Starfield isn’t ‘hard sci-fi,’ Todd Howard says, it’s a video game - Polygon

A caller video from Bethesda has fixed america immoderate much details connected Starfield, the studio’s archetypal caller archetypal franchise successful years.

On Tuesday, the workplace launched a new video bid called Constellation Questions, wherever it brings assorted instrumentality questions to crippled manager Todd Howard. The video covers a wide assortment of topics, from abstraction flight, to dialog options, and adjacent traits.

First, Howard addressed the inspiration for Starfield. He recalled 2 games that had a peculiar influence: Sun Dog for the Apple 2 and Atari ST and Traveller, a pen-and-paper RPG.

This led to fans wondering whether Starfield is “hard” sci-fi — meaning much rooted successful existent subject — oregon not. Howard said that Starfield is hard sci-fi successful his opinion, but that mileage volition alteration connected what fans mightiness think. However, Howard was wide that this is inactive a video crippled astir having fun, and truthful the squad did propulsion backmost connected immoderate of the imaginable frustrations that a much realistic sci-fi mounting would bring. For example, the subordinate could primitively tally retired of substance successful space, leaving them floating. That has since been removed, and player’s substance and grav-drive benignant alternatively bounds however acold players tin spell astatine once. Unrealistic, yes, but surely little frustrating for fans.

Howard past addressed the game’s assorted traits, which connection some a affirmative effect and a antagonistic trade-off. Here are immoderate of the illustration traits that appeared successful the video:

• Dream Home - You ain a customizable location connected a peaceful planet, but indispensable wage 50K recognition owe each week
• Extrovert - You usage little oxygen if you person a companion, but much if you’re unsocial
• Freestar Collective Settler - Gain peculiar dialog options and amended rewards from definite factions, but higher transgression bounties with others
• Hero Worshiped - A rando instrumentality of yours volition amusement up to fuss you frequently, but volition bring gifts
• Introvert - More endurance portion alone, little erstwhile you person companions
• Kid Stuff - You tin sojourn your parents astatine their home, but 10% of your wealth volition automatically spell to them
• Neon Street Rat - Gain entree to peculiar dialog options and amended rewards connected Neon. Crime bounties with different factions are increased.
• Raised Enlightened - Gain entree to a thorax afloat of items successful the House of the Enlightened, but suffer entree to different chest
• Raised Universal - Gain entree to a thorax afloat of items successful the Sanctum Universum, but suffer entree to different chest

Crucially, players tin region these traits to get escaped of their antagonistic (and positive) effects by completing a quest oregon activity. Players who marque a mediocre prime aboriginal connected won’t request to restart the crippled conscionable to re-roll their character’s traits.

Finally, Howard talked a spot astir the dialog system. Without getting excessively heavy into it, determination is present a point-based persuasion strategy wherever players tin walk points to get a amended outcome. In this section, Howard besides revealed that the crippled presently has implicit 250,000 lines of dialog to go on with its 1,000 planets.

Bethesda encouraged players to scope retired with much questions via the #starfieldquestions hashtag connected Twitter. Bethesda and Microsoft volition motorboat Starfield exclusively for PC and Xbox consoles aboriginal adjacent year.