Starfield, Bethesda Game Studios Upcoming Title Options

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I do remember that. I just wasn’t sure if that was confirmation that we could type in our own name for ships or if it was just what they called the ships in their headcanon. I don’t recall if they displayed the names they mentioned in game.

True. I'm trying to look at pictures of the ships and I can't see names on them, but I can't get a good look for certain. And I listened back to what Jamie Mallory/sandwich lady said about her ship and it's a bit ambiguous as to whether the game gives us the actual function to name them. I don't remember who else talked about naming their ship, though I believe at least one other BGS employee did.

I mean, they have to know everyone will want to name them in-game. I find it hard to imagine that they won't have that function because that would be a glaring oversight . . . which, granted, is far from unprecedented for Bethesda, but this seems like a no-brainer to me. And it is confirmed we can have a fleet of ships, so we need to differentiate them. I guess if worst comes to worst, modders will make it happen, though we really shouldn't have to rely on them for this simple thing. I hope Todd or someone else at BGS clarifies if naming ships is an actual function.

I’m hoping that we can name ships, but they could just have a base name for each model of ship and just maintain that name after modification. Hopefully not, but without confirmation we’re just left guessing.

In other news, apparently an SSD is required for PC. My c: drive is an SSD but I’m not sure it will have the room to install the game. Do you all think we could use a USB SSD to play the game?

Also, thought I’d post the system requirements. This came from the game’s page on Steam.

MINIMUM:
OS: Windows 10 version 22H2 (10.0.19045)
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
Network: Broadband Internet connection
Storage: 125 GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD Required

My PC does not currently meet the *minimum* requirements for CPU or GPU.
I guess we’ll see how it goes in September, if all goes well with the reviews and what not.

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Jun 21 2023, 02:34 PM

[Renee]

Wow, 16 GB of RAM is minimum requirements??? But then 16 is also recommended? That's odd.

My PC does not currently meet the *minimum* requirements for CPU or GPU.
I guess we’ll see how it goes in September, if all goes well with the reviews and what not.

My gaming computer is Windows 8.1. My graphics card is also below standard at GTX760. But that's okay. I actually wanted to get an Xbox first. I won't get another gaming computer probably until ES VI is getting released.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Wow, 16 GB of RAM is minimum requirements??? But then 16 is also recommended? That's odd.

Yeah, I just watched a vid in which the guy said the list might be nonsense. He also pointed out some oddities between the different GPUs and CPUs. Worth a watch I think.

[Renee]

Thanks, Khajiit.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Thanks, Khajiit.

Lol, happy to help

[Burnt Sierra]

And the reviews are coming up now following the embargo. And generally seem to be very, very positive! I think the one that's piqued my interest is one that says "It's the game I wanted Mass Effect to be". That was one thing I always wondered whilst playing the Mass Effect games - I wonder what Bethesda could have done with this. Maybe would have lost some of the (amazing) characters, and the plot probably wouldn't have been as concise and driven, but opened the galaxy up a little bit more so you felt like you were truly exploring.

[Renee]

Right. I finally began playing Mass Effect in March, and continue with MyShep as we speak. Still doing side quests in the Citadel, instead of going off to explore the universe, which says something. Not that I play ME every day (or even every week) but this shows how much content & dialog there is to keep track of.

Bioware and Beth do it way different, that's for sure. Although I prefer Bethesda's open-ended freedom, it would be interesting if some Bioware's more rigid storytelling could seep in there.

Can you post a link to one of these reviews?

[Burnt Sierra]

Can you post a link to one of these reviews?

Sure:

https://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-series.../critic-reviews

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/starfield/critic-reviews

Metacritic (for all its faults), is a great place to see all of them

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

I haven’t had a chance to really look at any reviews yet. Planning on getting comfy after work and checking them out.

[SubRosa]

Is Starfield going to be releasing soon then? I have not been keeping up on it.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Is Starfield going to be releasing soon then? I have not been keeping up on it.

September 6th. Preorders get access tonight

[Burnt Sierra]

Well, a few hours in now, and it's a lot of fun. However, on PC, it runs HOT! Fans sound like an aircraft trying to take off and GPU temp is the highest I've ever seen it on a 3090, running even hotter than Cyberpunk on ultra. And this is NOT on ultra lol.

