A Starfield rant thread

[travelmedic]

Let me preface this by saying I'm only about 7 hours into the game and still exploring the heck out of Kreeb (the first moon you go to, to kill the pirate captain when leaving the mine).  It really is an open world that lets you go where you want, just like other BGS titles.

 

Overall I'm really enjoying the game so far, and would like to keep this thread positive.  It's really just for people who have actually played the game but just want to rant about certain peculiarities.  

 

So I'll start with.,,,  Vasco.  I swear, that damn robot has gone to the Lydia School Of Blocking Doorways And Generally Getting In The Way, and graduated magna cum laude.  He even keeps saying he is sworn to carry my burdens able to help carry stuff.  Look you damn robot, STFU and get out of my way!  And even worse, no amount of beautifier mods are going to turn him into a big-titty waifu (although I'm sure someone will try).

[kamoewarrior]

Apparently its now a privilege to buy a triple A game that isn't riddled with bugs and glitches. As soon as I finished creating my character the audio started to regularly desync, the iconic fallout 4 weapon draw lag made a dashing return, and lag spikes. I've seen people say to just wait for the inevitable unofficial patch. Its an incredible business model, its like selling a broken car for the price of a brand new one and then expecting your customer to fix it themselves.

Edited September 7, 2023 by kamoewarrior

[Plaguetard2.0]

44 minutes ago, kamoewarrior said:

Apparently its now a privilege to buy a triple A game that isn't riddled with bugs and glitches. As soon as I finished creating my character the audio started to regularly desync, the iconic fallout 4 weapon draw lag made a dashing return, and lag spikes. I've seen people say to just wait for the inevitable unofficial patch. Its an incredible business model, its like selling a broken car for the price of a brand new one and then expecting your customer to fix it themselves.

I've not had that issue at all. The game itself seems to run very well for me, with the exception when I go to a really random planet the ground seems to render then rerender slightly at times. I don't hate the game, and perhaps I've just been playing modded Skyrim/Fallout for far too long, but there are definitely areas this game needs some improvement, specifically in the combat area. I can empty 100 rounds into an enemy and barely kill them if it kills them at all. There seems to be zero benefit for aiming and taking headshots, and stealth is an absolute joke. I snuck up on an enemy with a knife, hit them, and took MAYBE 20% of their health. No assassination mechanics at all. It just seems to be a "use lots of med packs and shoot 1000s of rounds" kinda combat at this point.

 

And of course, there is simply a lack of viable hair/beard/clothing... but I mean, that one I know I've been spoiled by mods so I can get by. I look forward to the CK and the release of immersion/realism/combat mods.

 

55 minutes ago, travelmedic said:

Let me preface this by saying I'm only about 7 hours into the game and still exploring the heck out of Kreeb (the first moon you go to, to kill the pirate captain when leaving the mine).  It really is an open world that lets you go where you want, just like other BGS titles.

 

Overall I'm really enjoying the game so far, and would like to keep this thread positive.  It's really just for people who have actually played the game but just want to rant about certain peculiarities.  

 

So I'll start with.,,,  Vasco.  I swear, that damn robot has gone to the Lydia School Of Blocking Doorways And Generally Getting In The Way, and graduated magna cum laude.  He even keeps saying he is sworn to carry my burdens able to help carry stuff.  Look you damn robot, STFU and get out of my way!  And even worse, no amount of beautifier mods are going to turn him into a big-titty waifu (although I'm sure someone will try).

Just FYI, fairly soon'ish' into the story, you can discard all companions. You'll have VASCO for a bit, and then another companion that is mandatory, but I've yet to get a third that I HAD to have for long periods of time. I've never been a big fan of followers in any game, especially not Bethesda games. The only benefit is carrying capacity is fairly low in this compared to other games (eventually I'll mod it to be realistic, which means even less) so if you wanna loot everything that is worth any money, you can toss a decent amount on your followers.

[Arund]

There is a sneak attack that deal 2% more dmg but I never know how to activate this perk it's just a RNG mechanic. And Ai or more lack of any AI in this game and it kills any joy in this game for me. There is no space exploration, only fast travel, planetary exploration makes no sense, only 3-4 POIs and everything looks the same. The last thing that killed any motivation to play this game was the "multiverse". And at this point I don't know how anyone could give this game a score above 8 when it should be in the range of 5-7. I'm glad I managed to refund this game and now I can wait for Starfield: Special Edition and I will see if this game will have mod support like Skyrim or more like F4.

