so overwhelming. That has proven to be true on my end. Now that I have a handle on it, I can't wait to see what it has on offer. I was quite impatient with it.

Ship combat still sucks, as does all the loading screens, but I'm at the point where I can forgive it's shortcomings. I would also like some kind of "auto equip" feature, for when you're in environments that require spacesuits, and those that don't. It's stupid running around in a spacesuit on a planet that doesn't require it, but I can't be arsed to take it off, because I always forget to put it back on when you need it and take environmental damage, and it's just tedious to constantly switch in and out for "immersion" purposes.

There's a thread in here asking if it can be "fixed" like "Cyberpunk" and the like, and I said "no". I don't think it needs much fixing, as much as it requires your full attention. I, and assume many others, just didn't give it a fair shake. Although, they did make some nice improvements with their latest patch that were appreciated, so it might be a bit of both. Anyways, the grudge is over. I'm liking this shit now.

 

[GtehMVP]

Okay, I have finally gotten into this. Forced myself through the initial "this game is too fucking big and confusing" phase, ran the UC faction quest line(which was awesome and offered some interesting choices) and I got a handle on this fucker now. It's all starting to click. Still have lots of complaints, but I'm actually into it now. It's amazing at what adding simple map markers can do for a game. Now I actually know where I'm going. Got my brand spanking new Penthouse in New Atlantis, which finally introduced me to some crafting, so I'm getting used to that now and having fun with it.

Getting a handle on all the different systems and whatnot, and slowly starting to appreciate the immense size and scope of the game, and overall just becoming familiar with what this game was trying to accomplish. Bottom line, I got the Bethesda fever now. Everything is playing off everything else, and I've finally settled into a loop of exploring, story, and crafting.

As much shit as I've talked about this game, I also figured it would take a few tries to get into it, since it was so overwhelming. That has proven to be true on my end. Now that I have a handle on it, I can't wait to see what it has on offer. I was quite impatient with it.

Ship combat still sucks, as does all the loading screens, but I'm at the point where I can forgive it's shortcomings. I would also like some kind of "auto equip" feature, for when you're in environments that require spacesuits, and those that don't. It's stupid running around in a spacesuit on a planet that doesn't require it, but I can't be arsed to take it off, because I always forget to put it back on when you need it and take environmental damage, and it's just tedious to constantly switch in and out for "immersion" purposes.

There's a thread in here asking if it can be "fixed" like "Cyberpunk" and the like, and I said "no". I don't think it needs much fixing, as much as it requires your full attention. I, and assume many others, just didn't give it a fair shake. Although, they did make some nice improvements with their latest patch that were appreciated, so it might be a bit of both. Anyways, the grudge is over. I'm liking this shit now.

Did they ever fix the ship interior decorating thing, where making just a single colour change on a ship part made every decorative piece inside the ship go into its cargo/inventory?

I hear you can decorate your ships like it was an outpost/house now, which is really cool, but if making adjustments in the ship editor sends everything into the cargo, it would be pointless.

I've been following its improvements, but I'm waiting for the DLC before jumping back in. I also hear they'll be releasing the official mod tools soon, but that they've already shared the tool kit with numerous modders months ago, even bringing them into the studio to work directly with developers. I imagine it's to have a bunch of paid mods when they launch the creation studio (or whatever their paid mod thing is called). Regardless, business will pick up soon.

Despite a ton of issues I've discussed her, I really enjoyed my time with it. Every time I see a video discussing it and hear the amazing soundtrack (new Atlantis theme is the best), it makes me want to play it again. It has tons of potential, not just from the modding community. I really hope their DLC is special. House Va'ruun is untapped goodness in the making.

 

[Slobodan]

Did they ever fix the ship interior decorating thing, where making just a single colour change on a ship part made every decorative piece inside the ship go into its cargo/inventory?

I hear you can decorate your ships like it was an outpost/house now, which is really cool, but if making adjustments in the ship editor sends everything into the cargo, it would be pointless.

