Is star field any good now?

[kiral9]

Huge elderscrolls and fallout series fan. Know the game was received poorly upon release. Just wandering have they managed to turn it around in any capacity. Is this now a good game. And how good is the modding side tto this game.
 

[RohZima]

To be honest there have been no profound changes since launch. The buggy and some qol stuff to tweak gameplay is about it. The DLC came out and was pretty good but not enough content. There is quite a good mod scene actually in terms of changing gameplay and things to do like quests. I can't say whether you should come and try it.

 

You know I have some quest review videos I do linked below. They are short and without fluff so you could watch a couple of those and see if you think you would enjoy it.

 

It's definitely a flawed game but with some quality and unique activities to do.

[Reigor]

It depends on what you mean by "good game".

 

The gameplay itself has been improved by official updates and mods. A lot of the boring tedium has been removed by simply making it easier to go from point A to B by adding vehicles, MUCH better maps, gameplay options to give a more survival experience. The point of interest que has been redone so less repeats, especially with mods to add more. 

 

There are still some glaring gameplay features that were in previous BGS titles but are missing from Starfield or not fully implemented, for example underwater exploration.

The stories, the narrative, the setting, all of those are unchanged. So, that is a matter of taste. I, for one, would love to see a new universe in a completely different setting using the Starfield engine and mechanics. 

 

If you are on PC, get Gamepass, try Starfield for free (at least the first month). If you like it, great. If not, *shrugs*

[Gray User]

I would say, some parts better some parts worse than other BGS games. 

 

Combat I think is very tighter FPS feeling than Fallout 4. Game options make it easier to set things as you like (I like high damage fast gunfights with high risk to player and fast kills, that is easy to set up). I did get mod that make combat AI much faster, because vanilla AI have slow reaction times. 

 

Graphics are very good. Some people will say they are worse than modded Skyrim or FO4 or complain about LUTs and color maps, but I do not know what settings they are using. With intended high settings and a reshade or graphic settings mod, game is very pretty. 

 

Space combat is good not excellent. I think space combat flight sim tricky to make as good as sky combat flight sim (no altitude to make strategy from). Game devs noted that they played very much Mechwarrior, I think you can see that foundation in the space combat.

 

Building spaceship very deep system. I like it. But you can also just use stock spaceships. 

 

I think game would be better if there was way to spend more time exploring in spaceship. Because of engine, you fast travel to planet, then either have combat or do not have combat, then land. Not much flying to someplace in interesting way. System for short manual flight between planets maybe would have been more fun (with things to find between) but not at all realistic. 

 

I did not like resource system when I started, but like it now. Could have better way to find specific resource because there are many of them. I have spreadsheet to look up resource I need, but think it would be better if I could do this fast in game without looking at every planet I have scanned. 

 

I heavily change some balance thing like: economy (I make it not good to sell back thing so I am not always shipping loot thing to stores, but make reward much more to make mission more rewarding), aliens (make much more aggressive to make exploring dangerous), loot (make easier to find resource loot so do not have to buy all the time, but harder to find medpack and ammo so they are valuable and combat more risky).  

 

Crafting is pretty good mechanic. There are more thing to research but you cannot detach weapon mod like in Fallout 4. 

 

I think thing that makes me most unhappy is base building options are not as many as in Fallout 4 and you cannot build on in game structures (but you can start base almost any place). I think there is missing content that could have gameplay loop to build more interesting bases, do missions to populate with settler that do something useful, and defend from attack. There are boring version of these (not very many base options, you just buy settlers, but there are attacks). If I have lunch with Todd Howard I would tell him to make better gameplay loop for making/populating/defending bases. 🤣

 

Writing is ok. People always complain about game story. I think it is about as good as other BGS game (I like skyrim and fallout, but think most of main story is silly). Faction quests I think are better than other BGS game mostly. Side quest are some good (groundpounder, the LIST quest) and some not as good (I thought red tape was boring, but other people like it), but it is BGS game so that is what you expect.  

 

Mods are good but not as many as FO4 or Skyrim. I think there are good weapon and armor and spacesuit mods, and I always change balance of my BGS games. There are base building mod and ship building mod but I do not think many of them are careful (like mod for building thing but many of them do not work right and none of them have balanced cost just 1 credit each). There are some adult mod too, but not as many as Skyrim or Fallout 4. 

 

tl;dr

 

I think game is pretty good. Some people hate it and I do not agree with them. I think it will get better as time go by as long as BGS do not fuck up modding by breaking things in permanent way. 

 

 

 

 

 

  

[BAB PEEG]

The game has somehow less then fallout 4 so no.

