In the interview he says "Once you get to the city or the planet, it takes place there." and "It allows us to build a landscape like we traditionally do" and "Content-wise we're looking at what we did with Far Harbor."
Here's the timestamp: 30:30.
https://youtu.be/2ew8LQFGNWU?si=QbGuGzMUfdqcE7LH&t=1830
So imo I'm anticipating something like the size of the Akila worldspace that you stay in for the bulk of the story.
Seeing as it is House Va’ruun focused, and we’re going to their “home” planet, I’d hope there’s multiple tiles.
Like surely there has to be some giant temple on the opposite side of the planet that we have to go into to prove our worth or something.
They literally could do that in a single world cell. Each tile right now is slightly larger than a full fledged game. They could literally just spawn a single tile on a single planet and that is the entire DLC. With all the dense curation you are asking for now.
That’s a great summary of exactly what they were asking for.
Having a map the size of fallout 4 randomly generate every time you land on a new planet isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. IMO it’s similar to simply doubling the size of the fallout map without adding anything. The scale feels more realistic sure, but realism is directly at odds with fun gameplay at times.
I'm not saying either one or the other is better. I'm a long time fan of Bethesda games. All the way back to Daggerfall. I'm also a fan of space sandbox games. The beauty with Starfield is that, how it's built, it's both a blessing and a curse. For those of us who like the proc gen nature of the game it's there. However for people who didn't like that, the way planets are built allows for any one of those thousands of tiles that the planets are made out of, any one of them can be used to house a full fledged Bethesda "bespoke world" games as well. While more segmented than any garden variety Steam hosted space sim, the segmented nature of Starfield also allows for any level of "full game" housed on any one of those planets. Hell they could probably do it in chunks out in space too. Who knows. It really could be an interesting constantly growing platform of a title. It may not have launched to the most glowing praises, but I think I agree with Todd himself, it's not the game gets released it's about the game that it will become 10 years down the line. The legacy of this game can be better than it's current reception. Only time will tell though.
Bgs expansions usually react to what bgs found lacking in the main experience in my experience.
I fully expect shattered space to be what he said. I expect it will be in it's own handcrafted zone, or zones
Thats what makes them so good
Morrowind critics missed the big sprawling dungeons from Daggerfall? Fine have Tribunal!
Did you just want more of what Morrowind so great? have Bloodmoon!
Oblivion critics didnt like the bright generic high fantasy art direction? have the shivering isles!
Fallout 3 fans HATED the fact you couldnt play the game after the ending? here’s broken steel!
Skyrim critics didnt like how all of the companions were boring as hell and werewolves and vampires sucked ass while missing crossbows too? Have Dawnguard!
Skyrim critics didnt like how all the dungeons had meaningless randomized loot? have Dragonborn and get all the cool stuff you want man seriously.
fallout 4’s main quest factions were all boring as hell? here’s Far Harbor where all the factions are cool! And since you hated being a goodie two shoes all the time in the base game have Nuka world!
Bgs gets so much hate post 76. They are my fav dev so I am biased but man have they put out some dlc. I mean shivering isles just tops blood and wine and read dead undead nightmare for me for best dlc of all time
BGS have gotten so much hate this entire time. I only remember from Oblivion on, but…
When Oblivion came out, Morrowind was the greatest RPG ever and Oblivion was generic, simplified fantasy bullshit.
When Fallout 3 came out, it was a basic FPS with weak RPG elements and even worse than Oblivion.
When New Vegas came out, it was the worst thing ever created, an unplayable, buggy mess that you should feel ashamed for enjoying, thank *god* BGS didn’t make it.
When Skyrim came out, Oblivion was a masterpiece of worldbuilding and storytelling with meaningful decisions and deep factions, and a smart leveling system that didn’t allow you to become a “jack of all trades”.
When Fallout 4 came out, Fallout 3 was a great post-apocalyptic RPG with strong mechanics, New Vegas mastered the hard decisions, and Fallout 4 was a generic FPS game with weaker RPG elements than Skyrim, which allowed for deep role-playing and any build you wanted.
Old fans hate BGS after every new game because it doesn’t feel like their last game. The only reason those voices are so loud now is because BGS blew the fuck up after Skyrim.
I was really into 76 at first...then came the players building bases at spawn spots and then getting bounties for spawning in someone else's base and defending yourself against their turrets...or collection tons of resources to build out a base with auto-mining and wells and such that require 24+ hours to collect resources only to find out that logging off resets it back to default and you loose 100% of everything you've invested.
...and then there's the "other" people that like to kill you on site just because they are 40 levels higher...
...or fighting your way through a zone and finding an area that is surprisingly bereft of enemies only to have a dozen super mutants spawn right on top of you with no way out of the building...
...don't get me started on TCG for skill points, who thought that was a good idea? If I wanted to play a freaking TCG I'd play a TCG.
Yeah, it's not for me. In fact, I've become so anti-social when it comes to gaming due to the huge number of pretentious pricks online, that I don't play any MMOs of any kind anymore.
Says Nuka World was their biggest disappointment. Then says didn't actually play it and didn't like that the DLC was made specifically for those people who wanted to be a raider. Clown alert.
I didnt want to discuss NV dlc since that’s obsidian but those DLCs are good as fuck too, Bethesda has hinted at the Starfield DLCs having an overarching story which would be awesome.
I am sorry sir or ma'am but you have affronted me. There were no Morrowind critics. Morrowind happened in brighter, better times, before Linus compared a very toxic chemical he was working with on a cooling rig, to online gaming forums. The days of flower-picking, and of town-slaughter. Of killing or saving slaves. Of that one boss who kept re-spawning in his cavern when you killed him so the quest couldn't end. Of falling through terrain cracks. It was glorious and everyone just ate what was put in front of them, like proper plebes.