I've been following its improvements, but I'm waiting for the DLC before jumping back in. I also hear they'll be releasing the official mod tools soon, but that they've already shared the tool kit with numerous modders months ago, even bringing them into the studio to work directly with developers. I imagine it's to have a bunch of paid mods when they launch the creation studio (or whatever their paid mod thing is called). Regardless, business will pick up soon.

Despite a ton of issues I've discussed her, I really enjoyed my time with it. Every time I see a video discussing it and hear the amazing soundtrack (new Atlantis theme is the best), it makes me want to play it again. It has tons of potential, not just from the modding community. I really hope their DLC is special. House Va'ruun is untapped goodness in the making.

They also have a rover coming in a future update which should be pretty good, there is a short clip of it during the May update showcase.

 

[HereticBD]

Did they ever fix the ship interior decorating thing, where making just a single colour change on a ship part made every decorative piece inside the ship go into its cargo/inventory?

I hear you can decorate your ships like it was an outpost/house now, which is really cool, but if making adjustments in the ship editor sends everything into the cargo, it would be pointless.

Whoa, whoa, slow down. I've only just begun decorating my apartment, and messing with some weapon upgrades, LOL. Haven't gotten too deep into the ship building stuff yet. That's still a bit of a struggle. I've only upgraded the initial ship's base parts. Looking forward to it, whenever I get around to it though. Now that my brain is finally putting the pieces together of this game, I can't wait to get into it.

 

[HereticBD]

Well, I finally made a ship that works! It was a little rough, but I got a flying garbage can with like four engines bombing around now...or fast traveling around anyways, LOL. It's a shame the ship stuff is a bit of an afterthought here, as once you design one, you really want to see what it can do, but the traversal is so robotic that it doesn't really let you feel like you've accomplished anything. Still nice to explore the actual ship once you've got all the pieces in place, though. It's like going inside a model spaceship.

That said, they really need to loosen up those "crafting" requirements. It's ridiculous. Most of the advanced stuff for anything is hidden behind a third tier of upgrades. I'll be like 70 hours in, before any of the crafting really opens up. They need to nurf those requirements ASAP. I'm collecting all this crafting shit, and I can't even use it.

I'm also finding it a LOT more fun to play a bad guy in this game, far more than other game that offers you this kind of choice. I think it's the sterile environments and the bland NPC's. It's way more fun to fuck with NPC's with this game, than a Fallout or ES, where I'm motivated to play the hero. In this game, I'm just a dick because I hate everybody. That pussy Sam refused to go on missions with me, because he thinks I'm a psychopath, LOL.

 

[Slobodan]

Well, I finally made a ship that works! It was a little rough, but I got a flying garbage can with like four engines bombing around now...or fast traveling around anyways, LOL. It's a shame the ship stuff is a bit of an afterthought here, as once you design one, you really want to see what it can do, but the traversal is so robotic that it doesn't really let you feel like you've accomplished anything. Still nice to explore the actual ship once you've got all the pieces in place, though. It's like going inside a model spaceship.

That said, they really need to loosen up those "crafting" requirements. It's ridiculous. Most of the advanced stuff for anything is hidden behind a third tier of upgrades. I'll be like 70 hours in, before any of the crafting really opens up. They need to nurf those requirements ASAP. I'm collecting all this crafting shit, and I can't even use it.

I'm also finding it a LOT more fun to play a bad guy in this game, far more than other game that offers you this kind of choice. I think it's the sterile environments and the bland NPC's. It's way more fun to fuck with NPC's with this game, than a Fallout or ES, where I'm motivated to play the hero. In this game, I'm just a dick because I hate everybody. That pussy Sam refused to go on missions with me, because he thinks I'm a psychopath, LOL.

I did all my crafting stuff earlier in the game, before I got to level 10 and focused on it for a good while. Made it a bit less of a hassle after progressing through the game.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

I'm getting the itch to reinstall it.

Apparently maxing out the laser skill makes the mining tool straight murder.