[sen4mi]

I read somewhere that starfield was inspired by Traveler, and I can certainly see the resemblance.

 

For people who wanted something different (and, there's a whole universe of different, just waiting out there), I would like to challenge you to suggest a game which illustrates what you wanted.

 

Spore, for example?

 

I personally was expecting something kind of like dwarf fortress with better graphics and on a much larger scale. But, in retrospect, that kind of proceduralism would not have been compatible with bethesda's approach towards modding and mod tools.

[Reigor]

Since this is a rant thread about a game I am growing to love.

 

The clothing! Incredibly bland so far. One would think that major cities would carry a wide variety of styles, but its all very generic and mostly different colors of the same neck to toe coverage (with a few exceptions that bare arms, how lewd!). I'm not seeing any body slots besides head and torso, so hoping that is just something BGS didn't utilize for the base game and not a functionality they decided not to implement in Creation Engine 2. My suspicion is that paid mods for jewelry, shoes, and stuff like that is the motivation, which is fine as long as BGS/MS don't hinder free mods.

[travelmedic]

On 9/7/2023 at 10:16 AM, Plaguetard2.0 said:

Just FYI, fairly soon'ish' into the story, you can discard all companions. You'll have VASCO for a bit, and then another companion that is mandatory, but I've yet to get a third that I HAD to have for long periods of time. I've never been a big fan of followers in any game, especially not Bethesda games. The only benefit is carrying capacity is fairly low in this compared to other games (eventually I'll mod it to be realistic, which means even less) so if you wanna loot everything that is worth any money, you can toss a decent amount on your followers.

 

I  got rid of Vasco and have Sarah with me now for her mandatory quests.  Much better than Vasco.  I actually like companions, but when I say that I'm talking more about some of the excellent mod companions that have come along over the years.  I couldn't imagine exploring Cyrodiil without Vilja, Skyrim without Sofia/Inigo/Auri, the Mojave without Willow, or the Commonwealth without Heather/Ivy/Darlene.

 

I'm about 24 hours in right now and it's still a little slow (my games take a lot longer because I have to explore or look at EVERYTHING) and in spite of a few quirks, in that play time I had one bug on a radiant quest, and one time when the game froze up (which was probably something I induced by accident) but it's generally been running very smooth for me.  Overall, I'm still really enjoying it.

[Plaguetard2.0]

15 minutes ago, travelmedic said:

 

I  got rid of Vasco and have Sarah with me now for her mandatory quests.  Much better than Vasco.  I actually like companions, but when I say that I'm talking more about some of the excellent mod companions that have come along over the years.  I couldn't imagine exploring Cyrodiil without Vilja, Skyrim without Sofia/Inigo/Auri, the Mojave without Willow, or the Commonwealth without Heather/Ivy/Darlene.

 

I'm about 24 hours in right now and it's still a little slow (my games take a lot longer because I have to explore or look at EVERYTHING) and in spite of a few quirks, in that play time I had one bug on a radiant quest, and one time when the game froze up (which was probably something I induced by accident) but it's generally been running very smooth for me.  Overall, I'm still really enjoying it.

 

My favorite thing about Bethesda games, is you can play them any way we like! I rarely use companions, but I have zero issue with those who do. I was trying to explain to a friend who is just playing Starfield about modding. He didn't understand why I want combat/realism/etc mods that make the game more difficult. He said he would want a mod that gives unlimited carry weight. I told him THAT is the very thing that makes modding games amazing. While he may want it one way, I want my game to be absolutely brutal. I explain how I am level 20 and can't get past Bleak Falls Barrow in Skyrim because my game is just THAT intense and difficult. 

 

I did notice they left out the commands to followers. I don't believe that was a mod on FO4. Not that it function well, but it doesn't seem like you can try to hover over them and then direct them to stand somewhere or attack a certain target. I look forward to when CK drops. I almost feel like they designed Starfield to be modded. The minimap makes zero sense, except that without an actual map you can add mods in easier. So many things seem to be intentionally setup so that the mod community can more easily add and alter things, at least that is my initial perspective.