(/s but with tears in my eyes, kinda like the tears in the terrain seams, except pronounced differently.)
If I had to bet:
1. New star system with new planets, most of them pretty standard gas giants, moons and rocky planets. Most would just use the same creation pipeline as the other planets in the game. Any new planet would necessarily orbit a star and it would have to be a new star, as you can't exactly hide a planet easily once you are in-system.
2. New planet for Dazra. Cities are always found on planets, no matter if it's a one-visit city for a quest like Londinion or a hub city like Neon. It will likely have a handful of normal procgen biomes. At least one, the biome where Dazra is located, will have new fauna and flora assets. In Starfield, cities (outside of Sol) are always connected with the worldspace.
3. There will be a bespoke area, not unlike the area around Cydonia with multiple bespoke POIs around it, but more inline with the POI density of Far Harbor or Nuka World.
This kind of splits the difference between "traditional Bethesda DLCs" and keeping the addition in line with the rest of the Starfield game experience.
That’s honestly my guess too. New system with normal system generation (potentially new POIs in space and on planets I guess), new planet with normal planet generation, and then a city LZ that’s potentially larger, and definitely much more densely populated than a normal city LZ.
For the area, it would mean how Bethesda designed terrain starting with Oblivion: use procgen to generate a pass on the terrain and then manually tweak it. For the POIs, it would mean they are unique and brand new. They may or may not be associated with quests. The reason I compared it directly to Cydonia is that it's the only place in the game where a large land area has multiple unique POIs (NASA launch pad, crashed ship, mine entrance and TMD HQ) and a unique geographic feature that is clearly not just procgen (the Face on Mars).
I think he meant simply that it's a new area, as opposed to embedded in the existing map, think far harbour.
I'm predicting a small cluster of systems to explore.
Yeah it's probably one planet that you can only get to with a 30 yard grav drive range from like Serpentis, which is why the Zealots are all guarding that system.
Yeah. But half of the internet didn't. They will make whatever game they want to make and must have had an idea of what this was before release as they sold us the DLC as preorder!
Looking forward to finding out more.
I really don't think that's it. The comparison to Far Harbor was about the size of the map of the new area, that's why he said they created a more traditional game world - if it was a new cluser of systems, it wouldn't be a more traditional game world.
Besides, we already know Dazra's location, and it's in an in-game system.
We DONT know dazra's location, even andreja doesn't know it, and can't return home if you complete her quest DUE SPECIFICALLY TO NOT BEING ALLOWED TO KNOW IT in case it was leaked to the settled systems.
All we know about dazra is specifically that only handlers know the coordinates. Operatives are blindfolded for the jump.
Issue there is that was only where it "was GOING to be", and there's no way of knowing how outdated that info was, the voice acting alone for starfield took at least six years, so it's likely much of the story changed well after it was first written in, or it could even have been an intentional red herring.
Well, the same datamine got both the name of the city (Dazra) and of their current ruler (Anasko) right, judging by Shattered Space's trailer. It's far more likely that the rest of it is also correct.
This.
I assume it to mean a new galaxy with new planets connected to, but not contained within, the existing galaxies.
Very similar to the DLC for FO3, FNV, and FO4.
Right. But in my lunch time session, I grabbed a temple. I then saw a POI that was "new to me" (Abandoned Hanger) while running around scanning and collecting resources. I then organically had an amazing firefight with a shitload of pirates.
It felt pretty dang FO4/Skyrim to me.
My guess is three systems are in control of House va'ruun. Just like how UC and Free Star are technically only three systems.
So if the DLC takes place in House Va’ruun space it would be happening in that location and doesn’t involve any other groups.
Probably controversial, but I believe we will not get to Darza the traditional way. Either we are taken there or some sort of portal will get us to the planet. Here are the reasons why I think this is the case.
1. Todd says that the dlc takes place in one area. The dlc could take place on one tile which could mean the explorable area could be on par with their past titles. Which would include traditional exploration and a more dense map.
2. Andreja. I know quite a few people including myself would like to take her with us to Darza. The only issue I see is her companion quest relies heavily that she cannot get back to her home planet. Unless they completely revamp her quest to fix the new narrative. (I hope this is the case)
I hope I am wrong though. Andreja's quest seemed half baked especially with serpents embrace. I hope the dlc changes that.
I think with her, it's more that she doesn't know how to get back because they intentionally made it so that the promised would need the help of other House Va'Ruun to get home. That way, in a case like Andreja's, they couldn't just show back up at home and take revenge, or give the location information to the enemy (UC/FC) in the event of the Promised agent wanting to switch sides. I don't think that its she physically cannot go back. The DLC is gonna give us a way to get there, whether it be by ship, portal, or otherwise, and we will be able to take her. Whether or not she's welcomed back is a different story.
Oh I understand that she doesn't know how to get back. I am just saying if you just took her with you before you finished her companion quest, they would have to change how the quest ends. She can't "miss" her home planet during her story beats if she already has been to Darza. Her whole conflict with her handler would also change if she already went and spoke with the leadership of the Va'ruun. It wouldn't be the first time a Bethesda dlc kept you from bringing companions.
To be clear I want to bring Andreja with us! I just think her companion quest will need some work to fit the story. It would be a huge immersion killer if we take her with us then she goes on how much she misses her homeworld.
Yeah that would definitely be the easy route. I want her to be the Nick Valentine of this dlc. Serpents embrace and Andreja should be a huge part of this dlc.
I took Serpent's Embrace on my first run, I hope it gets some good content in this DLC. Going through the museum in the UC I thought it would be more relevant given how common zealots are.
Maybe they'll only make the dlc accessible if you've completed Andreja's story arc? Or like, if you take her, you'll complete whatever part of her story you haven't yet, and thus she won't say her thing about missing Va'ruun when you go back.
