For those who’ve invested thousands of hours into the likes of Skyrim and Fallout 4, the release of Starfield can’t come soon enough.
Regardless of how you feel about the prospects of Bethesda's venture into space, whether you like what it looks like in Far Cry 5, or where you’re planning to build your first outpost in it, the idea of being able to delve into a freshly curated game filled with new quests, characters, and locations has RPG lovers of all stripes intrigued.
It seems as though settlements are the current hot topic of conversation among folks eagerly awaiting their invitation aboard an interstellar transport, with some would-be astronauts wondering how Bethesda might top the offerings of previous titles.
How many settlements are you planning to build during your travels through Starfield?
The thread containing their building-based babble on the Starfield subreddit began with a post from user SeanBlader. They shared their thoughts on how Bethesda’s settlement mechanics have changed from Skyrim’s Hearthfire DLC to Fallout 76 and wondered: “What is the next evolution (for Starfield)?”
They also had some interesting possible answers to this question, speculating: “It seems to me that the entire game needs to be a settlement. Or maybe a settlement while outside of cities, where NPCs own structures. Should there even be any limitations?”
It seems the majority of their fellow spacers were more interested in mechanics that would allow them to avoid having to micromanage every single aspect of their towns and villages, with user BK1349 saying: “I hope they include a ‘self-building’ option somehow. I like settlements, but I don’t want to manually place every item/building.”
Meanwhile, user Jason_Wayde suggested: “My personal speculation is there will be more of a focus to make bases feel ‘alive’. Perhaps a much more reactive AI system that allows (attacking) enemies to recognize it and do particular things (or employ different strategies), not just (have) three waves run towards the base.”
That said, another settlement-based idea floated by another user in a different thread, which would involve players being able to upload their outposts and villages to a server, which would then make them appear in other players’ galaxies, didn’t prove very popular at all, with many players believing it might ruin their exploratory immersion.
Regardless of whether you’d be open to accidentally wandering into someone else’s gaff when you land on a remote moon for the first time, make sure to follow us for lots of guides to its world and mechanics. You can also check out our latest mods of the month for some killer Skyrim and Fallout mods that’ll help tide you over until it arrives.