 

That game is not awful right now, but I have a feeling a few months after the CK is released it will become my favorite game for some time.

[gizmo1206]

yeah definitely my biggest complaint so far is the clothing like Reigor said there all pretty bland and same-y,like so far im about 20 hours in and havent even found a dress

 

edit:found a skirt put it has pants underneath lol

Edited September 12, 2023 by gizmo1206

[Demonwise]

On 9/7/2023 at 8:25 AM, kamoewarrior said:

Apparently its now a privilege to buy a triple A game that isn't riddled with bugs and glitches. As soon as I finished creating my character the audio started to regularly desync, the iconic fallout 4 weapon draw lag made a dashing return, and lag spikes. I've seen people say to just wait for the inevitable unofficial patch. Its an incredible business model, its like selling a broken car for the price of a brand new one and then expecting your customer to fix it themselves.

 

So, I have seen a lot of people complaining about performance issues and other bugs like the audio desync. Here is the crux of the issue. The game is built like the Crysis games. What I mean is the meme, "Can it run Crysis?" applies here. For better or worse the game requires some good hardware to run. DO NOT RUN STARFIELD ON ANYTHING OTHER THAN A SSD. IDEALILY AN M.2 NVME SSD. I don't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of game design but I suspect that the game reads a LOT of data off the hard drive during gameplay. For that data transfer to keep up with the game it needs to be on a device that can handle the read/write speeds. A standard platter drive does not have the performance needed to meet the drive read/write demands for Starfield. I originally installed it on a old school platter drive just like all my other games and had very bad lag spikes and audio issues like desyncing. I reinstalled the game on my M.2 ssd and now I have NONE of those issues.

 

On the topic of graphical performance... While I am not defending Starfield specifically, I think more and more games are going to require much more beefier gpus than what the market average of what gamers currently have. When I last checked, I believe most users are using somthing in the ballpark of a Nvidia 1650 or 3060. Personally I have a 4090. Granted I paid an arm and a leg for it but I wanted some degree of future proofing. I don't have any issues with graphics or fps. That said, if your running a Nvida 2000 series or lower I think your going to find it harder and harder to play triple A titles. Not everyone has the money or the desire to get a 4090. I get that but one should temper their expectations if they know they are running on hardware that is many generations out of date.

[travelmedic]

19 hours ago, Plaguetard2.0 said:

 

My favorite thing about Bethesda games, is you can play them any way we like!

 

Amen to that!  I think that's the biggest reason that Bethesda games have the long lifespan that they do.  They're good games regardless, but the customizability is amazing and what keeps people playing.

[travelmedic]

4 hours ago, Demonwise said:

but one should temper their expectations if they know they are running on hardware that is many generations out of date.

 

Everyone wants the game studios to invest in cutting edge games with HD graphics and sound, but no one wants to invest their own money into their own systems to play that HD stuff.  I get it, not everyone can afford it or wants to spend that kind of money, but as games evolve and have better capabilities (for lack of a better word) we need keep our own stuff up to date with them.

 

If it wasn't for technology advancing, we'd all still be putting quarters into arcade games and playing Pong.  Who remembers when Myst was cutting edge, and some people were upset because you had to have a CD-ROM to play it?

[skeletor]

9 hours ago, Demonwise said:

 

So, I have seen a lot of people complaining about performance issues and other bugs like the audio desync. Here is the crux of the issue. The game is built like the Crysis games. What I mean is the meme, "Can it run Crysis?" applies here. For better or worse the game requires some good hardware to run. DO NOT RUN STARFIELD ON ANYTHING OTHER THAN A SSD. IDEALILY AN M.2 NVME SSD. I don't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of game design but I suspect that the game reads a LOT of data off the hard drive during gameplay. For that data transfer to keep up with the game it needs to be on a device that can handle the read/write speeds. A standard platter drive does not have the performance needed to meet the drive read/write demands for Starfield. I originally installed it on a old school platter drive just like all my other games and had very bad lag spikes and audio issues like desyncing. I reinstalled the game on my M.2 ssd and now I have NONE of those issues.

