Starfield Pre-Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Zombra]

Haven't had time to watch the thing yet, so excuse my ignorance if any of this has been answered. So probably level-scaling and mostly procedurally generated game world? I want a good sci-fi first person RPG as the next guy, but if the above is true, why exactly are so many codexers getting hyped about this?

I assume they used the Skyrim world generation model: developed a system for a one time procgen world (ahem galaxy) and ran it. Basically Skyrim was a procedural game with only one "seed". That's fine with me; I don't expect every blade of grass to be hand-placed and fascinating.

As for level scaling ... ehhhh to be honest in this type of game I don't especially care. "No level scaling" is great for a more linear type of game where you're expected to go to dungeon A, then dungeon B, then dungeon C. Here I don't want there to be 1000 planets but I'm only allowed to go to 3 because the other 997 are too high level. Of course I don't want to be able to kill the final dragon at level 3 but I never felt that Skyrim was a cakewalk so whatever they did before is fine with me.

I will almost certainly play this but I'm managing my expectations. I want to see how far I can go off the rails and still have my playthrough be supported. In Fallout 4 there was no point in making more than a single character. I don't even remember any of the factions after playing 92 (!) hours. Everything boiled down to "go to the place, walk forward, shoot the enemies". Today in Starfield we saw snake cultists, pirates, cops, miners, cowboys, sluts, and what looks like a death sports arena? and it's possible that one could center a whole character around one or more of these factions. Skyrim (despite its many flaws) was a great sandbox for this, with plenty of room for me to play as a pro-Psijic (and pro-daedra) dark elf magic purist, a self-centered barbarian, a cowardly High Rock political assassin, and an anti-lumberjack wood elf. I felt like I had a ton to do in each of those playthroughs, and so many quests piled up on my "to do" lists that I had to choose what to pursue and what to let slide .. so naturally each character pursued the quests they cared about and ignored the rest. Again Fallout 4 had nothing like that level of choice. So we'll see how things go with this but they talked a lot today about "be who you wanna be, go where you wanna go" soooo I want to see how well this lives up.

 

[Late Bloomer]

Will this be playable on steam deck or no?

They haven't said. The Steam page also doesn't show any Steam Deck information. People on Steam discussions have mixed responses. I fear optimization isn't a priority for them. They hardly panned the camera around quickly during the hour long show. The link to the article I posted said they are sticking to a 30fps target for their own console which is concerning. All of that spells trouble for the Steam Deck. We shall see.

 

[KIss My Ass]

I didn't see anything that looked impossible on steam deck. But Beth are incompetent and lazy so we'll see I guess.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Just as Brian Fargo regained the hearts and minds of the Codex in 2020 with Wasteland 3, so will Todd Howard regain the hearts and minds of the Codex in 2023 with Starfield.

 

[Drakortha]

I didn't see anything that looked impossible on steam deck. But Beth are incompetent and lazy so we'll see I guess.

STOP CONSUMING

 

[Lyre Mors]

Watched the video. Looks interesting and definitely has potential. First Bethesda game I've been genuinely intrigued by in a very long time, but am very much skeptical as to how good it'll actually be. Color me surprised.

 

[Robotigan]

As for level scaling ... ehhhh to be honest in this type of game I don't especially care. "No level scaling" is great for a more linear type of game where you're expected to go to dungeon A, then dungeon B, then dungeon C. Here I don't want there to be 1000 planets but I'm only allowed to go to 3 because the other 997 are too high level. Of course I don't want to be able to kill the final dragon at level 3 but I never felt that Skyrim was a cakewalk so whatever they did before is fine with me.

Oblivion traumitized people so much they swore off the entire concept of level scaling even though it was tastefully implemented in Skyrim. It's the same way with the more European-inspired setting. The art direction in Skyrim was on point and anyone who compares Morrowind's dwemer ruins to Skyrim's will confirm.

 

[HoboForEternity]

sum up the show for me, aint watching 45 minutes commercial. i skimmed it, looks like generic space sim on top of bethesda's usual stuff

 

[Drakortha]

Just as Brian Fargo regained the hearts and minds of the Codex in 2020 with Wasteland 3, so will Todd Howard regain the hearts and minds of the Codex in 2023 with Starfield.

