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Todd Howard On Starfield, Bethesda's First New IP In 25 Years.
- Thread starter IbizaPocholo
- Start date
Stuchinoko
Member
Well Todd, to accomplish this, you need to start being incredibly consistent with your lore.
Lord knows hardcore fans of Fallout are sick and tired of the almost malicious retcons and lore mistakes at this point. For God sake, you put Hellfire armour in Fallout 76, an armour set created by your own team (not even Interplay) that you know was created during the events of Fallout 3.
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CyberPanda
Banned
Nice he looks like he’s gonna suck some cock in that pic.That image is Fallout 4 with more than 350 active mods. Lighting mods with real-time shadows, texture overhauls, character model swaps. A LOT of the mods I use require F4SE which means no console version can exist. I also use Reshade to help my lighting look better. A lot of it uses console commands as well, like using setscale to alter the size of objects (or making Dogmeat as big as he is)
So to answer your question, on PS4, absolutely not. Unless it's been changed the PS4 version only allows mods that use stock game assets which cripples modding on the PS4 version. Last I checked the mod author of the mod I use had no plans on making it work on consoles. On Xbox the scene is a bit better but you only have access to whatever mods are on Bethesda.net which is extremely limited compared to PC.
The mod I use primarily for placement is called OCDecorator. It's a crafting bench that lets you insert anything from the game and will pump out a static version of what you inserted, making them place-able. This means NPCs won't knock them around. There are a few gun rack mods on PC, but I'm not sure about Bethesda.net.
The engine isn't the main issue behind the poor visuals or bugs, though I do agree it's time to start fresh. My worry is that even with a fresh engine the underlying problem will persist. While Rockstar has had realistic effects like clothing getting wet only where water has contacted it and a realistic drying effect, Bethesda still just makes things turn shiny when it rains. The engine could handle the effect, but the devs don't know how to do it. I've spoiler tagged my opinion as it's a wall of text but it boils down to lazy development and poor optimization from what I've seen digging through the game.
With mods Fallout 4 is one of the prettier games I'm running on my PC, and it runs pretty smoothly especially compared to the game at launch. It's mostly poor optimization and lazy programming that is to blame. The base game uses inappropriate sized texture maps for everything for example. A fork in the game uses almost the same texture memory as an entire wall section on a building. There are several mods that fix this, and the unofficial patch mod has eliminated a great deal of the game's crashes and glitches. I can replace the textures on tiny objects with appropriate sized textures which frees up memory so I can run a much better looking 4K texture on a wall with proper specular mapping. Bethesda released their own HD texture pack but it only compounded the problem as the tiny objects were running enormous textures and the specular maps were no better than the original ones.
The main issue with the engine is how it uses cells in open spaces and does a poor job occluding objects that are out of view. You can pause the game on PC with command TFC 1, and move the camera freely, but what is displayed is based around your character's position giving you a good glimpse of why the game runs so poorly with even a decent PC. Even several hundred feet away from your character the game is rendering objects too small to even see or completely blocked by other objects like buildings. Back sides of building are being rendered, fully modeled NPCs are still displayed through several buildings. This is why downtown in Fallout 4 runs like an ass sandwich. thousands of non-static tiny objects like pencils, spoons, thousands of tufts of grass, NPCs, environmental effects, and they're all still there even if the player can't see them.
The biggest issue with the engine is how it handles speed. I can build a character that can outrun the engine's ability to load in new cells and essentially break the game. Many people have made driveable cars in Fallout 4, but at a certain speed the game starts to stutter badly and going beyond that is just asking for a CTD. As such all the vehicle mods move at or close to regular player speeds.
A modder at home in his gitch got rain occlusion running on Skyrim before Bethesda had it "working" in Skyrim:SE. Even in Fallout 4 it's hit or miss from the factory. Several objects in the game needed a patch because the rain occlusion was inactive on them and the rain was coming through.
Why, Fallout 76 of course! It was the biggest project Bethesda studios has ever taken on. We had to involve our studios all over the world. It's four times the size of Fallout 4. Also we have a fully-fleshed Elder Scrolls exerience with Blades!