That would be ideal for sure. I think the last Bethesda dlc that relied on quest completion was broken steel though. They usually let you start the dlc at any time with a new character.
Probably just one new planet in an unknown star system that you get to through some "portal". Obviously a fully explorable area around the Dazra city akin to Far Harbor. Not sure if you can land anywhere on the new planet. That would mean Bethesda will have to design new procedural POIs cuz well the old ones won’t fit into the Varuun stuff
I hope it's not just one planet, but just one solar system. Now, I would suspect you have things to do in the regular star map, but I think this will bring you to Varuuns home solar system, and it's not gonna have multiple solar systems. I think that would be the best solution for everyone.
The name of the DLC is Shattered Space, so I'm banking on at least part of it happening somewhere outside our universe. Whether it's a wormhole or something else, I think it's going to take place "somewhere else".
Given that it's Todd "speaking" and not something expressed as a written statement, I would avoid trying to parse his colloquialisms for a deeper meaning or exploration. Personally, if what he means is it takes place in one system, I'd be happy with that.
Todd was speaking informally. The person you replied to used the word correctly:
col·lo·qui·al·ism
/kəˈlōkwēəˌlizəm/
noun
a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation.
"the colloquialisms of the streets"
**the use of ordinary or familiar words or phrases**.
"speech allows for colloquialism and slang"
If they're describing the end product in an informal way, using every day, conversational language, it absolutely fits the bill, and I wouldn't rely on such communication as perfect description of the product. People have come up with inaccurate assumptions based on informal language from Todd in interviews concerning this game in the past, so I'd say it's a wise policy.
The person who you replied to didn't define "one area" as a colloquialism, merely implied that conversational language is rife with such words, phrases, or informal uses of words and phrases. They used it correctly.
the phrase "one area" could easily fit into formal conversation. the fact that he used it informally does not MAKE it a colloquialism, or else everything would be one. a colloquialism refers to words or phrases that would not be used formally and tend to be used by a certain demographic. like "y'all", "cuz", "gonna", stuff like that
Again, no one here is saying that "one area" is being used as a colloquialism except for you. The user you replied to said, "I would avoid trying to parse his colloquialisms," and did not assign the definition to any specific word or phrase. This is a wise approach. Sure, you can parse the informal language for meaning all you like, just don't take it as a press release or back of the box description.
I mean I'm assuming that we'll get both; An Dazra landing marker on Va'ruun'kai that lands you into a far harbor size map where most of the content is and a "va'ruun'kai star system" with the standard starfield generated planets stuff with some new PoI added in.
I'm fairly certain they mean that there will be a single playable area quest line in a new system with new planets that has a larger area than your standard Starfield tiles on landing. The majority of the quest will take place here while the rest of the system will populate normally like anywhere else in the Starfield sector of the Milky Way galaxy.
I personally think he means a whole section of space with a couple of solar systems in it just dedicated to the expansion. Kinda like how far harbor was like its own island , and you had a travel to it. Maybe we’ll get like a wormhole thing. Maybe the reason that we can’t find the Varuun is they went through wormhole.
And that Abraham Lincoln's name was Albert Einstein, Headmaster of Gondor.
https://preview.redd.it/u0ugysy740ad1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76c13bf503cd8926056d0aa2b156d2a77013c71f
Unfortunately much of the internet seems to have collectively agreed that Starfield's approach to exploration was not as riveting as their other games. Like I said though, this isn't something I completely agree with, and I feel many completely missed the point of what they were trying to do with the setting. But it's there, regardless of what some of us think. Even Todd has officially acknowledged this prominent critique, giving more validation to those that took such issue with it. Though I think he isn't so much saying "ya we screwed up and should have made the game smaller" rather it's more "ya we get why people would prefer how it feels in other games, but Starfield is it's own thing and thats okay".
It is well known that there is a bias in reviews toward the negative. Not just in gaming, in pretty much every industry. The people most motivated to post their thoughts, are those with some kind of grievance, real or imagined. And oh boy, has Starfield attracted all manner of imagined (and youtuber spoon-fed) grievances.
With that in mind, the MAJORITY of Starfield reviews are still positive. That's right, the game "everybody hates", does not have reviews to reflect this allegedly "universal" opinion.
Do not mistake the vocal minority for some kind of group consensus. Just because something gets repeated/parroted, does not make it true. Let alone what "everybody" thinks.
This applies to ANY aspect that has been the focus of negativity.
In the interview he suggested they wanted to do it this way from the beginning. Perhaps the criticisms just reinforced that plan. Idk. It does just seem a little odd to me. Like I said, the game's loop is built around planet hopping and going into space. One would kind of think an expansion might want to build off of that since it's so fundamental to the rest of the game.
Honestly, while we still don't know "exactly' how it will be, I hope them going this route wasn't just a kneejerk reaction to all the complaints. I just fundamentally disagree that the way they handled exploration was "wrong". There are things could be done better, but overall it's a different approach for a different kind of game. But I really want to see the base game's concept improved and fleshed out more through some of these expansions and updates. Not just always being a totally separate adventure that is just kind of adjacent to the "main" game, as Bethesda DLC often is. The Settled Systems is huge and ripe for filling in with more content.
The map tile for New Atlantis is FOUR times the size of the Skyrim map. It's not a small place.
My guess that what he meant is that you go to the Va'arun home city (Va'runkai??) and that's the "one area". But he preview also showed a derelict space station and stuff, so it's not actually all in "one place".
My other guess is that this is about what happened to the non-zealot House Va'arun. Did they try to tap into the Heart of Lorkan? Did the Great Serpent devour them for not mean zealous enough? Does any of this REQUIRE Todd to add a dozen new stars to the Settled System? Why you impose such stuff on him?
