Starfield (PC / Xbox)

[MartyG]

I've played an hour this morning and it, yup, no DLSS support. FSR only - poor poor poor show AMD/Microsoft/Bethesda - there's no exclusive full-screen support, so if you want lower resolutions than your desktop (and you do if it's 4K), you're going to need to change the desktop resolution (poor show Bethesda). So playing with the RTX 4090 at 1440P borderless full screen at ultra preset I was getting 60 with 99% in the 40s with FSR enabled (and there is the odd bit of FSR shimmering, but generally not noticeable). I was seeing GPU usage of between 60-98% with CPU at 20-30%.

To get this running at 4K at ultra with framerates higher than 60 you're going to need DLSS 3.0, which of course this game doesn't have (well, until it's modded). It is generally a smooth experience on my rig though, with only one really noticeable half-a-second pause when going outside to the spaceport first time. There are no shader comp issues.

As for the game itself, technical performance aside. It seems more like Fallout in Space, but it follows the usual Bethesda tropes of main quest and faction quests. Gunplay is good and it does look nice, faces are massively better than previous Bethesda games, so the art style is top-notch.

I'll need to play more as an hour before work isn't enough, but so far I'd say if you like the Bethesda RPGs, you'll like this, if you have a lower spec machine though, you're not going to be playing at ultra 4K60.

More impressions once I've played some more.

[nonny]

I saw another PC tip for adding an FOV slider si it seems people are already out there tweaking things.

I've only played 30m across Series S and X to compare and whilst they are both 30fps it feels locked and smooth. Series S in particular looks astoundingly good so if all you've got is that option I think you're still in for a good time.

[fishbowlhead]

My mate got this download and updated. He then got hit with a “your too early” error on SeriesX, is this a widespread issue?

[Tobal]

you can only access now if you buy the £30 odd premium bundle (with gamepass), otherwise you'll need to wait a week like everyone else

[hudson]

Played about 2 hours and it's seems like Fallout4 in space so far. Im sucked in as I love retro space vibes. Can't say I'm in any position to spoiler as all I've done is scan and mine. I'm gonna be a while...

Nothing mind blowing so far. Ship controls are nice and simple. Fun enough tho. Did some crafting. God knows what I've made at the minute though lol.

Performance is sound so far on Series S. Frame rate not bothering me at all for a 30fps.

Had one bug where a guy was just a floating gun and backpack.

[kryss]

Nah, that's a feature that those PlayStation fanboys are super jealous about!
It'll be on the sub $30 wishlist for my Series S.

[hudson]

I've got a 'Fast Travel Directly...' tutorial message stuck at the top of the screen that won't go away. Tried restarting. Still there

[nonny]

I've got a 'Fast Travel Directly...' tutorial message stuck at the top of the screen that won't go away. Tried restarting. Still there

I had this, I think it's if you accidentally skip part of the tutorials... I managed to clear it but I tried so many options I don't know which worked.

I think you have to enter your start map, highlight your next location and hold X... Or if it's popping up when you're on the surface of a planet and it's asking you to fast travel back to your ship press Y to scan, then highlight over your ships icon in the distance with your reticule and hold X.

[hudson]

Closing the game fixed it for me. Thank goodness for the Save Game button

Looking on the Web, this seems common.

[huxley]

Upscaler mod to replace FSR with DLSS or XESS

https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/111

[dataDave]

Upscaler mod to replace FSR with DLSS or XESS

https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/111

Wow. Look at those download stats. I don’t think I’ve seen a mod downloaded in such volume before.

Also, it’s a 460KB download.

[fishbowlhead]

How’s that even possible for one (or a couple I don’t really know) people to release it that quickly and in such a small file size?

[nonny]

Just played for an hour on Steam Deck (note, xbox version running on windows 11).

I fixed to 30fps and apart from some drops to 15-20fps in New Atlantis it seems to play rather well at 30 for any play outside of the major cities.

I do get a warning message about my graphics driver being outdated on start up but didn't have time to find out if there are new drivers floating around.

All things considered still playable and of course it synchs my progress. I hear the Steam version runs a little bit better on the experimental proton release but I'm not dropping £££ to try that early when I already have access to this.

[MartyG]

I've got 18 hours in now - lots of things to like about the game, a couple I'm not so keen on. Running with the DLSS mod I've not had any issues.

Thing that's most annoying is inventory management, and the lack/cost of ammo. Constantly running out of the stuff in the early game and having to switch weapons - Fallout 4 was similar. It gets easier later game, but it's a bit of a chore at first.

The planet exploration can be quite fun, but there's not a lot to see in the caves, and if you get caught by planet predators, they can kill in a couple of hits if you're not careful (similar to the Deathclaws in FO4). I think there's enough to explore per planet, and in space - dockable stations and ships to find and explore.

The other thing I'm not mad keen on is the mission markers, at least when you're selecting quests as sometimes it's not clear where the locations is - I've had it pointing back to my ship or point to a place you can't find - sometimes selecting a subitem underneath it clears this up - not quite sure what's going on there, the surface map is pretty poor too.

The ship creation is great though, well worth diving into that once you have enough spare credits to start mucking around (or steal a couple of ships and sell them). It works like lego and the builder will tell you if you've got stuff configured wrong - but it doesn't seem that it's possible to be a trader, the economics in the game are pretty basic.

The skill tree is very similar to how FO4 works too - with multiple levels across different areas, so there's loads of scope for doing lots of different build types - you'll never be able to get everything, or even everything in just one section I'd imagine - I've been concentrating on lock picking and scanning, and more recently the weapon upgrades creation skills.

I have had crashes changing the screen settings from bordered to borderless (so make sure to save before changing settings), but other than a couple of silly AI issues (like one companion continuously running into a wall until pushed), I haven't seen anything that would interfere with the game progress.

I definitely like the setting of the game, although I think that Baldur's Gate 3 does a better job of world building and character progression - the looser structure probably doesn't help with this.

Overall though, I'm pretty happy with the game - but I don't think it out Skyrims Skyrim - at least not yet - but maybe there's a secondary faction quest line like The Dark Brotherhood, then we might be onto something.

And I found a dinosaur.

[nonny]

I think the only thing that out-Skyrims Skyrim is the next Elder Scrolls title.

I'm still way early in this but it feels more similar to Mass Effect, which is obvious, where getting the history and back story to different factions is what really begins to fills out the gaps.

I've heard lots of people commenting about inventory management and loading screens being the main issues but to be honest I don't find it any worse than Fallout but I did watch a top 10 tips video or two before jumping in so knew about storing stuff in your ship or at an outpost, which still makes them accessible when trading.

I've got a feeling Bethesda have delivered a bit of a rough gem here. Much more polished from the outset than previous efforts but still one where 3-6 months down the track it will be absolutely stellar... pun intended.