No space exploration in a space game

[Naranja]

We compromised with loading screens when you get in and out of your ship, when you land and take off, and when you travel to other planets or moons or systems. We also compromised with planets not being seamlessly explorable or having atmospheric flight.

So at the very least I thought the compensation would be that I could fly my ship around in the solar systems like in NMS or ED but no, space is just a skybox and you MUST fast travel to go anywhere.

What a fantastic space RPG where you can't properly roleplay as most professions in a futuristic space setting, all while running at a buttery smooth 50 FPS at not even 1080p

[d[-_-]b]

Originally posted by Derp:

We compromised with loading screens when you get in and out of your ship, when you land and take off, and when you travel to other planets or moons or systems. We also compromised with planets not being seamlessly explorable or having atmospheric flight.

So at the very least I thought the compensation would be that I could fly my ship around in the solar systems like in NMS or ED but no, space is just a skybox and you MUST fast travel to go anywhere.

What a fantastic space RPG where you can't properly roleplay as most professions in a futuristic space setting, all while running at a buttery smooth 50 FPS at not even 1080p

Not true at all.

You can travel, it's just not fast.
ED Supercruise is interesting the first couple of times, then it's boring af anyway, so fast travel ftw. Landing and takeoffs? Also interesting a few times, then boring af, so I'll take the cutscenes with great sound design there too.

You can also totally fly around asteroid fields to mine, fly around space stations/structures and dock on them, formation fly with other ships if you want, in addition to space combat. Seriously, people need to spend a little more time in their ships exploring what you can actually do instead of repeating this bs that you can't do anything in your ships.

Why in your right mind would you want to just waste time flying from point a to point b anyway? Do what you need to do, then fast travel. If you want to simulate the total boredom of long supercruise, just go to sleep in your bed for a few hours, wake up, then fast travel. It's the same result.

Want to check out the outside? Use free camera mode. Much easier to use then ED's too.

The only things I miss, but they are not dealbreakers either:
. Fly across planet surfaces/atmos, but I can understand why not - it takes MSFS to do that. You can do it in ED, but it's like watching paint dry, NMS as well, but like ED paint drying just more colorful. If it was like MSFS it would be much more interesting, but that's an entirely different game infrastructure/architecture. SC you can, but that's perpetual buggy alpha, a bit like NMS but more realistic.
. Space walking - but I'll use free camera and ship to ship docking instead. X4 spacewalking was kind of cool, but also a little boring after a while too.

[RenegadeSpider]

This game was never said to be a space sim, they promised a Space RPG, completely different, it's more in line with Mass Effect, And that's okay, it starts slow, but the further into the quest lines you get, the better it gets, after 30+ doing quests, (and still only on main missions #3 or something) I can say, I get it, I get what they were going for, I just hate how disappointed I was when I first started playing, until I understand what Starfield is, and not what I wanted it to be

[d[-_-]b]

Same here, it takes some time to click, so many systems to learn.
Need to give it some time, then it's "aha, I get it now".
I've done about 20 quests/missions, just starting #4 of the main quest now.
Plenty of diversions to explore to learn the systems better.

It occurred to me last night that the game it's closest to (for me) is Rebel Galaxy Outlaw (and Rebel Galaxy), just in 3D with a lot lot more. It also has a lot of stuff I really wished was in ED (actual stories, custom content++, base building, a market for resources, personal engineering++), which is a sad waste of a lost opportunity for FDev. I really only miss the SRV from ED, but once you start to level up the jetpack it's as fast and fun in its own way.

[Naranja]

Originally posted by d-_-b:

Not true at all.

You can travel, it's just not fast.
ED Supercruise is interesting the first couple of times, then it's boring af anyway, so fast travel ftw. Landing and takeoffs? Also interesting a few times, then boring af, so I'll take the cutscenes with great sound design there too.

You can also totally fly around asteroid fields to mine, fly around space stations/structures and dock on them, formation fly with other ships if you want, in addition to space combat. Seriously, people need to spend a little more time in their ships exploring what you can actually do instead of repeating this bs that you can't do anything in your ships.

Why in your right mind would you want to just waste time flying from point a to point b anyway? Do what you need to do, then fast travel. If you want to simulate the total boredom of long supercruise, just go to sleep in your bed for a few hours, wake up, then fast travel. It's the same result.

Most of your response is basically "Eh, it doesn't bother me so your point is now invalid." but I will reply anyways.

No you CANNOT travel in space, if you are referring to the 7 hour experiment done by that streamer who flew to Pluto then you should also mention that it was clearly not intended and the planet does in fact not actually exist in space, she clipped right through it because she herself said what it was, it was flat, the planet is a massive flat image as a part of the skybox. Glitches and taking the game to its breaking point does not count as an actual game feature/mechanic.

