There is no point defense or FLAK, but turrets that will automaticly shoot at enemy ships.
There's no single seat fighter per se, but you can probably cobble one together with the existing modules
Game Discussions Bethesda Softworks Starfield Space RPG
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There is no point defense or FLAK, but turrets that will automaticly shoot at enemy ships.
There's no single seat fighter per se, but you can probably cobble one together with the existing modules
No flak, but it has turrets. The only single-seat (or nearly) ship I've seen so far is a transport shuttle prototype that you get in one of the missions. But it's still a big behemoth. You could probably pare it down in the ship builder, I guess, but I don't see much point. Combat isn't about small and nimble in this game. You need to be able to duke it out.
Me too! I'm playing Dragon's Dogma on PC (a favorite game from PS3), and it's sucked me back in hard. I'll save the details for the "what other games you playin" thread.
Regarding Starfield, there are some things I've heard and read that concern me. People in this thread are blazing through the game in record-breaking time. I thought this game was supposed to provide 20 years of play, not 20 hours! My old cheap DD game takes longer to finish! And related to this, I've heard from OA that the NPCs in this game are quite "stiff" compared to NPCs in games like Skyrim. I'm already plagued with games that have stiff Disney animatronics for NPCs. Not that I'm looking for every NPC in Starfield to have 1000 unique voice lines, but they should at the very least be on some sort of logical routine and schedule. You know - they go to work in the day, randomly get up to use the bathroom, go home at night, sleep, eat at appropriate times, etc. If NPCs are just mannequins in chairs, then I might as well keep playing Space Engineers, LOL.
Fair enough appraisal I suppose...but like most Bethesda games, you get more out of it the more you put in. Firing through the main story line in 30 hours then complaining that the game was too short isn't really the point of Starfield, any more than the same could be said of Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim or Fallout 4
As for NPC character depth...it's certainly a Bethesda game. All the main storyline characters are portayed as sociopaths who've all bonded together with other like for like social outcasts for no apparent rhyme or reason except to find a common purpose in just excluding themselves from normal life.
All of them have story lines that would make a bad TV movie script read like Shakespeare...it's certainly no Mass Effect or Baldur's Gate 3 when it comes to character depth. Constellation as an organisation is like a space explorers club exclusively for manic depressives
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Me too! I'm playing Dragon's Dogma on PC (a favorite game from PS3), and it's sucked me back in hard. I'll save the details for the "what other games you playin" thread.
Regarding Starfield, there are some things I've heard and read that concern me. People in this thread are blazing through the game in record-breaking time. I thought this game was supposed to provide 20 years of play, not 20 hours! My old cheap DD game takes longer to finish! And related to this, I've heard from OA that the NPCs in this game are quite "stiff" compared to NPCs in games like Skyrim. I'm already plagued with games that have stiff Disney animatronics for NPCs. Not that I'm looking for every NPC in Starfield to have 1000 unique voice lines, but they should at the very least be on some sort of logical routine and schedule. You know - they go to work in the day, randomly get up to use the bathroom, go home at night, sleep, eat at appropriate times, etc. If NPCs are just mannequins in chairs, then I might as well keep playing Space Engineers, LOL.
well, people rush through the Constallation storyline and then claim they've completed the game. It's like playing Skyrim, rushing through the Dragonborn story, but ignoring all the other stuff (the civil war, the thief guild, the companions, vampires vs dawnguard, the other DLCs etc.)
I'm currently at 97 hours and ~level 45. I still haven't finished the Constellation storyline yet. I've completed one part of the UC story, playing a bit with the Freestar Collective and other than that I just like exploring, fighting my way through "dungeons" and building my ship and outposts.
It's like Elite. Some people will play until they own a FC and than say "I'm done". Others play to the first Elite rank, others to triple Elite and some masochists are still playing to this day
I don't know for how long Starfield will keep me engaged. There's still A LOT of missions that I haven't even touched yet and settlements that I haven't properly visisted
Last night, I only had a brief window to play, which turned out to be a good thing, since I ran into my second bug, after 40 hours of play: When I established a second outpost on the planet, it erased the fast travel marker for the first. Everything was still there, but in the end I decided to reload from my last working save. Didn't lose much progress, thankfully. Did remember to take some screen shots of my main and new outpost, though:
This morning, since the fitness center doesn't open in time for me to exercise before work, I decided to get in a bit exploration in. I set down in what was described as a "deciduous forest" as close to the coast as possible.
I did the standard starting sensor sweep, and picked up a very promising signal nearby.
Not soon after, my sensors detected signs of the local apex predator. I soon learned to be very wary of these creatures.