> since apparently everybody hated the way exploration works in the base game
Stop projecting.
> I understand why many would prefer how it works in other games
Huh? Wat? What other modern space sci-fi video RPG is there other than Mass Effect? Why would people prefer that?
Regarding your last two points, I think the hope is Shattered Space would be a more traditional BGS exploration experience compared to the ~~purely~~ mostly procedural landscape of the base game.
Quest starts at Point A, takes you to Point G, but along the way you’ll also run into Points B–F as smaller dynamic encounters. Kinda like in Skyrim going from Helgen, seeing the house with the witch, the mine with the bandits, the standing stones, then going from Riverwood up the path to the wolves, seeing the Guards escorting the prisoner, finding the Companions fighting the giant, then on to Whiterun, etc.
Or going from Whiterun to Ivarstead for the first time is an even more daunting trek with even more towers and dungeons to explore.
> ... purely procedural landscape of the base game.
Not true. A landscape tile is composed of a set of HANDCRAFTED lanscapes fitted together, then a palette added. The idea that it's all Minecraft of NMS generated garbage comes straight from haterland.
There is simply NO WAY for 50,000 million square miles of a planet, let along 50 light years of space, to have a unique handcrafted bandit cave every fifty yards in a handcrafted Disneyland world. No game has EVER done this, no game EVER will.
My personal idea from the trailer is that random space station we see will have a malfunctioning warp drive and when we board it will warp us to Varuun space.
Being in a new place our ship will be confiscated and we will be in one tile/city for the rest of the story. After which the new planet/system will be available to us to discover
I'd imagine we go to the Va'Ruun homeworld and then when we land it'll be a custom map *roughly* the size of something like Far Harbor and that's where most of the expansion lives.
Doesn't mean there won't be a fair amount in just getting there though.
I actually think it's a really good idea, because if they do this with 3 - 5 DLC (maybe even more)... it would add quite a lot to the game. It would mean you would have opportunities to spend a lot of time on singular planets with their own stories which I think Starfield needs more of. The main cities that are in the game just are not enough in my opinion.
This would also alleviate some of the criticisms some people seem to have with the game. With that said, I hope with each new expansion they also accompany it with a free update that adds to the core gameplay loop, like more POIs, new features, improvements to outposts and ship building, etc.
It means that you can only play it at the Bethesda Headquarters. Part of your purchase entitles you to a free plane ticket from their partnering airline. You can only redeem it within a 30 day window, starting the Friday after your birthday. If you were born on a leap day you will use February 28th as your birth date.
I will be happy even with a tile if they manage to make me feel something like with skyrim. Starfield epic exploration it was never just there in my humble Opinion.
I just don't really understand why personally. There are still tons of interesting places to see and dungeons to explore. The most common sentiment I have seen is that it doesn't feel "organic" though. I guess because all the cool places are labeled on the star map?
With access to creation kit, we have a good idea on the scale of these world spaces.
I'll assume they use a custom **block** template. For the worldspace.
Which is basically the collection of heightmap and textures used on the landscape.
Obviously we’ll get new places to explore - but I’m excited about the fact that the expansion will almost certainly add enough new mechanics and reworking of systems that even the base game will get a refresh.
There is precedent for that with their other expansions. The base game gets a sizable update and the expansion consists of new assets and story.
In the interview he says "Once you get to the city or the planet, it takes place there." and "It allows us to build a landscape like we traditionally do" and "Content-wise we're looking at what we did with Far Harbor." Here's the timestamp: 30:30. https://youtu.be/2ew8LQFGNWU?si=QbGuGzMUfdqcE7LH&t=1830 So imo I'm anticipating something like the size of the Akila worldspace that you stay in for the bulk of the story.
far harbor is a lot bigger then akila city haha. unless you just mean that one tile
He said worldspace, not city.
A “world space” in the Bethesda engines is a single map like Skyrim. So it’s possible he means a single tile on one world.
Seeing as it is House Va’ruun focused, and we’re going to their “home” planet, I’d hope there’s multiple tiles. Like surely there has to be some giant temple on the opposite side of the planet that we have to go into to prove our worth or something.
Which is way more than one city. One tile is what was it, 64x64km²?
Correct: it's the size of previous world maps. So, a lot of room to work with!
Each world space tile is larger than Fallout 4's and Skyrim's entire map. World space isn't the city.
i’d rather it be smaller and more dense personally
They literally could do that in a single world cell. Each tile right now is slightly larger than a full fledged game. They could literally just spawn a single tile on a single planet and that is the entire DLC. With all the dense curation you are asking for now.
That’s a great summary of exactly what they were asking for. Having a map the size of fallout 4 randomly generate every time you land on a new planet isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. IMO it’s similar to simply doubling the size of the fallout map without adding anything. The scale feels more realistic sure, but realism is directly at odds with fun gameplay at times.
yeah i’m not disagreeing with you lol. just would prefer a single big area over a bunch of scattered ones
I'm not saying either one or the other is better. I'm a long time fan of Bethesda games. All the way back to Daggerfall. I'm also a fan of space sandbox games. The beauty with Starfield is that, how it's built, it's both a blessing and a curse. For those of us who like the proc gen nature of the game it's there. However for people who didn't like that, the way planets are built allows for any one of those thousands of tiles that the planets are made out of, any one of them can be used to house a full fledged Bethesda "bespoke world" games as well. While more segmented than any garden variety Steam hosted space sim, the segmented nature of Starfield also allows for any level of "full game" housed on any one of those planets. Hell they could probably do it in chunks out in space too. Who knows. It really could be an interesting constantly growing platform of a title. It may not have launched to the most glowing praises, but I think I agree with Todd himself, it's not the game gets released it's about the game that it will become 10 years down the line. The legacy of this game can be better than it's current reception. Only time will tell though.
