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[Markio128]

So how does exploration and discovery work in this game, compared to say, Skyrim?

In Skyrim, once you’ve completed the prologue, you can basically explore the entire map, discovering all sorts of things along the way. You can’t fast travel to anywhere you haven’t been before, meaning exploration is a must.

From my limited knowledge, I understand that in Starfield you can only land on certain parts of a planet. Does that mean that the only places worth exploring are within those areas?

Do you think all of the available landing spots will be there from the outset, or will new ones be opened up following a conversation, or mission, etc.,?

Are there other ways to travel on planets other than by walking/running/jet-pack? Is there any point in exploring the planets outside of the landing points? Do you think there will be substantial areas on planets with tons to discover?

What do you guys think/know/envisage?

 

[MidGenRefresh]

You can land anywhere on any planet that has solid ground.

 

[Markio128]

You can land anywhere on any planet that has solid ground.

Interesting - I didn’t know that. So you don’t need to choose a pre-determined spot on a planet?

 

[Tommi84]

It seems it's anywhere on the planet

You may be wondering – just how big is this game?” Howard answers his own question, starting on just one planet. “You can land into Atlantis,” he explains, “but you can also land and explore anywhere on the planet.

 

[MarkMe2525]

So how does exploration and discovery work in this game, compared to say, Skyrim?

In Skyrim, once you’ve completed the prologue, you can basically explore the entire map, discovering all sorts of things along the way. You can’t fast travel to anywhere you haven’t been before, meaning exploration is a must.

From my limited knowledge, I understand that in Starfield you can only land on certain parts of a planet. Does that mean that the only places worth exploring are within those areas?

Do you think all of the available landing spots will be there from the outset, or will new ones be opened up following a conversation, or mission, etc.,?

Are there other ways to travel on planets other than by walking/running/jet-pack? Is there any point in exploring the planets outside of the landing points? Do you think there will be substantial areas on planets with tons to discover?

What do you guys think/know/envisage?

I think you can land anywhere, but large settlements are marked just like the map in Skyrim.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

Interesting - I didn’t know that. So you don’t need to choose a pre-determined spot on a planet?

There will be story related point of interest like cities etc. but you can pick any spot and land there. Once you on the ground, the game will procedurally generate points of interest around you like outposts, caves, resources to gather etc.

 

[Punished Miku]

Interesting - I didn’t know that. So you don’t need to choose a pre-determined spot on a planet?

1) Scan planets from space. This will show resource and major hub areas / civilization spots
2) Pick your landing spot. Land near things or land in the middle of nowhere. If you land near things, it's pretty much the same as past Bethesda games. If you land in the middle of nowhere, you can harvest resources, catalog animal discoveries, and engage in a mix of procedural terrain with hand built content mixed in. Caves, wreckage, outposts, etc. Or possibly nothing.
3) No mid-tier transport. Walk / jetpack, or get back on your ship.
4) Galaxy map transportation limited by ship upgrades and fuel.

 

[Markio128]

I think you can land anywhere, but large settlements are marked just like the map in Skyrim.

Well, that sounds pretty awesome tbh. So we could technically discover some secret in the game if we’re lucky enough.

 

[Markio128]

Obviously I’ve tried to keep spoilers to a minimum on this game, but if I can land almost anywhere after scanning a planet from space - well, that pretty much alleviates any worry I had.

Excitement intesifies.gif

 

[Draugoth]

In Skyrim, once you’ve completed the prologue, you can basically explore the entire map, discovering all sorts of things along the way. You can’t fast travel to anywhere you haven’t been before, meaning exploration is a must.

From my limited knowledge, I understand that in Starfield you can only land on certain parts of a planet. Does that mean that the only places worth exploring are within those areas?

Can land anywhere as long as you have the fuel.

 

[Punished Miku]

Obviously I’ve tried to keep spoilers to a minimum on this game, but if I can land almost anywhere after scanning a planet from space - well, that pretty much alleviates any worry I had.

