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[analog_future]

Much more in the full interview, but a few highlights:

• Planets are procedural, but with handcrafted individual locations that are built for each planet
• About 10% of planets have life on them
• Some planets are barren, by design. Believes there's a certain beauty in the feeling of being the only person/first person that's landed on a planet.
• Planets are diverse. Some planets have a single biome, while many have a whole bunch of biomes. Depends on distance from the sun/temperature/radiation/etc..
• No controllable land vehicles when you land on a planet. On foot and boost pack traversal
• Game is designed to be either played with companions or solo
• Your decisions can anger your companions, which alters your relationship with them & their cooperation with you in the game
• You could have an all-robot crew if you were to decide to
• Ranking system adds patches/badges to your space suit, and are tiered depending on what you want to focus on upgrading (security, technology, etc..)
• No fishing in the game (lol)
• Ships are very upgradeable, but most of the upgrading will occur late-game as it's a very deep and expensive process
• Todd thinks Starfield is going to be a modders paradise. They've taken steps to make modding as easy and intuitive as possible
• Building outposts is a very deep system that requires a lot of time and resources
• Outposts can be built to be economy generators
• Accessibility is a priority, including large font mode.
• Xbox support has been incredible and has allowed them to be ambitious and take risks

 

[Bojanglez]

No fishing! Pre-order cancelled (or should I say Gamepass sub cancelled nowadays)

 

[GHG]

The more I hear about the planets and the traversal elements the more this sounds like pre-patch NMS, but without the seemless real time inter-planetary travel.

Hopefully the RPG elements and world building make up for it.

 

[Kacho]

Accessibility is a priority, including large font mode.

 

[Wooxsvan]

• Outposts can be built to be economy generators

this is my end-game

 

[analog_future]

• Outposts can be built to be economy generators

this is my end-game

Same. I'm assuming there isn't a limit to the amount of outposts you can build.

 

[DaGwaphics]

Interesting interview. Those that were looking forward to catching space fish are pissed.

The economy generating outposts adds a whole new branch to the game, now playing the space businessmen might be another character path.

 

[mckmas8808]

Hold on.........people are now anti-accessibility?

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

Damn it. Fishing is not something I was expecting but now that I know it's not in I'm annoyed

 

[analog_future]

Hold on.........people are now anti-accessibility?

Didn't you hear? Accessibility is WOKE

 

[Kacho]

Hold on.........people are now anti-accessibility?

No, I'm more "how is this still a talking point?" Things like text size adjustments are expected features nowadays.

 

[GHG]

Hold on.........people are now anti-accessibility?

It's more that they are bringing things up that should be standard features for games as some kind of "accessibility" win.

They are saying shit like this expecting brownie points when it's what they're supposed to do anyway.

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

Love the sound of patches being added to the suit. The absolute FLAIR!!

 

[MirageMew2]

The more I hear about the planets and the traversal elements the more this sounds like pre-patch NMS, but without the seemless real time inter-planetary travel.

Hopefully the RPG elements and world building make up for it.

Yeah at this point the only thing carrying Starfield is the Bethesda-ism of it all. No controllable land vehicles or ground-to-orbit flight whatsoever is a bummer.

 

[lh032]

Some planets are barren, by design.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

I have played a bit of NMS all through its release (most recently I spent around 10 hours with the latest updated) and I have mentioned several times I don’t intend to play Starfield, but this games def SOUNDS like early days NMS.

Not having planet based vehicles sounds really weird. I am sure its a design choice for managing planet size, but that still sounds cumbersome.

Hopefully the actual player impressions will do a better job of marketing this game when it releases.

IMO: They should have taken the TOTK approach and only shown a few things this early then blew it out in August to let the hype go through the roof.

If we see T.Howard showing up on late night talk shows before the release you know there will be problems

 

[Kvally]

It's more that they are bringing things up that should be standard features for games as some kind of "accessibility" win.

They are saying shit like this expecting brownie points when it's what they're supposed to do anyway.

Wait, so in the interview, the interviewer asked Todd about accessibility after prefacing his question stating how accessibility has always been a focus for Todd's games....and then Todd answers the accessibility questions. So the interviewer is expecting brownie points?

 

[feynoob]

• Outposts can be built to be economy generators

this is my end-game

Mr worldwide business.
Best way to afford expensive ships.

Pirate life and that option would be a great combo for me.

Only issue would be no vehicle driving.

 

[feynoob]

Some planets are barren, by design.

Maybe those are like planets like Venus and mars for us.

 

[GymWolf]

No fishing?

Cohh is gonna be in tears right now

 

[Bartski]

no fish no buy

 

[German Hops]

The more I hear about the planets and the traversal elements the more this sounds like pre-patch NMS, but without the seemless real time inter-planetary travel.

 

[GHG]

Wait, so in the interview, the interviewer asked Todd about accessibility after prefacing his question stating how accessibility has always been a focus for Todd's games....and then Todd answers the accessibility questions. So the interviewer is expecting brownie points?

What kind of question is this? They are part of the modern games media are they not?

It's more rare to find games journalists that don't pander than do.

 

[Kacho]

Wait, so in the interview, the interviewer asked Todd about accessibility after prefacing his question stating how accessibility has always been a focus for Todd's games....and then Todd answers the accessibility questions. So the interviewer is expecting brownie points?

You think the question about accessibility was genuine? Bless your heart.

 

[Kvally]

What kind of question is this? They are part of the modern games media are they not?

So you are saying you were not questioning Todd, but the interviewer who asked about revealing accessibility features in the game for those that need accessibility options? Ok then.

 

[RoadHazard]

No land vehicles, combined with no in-atmosphere flight, feels like it's gonna make planetary exploration pretty tedious. Basically you're just gonna see a really small part of the planet and then get out of there.