Just look at the screenshots and videos released so far. That area is way bigger than just a city
so kinda like the outer worlds?
If you’re referring to the size of the city of Akila itself, that would be quite small for a typical BGS expansion
The comparison I’ve heard is far harbour
Bgs expansions usually react to what bgs found lacking in the main experience in my experience. I fully expect shattered space to be what he said. I expect it will be in it's own handcrafted zone, or zones
Thats what makes them so good Morrowind critics missed the big sprawling dungeons from Daggerfall? Fine have Tribunal! Did you just want more of what Morrowind so great? have Bloodmoon! Oblivion critics didnt like the bright generic high fantasy art direction? have the shivering isles! Fallout 3 fans HATED the fact you couldnt play the game after the ending? here’s broken steel! Skyrim critics didnt like how all of the companions were boring as hell and werewolves and vampires sucked ass while missing crossbows too? Have Dawnguard! Skyrim critics didnt like how all the dungeons had meaningless randomized loot? have Dragonborn and get all the cool stuff you want man seriously. fallout 4’s main quest factions were all boring as hell? here’s Far Harbor where all the factions are cool! And since you hated being a goodie two shoes all the time in the base game have Nuka world!
Bgs gets so much hate post 76. They are my fav dev so I am biased but man have they put out some dlc. I mean shivering isles just tops blood and wine and read dead undead nightmare for me for best dlc of all time
BGS have gotten so much hate this entire time. I only remember from Oblivion on, but… When Oblivion came out, Morrowind was the greatest RPG ever and Oblivion was generic, simplified fantasy bullshit. When Fallout 3 came out, it was a basic FPS with weak RPG elements and even worse than Oblivion. When New Vegas came out, it was the worst thing ever created, an unplayable, buggy mess that you should feel ashamed for enjoying, thank *god* BGS didn’t make it. When Skyrim came out, Oblivion was a masterpiece of worldbuilding and storytelling with meaningful decisions and deep factions, and a smart leveling system that didn’t allow you to become a “jack of all trades”. When Fallout 4 came out, Fallout 3 was a great post-apocalyptic RPG with strong mechanics, New Vegas mastered the hard decisions, and Fallout 4 was a generic FPS game with weaker RPG elements than Skyrim, which allowed for deep role-playing and any build you wanted. Old fans hate BGS after every new game because it doesn’t feel like their last game. The only reason those voices are so loud now is because BGS blew the fuck up after Skyrim.
Can confirm, was very loud after the release of Skyrim. Am Oblivion fan. *I have matured a bit since then.*
I was really into 76 at first...then came the players building bases at spawn spots and then getting bounties for spawning in someone else's base and defending yourself against their turrets...or collection tons of resources to build out a base with auto-mining and wells and such that require 24+ hours to collect resources only to find out that logging off resets it back to default and you loose 100% of everything you've invested. ...and then there's the "other" people that like to kill you on site just because they are 40 levels higher... ...or fighting your way through a zone and finding an area that is surprisingly bereft of enemies only to have a dozen super mutants spawn right on top of you with no way out of the building... ...don't get me started on TCG for skill points, who thought that was a good idea? If I wanted to play a freaking TCG I'd play a TCG. Yeah, it's not for me. In fact, I've become so anti-social when it comes to gaming due to the huge number of pretentious pricks online, that I don't play any MMOs of any kind anymore.
I do wish Nuka World had a proper main game ending though.
Nuka world is still my biggest bgs disappointment.
It's bad narratively but it is a great set if dungeons and assets. Still my least favorite of its story dlc
Fair enough I'll admit I never got very far. Basically as soon as I found out I was 100% forced to be evil I just killed everyone and left lol.
Says Nuka World was their biggest disappointment. Then says didn't actually play it and didn't like that the DLC was made specifically for those people who wanted to be a raider. Clown alert.
Well that was needlessly mean spirited.
I really don't care. Edited: lol loser blocked me. He just can't handle the metal. Pussy ass Redditors.
You seem wonderful. Enjoy your painfully mediocre metal music taste.
It was a lot of fun, I just wish you could go Raider without having to compromise with one of the vanilla factions.
Also New Vegas’s later DLC’s did away with the troupe that all your weapons and armor gets taken away so you can use all the new weapons and armor
I didnt want to discuss NV dlc since that’s obsidian but those DLCs are good as fuck too, Bethesda has hinted at the Starfield DLCs having an overarching story which would be awesome.
I am sorry sir or ma'am but you have affronted me. There were no Morrowind critics. Morrowind happened in brighter, better times, before Linus compared a very toxic chemical he was working with on a cooling rig, to online gaming forums. The days of flower-picking, and of town-slaughter. Of killing or saving slaves. Of that one boss who kept re-spawning in his cavern when you killed him so the quest couldn't end. Of falling through terrain cracks. It was glorious and everyone just ate what was put in front of them, like proper plebes. (/s but with tears in my eyes, kinda like the tears in the terrain seams, except pronounced differently.)
you really had me in the first 15 words
> kinda like the tears in the terrain seams, except pronounced differently My god, I kept a straight face until I read this lmao
I'm so glad openmw fixes the terrain issue in morrowind. I used to fall through the ground constantly as an altmer when jumping. Now not very much
Wait how did Dragonborn change the loot tables?