[VenomousOuroboros]

@Gray User
I'd love to get a sampling of some of the mods/changes you described:
-Which Combat AI mod do you use?
-Which settings did you change to make combat more frantic and high-stakes?

-How did you change those balance issues (economy, alien aggression, looting)?

 

---

 

I see the potential in this game in an odd way.  Skyrim modding came so far and is still advancing.  Modders have made tighter and more responsive movement, extremely dynamic combat (on par with a FromSoft game), and procedural climbing with mods like SkyParkour.  They did so much, and Fallout 4 has not been uplifted with the same kind of love from modders.  It's also a game that was designed with little respect to the engine limitations, and is far easier to crack under mod/script pressure.
Starfield has the potential to be modded more "responsibly", having learned the lessons of what-not-to-do with Fallout 4, while seizing upon the grand achievements AND the unfulfilled desires of Skyrim modding.

If one person or team can make a truly revolutionary mod (conceptually, a framework and one mod to use that framework and get it off the ground), it can generate the ETHOS and INSPIRATION that's lacking in this game's modding sector.

 

We need to acknowledge that, as a minute example, Bethesda actually managed to make verticality and vertical traversal feasible in their BASEGAME here - they built in ledge-vaulting, which took Skyrim modders 13 years to create.  There's hope, and more people just have to realize that without having to be told so fervently that there's hope.

I'd say: Play it.  Feel it out.  Keep in mind the revisions that were mentioned in this thread.  If you agree, cool.  If you think we're still coping or missing some key points, then this isn't a game worthy of your further attention.

 

I have no idea how this'll go.  I'm a shameless mod consumer, not a creator.  But I'm hopeful, and I'll definitely be grateful for what gets created.

[Gray User]

15 hours ago, VenomousOuroboros said:

@Gray User
I'd love to get a sampling of some of the mods/changes you described:
-Which Combat AI mod do you use?
-Which settings did you change to make combat more frantic and high-stakes?

-How did you change those balance issues (economy, alien aggression, looting)?

 

---

 

I see the potential in this game in an odd way.  Skyrim modding came so far and is still advancing.  Modders have made tighter and more responsive movement, extremely dynamic combat (on par with a FromSoft game), and procedural climbing with mods like SkyParkour.  They did so much, and Fallout 4 has not been uplifted with the same kind of love from modders.  It's also a game that was designed with little respect to the engine limitations, and is far easier to crack under mod/script pressure.
Starfield has the potential to be modded more "responsibly", having learned the lessons of what-not-to-do with Fallout 4, while seizing upon the grand achievements AND the unfulfilled desires of Skyrim modding.

If one person or team can make a truly revolutionary mod (conceptually, a framework and one mod to use that framework and get it off the ground), it can generate the ETHOS and INSPIRATION that's lacking in this game's modding sector.

 

We need to acknowledge that, as a minute example, Bethesda actually managed to make verticality and vertical traversal feasible in their BASEGAME here - they built in ledge-vaulting, which took Skyrim modders 13 years to create.  There's hope, and more people just have to realize that without having to be told so fervently that there's hope.

I'd say: Play it.  Feel it out.  Keep in mind the revisions that were mentioned in this thread.  If you agree, cool.  If you think we're still coping or missing some key points, then this isn't a game worthy of your further attention.

 

I have no idea how this'll go.  I'm a shameless mod consumer, not a creator.  But I'm hopeful, and I'll definitely be grateful for what gets created.

 

I think these are right. I have the hope for long term good quality Starfield but worry that combination of user anger and decision by BGS might make it not happen. 

 

For your question:

 

I use 'Improve Combat AI' (link). It make AI reaction time much better and other minor changes. (Also like Project Warfare and KZ mods for armors and suits, making suit mashups is easy and fun way to learn how modding system work for armor slots)

 

For mod change for other things:

 

I change level 1 merchant perk (forget name) to make all sale prices much low and all buy prices high (spend less time in boring shops and carrying thing to sell), but make contraband have high money value so sometimes you find big rewards.  

I changed credit amount for quest rewards much higher (so more reason to do side and radiant quest to have money)

 

I change many alien aggro distance to be larger so alien attack more often (and made alien stronger, except terrormorph where I moved hp down but speed up)

 

I make so no perk added stealth meter. Makes sneak combat more interesting because you cannot tell how hidden you are. 

 

I attach esp to this file. I do not want to do actual release because I think user should mod these things for each person (like choosing sauces for chicken rice, each person has own taste). But you can use as start point if you like. 

