Starfield mod fixes the game’s biggest problem, but it also highlights a big problem for me

One of the biggest problems pointed out by detractors when criticizing Star Field It’s the onerous loading screens that plague the game. While this is nothing new for Bethesda – the contrast becomes even more apparent when compared to other open-world titles like Cyberpunk 2077which does a much better job of seamlessly integrating indoor and outdoor locations without the need for a loading screen every time someone enters a new location.

Although a new mod aims to fix this issue to Star FieldNeon’s coolest city, it just highlights a big problem with Star Fieldgameplay and Bethesda games in general. Unfortunately, it’s a problem that may not be solvable unless the company completely changes the platform it uses to develop its games.

Seamless urban interiors remove loading screens

But only in neon now

Seamless City Interiors is a mod created by PanConKeso on Nexus Mods that removes loading screens in Neon City. Functionally, this mod changes indoor city locations to outdoor ones, loading them without the need for the loading screen. While players praise the mod itself, it points to a larger question of why Bethesda didn’t do it themselves.

While there are no reports of the mod itself causing the game to crash or lag, there have been some complaints with other Neon-related mod conflicts. As the mod was created for the PC version of the game, it is unclear whether such a mod would work well on a console, specifically the comparatively weaker Xbox Series S.

I’m not a programmer by any means, but I think a big problem with Bethesda games generally is that they don’t load items or objects as they appear in the player’s view, and everything is bulk loaded. With hundreds or even thousands of items in any given area, this requires a loading screen. I’m not sure if the Creation Engine is limited to changing this, but I assume it would be an underlying basis of how the engine works given all the other Bethesda games I’ve played.

The creation engine is holding Bethesda back

The engine seems obsolete

Again, I’m not a developer, nor can I understand the complexities of building a world as immense as Star Fieldbut I’m a big Bethesda fan and have played several games that use the Creation Engine. Although it has improved a lot since Fallout 4 Effect, there are still several “Bethesdaisms” that seem more irritating in Star Field than in that game or any previous title.

In researching this piece, I discovered that the Creation Engine is actually the successor to another game engine called Gamebryowhich is built in C++ and was used to build games for consoles like GameCube and PS3. Obviously since then Bethesda has done a lot to differentiate the two, but it still feels like it pales in comparison to other modern engines – to the point that I’m scared of the new Elder Scrolls as it will likely continue the practice of loading screens defining each new one. scene, rather than a seamless, immersive open world.

It’s unclear how much of my frustration stems from the crafting engine itself or just poor storytelling and a lack of meaningful decisions, but the Cyberpunk experience is like night and day when pitted against Starfield. That said, the game’s apparent inability to procedurally load new items into new areas without hitting the player with a loading screen seems outside the engine’s capabilities, at least for now, for whatever reason.

Maybe it’s time for a change

Maybe we can improve player choice too

When comparing Star Field and Creation Engine 2.0 with other games, comparing it to CDPR’s REDengine is probably the most appropriate. Although I have already praised you a lot Cyberpunk 2077unfortunately it’s the last game that will utilize the game engine, as CDPR is moving to Unreal 5 (via GameRant). That being said, Both UE5 and REDengine, in my opinion, are superior game engines to what Bethesda currently hasas demonstrated by the incredible open worlds they both created.

The excuse used by die-hard Bethesda fans in the past has been that “Bethesda games are just different“and that upgrading or abandoning the engine for something new would somehow be sacrilege and ruin their games. Fast forward to today, I’m sure a lot of people can agree with me that it seems like it’s the narrative and lack of meaningful choices or risks that are actually killing their games, not the clunky Creation Engine – but its limitations certainly don’t help the situation.

Since those discussions, Unreal has come a long way, released UE5, and now offers much more flexibility for developers to use it for both divergent narratives and gameplay. While UE5 isn’t the end all be all and I have a desire to keep the tech stack on a proprietary in-house system, even other engines used by specific developers blow Creation out of the water. Take, for example, Larian’s Divinity 4.0 engine for Baldur’s Gate 3. Although both companies’ game genres are very different BG3 it proved that a company could create a highly specific engine suited to the company’s games and be highly successful.

I don’t think changing the Creation Engine will make Bethesda games good. To achieve this, I think a high level of innovation and risk-taking will be required so that they can return to form during their prime. That’s not a knock on the storytellers there, but it all smells stale and is overly formulaic. What used to feel new and engaging now feels tired and old. Star Field is perhaps the best example of this, as it is without a doubt the company’s most impressive creation from a technical point of view, but it is also undoubtedly one of its worst games.

Source: PanConKeso/Nexus Mods, GameRant