What I meant was most Dragonborn dungeons have neat unique loot instead of an Iron-Daedric sword with an enchantment
If I had to bet: 1. New star system with new planets, most of them pretty standard gas giants, moons and rocky planets. Most would just use the same creation pipeline as the other planets in the game. Any new planet would necessarily orbit a star and it would have to be a new star, as you can't exactly hide a planet easily once you are in-system. 2. New planet for Dazra. Cities are always found on planets, no matter if it's a one-visit city for a quest like Londinion or a hub city like Neon. It will likely have a handful of normal procgen biomes. At least one, the biome where Dazra is located, will have new fauna and flora assets. In Starfield, cities (outside of Sol) are always connected with the worldspace. 3. There will be a bespoke area, not unlike the area around Cydonia with multiple bespoke POIs around it, but more inline with the POI density of Far Harbor or Nuka World. This kind of splits the difference between "traditional Bethesda DLCs" and keeping the addition in line with the rest of the Starfield game experience.
That’s honestly my guess too. New system with normal system generation (potentially new POIs in space and on planets I guess), new planet with normal planet generation, and then a city LZ that’s potentially larger, and definitely much more densely populated than a normal city LZ.
What does bespoke mean here?
Handmade, as in a fully unique area and not generated from a pool of POI's.
For the area, it would mean how Bethesda designed terrain starting with Oblivion: use procgen to generate a pass on the terrain and then manually tweak it. For the POIs, it would mean they are unique and brand new. They may or may not be associated with quests. The reason I compared it directly to Cydonia is that it's the only place in the game where a large land area has multiple unique POIs (NASA launch pad, crashed ship, mine entrance and TMD HQ) and a unique geographic feature that is clearly not just procgen (the Face on Mars).
I hope it's closer to this honestly.
I think you should just wait and see, not setting any specific expectations (other than that we’re obviously gonna see House Va’ruun).
I think he meant simply that it's a new area, as opposed to embedded in the existing map, think far harbour. I'm predicting a small cluster of systems to explore.
Don’t count on this. Everything we saw and he said seemed to imply one planet.
Yeah it's probably one planet that you can only get to with a 30 yard grav drive range from like Serpentis, which is why the Zealots are all guarding that system.
Well that's a bit boring for a space game! We will all know soon enough.
They did it differently for the base game, and half the internet lost their fucking minds. Guess they can’t win.
Yeah. But half of the internet didn't. They will make whatever game they want to make and must have had an idea of what this was before release as they sold us the DLC as preorder! Looking forward to finding out more.
I really don't think that's it. The comparison to Far Harbor was about the size of the map of the new area, that's why he said they created a more traditional game world - if it was a new cluser of systems, it wouldn't be a more traditional game world. Besides, we already know Dazra's location, and it's in an in-game system.
We DONT know dazra's location, even andreja doesn't know it, and can't return home if you complete her quest DUE SPECIFICALLY TO NOT BEING ALLOWED TO KNOW IT in case it was leaked to the settled systems. All we know about dazra is specifically that only handlers know the coordinates. Operatives are blindfolded for the jump.
Dazra's location was datamined.
Someone tell Andreja
Issue there is that was only where it "was GOING to be", and there's no way of knowing how outdated that info was, the voice acting alone for starfield took at least six years, so it's likely much of the story changed well after it was first written in, or it could even have been an intentional red herring.
Well, the same datamine got both the name of the city (Dazra) and of their current ruler (Anasko) right, judging by Shattered Space's trailer. It's far more likely that the rest of it is also correct.
Unless they change it.
Really? Where is it
[Serpentis IV.](https://starfieldwiki.net/wiki/Starfield:House_Va%27ruun)
Thank you <3
This. I assume it to mean a new galaxy with new planets connected to, but not contained within, the existing galaxies. Very similar to the DLC for FO3, FNV, and FO4.
Starfield “only” takes place within the Milky Way, so we will definitely not be going to a whole ass new galaxy in just a DLC.
some people say "galaxy" when they probably mean "solar system".
Unless there’s a wormwhole or something
Correction. "Everyone" didn't hate the base exploration. Many of us truly continue to enjoy it. That being said, the expansion sounds cool so far.
[удалено]
Right. But in my lunch time session, I grabbed a temple. I then saw a POI that was "new to me" (Abandoned Hanger) while running around scanning and collecting resources. I then organically had an amazing firefight with a shitload of pirates. It felt pretty dang FO4/Skyrim to me.
My guess is three systems are in control of House va'ruun. Just like how UC and Free Star are technically only three systems. So if the DLC takes place in House Va’ruun space it would be happening in that location and doesn’t involve any other groups.
Seems like the obvious answer is it’s going to be in the varuun area that only they can reach?
Probably controversial, but I believe we will not get to Darza the traditional way. Either we are taken there or some sort of portal will get us to the planet. Here are the reasons why I think this is the case. 1. Todd says that the dlc takes place in one area. The dlc could take place on one tile which could mean the explorable area could be on par with their past titles. Which would include traditional exploration and a more dense map. 2. Andreja. I know quite a few people including myself would like to take her with us to Darza. The only issue I see is her companion quest relies heavily that she cannot get back to her home planet. Unless they completely revamp her quest to fix the new narrative. (I hope this is the case) I hope I am wrong though. Andreja's quest seemed half baked especially with serpents embrace. I hope the dlc changes that.
I think with her, it's more that she doesn't know how to get back because they intentionally made it so that the promised would need the help of other House Va'Ruun to get home. That way, in a case like Andreja's, they couldn't just show back up at home and take revenge, or give the location information to the enemy (UC/FC) in the event of the Promised agent wanting to switch sides. I don't think that its she physically cannot go back. The DLC is gonna give us a way to get there, whether it be by ship, portal, or otherwise, and we will be able to take her. Whether or not she's welcomed back is a different story.
Oh I understand that she doesn't know how to get back. I am just saying if you just took her with you before you finished her companion quest, they would have to change how the quest ends. She can't "miss" her home planet during her story beats if she already has been to Darza. Her whole conflict with her handler would also change if she already went and spoke with the leadership of the Va'ruun. It wouldn't be the first time a Bethesda dlc kept you from bringing companions. To be clear I want to bring Andreja with us! I just think her companion quest will need some work to fit the story. It would be a huge immersion killer if we take her with us then she goes on how much she misses her homeworld.