The local mega-herbivores weren't very dangerous, at least individually. Having the entire herd after you, on the other hand could be a bit of challenge... it takes a while to kill them all. Thank goodness they're easily downed by my cutting laser. Don't need to waste ammo on them.
Also, one of the local plants can potentially be cultivated for sealant, which is a good thing. If I can find copper in a more temperate biome, I may need to move my mining operation.
By the time I had I found the third planetary feature, I had finished my analysis of the herbivore, and had determined that this biome didn't have the fourth type of major fauna I needed to examine. I was going to fast travel back to the ship and visit a third biome, when I noticed that there was a structure quite close to where I was. I decided to check it out.
A spontaneous quest, out in the middle of nowhere? Naturally I accept!
Naturally, that miner had wandered two kilometers away, and the terrain was very rough in that direction. And the terrain wasn't the only problem. Not only was it now night, but a thunderstorm had also rolled in, and there were enough predators along my path that I eventually finished my analysis of them as well.
I just needed to do so very carefully, by sneaking up to them, and hoping that they wouldn't wake up. Thank goodness that they aren't nocturnal.
I finally found the missing miner, and managed to persuade him to return to work. So I find myself needing to escort an NPC... through two kilometers of giant-crab infested rough terrain... in the middle of a thunderstorm...
This morning, since the fitness center doesn't open in time for me to exercise before work, I decided to get in a bit exploration in. I set down in what was described as a "deciduous forest" as close to the coast as possible.
I did the standard starting sensor sweep, and picked up a very promising signal nearby.
Not soon after, my sensors detected signs of the local apex predator. I soon learned to be very wary of these creatures.
The local mega-herbivores weren't very dangerous, at least individually. Having the entire herd after you, on the other hand could be a bit of challenge... it takes a while to kill them all. Thank goodness they're easily downed by my cutting laser. Don't need to waste ammo on them.
Also, one of the local plants can potentially be cultivated for sealant, which is a good thing. If I can find copper in a more temperate biome, I may need to move my mining operation.
By the time I had I found the third planetary feature, I had finished my analysis of the herbivore, and had determined that this biome didn't have the fourth type of major fauna I needed to examine. I was going to fast travel back to the ship and visit a third biome, when I noticed that there was a structure quite close to where I was. I decided to check it out.
A spontaneous quest, out in the middle of nowhere? Naturally I accept!
Naturally, that miner had wandered two kilometers away, and the terrain was very rough in that direction. And the terrain wasn't the only problem. Not only was it now night, but a thunderstorm had also rolled in, and there were enough predators along my path that I eventually finished my analysis of them as well.
I just needed to do so very carefully, by sneaking up to them, and hoping that they wouldn't wake up. Thank goodness that they aren't nocturnal.
I finally found the missing miner, and managed to persuade him to return to work. So I find myself needing to escort an NPC... through two kilometers of giant-crab infested rough terrain... in the middle of a thunderstorm...
The main storyline is just an opener really...certainly not where the gameplay lies. Firing through the main storyline just gets it out of the way, the majority of the time is finding and playing through the many, many random side quests and faction storylines that are far more engaging overallMe too! I'm playing Dragon's Dogma on PC (a favorite game from PS3), and it's sucked me back in hard. I'll save the details for the "what other games you playin" thread.
Regarding Starfield, there are some things I've heard and read that concern me. People in this thread are blazing through the game in record-breaking time. I thought this game was supposed to provide 20 years of play, not 20 hours! My old cheap DD game takes longer to finish! And related to this, I've heard from OA that the NPCs in this game are quite "stiff" compared to NPCs in games like Skyrim. I'm already plagued with games that have stiff Disney animatronics for NPCs. Not that I'm looking for every NPC in Starfield to have 1000 unique voice lines, but they should at the very least be on some sort of logical routine and schedule. You know - they go to work in the day, randomly get up to use the bathroom, go home at night, sleep, eat at appropriate times, etc. If NPCs are just mannequins in chairs, then I might as well keep playing Space Engineers, LOL.
Speaking "like Elite", is there any sense of a BGS? I'm not looking for anything as complex, but assuming there's trading, mining, etc, does the player's actions influence the game world in any meaningful way? Or is it all missions that you check off the list one by one? I'm just wondering if the game is "done" when all missions are done, or if there is any sort of dynamic variability that will keep things fresh even after all missions are finished. It would be nice if there were dynamic fetch missions based on a simulated economy.It's like Elite. Some people will play until they own a FC and than say "I'm done". Others play to the first Elite rank, others to triple Elite and some masochists are still playing to this day
I don't know for how long Starfield will keep me engaged. There's still A LOT of missions that I haven't even touched yet and settlements that I haven't properly visisted
Of course modders will make this game last forever. Maybe they can even make a sort of BGS if one doesn't currently exist.