Excitement intesifies.gif

FYI, the large open spots will be a mix of procedural terrain with dev-built content sprinkled in. Not everyone will encounter the same things in the same way since the procedural generation will pull from a well of content differently, so you may find secrets but they may not be the same ones as other people. Core content not in procedural generation areas will be the same.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

There are no land vehicles. Only jet pack/walking. Only 10% of the planets have life on them. I don't think you can land anywhere considering it goes to a loading screen in and out of planets, I may be wrong I guess. Sounds like most planets will be procedurally generated for resource gathering.

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

No man's Skyrim, here we come!

 

[Markio128]

Can land anywhere as long as you have the fuel.

I’m guessing fuel works similar to NMS, in that there will be different types? And what happens when you run out?

 

[Draugoth]

I’m guessing fuel works similar to NMS, in that there will be different types? And what happens when you run out?

IDK to both.

 

[Kilau]

It seems it's anywhere on the planet

I get the feeling we need to Lionel Hutz the statement.

But! You can also land, and explore anywhere on the planet?

 

[Lucifers Beard]

I don’t think you’ll be able to land anywhere because the game transitions from space to planet via a loading screen and you see the ship land, there is no landing from space to planet any other way from what I’ve seen.

Because of this, I’m not sure how you’ll be able to choose your landing spot. I assume it will just land you on the planet and you can go walkies if you desire. Content will already have been generated before you even set foot on the planet.

 

[FoxMcChief]

My question is, how big will a game save be once you visited numerous planets and you made bases on them.

 

[Ribi]

It seems it's anywhere on the planet

I'm willing to bet it aces you in a predetermined sandbox within that region and you can't actually walk the planet. Seems like landing zones with free roam within but that don't cross over

 

[Markio128]

My question is, how big will a game save be once you visited numerous planets and you made bases on them.

Please don’t - I still remember Skyrim on PS3.

 

[MarkMe2525]

I don’t think you’ll be able to land anywhere because the game transitions from space to planet via a loading screen and you see the ship land, there is no landing from space to planet any other way from what I’ve seen.

Because of this, I’m not sure how you’ll be able to choose your landing spot. I assume it will just land you on the planet and you can go walkies if you desire. Content will already have been generated before you even set foot on the planet.

Time will tell, but Todd Howard stated you could land anywhere on the planet.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

I assume it will be:

Scan planet
See resources, points of interest
Land anywhere
Explore

With you upgrading your ship/fuel/warp drive or whatever to allow for further out exploration

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

Please don’t - I still remember Skyrim on PS3.

What was the problem again? Was it just that the save file continued to get bigger and bigger every time resulting in a slow increase in game latency? I can't remember exactly, just that my character got to a point that it wasn't playable at all.

 

[Crayon]

My biggest question is how all that feels when you settle in. Seems weird to know there is so much real estate that is just procedural whatever. I know there is more footage and stuff but I'm not going to spoil myself any more than I have to. So we'll see how that goes.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Please don’t - I still remember Skyrim on PS3.

The PS3 port was an afterthought. No gonna be a problem this time.

 

[Xcell Miguel]

I don’t think you’ll be able to land anywhere because the game transitions from space to planet via a loading screen and you see the ship land, there is no landing from space to planet any other way from what I’ve seen.

Because of this, I’m not sure how you’ll be able to choose your landing spot. I assume it will just land you on the planet and you can go walkies if you desire. Content will already have been generated before you even set foot on the planet.

Looks like you can, check from 5:45, they press A to pick a random landing site, then you would have to press or hold X to land there.

Then they pick an outpost.



Also, that transition has been seen a few times, they even did a montage showing that it's the exact same transition, but with different biomes/planets, and in the middle of nowhere at 14:12 :

 

[M.W.]

I'm killing everyone and everything. No relationships, just kill. C'mon Todd, let me do it.

 

[K2D]

Discover alien xenomorph. Side quest unlocked: [colonize the universe].