 

On the topic of graphical performance... While I am not defending Starfield specifically, I think more and more games are going to require much more beefier gpus than what the market average of what gamers currently have. When I last checked, I believe most users are using somthing in the ballpark of a Nvidia 1650 or 3060. Personally I have a 4090. Granted I paid an arm and a leg for it but I wanted some degree of future proofing. I don't have any issues with graphics or fps. That said, if your running a Nvida 2000 series or lower I think your going to find it harder and harder to play triple A titles. Not everyone has the money or the desire to get a 4090. I get that but one should temper their expectations if they know they are running on hardware that is many generations out of date.

Just to add to this. Even on the requirements it asks for SSD.

[reaper9789]

They should be able to optimize a little better though
Game is installed on a samsung 990pro nvme gen 4 with an ryzen 7950x 32gb of ddr5 @6000 and a rx6900xt. I cant even hit 60fps regardless of how low the settings are. (4k btw) I thought 4k was the normal now. guess not.

 

[Miauzi]

Vor 11 Stunden sagte Travelmedic:

 

Jeder möchte, dass die Spielestudios in hochmoderne Spiele mit HD-Grafik und -Sound investieren, aber niemand möchte sein eigenes Geld in seine eigenen Systeme investieren, um diese HD-Sachen zu spielen. Ich verstehe, nicht jeder kann es sich leisten oder möchte so viel Geld ausgeben, aber da Spiele sich weiterentwickeln und bessere Fähigkeiten haben (mangels eines besseren Wortes), müssen wir unsere eigenen Sachen auf dem neuesten Stand halten.

 

Ohne den technologischen Fortschritt würden wir alle immer noch Geld in Arcade-Spiele stecken und Pong spielen. Wer erinnert sich, als Myst auf dem neuesten Stand war und einige Leute verärgert waren, weil man zum Abspielen eine CD-ROM brauchte?

 

Modern means getting more out of the same hardware ... AND NOT having to install new super power high-end chips in the consumer market.

The console industry shows how this works ... compare the game graphics of a PS4 with the introduction of the system ... and then the games 10 years later

the hardware has not changed at all

Progress originates in the mind of the programmer to find innovative solutions for a (hardware) limited surface ... because this breed of people is usually quite lazy (I know what I'm talking about - I've had to deal with them professionally more than enough in my life!) - there is always a call to increase the hardware.

And manufacturers who overdo it could shoot themselves out of sales pretty quickly.

Seriously - I travel from the starting moon to the moon with the pirate base ... land outside in another biome - find a merchant base and then a face looks at me like I haven't seen it since Moorwind ... not to mention the extremely wooden voice acting!

Sound and graphics much worse than "Elite" ... but exorbitantly higher hardware requirements?

[Demonwise]

4 hours ago, reaper9789 said:

They should be able to optimize a little better though
Game is installed on a samsung 990pro nvme gen 4 with an ryzen 7950x 32gb of ddr5 @6000 and a rx6900xt. I cant even hit 60fps regardless of how low the settings are. (4k btw) I thought 4k was the normal now. guess not.

 

 

I would suggest NOT playing at 4K. I don't really understand why 4k is so popular. Past a certain point the pixel density doesn't become that noticeable. I run a QHD (2560x1440) monitor and there really isn't any discernable difference compared to my laptop that has a 4K screen. Pixel density 4K or higher really works well with things like tvs. For instance, a 8K tv will look clearer further away than a 4K tv. If I had money to burn I would get a 80 inch 8K tv because it would look incredible even 8-10 feet away. If I wanted a 4K tv I would sit 6-8 feet away because further than that it will not look as clear. Going back to computer displays, hypothetically, if there is little to no discernable difference between QHD and 4K then wouldn't an individual want the QHD and get the extra performance from their gpu because it doesn't have to render the additional pixels? Look at it this way, QHD is 3,686,400 pixels compared to 4K at 8,294,400. That is really substantial difference and it means that your gpu doesn't have to render 4.6 million additional pixels if you have QHD.

 

At the end of the day, everyone has their preferences so it isn't as though someone is at fault for having a 1080p or a QHD, 4K or 8K monitor. You choose to use what you want and there is nothing wrong with that.

[ramrod126]

My biggest issue with it is that I am sitting here at 44 FPS but my gpu utilization is only at 69%. It is like putting a wood block under the gas pedal of your car.

 

 

I absolutely love the game though and the 1% lows are good enough that it doesn't stutter. 5800x and rtx 3080 btw, 1440p.

