Starfield – Everything You Need to Know About Bethesda’s Sci-Fi RPG

After decades of work in the fantasy and post-apocalyptic settings, Bethesda Game Studios is finally tackling sci-fi with Starfield, their upcoming roleplaying game that also happens to be the first new IP made by the team in over twenty-five years.

Bethesda Game Studios’ titles have won over dozens of millions of fans between Elder Scrolls and Fallout, which makes the early interest in Starfield unsurprising. Its name was first uncovered when Bethesda trademarked it all the way back in September 2013. Game Director Todd Howard would later go on to say that no other names were considered and that it had to be Starfield.

Following its official announcement at Bethesda’s E3 2018 press conference, fans learned that the project had been long gestating in the minds of the developers, chiefly Howard himself, who had wanted to make a space game ever since 1994. At that time, Bethesda held the rights to the Traveler sci-fi tabletop RPG, but those quickly went away, he said. The game Delta V, released in 1994, was originally part of the planned Traveler game. There was another space combat game called The 10th Planet, but it was canceled not long before its scheduled 1997 release date. A few years later, Bethesda had the Star Trek license and Todd Howard even pitched an RPG based on the beloved sci-fi universe, but it didn’t pan out.

Active development on Starfield began as soon as BGS had completed Fallout 4 in late 2015. The development moved from pre-production to full production by mid-2018, when the game was already playable in some form and Fallout 76 was nearing its launch.

Release date, platforms, pricing, editions

Starfield was initially scheduled to launch on November 11th, 2022, on the eleventh anniversary of the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bethesda’s biggest success to date. In May 2022, though, Bethesda announced it would be delayed until the first half of 2023.

The new release date is set for September 6th, 2023. However, certain editions of the game will grant early access. Specifically, the Premium Edition (priced at $99.99) includes the game, early access on September 1st, the first story expansion titled Shattered Space, the Constellation Skin Pack (Equinox Laser Rifle, Spacesuit, Helmet, and Boost Pack), and access to the official Starfield Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack.

The Constellation Edition (priced at $299) includes all the above and a Constellation Patch, a Steelbook Display Case, and a Starfield Chronomark Watch & Case.

All the versions of Starfield, including the standard one (priced at $69.99), also offer access to the Old Mars Skin Pack, which provides a Laser Cutter, a Deep Mining Helmet, and a Deep Mining Pack.

The game will be released on PC and Xbox Series S|X. Just like all of Microsoft’s first-party games, it will also be playable by Game Pass subscribers on mobile platforms via the cloud.

Genre and setting

Starfield’s universe is inspired by the so-called NASA Punk concept, with which Bethesda is attempting to deliver a future grounded in actual NASA space missions.

The game is set in 2330, roughly twenty years after a massive conflict dubbed Colony War between two major factions, the United Colonies and the Freestar Collective. In this era, humankind has colonized space in an area that extends outward from the Solar System for roughly fifty light-years. This region of space is called the Settled Systems and that’s where Starfield takes place.

At the beginning of the game, the United Colonies is the most powerful faction from both a military and political standpoint. Their capital city is New Atlantis, located on the planet Jemison, and it is a melting pot of cultures. The developers of Starfield pointed out that in a lot of ways, the city is a true reflection of the future of our world. It is the biggest city in the game (out of four main cities) and the largest ever built by the developers.

The other major power in the Settled Systems is the Freestar Collective, a confederation of three star systems that have joined for their common belief in personal freedom and individuality. Their capital, Akila City, has fortified walls to withstand attacks from an aggressive alien species known as the Ashta, described as a cross between wolves and velociraptors.

Beyond these two political powers, there are many other factions in the Settled Systems. For example, the Xenofresh Corporation built a pleasure city called Neon on a currently unnamed aquatic world. Neon was actually meant to be a fishing platform, but Xenofresh Corporation discovered a fish with psychotropic properties and subsequently transformed the city into a place where the wealthy go to do recreational drugs. The drug itself, Aurora, is only legal on Neon.

Then there are rogue factions such as the Crimson Fleet, a confederation of space pirates that the player will be able to infiltrate.

The main quest of Starfield will see players joining the Constellation, described by Bethesda as the last group of space explorers. Constellation includes Sarah Morgan, ex-soldier and adventurer and now the leader of the group; Matteo, a theologian who strongly believes that there’s something out there; Noel, a gifted scientist and Sarah’s protege; Walter, a businessman and Constellation’s financier; Vlad, a former space pirate; Sam Coe, a so-called ‘space cowboy’; and Barrett, an explorer and a scientist. Sam Coe and Sarah Morgan are confirmed to be romanceable alongside with other two NPCs from this list.