Some non-spoiler comments on these points.
Regarding play hours and progress: I've read some players getting through the main story in under 10 hours. If that's end game, well I guess they are done. I'm about 50-55 hours in, and only done 4 missions of the main story?At this point I feel no pressure to do any more main story, and I'm all alone out there (I do keep VASCO around in case I need some carry help or firepower), so there no main NPCs to pressure me.
There are things I always wanted to do in Elite, like join a local faction and be a cop. I've never touched any of this yet. I've only just been experimenting with mining and then putting my results there into a manufacturing test-run (all manual operation at this point, no installed hardware to automate yet).
I'm now modifying my weapons to suit my specialty and play-style. There are many fields of research involve here, and I've less than 10% of them researched. Just the basics. But at this early phase, I'm getting meaningful results from the modifications.
My character stats say I've fully explored 12-15 planets/moons, out of 1,000.
I'm still only rated to fly an A class small ship. But I've bought and modified a new ship (man oh man, hours disappear into the ship editor tweaking out all the details I want). Very happy with the result (or at least the current iteration). There is a high diversity of ship parts, and they do not appear to be a simple "Good/Better/BEST" upgrade path. So the tuning can get decently specific to desires or needs, it would seem.
How many hours will it take me to do all of that stuff? I have zero idea. Now that I'm past the initial "play all night" phase (and that took 50 hours, lol)... Things will slow down of course. I suspect that a big part of the time will be similar to Elite, which is me deciding exactly what I want to be doing. There is a lot out there, and unlike Elite, where the galaxy still happens when I'm NOT there, and I've missed out forever... Starfield's universe seems designed to allow me to experience ALL the content, when I want or am able. There is almost zero sense of FOMO, as can happen on a week-to-week basis in Elite.
Regarding NPCs... They are more fluid than Odyssey. I never played Skyrim. But for me these NPCs work OK. Yes they are scripted, and if I click to talk repeatedly, I'll get repeated messages. But I'm passing random NPCs on the streets, and still am hearing new voice lines. Visiting new shops for the first time, and seeing new faces and voices. The news service has voice lines that report on things I've been seeing (and participating in), and they do it at whatever pace and order I'm randomly doing things.
As for NPCs going to bed and closing shop? I've NOT seen this. My hunch is that this Starfield is specifically designed to not punish or annoy a player for being somewhere at the wrong time of day, not forcing the player to use the "SLEEP" or "WAIT" buttons.
Interestingly, I have seen nature and wildlife going to sleep and waking. Some creatures appear to only come out at night. So it's not like they just didn't put effort into the NPCs on this point. They went to the trouble in some places, so I would guess they made a few concessions/judgement calls for QoL.
...
So just about to buy the thing on steam... but being distracted by other games off gamepass haven't done it yet. Seeing that the average opinion is getting lower with starfield, and having been "its not as good as i hoped it was" with diablo 4..
Decided to sit down and actually play it a bit more even though i'll have to start again on steam.
Sure its easy to keep playing, but i'm not sure if its worth greater than full price that they're charging for it?
Since you guys have played for alot more, does it justify the full price or would it be it in fact better on sale? There's something about hold x to travel (that's taking the long cut) that feels like it it could be more finished implementing. I just finished removing the possibility of exploration outside of poi's... when you land in a random place its identical everywhere as far as i have seen.
Guess there's no rush
So just about to buy the thing on steam... but being distracted by other games off gamepass haven't done it yet. Seeing that the average opinion is getting lower with starfield, and having been "its not as good as i hoped it was" with diablo 4..
Decided to sit down and actually play it a bit more even though i'll have to start again on steam.
Sure its easy to keep playing, but i'm not sure if its worth greater than full price that they're charging for it?
Since you guys have played for alot more, does it justify the full price or would it be it in fact better on sale? There's something about hold x to travel (that's taking the long cut) that feels like it it could be more finished implementing. I just finished removing the possibility of exploration outside of poi's... when you land in a random place its identical everywhere as far as i have seen.
Guess there's no rush
Nope, there no such thing as BGS or a simulated economy. It's a space game / space RPG. You can influence the game world, but I don't want to spoil too much here. The one storyline I completed ended with me making a decision and my companions approving or disapproving of that decision. There were also a number of additional moments throughout the storyline where I could make decisions (which would in turn influence other options later down the line). Completing the storyline unlocked new types of missions based on the outcome of the storyline.
