Starfield is right around the corner, and Bethesda's made some big promises for its upcoming sci-fi action RPG, with another Starfield showcase coming on June 11. The game does a lot to stand out from other Bethesda shooters like Fallout 4, and most of that has to do with its focus on space exploration. Since a captain's not much without a ship, the player spacecraft will play a pivotal role in the new game.
One of the features Bethesda showed off at the Starfield gameplay reveal was the ability for players to customize their starship. Hopefully, Bethesda will show more of it during the Starfield Direct Showcase because there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how the system will work. Fortunately, Bethesda seems to remember that a good ship creation system doesn't need to be hard to use.
Starfield’s Ship Customization
Todd Howard pushed back against the idea that Starfield was hard sci-fi. For those unfamiliar with the term, science fiction "hardness" refers to how closely it adheres to the current scientific understanding. Films like The Martian and games like Observer are examples of hard science fiction. However, Bethesda made it clear that Starfield is a game, not a realistic simulation. Still, Starfield's sci-fi universe is a lot more realistic than something like Star Wars or Mass Effect. With this in mind, players should know what to expect when designing their Starfield starships.
It's hard to say too much about Starfield's ship customization until fans actually get their hands on it. However, the last showcase gave them a pretty good look at the customization interface. The system is highly modular, letting players swap out engines, cockpits, weapons, armor compartments, and more. It seems like if it's part of the ship, there's a good chance that Starfield will let players swap it out. The obvious comparison is to Fallout 4 and Fallout 76's power armor, though even that doesn't do Starfield's ship modifications justice.
It's easy to see how this system has a lot of potential, with players customizing their ship to fill a variety of roles. Players could build a heavily armed juggernaut or a nimble starfighter. They might trade weapons for extra cargo space or emphasize fuel efficiency and sensor strength for a long-range exploration vessel. Those are just the obvious possibilities, and who knows what else Starfield players might come up with.
Starfield’s Ship Complexity Hits a Sweet Spot
Starfield's gameplay reveal also gives viewers a look at the ships' stats. Top Speed, Jump Range, Cargo, Shield, and Hulls should all be self-explanatory. LAS, BAL, and MSL require a bit of decoding but likely translate to laser, ballistic, and missile weapons. Mobility presumably refers to how effectively the ship can maneuver, while Mass is its overall weight. Adding modules increases Mass and lowers Mobility and Jump Range, so Starfield players must keep their ship's weight down to stay maneuverable. The only unclear stat is Crew, which could represent either a maximum capacity or the minimum personnel to be effective.
This is not the most complicated customization system. At least, Starfield's ship modification doesn't seem much more complex than the vehicle customization in some racing games, and this is a good thing. However, while some players would love a hyper-realistic, incredibly detailed spacecraft construction game, they'd probably be better off with something like Kerbal Space Program.
That's not to say that Starfield's ship customization should be so simple that it’s meaningless. On the contrary, there is a sweet spot in systems like this where it's complicated enough that it is fun to tinker with without players feeling like they need a physics degree to do it right. So far, Starfield seems like it might be able to walk the tightrope, though there is no way to know for sure until the game comes out this fall.
Starfield will be available September 6 on PC and Xbox Series X/S.