Bethesda came out with a whopping 15-minute gameplay reveal for Starfield during the Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase 2022. The video showed off the upcoming game’s environments, storylines, and other gameplay features, among which is the new outpost system.
Starfield’s outpost building system appears to be an improved version of Fallout 4’s settlement building mechanic. The trailer only showed players a glimpse of what the outposts might look like. Still, it’s worth going into how Bethesda improved the feature, especially in comparison to the systems in Fallout 4.
Starfield’s Outpost Building System and UI Improvements
At around the 10-minute mark of the Starfield gameplay reveal video, players get to see the outpost building system and how it works. The new building interface already looks cleaner than that of Fallout 4, with all the information laid out much more neatly. Additionally, the window displaying the different building structures appears much easier to navigate. It also shows the name of each structure, as opposed to Fallout 4’s interface, wherein the player had to scroll through each item to see what it was.
Aside from this, Starfield also presents players with the option to toggle their view of the outpost. This is something the players wished was available in Fallout 4. There’s even a cool Fallout 4 mod that integrates the option in-game. Luckily, the feature is already built into Starfield.
How the New Starfield Building Mechanics Improve the System
Moving past the UI improvements, it seems Starfield’s base building mechanic will also be more flexible than Fallout 4. Specifically, it will allow players to set up an outpost seemingly wherever they want. Again, this was something players wanted in Fallout 4. This issue was remedied by mods, but Fallout 76 integrated this mechanic, and it seems Starfield is following suit.
Considering that many of the planets of Starfield appear uninhabited and dangerous, this option to build bases anywhere is the right call. It’s the player’s safe haven in treacherous terrain. Though, more importantly, it could prove to be a valuable means of collecting resources. In the building system’s interface, there is a window at the bottom right of the screen, showing the outpost’s cargo level, number of crew members present, available power, and production rate per minute. This suggests that Starfield’s outposts could primarily be for resource collection.
This also means that crew members assigned to outposts will likely be more useful. In Fallout 4, settlers could be assigned to farm, trade, or keep watch on the settlement. However, these weren’t all that valuable to the player. In contrast, Starfield’s crewmates might make an outpost’s methods of resource gathering far more effective, thus increasing the rate of production.
All that said, it looks like outposts will be a huge part of Starfield’s gameplay loop. It allows players to build bases on even the most barren planets, and it also provides more streamlined resource gathering. The latter, in particular, seems important since Starfield will reportedly have a research system tied to its crafting mechanics. This requires the player to devote certain materials to research, which will then translate into new craftable items, such as weapon mods, player equipment, and other structures in outpost development.
What Players Don’t Want with Starfield’s Outpost System
Starfield’s outpost building mechanics look pretty solid. They tie in much better to the gameplay loop, while also improving on the pitfalls of Fallout’s old system. Still, there are a lot of things that players don't want to see in the new building feature.
For this section, it’s worth looking back at Fallout 4’s building mechanics. One reason why players criticized Fallout 4’s settlement system is that it was described as an “optional” part of the Fallout 4 experience. Todd Howard himself said this during the game’s showcase back in E3 2015. However, it turned out that building became a requirement at one point during the main questline.
Moreover, players found it strange that Bethesda was churning out so much settlement building content, notably the Wasteland Workshop and Contraptions Workshop Fallout 4 DLCs. It felt as if a supposedly optional part of the game was getting more attention than the things that made Fallout so great — namely, the role-playing mechanics and the post-apocalyptic setting.
As such, Bethesda needs to be clear in how it advertises Starfield. If the main story hinges heavily on outpost building, then this should be made clear to the community. Additionally, since Starfield has already been described as a role-playing game, then Bethesda shouldn’t skimp on the role-playing elements in favor of better building mechanics. The outposts shouldn’t derail from the game’s narratives.
Other Useful Tweaks to the Building Mechanics
Aside from this, there are a number of other quality-of-life improvements that would make Starfield’s building mechanics better. For one, players should be able to build self-sustaining outposts that can survive against attacks from space pirates or local wildlife. In Fallout 4, it felt like the player was constantly coming to a settlement’s rescue, and if they didn’t, they were penalized for it. Thus, Starfield should have better defense systems available. More building capacity per outpost would also be welcome, as Fallout 4’s settlement building capacity prevented players from building big, thriving bases.
Also — and this is important — players don’t want another Preston Garvey. Preston of Fallout 4 has been the butt of many Fallout memes because of his endless stream of boring and unnecessary radiant quests. As such, Starfield should let players build and improve outposts as they please, without an NPC constantly pestering them to put down a base in Planet X, Y, Z.
Finally, it would be worth adding prefabs for the most essential structures in outpost building. This allows players who aren’t too fond of the building mechanics to still enjoy the game, spending the least amount of time necessary to make their outposts useful. This would be an important addition to Starfield, as not all players are interested in building the best possible base and would much rather immerse themselves in the story or exploration. Overall, Starfield’s outpost building system could be great. It already has the improved UI and the integration to the gameplay loop, though players have yet to see whether the new system will deliver.
Starfield is set to release in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X|S.