During the quest line, players will make a discovery that will change everything. That could be a hint to the discovery of intelligent alien life, though that’s only speculation for the time being.

According to the developers, the main quest will be longer than that of their previous titles, possibly lasting up to 40 hours of gameplay.

Gameplay mechanics

Starfield has been described as Skyrim in space, though that’s probably very reductive. Just like all Bethesda’s games, it will be playable in both first-person and third-person views, and it will include staples like lockpicking, pickpocketing, and even the more recent settlement (here called outpost) building from Fallout 4 and Fallout 76.

During the gameplay reveal, fans received confirmation on a number of gameplay features. For example, Starfield includes space flight, space combat, spaceship building, smuggling, as well as disabling, boarding, and even stealing enemy spaceships.

Space flight has been confirmed not to be seamless between ground and space, as the developers believed it would have been a waste of resources trying to implement that feature.

Space combat in Starfield will be a bit slower when compared to the average twitchy space shooter. Todd Howard said the inspiration came from games like MechWarrior when it comes to the power management between weapons, engines, shields, and the Grav Drive that lets you jump out of problematic situations.

Spaceship building allows the complete customization of looks and layout, thanks to the myriad of different modules and ship manufacturers. During the Starfield Direct presentation, Bethesda demonstrated all sorts of different ships, from animal inspired to mech-like (see below).

Players can tweak the silhouette through cowling; improve their grav drive to allow for longer distance space jumps; add more habitat modules to host a bigger crew (of course, you can also select the individual NPCs); and much more.

Bethesda then confirmed that it will be possible to land anywhere on any of the over a thousand planets scattered throughout a hundred star systems. This is mostly done through procedural generation, though Howard stressed that this has been a thing in previous Elder Scrolls and Fallout games as well. He added that once they had perfected procedural generation for a single planet, it was relatively trivial to extend it to many more.

Nonetheless, Starfield will feature more handcrafted content than any previous Bethesda Game Studios title. It already had 200K lines of dialogue as of June 2022. It will also be clear to players which planet has handcrafted content and which relies mostly or solely on procedural generation.

As obvious in a fairly realistic space game, there will be plenty of barren but resource-heavy ice balls or otherwise unlivable planets. Todd Howard recently confirmed that around 10% of the total planets (100 out of 1000) will feature native life. Still, the others will be useful to research fauna and flora as well as gather resources that can be used to upgrade gear, outposts, spaceships, et cetera. It is also possible that these planets have been conceived as a playground for modders and indeed, Todd Howard expects Starfield to be a modders’ paradise.

The gameplay reveal included a first look at the character creation system available in Starfield, which is the most flexible yet in a Bethesda game. The developers have scanned many real people from different ethnicities, which allowed them to create many detailed and diverse characters. There are 40 starting presets in the game that can then be tweaked in a myriad of specific settings, including dermaesthetic, blemishes, makeup, scars, piercings, and even teeth.

Beyond the standard options for face, hair, and body types, players can also pick a specific walking style. The most interesting part is related to the character’s background, though, as that will come with some unique roleplay options.

The following backgrounds can be seen in the demonstration:

• Beast Hunter
• Bouncer
• Bounty Hunter
• Chef
• Combat Medic
• Cyber Runner
• Cyberneticist
• Diplomat
• Explorer
• Gangster
• Homesteader
• Industrialist
• Long Hauler
• Pilgrim
• Professor
• Ronin

Each of them comes with unique starting skills. Then there are the optional traits that come with unique advantages and disadvantages. Here’s a list of the traits seen in the Starfield Direct:

• Alien DNA
• Dream Home
• Empath
• Extrovert
• Freestar Collective Settler
• Hero Worshipped
• Introvert
• Kid Stuff
• Neon Street Rat
• Raised Enlightened
• Raised Universal
• Serpent’s Embrace
• Spaced
• Starter Home
• Taskmaster
• Terra Firma
• United Colonies Native

For example, Kid Stuff establishes that the player character has parents who can be visited at their home, but 10% of all the earnings are automatically deducted and sent to them. Starter Home lets you own a small house on a peaceful little moon but also comes with a mortgage of 50K credits that you will presumably have to pay off at some point. If you pick Wanted, you’ll get a damage buff when your health is low, but mercenaries will randomly show up to kill you as you have a bounty on your head.