[SubRosa]

Cool! I am still hip deep in Baldur's Gate, so I probably won't be trying it any time soon. But I'd love to hear more about it.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Why is it so demanding? Does it really look that good, or does it seem like it’s not really optimized that well for pc?

[Burnt Sierra]

Why is it so demanding? Does it really look that good, or does it seem like it’s not really optimized that well for pc?

Bit of both. It looks really, really good, and I suspect a patch will improve things further (and possibly an update from Nvidea will help further still.) The official (not early access) release date isn't until the 6th, so I wouldn't be surprised by that happening by then. In the meantime, I'm going to fiddle with settings and put away my open-back headphones, and dig out some closed-back noise-cancelling ones!

[Renee]

Okay, yeh, Metacritic can be pretty brutal. I've seen them trash some games in the past. What I just read seems almost surreal with the praises, right? All those high scores. Granted those are all actual reviewers, not the gamers themselves. It's the gamers who mostly do the bashing & trashing!

Why is it so demanding? Does it really look that good, or does it seem like it’s not really optimized that well for pc?

I seem to remember the requirements were way through the roof for Starfield, right? My GTX760, once hailed as top-of-the-line for running games like Skyrim, now looks like the equivalent of Play-Doh in a scientist's lab...

I feel like I'm going to be getting this game eventually, for Xbox though. Probably won't get another gaming computer until ES6 is nearing completion (which will be 2025? 2028? ... bleah. )

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

Why is it so demanding? Does it really look that good, or does it seem like it’s not really optimized that well for pc?

I seem to remember the requirements were way through the roof for Starfield, right? My GTX760, once hailed as top-of-the-line for running games like Skyrim, now looks like the equivalent of Play-Doh in a scientist's lab...

I feel like I'm going to be getting this game eventually, for Xbox though. Probably won't get another gaming computer until ES6 is nearing completion (which will be 2025? 2028? ... bleah. )

Oh yeah, the recommended specs were high. I was just curious if the game actually looked good enough to justify the cost of such a setup. After the videos I’ve watched, I’m starting to question if I want to spend the $700+ to upgrade my PC, just to play the game, or just spend whatever the cost of an Xbox Series X is. If I upgrade my pc, it’s still not going to be powerful enough to run the game as it was meant to be ran, but it would be nice to have a more modern build. On the other hand, an Xbox SX is over $200 less.

This post has been edited by TheCheshireKhajiit: Sep 1 2023, 03:14 PM

[RaderOfTheLostArk]

At long last, we get to play Starfield! Well, if you have early access, at least. I have one of the editions with early access (though that wasn't the reason I bought that one) and played a couple hours very late last night. Here are some of my first impressions with the game.

• Even at the beginning, it just feels like a Bethesda game. It's hard to explain, but I'm sure you all know the kind of feeling I'm talking about.
• There's been a lot of talk about Starfield being BGS' most polished release yet, and I sure hope it would be considering the delays. But it really does feel very polished. Again, though, I'm only a couple hours in. Previous Bethesda games' jank mostly didn't really start appearing until you're some time into the game.
• The combat and movement is VASTLY improved. The latest previews of the game showed that, but to actually feel it for myself was cool.
• The ship-fighting is going to take more time to get used to, but I think it will be fun.
• One of the things I was looking for was how fluid the conversations between NPCs were. We all know how janky that could be prior to Fallout 4 with those awkward pauses as the next line of dialogue would be loaded (Fallout 76 really took a step back in this regard after Fallout 4 hugely improved on the issue, which I assume is because of the online component of 76). I'm happy to report that the conversations between NPCs indeed feel fluid, even when they include your character's responses.
• While I'm fine with the UI being more minimalistic aesthetically, it initially feels kind of clunky to navigate. But that could very well change as I get used to it, though UIs have never been a Bethesda strong suit. One neat improvement, though, is when you open the main part of the pause menu (similar to Skyrim's 4 arrows to inventory, map, etc.), which has several "dots" along a circle indicating a submenu. There are pictures near each submenu "dot" that indicate the kind of stuff you'll find there. (The dots don't say what submenu it is until you hover over it.) For example, next to the inventory submenu "dot" may be a picture of your current weapon; the starmap submenu has a picture of the planet you are on. That's if I remember correctly. When I play later tonight, I will confirm.
• I was surprised at the lockpicking minigame (lockpicks are called "digipicks" in Starfield) and how it actually requires some measure of skill. I imagine the character's skill in it will be much more at play with harder locks, but it isn't pathetically simple for the player like in Fallout 3/4/76 or Skyrim. It's sort of hard for me to explain how it works in Starfield, but I'll try.
  [**] There are multiple, for lack of a better term, "checkpoints" you have to clear to open a lock by rotating dashes to align with open points in a circle. You have several of these layouts of dashes where you have to find the correct order to put them in, but you may find one set of dashes works at one point when it should've been used later on. If you find this to be the case, you can undo actions...at the cost of 1 digipick with each undo. The availability of digipicks remains to be seen, but the game has not thrown them at me yet like in previous Bethesda games.
• Voice acting is much better across the board.

