Three years after it was announced, Starfield got an official teaser trailer and release date at E3 2021. Even so, fans wondering about what most of the gameplay will look like in Bethesda's new IP didn't get the clear insight they may have been hoping for.
However, Starfield's new trailer is packed full of hints about the way ships may work in the game. There are a number of details the trailer reveals upon closer inspection that could point to mechanics when Starfield finally takes off in 2022.
The Broad Strokes
There are a few things the Starfield trailer revealed when it comes to in-game mechanics. First, blurry camera footage from the start of the trailer appears to be a way of viewing the world in-game, with Bethesda putting "alpha in-game footage" under that portion of the trailer. This could be how players are able to see through their ship's cameras or the robot seen walking by the ship in the trailer, giving them some insight into the surrounding area but still incentivizing them to go and check things out in-person.
The new Starfield trailer is also the best evidence fans have gotten so far that Starfield will actually allow players to fly their ships. Other space-set RPGs like the Mass Effect series have spaceships but don't actually have spaceflight in the same way as games like No Man's Sky. The shots of a player character sitting in the cockpit and preparing for launch don't confirm that players will be able to directly maneuver their ship during flight, but nonetheless it seems likelier than ever that the player's ship in Starfield will be both a base and an in-game vehicle.
The Details
The Starfield trailer gives players some specific ideas about the way ships might work. A closer look at the control panel seen in the cockpit potentially reveals some details. The top-right corner of the screen reads "WPNS" and appears to show the stats for three different weapons the player will be able to fire.
Below that is a UI that appears to be for shields, showing what looks like three different shield levels and a final "CRIT" level that could indicate when the ship is in danger of destruction. There are also "BRAKE" and "BOOST" functions to the left of the shield read-out, which could come in handy during space fights. The circle at the top resembles a radar, and its lack of readings during the trailer could indicate that this will be used to track other ships rather than objects on a planet.
Other details like "RE-ENTRY CONFIG" in the bottom-right screen could point to landing itself being a challenge in Starfield, though how exactly it will work remains a mystery. It's not clear what some of the other meters are for, but based on Starfield's leaked images they could be related to some of the meters seen on the compass in the player's UI. These meters include oxygen, CO2, and what seems to be varying gravity levels.
With developers suggesting that Starfield could see the return of a more traditional and complicated RPG systems from the studio's past, a complex spaceflight system is not out of the question. While some of the details seen in the Xbox/Bethesda showcase trailer are likely to be purely aesthetic, the new teaser offers potential insight into some of the ways flight and ship combat may work when Starfield launches next year.
Starfield will release on November 11, 2022, for PC and Xbox Series X/S.