Hero Worshipped marks the return of the so-called Adoring Fan (first seen in Oblivion), who will join your crew, give you gifts, but also be incredibly annoying. Luckily, Bethesda promised that there are ways to remove traits if the player doesn’t want them anymore – in this case, they teased the possibility of murdering the Adoring Fan.

Some of the traits like Extrovert and Introvert, Freestar Collective Settler/United Colonies Native/Neon Street Rat, Spaced and Terra Firma, and Raised Enlightened/Raised Universal/Serpent’s Embrace are also mutually exclusive.

Starfield’s skill system merges elements from several previous Bethesda games. Once you level up, you’ll get a skill point that can be used to unlock skills. There are five skill trees, and each skill can be advanced to rank 4. Ranks are unlocked by completing specific skill challenges.

Some of the known skills include:

• Xenosociology (lets you mind control aliens)
• Boost Pack Training (improves your air time when using the jetpack)
• Neurostrikes (lets you ‘punch your way through combat’)

The game’s ground combat benefits from the greatly improved animation system. It will be possible to adopt various playstyles: stealth, air-based (with the jetpack), or straightforward melee and/or ranged combat. There’s a lot of firearms available, including but not limited to pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and heavy weapons. Each weapon comes with its own mods, such as scopes and sights, larger magazines, various grips and barrels, different ammunition (e.g., explosive rounds), and suppressors.

Ground combat, just like ground exploration, may be affected by the environment the player character is in. For example, some environments may have higher gravity, while others may have low or even zero gravity. In zero-G, firing a ballistic weapon will push you backward, while energy weapons are more stable. Starfield also supports ‘mag weapons’, which are powered by electromagnetic induction ballistic arrays; each barrel has its own targeting laser and can deliver high damage. Toward the end of the Starfield Direct, Bethesda even teased some sort of magic-like powers when the player character extended a hand and sent a group of enemies flying. No more information is currently available.

Starfield will feature a silent protagonist, unlike Fallout 4. Conversations will take place in first-person view. When trying to persuade an NPC, players will enter into a mini-game where they have a set amount of ‘turns’ to succeed in the persuasion.

Outposts return from Fallout 4. They can be built almost anywhere on any planet. Crew and/or companions can be assigned to outposts to give them bonuses and extractors can be set up to harvest resources when the player is elsewhere. Bethesda added an optional top-down camera available when building outposts, which can be useful given the bird’s eye view. Some of the buildings available include:

• Airlocks
• Hydroponic units –
• Science units
• Military units
• Watchtowers

Technical Details

Bethesda thoroughly overhauled its game engine for Starfield. According to Todd Howard, it is the biggest revamp ever made to the Creation Engine.

The whole galaxy is simulated around the player. The lighting model has been upgraded to support real-time global illumination. The animation system also received massive improvements.

Bethesda confirmed that Starfield will run at 30 frames per second on consoles to deliver consistent performance. The targeted resolution is 4K on the Xbox Series X and 1440p on the Xbox Series S.

Bethesda also announced a partnership with AMD to optimize the game on PC and consoles. FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 will be used on both versions of the game. On PC, AMD and Bethesda engineers are working together to optimize the game for Ryzen 7000 CPUs and Radeon 7000 GPUs.

This likely means there won’t be official support for rival upscaling technologies like NVIDIA DLSS and/or Intel XeSS. However, modder PureDark already stated that he aims to add them (and DLSS 3) to Starfield in a few days, just like he did with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

The developers have already revealed the official PC system requirements. However, we don’t know what resolution, settings, and frame rate they are meant for. You’ll need 125 GB of storage space and an SSD to play Starfield.

MINIMUM:
OS: Windows 10 version 2004 (10.0.19041.0)
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2600x, Intel Core i7-6800K
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5700, NVIDIA GeForce 1070 Ti
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 125 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD Required

RECOMMENDED:
OS: Windows 10/11 with updates
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, Intel i5-10600K
Memory: 16 GB RAM
Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 125 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD Required

Starfield Trailers

The announcement teaser dropped alongside the game’s announcement at E3 2018.

The first teaser trailer was shared at E3 2021, showing in-engine footage.

The fifteen minutes long debut gameplay footage appeared last week at the Xbox & Bethesda Game Showcase 2022.

The 45-minute long Starfield Direct that aired just after the Xbox Games Showcase 2023.

Originally published on June 20th, 2022.