You do realize there is a 99% chance that these memes are pumped out by some obscure viral meme marketing department that is bought and paid for by Bethesda themselves. So great job being another usefull idiot who shares "memes" around for free advertisement.

 

[Lemming42]

I love Bethesda. I love Bethesda's "memes". I'm paying full price for this. I might even go into Todd's house at night and leave extra money atop his sleeping form, to show my devotion. Nothing and nobody can stop me. Not even RPGcodex forum user Drakortha.

 

[Robotigan]

From Software and Capcom (Dragon's Dogma 2) say hi

From Software looks like a Tim Burton movie. I get what they're going for but it's a very exaggerated kind of vibe that you have to be into.

 

[HoboForEternity]

I love Bethesda. I love Bethesda's "memes". I'm paying full price for this. I might even go into Todd's house at night and leave extra money atop his sleeping form, to show my devotion. Nothing and nobody can stop me. Not even RPGcodex forum user Drakortha.

while you;re there suck his dick for me

 

[Drakortha]

I love Bethesda. I love Bethesda's "memes". I'm paying full price for this. I might even go into Todd's house at night and leave extra money atop his sleeping form, to show my devotion. Nothing and nobody can stop me. Not even RPGcodex forum user Drakortha.

You are all tools and I hate you all!!

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

You do realize there is a 99% chance that these memes are pumped out by some obscure viral meme marketing department that is bought and paid for by Bethesda themselves. So great job being another usefull idiot who shares "memes" around for free advertisement.

 

[Shog-goth]

Entire planets explorable but apparently no ground transportation, and spaceships can't fly in the atmosphere. Uhm, something fishy going on.

 

[Late Bloomer]

sum up the show for me, aint watching 45 minutes commercial. i skimmed it, looks like generic space sim on top of bethesda's usual stuff

Getting tired but will attempt

- Combat looks improved. Gunplay and melee both look acceptable. Planets have different gravity which effect combat. Fire a gun with a lot of kick you get pushed back. Fire a laser and you dont feel the force as much
- Lighting system looks good.
- Large planet variety. A lot of procedural but with crafted structures. If you land on Jungle planet A it will be different than my Jungle planet A in how the planet is formed.
- You can customize your ship in a very large variety of ways. A lot of various rooms and attachments to mess around with. They showed how you can make one that looks like a mech. Can decorate interior as well.
- A lot of weapon and armor customization
- A tremendous amount black and brown NPC's.
- The adoring fan is back
- You can set up bases on any planets
- Companions can help you out on your ship / bases
- Costs 70 USD regular 100 USD premium
- Usual bethesda playstyles of stealth, ranged, melee
- When in space random event will happen. Derelict spaceships, space stations. pirate encounters etc.
- Looks like some interesting backgrounds and traits. They briefly spoke about how these can effect gameplay.
- Very little dialogue shown.
- NPC facial animations were odd.
- The UI looked like shit
- 30fps lock on both xbox consoles. Might mean 60fps lock on PC not sure.

I am most likely forgetting some stuff but thats the gist of it.

 

[Zombra]

sum up the show for me, aint watching 45 minutes commercial. i skimmed it, looks like generic space sim on top of bethesda's usual stuff

If you've been paying attention at all there's really nothing you haven't seen before, just deeper dives into every feature you've already heard about and they make it all look good. If you have more specific questions?

 

[Vic]

Might mean 60fps lock on PC not sure

 

[KIss My Ass]

From Software and Capcom (Dragon's Dogma 2) say hi

From Software looks like a Tim Burton movie. I get what they're going for but it's a very exaggerated kind of vibe that you have to be into.

They get everything right. It isn't just about the look or the genre. I'm actually kicking myself for calling them "masters of the RPG". That's a very big disservice. They do everything better than everyone. It's fucking pathetic if you think about it. Their design is so impeccable and above everybody else it's downright pathetic when looking at other studios.

But whatever, this isn't the From Software gushing thread. It looks like Bethesda may have done something special here and they should be applauded. If the fuckers can confirm it's playable on Steam Deck I'll buy it day 1. It looks like a fine game.