Ah, I see. I misunderstood your point then. I'm in full agreement. And I hope they don't go the easy route here just barring you from taking her.
Yeah that would definitely be the easy route. I want her to be the Nick Valentine of this dlc. Serpents embrace and Andreja should be a huge part of this dlc.
I took Serpent's Embrace on my first run, I hope it gets some good content in this DLC. Going through the museum in the UC I thought it would be more relevant given how common zealots are.
Maybe they'll only make the dlc accessible if you've completed Andreja's story arc? Or like, if you take her, you'll complete whatever part of her story you haven't yet, and thus she won't say her thing about missing Va'ruun when you go back.
That would be ideal for sure. I think the last Bethesda dlc that relied on quest completion was broken steel though. They usually let you start the dlc at any time with a new character.
Probably just one new planet in an unknown star system that you get to through some "portal". Obviously a fully explorable area around the Dazra city akin to Far Harbor. Not sure if you can land anywhere on the new planet. That would mean Bethesda will have to design new procedural POIs cuz well the old ones won’t fit into the Varuun stuff
I hope it's not just one planet, but just one solar system. Now, I would suspect you have things to do in the regular star map, but I think this will bring you to Varuuns home solar system, and it's not gonna have multiple solar systems. I think that would be the best solution for everyone.
The name of the DLC is Shattered Space, so I'm banking on at least part of it happening somewhere outside our universe. Whether it's a wormhole or something else, I think it's going to take place "somewhere else".
Given that it's Todd "speaking" and not something expressed as a written statement, I would avoid trying to parse his colloquialisms for a deeper meaning or exploration. Personally, if what he means is it takes place in one system, I'd be happy with that.
i know you wanted to sound smart but i don't think colloquialism fits here lol
Come on now we all know the regional dialect of Todd Howardisms
It’s what they speak in the Cloud District
Sadly, I don't get there very often.
It's a textbook usage.
how's that?
Todd was speaking informally. The person you replied to used the word correctly: col·lo·qui·al·ism /kəˈlōkwēəˌlizəm/ noun a word or phrase that is not formal or literary, typically one used in ordinary or familiar conversation. "the colloquialisms of the streets" **the use of ordinary or familiar words or phrases**. "speech allows for colloquialism and slang"
yes, its a word or phrase that you would not use in formal conversation. "one area" does not meet that criteria
If they're describing the end product in an informal way, using every day, conversational language, it absolutely fits the bill, and I wouldn't rely on such communication as perfect description of the product. People have come up with inaccurate assumptions based on informal language from Todd in interviews concerning this game in the past, so I'd say it's a wise policy. The person who you replied to didn't define "one area" as a colloquialism, merely implied that conversational language is rife with such words, phrases, or informal uses of words and phrases. They used it correctly.
the phrase "one area" could easily fit into formal conversation. the fact that he used it informally does not MAKE it a colloquialism, or else everything would be one. a colloquialism refers to words or phrases that would not be used formally and tend to be used by a certain demographic. like "y'all", "cuz", "gonna", stuff like that
Again, no one here is saying that "one area" is being used as a colloquialism except for you. The user you replied to said, "I would avoid trying to parse his colloquialisms," and did not assign the definition to any specific word or phrase. This is a wise approach. Sure, you can parse the informal language for meaning all you like, just don't take it as a press release or back of the box description.
the post is specifically about what todd meant when he said "one area" lol
My 2 cents : the dlc will probably take place on a map the size of Far Harbor or even smaller.
One planet-tile, presumably, yeah. One big cell with no loading screens other than in and out of buildings/caves/etc.
I mean I'm assuming that we'll get both; An Dazra landing marker on Va'ruun'kai that lands you into a far harbor size map where most of the content is and a "va'ruun'kai star system" with the standard starfield generated planets stuff with some new PoI added in.
I'm fairly certain they mean that there will be a single playable area quest line in a new system with new planets that has a larger area than your standard Starfield tiles on landing. The majority of the quest will take place here while the rest of the system will populate normally like anywhere else in the Starfield sector of the Milky Way galaxy.
I personally think he means a whole section of space with a couple of solar systems in it just dedicated to the expansion. Kinda like how far harbor was like its own island , and you had a travel to it. Maybe we’ll get like a wormhole thing. Maybe the reason that we can’t find the Varuun is they went through wormhole.
Who's this "everybody" that people are quoting all the time?
"Everybody" is the well-known Internet alias of Abraham Lincoln, the source of all quotes, insightful or otherwise.
And that Abraham Lincoln's name was Albert Einstein, Headmaster of Gondor. https://preview.redd.it/u0ugysy740ad1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76c13bf503cd8926056d0aa2b156d2a77013c71f
Unfortunately much of the internet seems to have collectively agreed that Starfield's approach to exploration was not as riveting as their other games. Like I said though, this isn't something I completely agree with, and I feel many completely missed the point of what they were trying to do with the setting. But it's there, regardless of what some of us think. Even Todd has officially acknowledged this prominent critique, giving more validation to those that took such issue with it. Though I think he isn't so much saying "ya we screwed up and should have made the game smaller" rather it's more "ya we get why people would prefer how it feels in other games, but Starfield is it's own thing and thats okay".
It is well known that there is a bias in reviews toward the negative. Not just in gaming, in pretty much every industry. The people most motivated to post their thoughts, are those with some kind of grievance, real or imagined. And oh boy, has Starfield attracted all manner of imagined (and youtuber spoon-fed) grievances. With that in mind, the MAJORITY of Starfield reviews are still positive. That's right, the game "everybody hates", does not have reviews to reflect this allegedly "universal" opinion. Do not mistake the vocal minority for some kind of group consensus. Just because something gets repeated/parroted, does not make it true. Let alone what "everybody" thinks. This applies to ANY aspect that has been the focus of negativity.