Also:
Pallas
Member
The man with the questions that matter most.
S
SLoWMoTIoN
Unconfirmed Member
Todd here! Buy Skyrim.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
LOL.
- Replace dungeon background with an outerspace shot.
- Replace elf looking fatty with a green alien
There's your Starfield.
sadaiyappan
Member
They have too cool trailers for their new games, seems like their game engine is okay because their trailers look too cool.
D
Deleted member 325805
Unconfirmed Member
I just can't get excited about a game being made on the Creation Edition.
DubReno
Member
Once nexus gets their hands on it you'll be able to sex anything with a texture.
IbizaPocholo
NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
Space travel in Starfield is as dangerous as 'flight in the '40s'
But lots of people do it.
Stuchinoko
Member
But how alien are we talking here? I want cute towering beasts of women who chirp and roar.
Pallas
Member
But how alien are we talking here? I want cute towering beasts of women who chirp and roar.
Was thinking more something inline with the Asari.
But hey that can work too!
zeorhymer
Member
Now now. We all know that was for Fallout Shelter. If people do start to drive and play, they'll end up underground for sure.
IbizaPocholo
NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
Starfield's Reveal by Bethesda Is Still A While Away, But Pete Hines Believes It'll Be Worth The Wait
Over two years have passed since the initial reveal of Starfield by Bethesda at E3 2018, but the game remains mostly mysterious.
twinfinite.net
Someone will always make an excuse for Betheseda
01011001
Banned
all their games are either trash or overrated trash without a single exception.
Skyrim is the the game that came closest to being good, which is why they rerelease it over and over.
but as soon as an actually good developer gets the budget and time Bethesda has for their games and releases something similar, people will see how shit they are.
fucking hell, look at Outer Worlds, way lower budget than any Bethesda game, but better in basically every way.
better Gamedesign, better game feel, better RPG elements. it shat all over Bethesda and every single game they ever made.
made by the same studio that also made the only good Fallout game since it went 3D... granted they still had to use their dogshit engine which is why it also inherited a lot of issues, but they did the best with what they had to work with.
this might be a more extreme opinion, but Bethesda is a trash studio and they have never produced a single good product
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Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
What has Tod Howard's team done since Skyrim? Did they do Fallout 4?
German Hops
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
will this suffer the same fate as Star Citizen ??
Newly Vacant
Member
No wonder Bethesda pushed out Fallout 76. They weren’t going to have anything for years.
Geez, what do their financials look like? I can’t imagine Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls online are bringing enough to cover the 6 or 7 development studios. I know they have Id and Arkane, but their last releases haven’t done nearly as well as the predecessors.
Geez, what do their financials look like? I can’t imagine Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls online are bringing enough to cover the 6 or 7 development studios. I know they have Id and Arkane, but their last releases haven’t done nearly as well as the predecessors.
GenericUser
Member
The only thing that saddens me is the fact that TES6 will come out AFTER starfield. So with starfield being like 2 or 3 years away, I imagine the next TES will be like 6 - 8 years away. Damn, hurry up Todd, I do not live forever!
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SlimeGooGoo
Party Gooper
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Hudo
Member
Well, I like most of Bethesda's games (Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim and Fallout 3). I even think that Fallout 3 is better than Fallout: New Vegas. Yeah, Fallout 4 was the weakest game by Bethesda so far (including Arena and Daggerfall) but I still had fun with it. So I'm interested in how Starfield turns out but I kinda expect Bethesda to make a big step forwards with their tech, like they did with Morrowind and Oblivion. Their development times are frustrating, though... I can understand that their projects are fucking massive but it will be more than 10 years between Skyrim and the next Elder Scrolls, that's kinda crazy for a non-dormant IP.
Goro Majima
Kitty Genovese Member
It's possible that there will be like 15-20 years before there's a fucking sequel to Skyrim. We're already coming up on 10.
The Elder Scrolls might as well be a dormant or even dead franchise to me.
The Elder Scrolls might as well be a dormant or even dead franchise to me.