 

[Slobodan]

Shattered Space DLC trailer:



June Update:

UPDATE HIGHLIGHTS

• Creations are here!
• Creations are now available in Starfield. What does that mean? You can now access and play new content in Starfield. Creations may include new missions, gear, skins, weapons, and more! You’ll also find Bethesda Game Studios Creations including one of the new Trackers Alliance missions, The Vulture. You can find Creations via the in-game menu. For those of you who own Starfield's Premium Edition, you will also find 1000 Creation Credits within this menu.
• If creating your own content for Starfield is something that interests you, you may also now download the Creation Kit for Starfield on Steam. Note, this is a separate download from the game download and is only available on Steam.
• Trackers Alliance Missions Available
• New missions have been added to Starfield as part of this update. Trackers Alliance establishes the first of several missions enabling you to live your best bounty-hunting life. The first mission, The Starjacker will have you in contact with a mysterious Tracker located in settlements throughout the Settled Systems. From there, let the hunts begin!
• The second Trackers Alliance mission, The Vulture is available within the new Creations menu. And what bounty hunter is without their trusted methods to get the job done?
• Bounty Scanning and Mission Boards!
• This update also introduces the bounty scanner system that enables you to seek and destroy (or peacefully resolve...?) those targets with bounties on their heads. If you still want more, you can also check out the Elite Trackers Alliance mission board.
• Armed and Ever Ready!
• Those of you who appreciate being extra crafty may now find new melee weapon tiers and the ability to modify melee weapons when crafting. For those that prefer the firepower approach, ammo crafting has also been added with this update. You can research your preferred ammo at a Research Station and craft them at an Industrial Workbench!

BUG FIXES

GENERAL
• General performance and stability improvements.

GAMEPLAY
• Gameplay Options: Addressed a sustenance issue that caused sneak attack damage to be too high.
• Ship Decoration: Nova Galactic All-in-One 2x1 Habs will now declutter properly.
• Ship Decoration: Items can no longer be placed on ladders.
• Addressed an issue that could cause Guards to give up their chase too easily.
• Fixed an issue that caused visited space locations to appear undiscovered.
• Addressed an issue that could occur when modifying the player’s ship at The Key.
• Addressed a rare issue that could cause some objects to behave as if they were in zero-g.
• Fixed a crowd character issue that could appear when loading a save.
• Removed the "Fast Travel to Ship" button from screens where it could not be utilized.
• Fixed an issue that could occur when opening photo mode at the start of a conversation.
• Fixed an issue that could occur when trying to exit the pilot seat while landing.
• Addressed an issue with incrementing the "Ships Modified" stat when entering ship builder.
• Quest Trackers should highlight the correct NAT station when traveling to the Lodge in New Atlantis.
• Cora Coe should now accept books even if the Main Quest is skipped after entering the Unity.

GRAPHICS
• Fixed an issue which could cause a bright light when loading a save into New Atlantis.
• Fixed an issue that could cause some objects to become hidden when they should be visible.

OUTPOSTS
• Resolved an issue where the Power Management Robot could unintentionally reduce power.

QUESTS
• Background Checks: Fixed an issue where the player could receive an unintentional trespassing message.

 

[HereticBD]

Betrayed my Crimson Fleet bros, and carried out the undercover mission with the UC to a tee. Made me feel a bit guilty, but I got a nice payday for it and some well earned kudos from the top brass.

This is the stuff I was looking for when I first played it. Took a while, but I'm balls deep into this shit now. and I haven't even touched the base building stuff. It's all coming around quite nicely.

 

[GtehMVP]

Shattered Space DLC trailer:



June Update:

I don't like BGS charging 7$ for a single quest, hope few buy it to deter them in the future. It's a greedy move, especially considering how poor the reception of the game has been. They aren't doing themselves any favours there. Wasn't Hearts of Stone $15 Cdn?

However, I'm really excited for the shattered space DLC. It looks like we're getting a Far Harbor-like experience here, with the Capital city on the home planet of House Va'Ruun being one large area to explore, along with some sort of stations in orbit.