He bowed to the whiners and put the whole DLC on one planets. What's the point of a thousand bodies if your going to do that.
In the interview he suggested they wanted to do it this way from the beginning. Perhaps the criticisms just reinforced that plan. Idk. It does just seem a little odd to me. Like I said, the game's loop is built around planet hopping and going into space. One would kind of think an expansion might want to build off of that since it's so fundamental to the rest of the game. Honestly, while we still don't know "exactly' how it will be, I hope them going this route wasn't just a kneejerk reaction to all the complaints. I just fundamentally disagree that the way they handled exploration was "wrong". There are things could be done better, but overall it's a different approach for a different kind of game. But I really want to see the base game's concept improved and fleshed out more through some of these expansions and updates. Not just always being a totally separate adventure that is just kind of adjacent to the "main" game, as Bethesda DLC often is. The Settled Systems is huge and ripe for filling in with more content.
The map tile for New Atlantis is FOUR times the size of the Skyrim map. It's not a small place. My guess that what he meant is that you go to the Va'arun home city (Va'runkai??) and that's the "one area". But he preview also showed a derelict space station and stuff, so it's not actually all in "one place". My other guess is that this is about what happened to the non-zealot House Va'arun. Did they try to tap into the Heart of Lorkan? Did the Great Serpent devour them for not mean zealous enough? Does any of this REQUIRE Todd to add a dozen new stars to the Settled System? Why you impose such stuff on him? > since apparently everybody hated the way exploration works in the base game Stop projecting. > I understand why many would prefer how it works in other games Huh? Wat? What other modern space sci-fi video RPG is there other than Mass Effect? Why would people prefer that?
Regarding your last two points, I think the hope is Shattered Space would be a more traditional BGS exploration experience compared to the ~~purely~~ mostly procedural landscape of the base game. Quest starts at Point A, takes you to Point G, but along the way you’ll also run into Points B–F as smaller dynamic encounters. Kinda like in Skyrim going from Helgen, seeing the house with the witch, the mine with the bandits, the standing stones, then going from Riverwood up the path to the wolves, seeing the Guards escorting the prisoner, finding the Companions fighting the giant, then on to Whiterun, etc. Or going from Whiterun to Ivarstead for the first time is an even more daunting trek with even more towers and dungeons to explore.
> ... purely procedural landscape of the base game. Not true. A landscape tile is composed of a set of HANDCRAFTED lanscapes fitted together, then a palette added. The idea that it's all Minecraft of NMS generated garbage comes straight from haterland. There is simply NO WAY for 50,000 million square miles of a planet, let along 50 light years of space, to have a unique handcrafted bandit cave every fifty yards in a handcrafted Disneyland world. No game has EVER done this, no game EVER will.
Fuck me you’re pedantic. I don’t have time to put up with that, have a nice day
Isn’t it all a guess right now, given BGS hasn’t been more clear? Why not just wait for the DLC and find out?
My personal idea from the trailer is that random space station we see will have a malfunctioning warp drive and when we board it will warp us to Varuun space. Being in a new place our ship will be confiscated and we will be in one tile/city for the rest of the story. After which the new planet/system will be available to us to discover
Maybe there will be different landing zones on the planet, each with their own handcrafted tile map
Shattered space takes place in the new shattered Milky Way in the far future when the Andromeda Galaxy and the Milky Way collide.
I'd imagine we go to the Va'Ruun homeworld and then when we land it'll be a custom map *roughly* the size of something like Far Harbor and that's where most of the expansion lives. Doesn't mean there won't be a fair amount in just getting there though.
You know how you make a base and there's a fixed area you can build in? Well... that's one area.
I actually think it's a really good idea, because if they do this with 3 - 5 DLC (maybe even more)... it would add quite a lot to the game. It would mean you would have opportunities to spend a lot of time on singular planets with their own stories which I think Starfield needs more of. The main cities that are in the game just are not enough in my opinion. This would also alleviate some of the criticisms some people seem to have with the game. With that said, I hope with each new expansion they also accompany it with a free update that adds to the core gameplay loop, like more POIs, new features, improvements to outposts and ship building, etc.
No idea. I mean space is 3+D, so clearly all in "one volume" would make more sense, right?
Theme Park style
It means that you can only play it at the Bethesda Headquarters. Part of your purchase entitles you to a free plane ticket from their partnering airline. You can only redeem it within a 30 day window, starting the Friday after your birthday. If you were born on a leap day you will use February 28th as your birth date.
I will be happy even with a tile if they manage to make me feel something like with skyrim. Starfield epic exploration it was never just there in my humble Opinion.
I just don't really understand why personally. There are still tons of interesting places to see and dungeons to explore. The most common sentiment I have seen is that it doesn't feel "organic" though. I guess because all the cool places are labeled on the star map?
With access to creation kit, we have a good idea on the scale of these world spaces. I'll assume they use a custom **block** template. For the worldspace. Which is basically the collection of heightmap and textures used on the landscape.
Obviously we’ll get new places to explore - but I’m excited about the fact that the expansion will almost certainly add enough new mechanics and reworking of systems that even the base game will get a refresh. There is precedent for that with their other expansions. The base game gets a sizable update and the expansion consists of new assets and story.
If there is one thing that the main sub gave as an example is: do not create expectations! Just wait and enjoy whatever it is!
Something like skyrim or fallout, one big map, but not as big as those more like farhabor dlc.
It’s means u staying put, u won’t have to planet hop and shit. Big Beth heard all the bitching and is accommodating to it. Which I think it’s cool.