 

In game settings, I use these to have good combat and to not spend lot of time walking to ship and from ship to carry things (I play as combat/stealth/exploring game, not as game about going to store or carrying item around back and forth). But, I also have mod that change many weapon damage to be higher for low level and medium level guns so those are still dangerous, I cannot release because it is mod that stack on 'Project Warfare' mod and I do not release fork of other modders work. But that also something any user can change easy to make game to taste. 

 

Spoiler

NPCandEcon.esp

Edited May 29, 2025 by Gray User

[fredrico798390]

I think the modding is definitely gaining traction. The base game is tedious and the base companions are insufferable. There are mods like Shut up, Shut up Cora and No Angry Companions that saved the game for me. Seriously, I would have quit playing altogether if not for those mods. Now there are mods that rebalance weapons, ships, enemy ai and other stuff. There are some really cool armor and clothing mods, hair mods and adequate body mods, but still nothing like CBBE. Also, since this is LL after all, you've got NPCSeduce and SnuSnu Field, which are solid starts, but still a long way from what we have for Skyrim and Fallout 4. If you're on the fence, give it another year or so, or if you catch it on sale, it's probably worth it.  

[HentaiGnome]

Starfield has always been good. It's just overzealous Bethesda fans and rabid Bethesda haters that have gone off the rails bashing Starfield. If you can, get it on PC as that's really the only way to play a Bethesda game (because you get access to the really good mods).

Edited June 1, 2025 by HentaiGnome

[SirDuke]

Hope I'm not too late for the party;

I honestly think that Starfield is one of the weaker Bethesda titles.

But that's still not a insult.

A huge pile of other crappy games, that are sold as AAA titles are way worse in my opinion.

Still Starfield failed in reducing loading screens, compared to Fallout 4.
Remember FO4 did use a lot of "Elevator scenes" to hide the loading?
Well, Starfield REALLY embraces loading to new cells, like literally as often as possible.
But do we really care about that?
I heard Cyberpunk 2077 getting praised for having no loading screens.
Look, I played Cyberpunk and there are almost no interiors (unless tied to a mission), so sure, there's no loading to that, right?!?

Regular combat feels solid and can be easily improved by mods.

Space combat feels too weak, but I can forgive that, since it's Bethesdas first try.

Graphics are good enough.

Base building feels bad, compared to FO4, but ship building does indeed balance it out.

People rant about the "emptyness" and the boring procedual generated POIs.
Counterquestion: have you ever played a highly praised "real space game", like Elite:Dangerous or Star Citizen?
Do it!
Take your ship
Land on a planet
step out of it and walk
now guess what you're about to find?
let me tell you...
...nothing

Cause that's just the thing about stupid reality of space

So I don't mind the POIs (although I gotta say, I'm using three or four mods, to make those POIs spawn more "logical" and not as repetitive)

So back to my final conclusion:

I've spent more then 1000 hours over the years in FO4 now.
Will Starfield get the same amount in the end?
Probably not.
Cause I think FO4 was the better game.
But I've already added up to 390 hours of Starfield so far.
And pretty much enjoyed all of it.

Just too sadge, that it doesn't get the "naughty love", it may deserve, because it has a limited amount of truely talented modders working on it.
Truely a little bummer.
Still worth to play so far.

Edited June 5, 2025 by SirDuke

[idonotlikeusernames]

On 6/5/2025 at 10:58 PM, SirDuke said:

People rant about the "emptyness" and the boring procedual generated POIs.

I personally think the mod Starfield would most benefit from at this point is Chim or Mantella, let me breathe some life into some of the non Constellation Companions and generic NPC's. Really I feel like Starfield was developed a bit too early as I think it really would have been a good game to feature AI integration into natively, not through a mod but as a fully integrated option. Of course even half-decent role-play LLM's were just not a thing when development began on this game.  As it stands I hope the second DLC if it ever comes overhals space combat to make it a bit more interesting as for me personally, after having finished it once and not being particularly interested in doing it again as a new game plus Starflied is primarily a ship design game for me right now. As unlike building bases building ships is fun (once you get the place doors manually mod at least).

Edited March 12 by idonotlikeusernames

[Kraven12]

On 5/27/2025 at 5:19 AM, kiral9 said:

Huge elderscrolls and fallout series fan. Know the game was received poorly upon release. Just wandering have they managed to turn it around in any capacity. Is this now a good game. And how good is the modding side tto this game.
 

It ranks about a B- or C. It kept me playing tho and the ability to thrusters to travel within the solar system kept my attention for hours. Still the Constellation and FC introduction still does need a some love if not a 2.0 in that department. The Terran Armada felt like an introduction to the new group before the main force arrives to start messing up the factions and beginning to be added as a new group to the game.  Still disappointed as The House was not what I envisioned.