I booted it up yesterday to see some of the changes. It defaulted FS3 (haven't used it before) for me with everything maxed, ran and looked great. I'm probably going to wait until the DLC comes out before going any further, but I'm glad to see they are calling Shattered Space the first expansion. I hope they stick with it like they have with Fallout 76, as Starfield has so much more potential, especially with the creation kit officially out too. I'm looking forward to dabbling in that myself.

 

[Wrath of Foamy]

Just finished the Vanguard questline. I picked three quests from Tuala, which I'll polish off when I get back from work today, and then I'll probably leave them alone.

The attack midway through the questline was such a cool idea, but it was designed in such a horrifically bad way that really symbolises Starfields main problem for me. It is a game with grand ambition but it seems like it was designed in a way that deliberately knew its technological limitations, and built around them, leading to disappointment. It was supposed to be this grand, impacting moment, but when I left the lift and saw two or three NPCs swinging at each other with their fists, in typical Bethesda fashion? It fell flat.

Collecting the samples in the penultimate mission was pretty cool though, and showed where Bethesda should have stayed in regards to scope. They can still do small events and reveals well. The story itself was decent, I enjoyed it. I think I enjoyed the Freestar missions more though. The story wasn't as engaging but the game reached for what was more attainable technically, whilst the Vanguard story was disappointing based on its promising scope and poor execution.

I'm using a mining laser with maxed laser perk, so the terrormorph threat was pretty much nullified for me. It's strong, but not the godlike weapon that others online have been saying that it is. It requires you to get up close and personal with enemies and even though it melts creatures, it doesn't work fast enough on armoured soldiers. It's a good way to save ammo though.

After clearing the three side missions, I'm going to see what the bloody hell Sarah wants, then either head to Neon to start with Ryujin or start Groundpounder. Skill wise? I'd like to level up security to tier 4 (as locked items have been surprisingly hard to come by) and diplomacy.

I may seem to be quite hard on Starfield, but I wouldn't be still playing if I didn't find the good in it. They've made a very interesting world, with interesting ideas, which is what No Mans Sky and Elite Dangerous lacked. It's just very rough around the edges in both execution and design.

 

[Jack Reacheround]

Here’s my biggest problem with this game. I didn’t play it much, so maybe I’m wrong.

You don’t really get to explore space. I choose a planet, say “I want to go there,” and there’s a loading screen/cut scene. Then, I’m in orbit of the planet. And then the same thing to land.

If I want to fly to even another planet within that system, I can’t just point my ship at it and fly there manually while stumbling upon asteroids or derelict ships, or whatever else on my way there.

At least in No Man’s Sky when I go to a planet I can just fly into the atmosphere on my own and then land wherever I can. Granted, all the planets are clumped together, and there’s no real exploration to do between them. But that’s still a step up.

I was hoping that this game would give me the ability to fly through an entire solar system and go from planet to planet without just clicking on a map and having it load that planet. I want to travel there.

 

[GtehMVP]

Here’s my biggest problem with this game. I didn’t play it much, so maybe I’m wrong.

You don’t really get to explore space. I choose a planet, say “I want to go there,” and there’s a loading screen/cut scene. Then, I’m in orbit of the planet. And then the same thing to land.

If I want to fly to even another planet within that system, I can’t just point my ship at it and fly there manually while stumbling upon asteroids or derelict ships, or whatever else on my way there.

At least in No Man’s Sky when I go to a planet I can just fly into the atmosphere on my own and then land wherever I can. Granted, all the planets are clumped together, and there’s no real exploration to do between them. But that’s still a step up.

I was hoping that this game would give me the ability to fly through an entire solar system and go from planet to planet without just clicking on a map and having it load that planet. I want to travel there.

That's what drives me nuts on this. I spent stupid hours making ships, but I can't explore in them. Outside some combat/crafting stations, they are just fast travel devices.

The good news is that you can actually fly to another planet/moon in a star system in real time. It will take hours, but you can physically do that.

However, once you arrive at the planetary body you would just fly through it instead of being able to interact with it like normal. I guess it's like no clipping in any ES/Fallout game.

It's crazy they didn't use all that space to place things to visit between planets, but at least its there. That's something they or modders can add to. They just need to give us newer speed options.