Edited September 11, 2023 by ramrod126

[reaper9789]

1 hour ago, Demonwise said:

 

I would suggest NOT playing at 4K. I don't really understand why 4k is so popular. Past a certain point the pixel density doesn't become that noticeable. I run a QHD (2560x1440) monitor and there really isn't any discernable difference compared to my laptop that has a 4K screen. Pixel density 4K or higher really works well with things like tvs. For instance, a 8K tv will look clearer further away than a 4K tv. If I had money to burn I would get a 80 inch 8K tv because it would look incredible even 8-10 feet away. If I wanted a 4K tv I would sit 6-8 feet away because further than that it will not look as clear. Going back to computer displays, hypothetically, if there is little to no discernable difference between QHD and 4K then wouldn't an individual want the QHD and get the extra performance from their gpu because it doesn't have to render the additional pixels? Look at it this way, QHD is 3,686,400 pixels compared to 4K at 8,294,400. That is really substantial difference and it means that your gpu doesn't have to render 4.6 million additional pixels if you have QHD.

 

At the end of the day, everyone has their preferences so it isn't as though someone is at fault for having a 1080p or a QHD, 4K or 8K monitor. You choose to use what you want and there is nothing wrong with that.

Spent all my money on the PC, I use a 55" 4k TV to play on, If I try to run 1440p it will only use part of the screen. The game wont let me change it.

[Guest]

I agree on the clothing issue, Boring and very limited as to what the PC can purchase. 

Beth didn't even include holsters for sidearms, I joined the Freestar Rangers, received a nice six shooter with no Holster?!

The other thing is I Hate followers, getting them forced on me is a big negative for me, and to add to what's been said I would think Beth in all their programming might could at the very least figure out how to keep NPC's the heck out of doorways. They had Skyrim and Fallout to get it done but let it slide.

The last thing that is getting me worked up is all the "go here and talk, go there and talk" when I do finally see enemies there are a few guarding most sites, very few locations with large numbers of guards/Spacer Punks.

It seems like all I do is spend fuel and time burning from one end of the map to the other just to have a conversation, or go all the way back to the lodge or the eye to talk and go on another errand.

I am mostly enjoying it but the errand runner is Monotonous.

Skyrim in space it's not.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Sir Bron

[Good Guy David]

On 9/7/2023 at 10:17 AM, travelmedic said:

So I'll start with.,,,  Vasco.  I swear, that damn robot has gone to the Lydia School Of Blocking Doorways And Generally Getting In The Way, and graduated magna cum laude.  He even keeps saying he is sworn to carry my burdens able to help carry stuff.  Look you damn robot, STFU and get out of my way!  And even worse, no amount of beautifier mods are going to turn him into a big-titty waifu (although I'm sure someone will try).

I know, right? My biggest complain so far is the absence of one of the core mechanics, imo, introduced in Fallout 4 (I believe). The ability to make your companion wait (not through dialog), waypoint them where you want them to go, interact with items and furniture and so on. That mechanic adds so much to the way I play the game and I can't stress enough how much I miss it. It makes immersion so much better because with it I can instruct them to pick up weapons on the ground, make them sit somewhere with me where I can roleplay and engage in a conversation, get to know them (Starfield did a pretty great job in some characters depth), make them take the f*cking elevator with me by instructing them to enter it (in Starfield's case, not only elevators, but those airlocks that are everywhere) and so on... It was so useful. Surel is a huge miss for me.

[Miauzi]

I have now landed on the planet "New whatever" - not in the city, of course, but first outside.

Just check out what raw materials, flora and fauna there are.

So far so good ... but I'm completely irritated by the "official" temperature reading -> +21°C

but my boots are crunching the frozen snow - because I have landed in the area of the polar cap

and yes - the water exists here as -> frozen ice

so it wasn't a mistake on the 2nd moon (the one with the raider boss) - also there I was shown clear plus degrees at the pole and the water was only frozen.

Of course, this also explains why the "settlers" run around there in T-shirts - in snow and ice.

What a grandiose space adventure - the space suit is only worn as an equivalent to the medieval knight's armour.

it is already overtaxed at an argon source and not even hermetically sealed ... what a miserable bullshit

?

 

[Demonwise]

4 hours ago, reaper9789 said:

Spent all my money on the PC, I use a 55" 4k TV to play on, If I try to run 1440p it will only use part of the screen. The game wont let me change it.