[TheCheshireKhajiit]

At long last, we get to play Starfield! Well, if you have early access, at least. I have one of the editions with early access (though that wasn't the reason I bought that one) and played a couple hours very late last night. Here are some of my first impressions with the game.

• Even at the beginning, it just feels like a Bethesda game. It's hard to explain, but I'm sure you all know the kind of feeling I'm talking about.
• There's been a lot of talk about Starfield being BGS' most polished release yet, and I sure hope it would be considering the delays. But it really does feel very polished. Again, though, I'm only a couple hours in. Previous Bethesda games' jank mostly didn't really start appearing until you're some time into the game.
• The combat and movement is VASTLY improved. The latest previews of the game showed that, but to actually feel it for myself was cool.
• The ship-fighting is going to take more time to get used to, but I think it will be fun.
• One of the things I was looking for was how fluid the conversations between NPCs were. We all know how janky that could be prior to Fallout 4 with those awkward pauses as the next line of dialogue would be loaded (Fallout 76 really took a step back in this regard after Fallout 4 hugely improved on the issue, which I assume is because of the online component of 76). I'm happy to report that the conversations between NPCs indeed feel fluid, even when they include your character's responses.
• While I'm fine with the UI being more minimalistic aesthetically, it initially feels kind of clunky to navigate. But that could very well change as I get used to it, though UIs have never been a Bethesda strong suit. One neat improvement, though, is when you open the main part of the pause menu (similar to Skyrim's 4 arrows to inventory, map, etc.), which has several "dots" along a circle indicating a submenu. There are pictures near each submenu "dot" that indicate the kind of stuff you'll find there. (The dots don't say what submenu it is until you hover over it.) For example, next to the inventory submenu "dot" may be a picture of your current weapon; the starmap submenu has a picture of the planet you are on. That's if I remember correctly. When I play later tonight, I will confirm.
• I was surprised at the lockpicking minigame (lockpicks are called "digipicks" in Starfield) and how it actually requires some measure of skill. I imagine the character's skill in it will be much more at play with harder locks, but it isn't pathetically simple for the player like in Fallout 3/4/76 or Skyrim. It's sort of hard for me to explain how it works in Starfield, but I'll try.
  [**] There are multiple, for lack of a better term, "checkpoints" you have to clear to open a lock by rotating dashes to align with open points in a circle. You have several of these layouts of dashes where you have to find the correct order to put them in, but you may find one set of dashes works at one point when it should've been used later on. If you find this to be the case, you can undo actions...at the cost of 1 digipick with each undo. The availability of digipicks remains to be seen, but the game has not thrown them at me yet like in previous Bethesda games.
• Voice acting is much better across the board.

Thanks for this. It’s good to have first hand impressions from someone we “know”, you know?

What are you playing it on, if you don’t mind me asking.

[SubRosa]

I guess it is time to update my PC. I built it back in 2011 with 16gb of RAM, as that was plenty to play Skyrim, the most demanding game I had. My motherboard has room for another 16gb. So I just went to NewEgg and bought it. It will be a few weeks before it shows up though.

What a difference in price though. I think I spent like $200 for that 16gb of Ram a decade ago. Now it cost me $30.

Granted, it is DDR3, so it is old now. Far from the fastest or furiousest.

Maybe now Fallout 4 and BG3 will load a little too, I hope.