 

[HarveyBirdman]

Looks autistic and uninteresting.

1. They clearly spent almost all their resources on dicking around with systems and aesthetics, but forgot to write a world worth inhabiting.
2. You're the outer space dragonborn who has superpowers which are enhanced upon discovery of alien artifacts (word walls). That's the whole main quest gameplay loop.
3. There are over 1,000 planets... but only three cities worth visiting. New Atlantis will, by far, be the city with the most content. The other two cities will be more fun... but unfortunately, less fleshed out. Probably will be a few other small points of handcrafted civilization, but other than that, expect endless procedurally generated outposts, factories, extraction facilities, space stations, etc. full of generic NPC merchants and radiant AI-style copypasta quests.
4. Combat is an arcade shooting gallery. Will be fun for maybe 10 hours max (that's generous) until either the balancing breaks down or you get bored of shooting stationary targets, whichever happens first.
5. Dialogue and choices might actually be pretty well-done this time around! But when the world is so generic, I don't expect it'll hold my interest.
6. Ultimately, the only truly fun thing to do in this game will be Space GTA; but the system won't ever be fleshed out beyond "destroy/commandeer ship, sell resources, rinse repeat".

I'll eventually buy the complete edition on sale, play it for 5-15 hours, and then curse myself for wasting even that much money and time on it.

Nice try Todd. Now finish TES VI. That's all anybody cares about.

 

[HoboForEternity]

sum up the show for me, aint watching 45 minutes commercial. i skimmed it, looks like generic space sim on top of bethesda's usual stuff

If you've been paying attention at all there's really nothing you haven't seen before, just deeper dives into every feature you've already heard about and they make it all look good. If you have more specific questions?

mostly about RP capabilities, dialogue, quest design and so on. i guess the game appeal more to space sim crowd than me, because at this point i am looking forward more to avowed than this.

 

[Robotigan]

1. They clearly spent almost all their resources on dicking around with systems and aesthetics, but forgot to write a world worth inhabiting.
2. You're the outer space dragonborn who has superpowers which are enhanced upon discovery of alien artifacts (word walls). That's the whole main quest gameplay loop.
3. There are over 1,000 planets... but only three cities worth visiting. New Atlantis will, by far, be the city with the most content. The other two cities will be more fun... but unfortunately, less fleshed out. Probably will be a few other small points of handcrafted civilization, but other than that, expect endless procedurally generated outposts, factories, extraction facilities, space stations, etc. full of generic NPC merchants and radiant AI-style copypasta quests.
4. Combat is an arcade shooting gallery. Will be fun for maybe 10 hours max (that's generous) until either the balancing breaks down or you get bored of shooting stationary targets, whichever happens first.
5. Dialogue and choices might actually be pretty well-done this time around! But when the world is so generic, I don't expect it'll hold my interest.
6. Ultimately, the only truly fun thing to do in this game will be Space GTA; but the system won't ever be fleshed out beyond "destroy/commandeer ship, sell resources, rinse repeat".

You must have an M.D. in angular acceleration because you're an excellent spin doctor.

 

[Zombra]

mostly about RP capabilities, dialogue, quest design and so on. i guess the game appeal more to space sim crowd than me, because at this point i am looking forward more to avowed than this.

The only thing that stood out to me was their supporting lots of playable factions. It really looks like you can join the cops or the frontier cowboys or the space pirates and have solid content for each. (Maybe you can become the Archmage of every faction too, I don't know.) Dialogue has a weird system they didn't actually talk about where every dialogue option has a bonus number next to it like "+1" or "+7". Of course some dialogue options are gated by skills or background. Quest design they showed nothing about so I assume it's not great, I don't think they talked about C&C at all. (Someone did today but I think it's when I was watching the Clockwork Revolution trailer?

 

[Vic]

who cares about RPG elements. It’s Skyrim… in SPACE!

 

[Drakortha]

It really looks like you can join the cops or the frontier cowboys or the space pirates and have solid content for each.

"another planet settlement needs your help, I'll mark it on your map"

solid content.