 

[Ribi]

Looks like you can, check from 5:45, they press A to pick a random landing site, then you would have to press or hold X to land there.

Then they pick an outpost.



Also, that transition has been seen a few times, they even did a montage showing that it's the exact same transition, but with different biomes/planets, and in the middle of nowhere at 14:12 :

Idk give off defined sandbox vibes. Very much seems like landing zones that are predefined to land on rather than landing anywhere on the planet

 

[FoxMcChief]

Side convo:

Why can’t we (humans) ever be the dominant force and land on another intelligent species planet and destroy them all in a game?

Maybe in a user created mod.

 

[sainraja]

How does space travel in your ship look?

 

[Spaceman292]

I get the feeling we need to Lionel Hutz the statement.

What???!!! Todd Howard would never lie!!

 

[cash_longfellow]

I imagine it is similar to No Man’s Sky as far as planetary exploration goes. Land on a planet wherever, might have alien life, might not. The difference will probably be waypoints and all of that in Starfield to guide as far as missions go. So I would say similar exploration of planets as NMS, but more structured missions and guidance.

 

[SF Kosmo]

So how does exploration and discovery work in this game, compared to say, Skyrim?

In Skyrim, once you’ve completed the prologue, you can basically explore the entire map, discovering all sorts of things along the way. You can’t fast travel to anywhere you haven’t been before, meaning exploration is a must.

From my limited knowledge, I understand that in Starfield you can only land on certain parts of a planet. Does that mean that the only places worth exploring are within those areas?

Do you think all of the available landing spots will be there from the outset, or will new ones be opened up following a conversation, or mission, etc.,?

Are there other ways to travel on planets other than by walking/running/jet-pack? Is there any point in exploring the planets outside of the landing points? Do you think there will be substantial areas on planets with tons to discover?

What do you guys think/know/envisage?

I think it's going to have these smaller areas of more crafted maps, but the rest is going to get populated with procedural content, which isn't just empty space but also contains stuff to do and find that isn't as story based.

It's basically trying to marry the Skyrim model and the No Man's Sky model by doing a bit of both.

 

[acidagfc]

My question is, how big will a game save be once you visited numerous planets and you made bases on them.

And built cheese wedge towers in each of those bases.

 

[FoxMcChief]

Any word on if we can build our bases underground?

 

[GetInTheRobot]

It seems you can expand as much of the galaxy that your warp drive is able to travel...so if you drive is only able to do 100 light years youll probably need to upgrade more in the story to go further.

 

[MMaRsu]

What was the problem again? Was it just that the save file continued to get bigger and bigger every time resulting in a slow increase in game latency? I can't remember exactly, just that my character got to a point that it wasn't playable at all.

Yup that and the ps3 ram or memory cache or such being absolutely awful

 

[Raven77]

I believe there's a lot of somewhat incorrect information in this thread. From what I listened to from Todd himself, the way the game works is each planet that has anything handcrafted, (not all of them do) you can land anywhere and the game will automatically generate those handcrafted points of interest around your landing zone.

I don't believe you can land on the wrong side of the planet from a handcrafted cave that the developers built. When you land, it's just going to put the cave near you. Each planet with these handcrafted elements loads them around you when you land on the planet.

 

[DragonNCM]

It seems it's anywhere on the planet

The real question is how big is planet to explore on foot.........

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

So how does exploration and discovery work in this game, compared to say, Skyrim?

In Skyrim, once you’ve completed the prologue, you can basically explore the entire map, discovering all sorts of things along the way. You can’t fast travel to anywhere you haven’t been before, meaning exploration is a must.

From my limited knowledge, I understand that in Starfield you can only land on certain parts of a planet. Does that mean that the only places worth exploring are within those areas?

Do you think all of the available landing spots will be there from the outset, or will new ones be opened up following a conversation, or mission, etc.,?

Are there other ways to travel on planets other than by walking/running/jet-pack? Is there any point in exploring the planets outside of the landing points? Do you think there will be substantial areas on planets with tons to discover?