 

[GHG]

Early no man's sky:

• About 10% of planets have life on them
• Some planets are barren, by design. Believes there's a certain beauty in the feeling of being the only person/first person that's landed on a planet.

Early no man's sky:

• No controllable land vehicles when you land on a planet. On foot and boost pack traversal

And I played the shit out of early no man's sky just because of the interplanetary traversal alone. I will likely play the shit out of this game due to this:

• Todd thinks Starfield is going to be a modders paradise. They've taken steps to make modding as easy and intuitive as possible

 

[Kacho]

Todd was mum about Steam deck compatibility. Would love to see it verified.

 

[Daneel Elijah]

• You could have an all-robot crew if you were to decide to

So I already knew that I would try a diplomat that would limit himself with pistols, and be a missile spammer. Now my crew will be only droids. I can see my character build forming in my mind!

• Outposts can be built to be economy generators

Needed to make a lot of money. I feel that I will let the game run while I will go to work just to make money, but I suppose that it will not be that easy. The ships look to be end game stuff. Thanks for the resume!

 

[Draugoth]

So basically what we already knew.

I want to know if we will be able to see fuckable aliens.

 

[Interfectum]

• No controllable land vehicles when you land on a planet. On foot and boost pack traversal

That's a bit disappointing.

 

[Kacho]

Love hearing Todd talk about the importance of music and how it’s one of the foundations for their games. I remember him saying the same thing about Jeremy Soule’s music for Skyrim and how they’d listen to it for inspiration while making the game. True craftsmanship.

I thought the ambient music was decent in Fallout 4 but it didn’t quite reach the highs of Skyrim. Hopefully Inon Zur delivers something memorable for Starfield.

 

[Vognerful]

I see people handle Tod's charm

 

[legacy24]

only 10%?? seems low

 

[mckmas8808]

It's more that they are bringing things up that should be standard features for games as some kind of "accessibility" win.

They are saying shit like this expecting brownie points when it's what they're supposed to do anyway.

Chris Rock is one of my favorite comedians, but as I got older I realized how dumb that part of his stand-up was. Yes, taking care of your kids is something you should be proud of. Doing things you are supposed to do should be acknowledged, because if the opposite happens everybody will want to talk about how crappy you are as a person\parent\or company.

So that same energy needs to go both ways.

 

[dotnotbot]

Love hearing Todd talk about the importance of music and how it’s one of the foundations for their games. I remember him saying the same thing about Jeremy Soule’s music for Skyrim and how they’d listen to it for inspiration while making the game. True craftsmanship.

I thought the ambient music was decent in Fallout 4 but it didn’t quite reach the highs of Skyrim. Hopefully Inon Zur delivers something memorable for Starfield.

Inon Zur simply isn't capable of replacing Jeremy Soule, that guy was on a completely another level.

 

[Gambit2483]

Where the hell are the water planets??

I haven't seen one planet with a body of water, let alone any "Ocean-based" planets, which do theoretically exist.

No Man's Sky has these and even underwater base building, but so far they don't exist in Starfield...?

If I'm wrong, that's great, as I am hoping they do indeed exist.

 

[Skifi28]

I want to know if we will be able to see fuckable aliens.

They will be there, but invisible.

 

[Just_one]

explain me how this is not a V2.0 of No Man´s Sky....meaning with a single player story behind it better than No Man´s Sky and some fps action

 

[Riky]

All sounds pretty incredible, giving me those original Mass Effect vibes of exploration with the deeper mechanics Bethesda is known for.
This is going to be the defining moment of this console generation.

 

[mckmas8808]

What kind of question is this? They are part of the modern games media are they not?

It's more rare to find games journalists that don't pander than do.

I'm just not sure how we can say this is pandering when there are some gaming journalists that actually care about accessibility. I'm just not sure why so many things should now go unspoken all of a sudden. As if it offends people to talk about things that are for a minority of people.

 

[Kacho]

Inon Zur simply isn't capable of replacing Jeremy Soule, that guy was on a completely another level.

Yeah it’s unfortunate.

I’ll give him a chance to impress since Starfield is a completely different beast. Maybe that inspired him after years of Fallout.

My biggest question is if they go with Zur again for TESVI.

 

[Kvally]

explain me how this is not a V2.0 of No Man´s Sky....meaning with a single player story behind it better than No Man´s Sky and some fps action

It's Skyrim in space. I am sold.

 

[Represent.]

• About 10% of planets have life on them
• Some planets are barren, by design. Believes there's a certain beauty in the feeling of being the only person/first person that's landed on a planet.

That sweet sweet PR Speak

 

[Hendrick's]

The concern is strong ITT.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

No land vehicles and only 10% of planets having life on them doesn't sound great to me.

 

[StereoVsn]

"No controllable land vehicles when you land on a planet. On foot and boost pack traversal".

This is disappointing. Considering all the planets and a lot of space (a lot of it empty) to traverse I was hoping for vehicles of some sort.

 

[analog_future]

explain me how this is not a V2.0 of No Man´s Sky....meaning with a single player story behind it better than No Man´s Sky and some fps action

It's "V.20 of No Man's Sky" in the same way that The Witcher 3 is V2.0 of Skyrim, or Uncharted is V2.0 of Tomb Raider, or Bayonetta is V2.0 of Devil May Cry.

In other words it's a dumb as shit comparison that has no bearing on literally anything.

The games are in a vaguely similar genre, just like thousands of other games are in vaguely similar genres. Whoopity fucking doo.

 

[Kacho]

LOL at Gary Whitta asking the question about side quests and Todd’s answer. What a stupid question.

 

[Hudo]

LOL at Gary Whitta asking the question about side quests and Todd’s answer. What a stupid question.

I am genuinely surprised that Gary Whitta can formulate a question.