Perrott
Gold Member
Were the westerns popular at all when Rockstar decided to release Red Dead Redemption 2? No? Well, there's why it won't matter what are the most popular genres in gaming in 2022 because BGS titles are above that at this point.
Perrott
Gold Member
Fallout 4, Fallout 76 and they are now working on Starfield and doing pre-production work on Elder Scrolls VI.
Darkmakaimura
Can You Imagine What SureAI Is Going To Do With Garfield?
I love Oblivion too. But I like all the TES games except Online but that is because I never played it so I don't have an opinion.
I might hopefully get a Switch soon and I'll delve back into Skyrim portable if so.
Shubh_C63
Member
That makes TES6 a 2026 launch at the near end of next gen.
I can smell the remasters already. Bethesda favorite strategy.
TBH with this landscape they only need to make one TES a generation like GTA. That will last them another 10 years with remasters.
I just assume they're working creating an entire new engine just for TES on which future games will be based on.
JimmyRustler
Gold Member
Didn't a different studio do 76?
I'm honestly baffled how this studio is financed given their none existing output.
Hudo
Member
Yeah, Fallout 76 was mainly handled by Bethesda Game Studios Austin. But towards the end, almost all of ZeniMax helped (id, Arkane, ZeniMax Online), including the "main" Bethesda Game Studio in Maryland.
Bitmap Frogs
Mr. Community
Stafford
Member
Starfield's Reveal by Bethesda Is Still A While Away, But Pete Hines Believes It'll Be Worth The Wait
Over two years have passed since the initial reveal of Starfield by Bethesda at E3 2018, but the game remains mostly mysterious.
Yeah, this probably means say goodbye to any chances of a 2021 release. It's depressing to think how farther away TES VI is, Jesus.
That being said, this is Pete being Pete. A few months before Fallout 4 was announced he denied the game was even in development (or did he say it wasn't going to be announced in a long time?) and then a few months later right before E3 the F4 trailer appeared.
It's probably best to just not expect a thing. At this rate we'll actually be playing Avowed and Fable first, lol.
FromDuskTillGameOver
Member
Im getting Bioware/Anthem vibes. I cant believe in Bethesda anymore after F76.
CrysisFreak
Banned
Six-TEEN tim3s da deta1L!!!1!
Stafford
Member
Nah. They just announced it way too early, but that was to calm down people that thought they would only make online games from now on I bet.
Last year in a interview with IGN Todd Howard said the game had already been in development for 3,5 years. I am guessing they are dropping current gen support for this and of course covid didn't exactly help either.
Starfield
Member
I think you're opinion is just trash but ok
Dodkrake
Banned
Oh look, the supposed game dev that again proves he knows jack about game dev.
Their engine achieves A, B, C and D, that's granted, but it's a 20 year old engine that has been iterated to hell and has tons of legacy stuff. They just need to get out of their ass and spend a couple of years (or 3 or 4) re-writting the engine from scratch.
Stafford
Member
I'm hoping that they are. God knows how long until we see TES VI, they just can't come with this engine again. I guess they can continue to upgrade it, but how significant will the difference be? BGS truly cares a lot about MOD support, but also how their engine let's you grab a object, drop it on the floor, go all around the world doing quests, loading times, hundreds of hours later come back and stjll see that object there.
But is there no other engine that let's them do this I wonder?
Dodkrake
Banned
I don't there there is, but they can always write a new engine, and they should have done so a while back.
The thing is, the current engine has been iterated to hell and has had so many services added to it that it's not even an engine anymore, but an amalgamation of tons of crap that doesn't connect properly. They kinda built the foundation, the walls and the roof, and then have just been adding containers with complete disregard for the original architecture and what it was designed to achieve. Even stuff like a new lighting engine doesn't play well with the old engine.
Hendrick's
If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
How long until they announce switching to Unreal 5?
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Stafford
Member
That's not very promising then, fuck. At least the new animation system should look miles better than what we've been having for years now.
TheContact
Member
Even if it's just Elder Fallout in space (which it likely will be), I'm excited for it