Beside the "normal" missions, there are also radiant missions (like the Mission Board in Elite) that offer different types of missions (the usual combat&delivery missions and some cool exploration missions). You could "roleplay" as an independent explorer or a bounty hunter and focus mostly on those missions, rather than throwing your lot in with one of the larger factions. But those missions are randomly generated and not influenced by any sort of "BGS". There will always be some pirate XY to be killed somewhere, no matter how many you've already killed (okay, that's like in Elite again. Unlimited amount of pirates to kill for their bounties
)
Something is off with Steam forums lately. BG3 had a dedicated group of haters, but Starfield multiplied it by 5x. With no moderation, i just avoid reading them....
So just about to buy the thing on steam... but being distracted by other games off gamepass haven't done it yet. Seeing that the average opinion is getting lower with starfield, and having been "its not as good as i hoped it was" with diablo 4..
Decided to sit down and actually play it a bit more even though i'll have to start again on steam.
Sure its easy to keep playing, but i'm not sure if its worth greater than full price that they're charging for it?
Since you guys have played for alot more, does it justify the full price or would it be it in fact better on sale? There's something about hold x to travel (that's taking the long cut) that feels like it it could be more finished implementing. I just finished removing the possibility of exploration outside of poi's... when you land in a random place its identical everywhere as far as i have seen.
Guess there's no rush
After spending 25 hours on Game Pass, i realised i will be playing vanilla for much longer than a month. So the switch to Steam felt natural course of action for me.
But since Modding Kit won't be released for 6 month or so, so there is indeed no rush, and you can just sleep on it:
As I understand it, the “main” story can be zipped through quite easily. But like all good open world games, you can ignore it completely if you choose. I’m over 40 hours in so far, and I’ve basically only played through the prologue. I’ve also basically only partially explored only one system out of 100 in the game.
And related to this, I've heard from OA that the NPCs in this game are quite "stiff" compared to NPCs in games like Skyrim. I'm already plagued with games that have stiff Disney animatronics for NPCs. Not that I'm looking for every NPC in Starfield to have 1000 unique voice lines, but they should at the very least be on some sort of logical routine and schedule. You know - they go to work in the day, randomly get up to use the bathroom, go home at night, sleep, eat at appropriate times, etc. If NPCs are just mannequins in chairs, then I might as well keep playing Space Engineers, LOL.
This is a YMMV subject. I personally think there’s quite a bit of life in these NPCs, especially when compared to the NPCs in Elite Dangerous, which in turn are better than similar games I’ve played… at least if you ignore the mission givers. Those are the true mannequins. Overall, they remind me of the NPCs of Fallout 4
I’ve picked up quests from background conversations, and struck up conversations with seemingly background NPCs, while walking among the teeming hordes of New Atlantis. My crew and passengers interact with my ship, and do strike up conversations.
I’ve haven’t yet stalked an NPC as they go about their day, but when given quests to contact someone, I can see them moving about. And now that I had to think about it, a few NPC pirates may beg to differ on me stalking anyone.
Not in the sense you mean, unfortunately. As far as I know, closest you can get is setting up a manufacturing outpost, but if you’re looking to do commodity trading, the game has an RPG economy, unsurprisingly.
There’s of course the main story, the storyline missions for all the major and minor factions, other storylines are triggered by encountering the right NPC, finding the right POI, read the right book or tablet, etc. I have about 20 missions right now, most of them part of some storyline, and I’ve only visited New Atlantis so far!
And there’s always the mission boards.
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This is something you can only decide for yourself, and often only after the fact. I payed $100 for the premium early access, and I definitely don’t regret it… but I’ve played some of Bethesda’s previous offerings, so I knew what to expect, and what not to. OTOH, No Man’s Sky is a game I should’ve enjoyed, but didn’t, and I had no way if knowing that would be the case until I played it myself.
Distinguishing between short presses and long ones is a common way to get additional controls out of limited controls. I wouldn’t read anything else into that.
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Gaming preferences are too personal for me to recommend any game to anyone.
All I can say is that I personally enjoy the game. I have already played it for 170 hours, and I'm still doing interesting things.
I consider that alone to be more than worth the price. Plus I expect to get many more hours out of it as time goes by and updates and mods become available.
For me it's been very much worth it.
Took me 74 hours to finish main quest, I totally ignored all quests from some factions to save them for another playthrough. I barely touched the outpost stuff, I never built a ship from scratch, and I visted less than half the systems, never mind the planets.
The record for Skyrim is 1 hour 12 minutes for completing the game. I went for a complete (not really completionist, I didnt try and 100% absolutely every dark corner of the map) run in around 241 hours. You can expect Bethesda games to last over 200 hours.