What do you guys think/know/envisage?

not like star citizen that is damn sure.

 

[IntentionalPun]

I'm hoping it still feels somewhat skyrim-y somehow or I'll be hugely disappointed.

I love that feeling of it being just one big map or some reason, but maybe it won't feel too different.

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

I'm hoping it still feels somewhat skyrim-y somehow or I'll be hugely disappointed.

I love that feeling of it being just one big map or some reason, but maybe it won't feel too different.

Yeah, I worry about the segmented nature also. Granted it is a must due to it being multi planetary but still. A lot of worries and excitements about this game..

 

[IntentionalPun]

Yeah, I worry about the segmented nature also. Granted it is a must due to it being multi planetary but still. A lot of worries and excitements about this game..

I'm super hopefully after the latest info reveal, like it sounds rad, and maybe I just need to separate myself from that desire for the classic Bethesda RPG "feel".

Hell maybe it'll even scratch that crazy itch Bethesda RPG's scratch for me even more.

If I can't put a fork in a drawer in some building and then find it 1000 hours and 100 planets later right where I left it I will riot though.

I WILL RIOT

 

[JOEVIAL]

There will be story related point of interest like cities etc. but you can pick any spot and land there. Once you on the ground, the game will procedurally generate points of interest around you like outposts, caves, resources to gather etc.

Yes it will work exactly like this.

I really hope this game won't suffer from ballooning save file sizes like previous titles. The world/object permanence in Starfield will be ridiculous now considering points of interests and procedural data will now be encapsulated in a save file (from my understanding).

I am a little concerned that 200+hr game saves will be around 300-400mb... or even more than that. This historically causes issues with data streaming (hopefully Bethesda have solved this). Fallout 4 and Skyrim saves can easily get to around 100mb with that amount of playtime – and those were in small baked worlds – separate from a save file.

Time will tell... literally. We won't have a full picture on save file ballooning and potential degradation until a few months after release.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

Yes it will work exactly like this.

I really hope this game won't suffer from ballooning save file sizes like previous titles. The world/object permanence in Starfield will be ridiculous now considering points of interests and procedural data will now be encapsulated in a save file (from my understanding).

I am a little concerned that 200+hr game saves will be around 300-400mb... or even more than that. This historically causes issues with data streaming (hopefully Bethesda have solved this). Fallout 4 and Skyrim saves can easily get to around 100mb with that amount of playtime – and those were in small baked worlds – separate from a save file.

Time will tell... literally. We won't have a full picture on save file ballooning and potential degradation until a few months after release.

I have 230 hours in Fallout 4 on Steam and according to cloud data all of my many saves are 195.3MB in size. I don't see a problem.

I just want loading between zones to be blazing fast. Like in Skyrim. Fallout 4 loading can get ridiculous sometimes.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

For planet landing, it'll likely be canned in some way where you can land and explore nearby stuff.

I dont think out of the 100s or 1000s of planets, you can literally land and explore millions of square km of terrain on every planet.

 

[StueyDuck]

i've kind of stuck my head in the sand a bit for this game since the showcase.

When people say you just land is it from a planet side view as in like choosing a location like an ME2 drill or like in atmo flight? I'm fairly certain this has been answered but as i said i've been kind of ignoring all the "leaks" and "announcements"

 

[FoxMcChief]

I was just think that it would be cool to have your ship come pick you up anywhere you have explored to on any given planet/moon. Instead, you will be able to fast travel back to your ship. Cool feature.

I’m rewatching the Direct. Probably my 5th time. Well, to be more accurate, I’m listening to it.

 

[adamsapple]

I was just think that it would be cool to have your ship come pick you up anywhere you have explored to on any given planet/moon. Instead, you will be able to fast travel back to your ship. Cool feature.

I’m rewatching the Direct. Probably my 5th time. Well, to be more accurate, I’m listening to it.

That Direct was amazing, inni't ?