A new developer video answers more questions about Starfield. Among other things, it talks about visiting our solar system, factions, companions and more
After the Game Awards didn’t bring an announcement about Starfield that many fans had hoped for, the developers are now feeding us some more details in the aftermath. A new developer video with Lead Quest Designer Will Shen answers some questions about Bethesda Game Studios’ most ambitious role-playing game to date.
Among other things, it also deals with which planets we know we will visit, what awaits us there and how the factions of Starfield work. We show you the video and summarise the most important findings. Last but not least, chief developer Todd Howard also revealed some details about the role-playing game!
Table of Contents
Is Earth also in Starfield?
If you want to watch the video yourself, you can find it below this paragraph. Otherwise, you can read on right now, we’ll tell you what news there is.
We visit our solar system: Attentive viewers already discovered in the gameplay reveal of Starfield that a system called ‘Sol’ can be found on the star map. As the developers now confirm in the video, we do indeed visit our neighbouring planets, such as Mars, relatively early in the main quest. On Mars we also find a large city, which we could already see in trailers:
In the search for the origin of mysterious artefacts, we also deal with the question of what happened on Earth and why humanity left its home planet. Whether we can also explore the Earth itself is not revealed in the video.
Random Encounters and Quests
In Skyrim or Fallout 4, so-called random encounters made the game world more lively. You could randomly stumble upon a skirmish between two factions, special NPCs or small, unmarked quests at any time. This system is to be significantly expanded in Starfield. On the numerous planets you will now find entire outposts and dungeons that are created by the developers and then randomly placed. Quests and entire groups of NPCs await you there.
In the search for the origin of mysterious artefacts, we also deal with the question of what happened on Earth and why humanity left its home planet. Whether we can also explore the Earth itself is not revealed in the video, however.
Random encounters and quests
Already in Skyrim or Fallout 4, so-called Random Encounters made the game world more lively. You could randomly stumble upon a skirmish between two factions, special NPCs or small, unmarked quests at any time. This system is to be significantly expanded in Starfield. On the numerous planets you will now find entire outposts and dungeons that are created by the developers and then randomly placed. Quests and entire groups of NPCs await you there.
Of course, the randomly generated locations and quests are more likely to have tasks like get this item, or rescue that NPC. However, the huge world should not be quite as empty as one might fear.
How factions work
The gameplay reveal already introduced several groups that we can befriend in the course of the game. Although some of them are enemies, the developers do not want to force a decision on us right away: The main quest first leads us to all the major factions. You can then play through the quest series of all the factions independently of each other.
In doing so, you have the opportunity to influence their politics and orientation without, however, being appointed leader of every existing group, as in Skyrim. However, your decisions will influence the world and the fate of important characters.
Companions can speak for you
NPCs who can accompany you permanently, such as the robot Vasco, express their own opinions on the events of the main quest and your decisions during it. A completely new feature is also that the companions will speak in your place in certain situations if you ask them to. Depending on what they say, this can have certain consequences for quests.
Now it’s your turn: Do the new information about the history of Earth, the Random Encounters or the companions make you curious? Do you think the planets filled with random quests offer real exploration fun, or do they get boring quickly? And would you like to let your companions do the talking for you? Feel free to post your opinions in the comments!
