Bethesda’s director and executive producer, Todd Howard, recently had another Starfield Q&A session, this time on Kinda Funny Games, where he shared new details about planetary exploration in the game. Fans got some interesting insights into the balance of procedurally generated planets versus handcrafted ones, along with some information about biomes, weather, and resources.
Starfield planets have different biomes, creatures, and more
Players in Starfield have a lot of options when it comes to choosing which planet to travel to. However, not all of these planets are going to be completely desolate.
Todd Howard clarified that about 10% of the planets in Starfield would have some type of life on them, either humans or other creatures. He asserted:
“I think there’s a certain beauty to landing on those and feeling like I’m one of the only people or the only person to ever visit this planet. If you add too many things, if it’s generating too many abandoned bases or towers or things to find, it starts feeling too gamey in some of those locations.”
Howard also explained the Random Encounter System in Starfield. When players land on a planet, some things will be randomly generated there immediately. This means there could be hundreds of different things that could spawn in a specific spot. However, what spawns there might be different each time or from planet to planet.
Howard also expanded on the environment and biomes in Starfield, saying:
“We have a lot of biomes; we do look at temperature; we look at radiation; we look at all of those things on a planet. So that you’ve got your suit and your protection. You can get certain ailments if you’re not ready, and certain weather things can come through. There are obviously planets that might have one type of biome, and there are planets that have a whole bunch, and their creatures, plants, and everything else go with the biome.”
For a large part of the game, players will survey a planet and discover all of its flora, fauna, and resources. The data they get from surveying a planet is worth a lot of in-game money.
Starfield will have no land vehicles
One thing is explicitly confirmed: Starfield will not feature land vehicles or mounts. Hence, the planets are only explorable by foot or jetpack.
When asked about the vastness of the planets and the options for land transportation, Todd Howard described how the jetpack would act as a vehicle. He added that there are some skills that can make the jetpack more powerful.
Howard asserted:
“We do have the boost pack. You have skills for the boost pack. So the boost pack almost acts like a vehicle and is super fun where you can fly through, and then the low-gravity planets are just really something special in the game.”
Starfield is set to release on Microsoft Windows, Xbox Series X, and Series S on September 6, 2023. Gamers can pre-order it by visiting the Windows Market, Steam on PC, and the Xbox Marketplace.
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