Starfield continues to look to be an expansive game and story with exploration and player agency at its heart. While Starfield's official gameplay trailer premiered in June 2022 at the Xbox and Bethesda showcase, comparisons were made to No Man's Sky, while some were uncertain about how the game's flying mechanics would pan out. With a Deep Dive Event into Starfield expected soon, Bethesda has a chance to alleviate any doubts by highlighting its flight mechanics.
Starfield is Bethesda Game Studios' first new IP in 25 years, and it promises to be bigger than Skyrim and Fallout with over 250,000 lines of dialogue. Bethesda Game Studios Director and Executive Producer, Todd Howard, has revealed that it's more than a game to follow the main or side quests, but where players can build settlements and ships, follow a story, or set out to explore what it means for humanity to exist in the stars and discover what's out there, and what comes next.
How Ship Customization Can Influence Flight Mechanics in Starfield
The June 2022 showcase for Xbox and Bethesda highlighted that players could customize their ships with parts, engines, drives, shields, weapons systems, and more to allow for unique builds to explore the Settled Systems and beyond. With this granular level of customization, players could see different parts that could be purchased and upgraded, along with readouts for the other systems installed. Howard has even stated that players will buy parts and upgrades from different ship manufacturers featured in the game.
Ship coloring is provided to players, with the ability to save at least three color profiles. Hue, Saturation, and Brightness can be adjusted along with paint. Additionally, the specs show off different designs of spaceships, some bulkier with larger cargo slots, some sleeker like a racer/fighter, or perhaps a shuttle with less cargo available. If this proves to be the case, players can build multiple ships of varying types to accommodate their current situations.
With players hunting pirates, procuring items for different factions, and exploration and resource gathering being essential, the myriad of options for players to design appears endless, maintaining the NASA-punk style that encompasses Starfield. These features could all determine how each type of ship flies, whether a bulkier slow course or faster to race friends and foes through the different star systems. With these other flight mechanics possibly at play from ship customization, no two ships may look or fly the same, which can open the door wider for ship diversity in all aspects of design and function.
How the Deep Dive Can Highlight Flight Mechanics in Starfield
Though there's been no formal release date for Starfield's Deep Dive, it would be pertinent to show off a good deal of space flight for consumers to understand better what sets this game apart from other space flight games. What was shown already left some players feeling that the flight mechanics were a bit clunky and similar to other games, which needs to be corrected quickly to alleviate any lingering doubts. On the other hand, if the Deep Dive enhances the customization options and how they affect ship outputs, it could generate satisfaction in how flight mechanics and combat will work across the board.
Players are already aware that they cannot pilot their ships to any of the planet surfaces featured in the game, yet, Howard has claimed they can land anywhere on the planets they want. The Deep Dive can showcase how this flight mechanic can work, whether it allows for in-atmosphere flight but takes away landing; or if space is the only area where ships are flyable - utilizing a load screen for landing anywhere they want. Howard has further claimed that Starfield players can dock with space stations and other structures in space, so this would also be great to showcase during a Deep Dive event.
Starfield releases in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.