 

Ahh gotcha. Well that sucks to a degree but nothing wrong with your setup. Hmmm, there may be a way get the tv to work on 1440p. It may be a little complicated and perhaps not worth the effort. I don't know what the equivalent is for AMD but with Nvidia you have the Nvidia Control Panel. In there you can set up a custom resolution for 1440p. I did this a few times in the past when I was gaming on Mass Effect 2 but in that scenario I was forcing the system to render 4k on a 1080p so that the graphics would appear much sharper. If I recall correctly setting up a custom resolution will transfer over to the game as well. What I mean is that your custom resolution should show up as an option in the game graphics options. Otherwise I suppose you could just set the system resolution to 1440p before you hop into the game. That would override the game's settings I think. Like I said, it's been a long while and my not be worth it but if you really want to take a stab at getting some increased performance you could give it a shot.

[Riggswolfe]

On 9/7/2023 at 9:34 AM, Arund said:

There is a sneak attack that deal 2% more dmg but I never know how to activate this perk it's just a RNG mechanic. And Ai or more lack of any AI in this game and it kills any joy in this game for me. There is no space exploration, only fast travel, planetary exploration makes no sense, only 3-4 POIs and everything looks the same. The last thing that killed any motivation to play this game was the "multiverse". And at this point I don't know how anyone could give this game a score above 8 when it should be in the range of 5-7. I'm glad I managed to refund this game and now I can wait for Starfield: Special Edition and I will see if this game will have mod support like Skyrim or more like F4.

 

I just had to respond to this.

Sneak attack depends on not being detected. Early on that is quite hard as your space suit is noisy and lighting makes a hell of a difference.

There is space exploration though a lot of people don't bother with it. It's not as robust as ground exploration really since space is, well, space but you can explore if you want.  Some of my most interesting and unexpected moments came from me indulging my curiosity in space. 

Planetary exploration has far more than 3-4 pois. Far more. You must have just stood right outside your ship and turned in a circle. It's like Skyrim or Fallout. You have a range on how far you can detect POIs that I believe is increased by upping the survey skill. But most areas on a planet have 10 or 12 POIs at least. Probably more as I have never bothered to count. I just know when I pick a direction and go I find more and more stuff. And that's just where you choose to land. You can land anywhere and find even more POIs not to mention new biomes depending on where you choose to land. Tired of a desert? Land near mountains or in a forest or on one of the poles...

The multiverse is a mechanic you can utterly ignore if you want to. There is no reason it should impact your enjoyment unless simply knowing it exists bothers you. In which case, I have bad news. The multiverse isn't just a trend in fiction. It's a legitimate theory in physics that quite a few physicists think is the most likely reality we live in. 

I won't comment on the AI. It's not super great but it's not awful either. I think that one is just down to taste.

It really sounds like you barely touched the game and decided it wasn't for you. That's fine but your post is riddled with inaccuracies. 

[Guest]

Has anyone else noticed every time you upgrade your ship, or maybe when you switch ships, or even talk to the Spaceport guy about your ship, the Misc category in your ships storage fills with useless junk!

Dad gave me a ship he won at a poker game and just accessing the spaceport to check the stats gave me all of this crap I just Littered NASA with.

So if your ship storage is full and you can't get anything from the ships you Kill in space, check your storage for useless items.

 

 

 

Edited September 12, 2023 by Sir Bron

[Guest]

Ok, this is just my opinion, I am not trying to ruin anyone's experience, or change anyone's mind.....that being said

This Game doesn't feel fully "fleshed out", what I mean by that is there is lots of lead up dialogue that falls flat after one has success with the NPC dialog lines.

Take little Cora for example, she endlessly talks about books, you can even contribute to her book allowance but can you gift her books that are littered almost everywhere? No

The dialogue with a Romance Partner is the same, after the PC gains the affection of their choice, the Dialogue falls flat.

Don't get me started as to why they put Fanatic Religious Zealots in the game but the explanation of "Unity" is questionable for me. I really didn't get the whole thing and why the "Starborn" are fighting over it, almost but not quite.

Todd was boasting about how many lines of dialogue there was in this game prior to launch, I could have doubled them.

I have some good things to say about the game, but this is a Rant thread, not Rave thread.......