As for what you can do in space, you can indeed do all those things you listed, but the problem is that since you are bound to these small space maps that you load into when you fast travel you are unable to do anything on a remotely more complicated level. I don't care to be a smuggler or space trucker if I have to fast travel to every destination and not actually fly my ship the way I want to and in the direction I want to.

Also it is quite funny seeing Starfield fans defending fast travel because that is quite literally your only option, all those debates in games like Skyrim about not using fast travel to make your exploration more interesting can't even exist here because fast travel is your only option. Nobody would be complaining if both options existed but guess what, that isn't the case.

Saying fast travel is better because it is quicker and less boring is not only subjective but also as ridiculous as telling someone "why are you going for a walk? you can just drive there".

[d[-_-]b]

Sounds like #firstworldproblems
You know what's missing from Elite Dangerous? Among a bunch of QOL things, a huge one is fast travel so you can avoid in system supersnooze to save time and the ridiculous series of so called "Hyperspace travel" loading screens that people seem to think is "space travel".

It's a game, get over it already.
Play ETS, ATS, or ED if you like watching movies on a second monitor while your "spaceship" spends 7 hours travelling from point A to Point B (totally simulated btw) in real time.

>> I don't care to be a smuggler or space trucker if I have to fast travel to every destination and not actually fly my ship the way I want to and in the direction I want to.

If you really want to simulate the tedious reality of space travel, just set your ship in a direction and leave the seat. You can walk around and do what you like for however long you like, pretend you're zipping through the void, then hop back in when you feel like it.
It's no more realistic than the fantasy space travel in every current "Space Simulator" each with their own magical space engines. None of them are realistic in any way shape or form.

Starfield just cuts to the chase. Their magical space engines are faster than anybody elses!😂

It's all pretend anyway, you just have to pretend a little differently here.

[SickTag]

I feel the same

[Nightsbane]

I think the space exploration would be better if the ship had a "fast mode" similar to NMS . Currently you can explore space just very very slowly

[🐠🍑]

I explored the option to refund and found out it was a good choice!

[V I D A L]

Bethesda never said otherwise.
You have to set your expectations. This is not a space simulator like No Man Sky or Star Citizen.. This is a Bethesda RPG with a sci fi setting. It's literally Fallout in space.

[d[-_-]b]

All they need to do is place some interesting space POI's/events in system between planets and also in between systems. Fast travel to them, save time, cut to the action. Drop you out x km from the target.

[d[-_-]b]

Originally posted by V I D A L:

Bethesda never said otherwise.
You have to set your expectations. This is not a space simulator like No Man Sky or Star Citizen.. This is a Bethesda RPG with a sci fi setting. It's literally Fallout in space.

Yet now you have people complaining they don't have enough tedious space travel in it.

lol.

1600+ hours of tedious supersnooze/hyerspace loading screen in ED I'm sold on fast travel. It's something I've long argued for in ED, only to always get shouted down by the tedium junkies who have turned ED into a dead game.

All you need is POI's/events to explore, the travel time being cut to zero is so much better anyway. Make it configurable to drop people out so they have to fly at least an hour to get to the POI and I bet you in no time they'll be screaming for faster engines or closer drop in points.

The only "Space Simulators" that are in any way "realistic" are the Apollo moon landing ones, of which there's a couple. You could stretch it to a couple of the rocket building games (like KSS etc ) perhaps, but they are physics sims wrapped as games, not so much space sims.

Every other so called "Space Simulator" is a fantasy pretend game. None of the space travel is in any way "realistic" (it hasn't even been invented yet, we can only get to Mars after 8 months travel in a spam can, if we're lucky) and all the so called "spaceships" and their magic engine technology is pretend game magic.

Lets not talk about the radiation and space debris collision issues either, always magically brushed away. At least Starfield has radiation damage.

Lets see what the modders can come up with when the tools are released.

[Druth - Ambient]

Ik this is a hot take but this is just another fine example of how games tailored to console is just trash.

They probably crunched this game down so much just to work on play Station and Xbox, and sure I get those consoles are a lot more powerful these days but if this game was tailored purely for PC I don't think these silly tedious features would be in the game.

I really was hoping this game would have flight mechanics similar to Elite Dangerous or Star Citizen, how you can directly fly and land on a planet with no loading screens at all. It really is possible for them to do this but again they just tailored the game to console and stuck to their typical format.

I knew this wasn't a thing the moment they showcased the game in trailers, we only ever saw cutscenes of the ship taking off and landing. I hope they change it but I know it's not possible.

[Hexagoros]

Originally posted by d-_-b:

Originally posted by Derp:

We compromised with loading screens when you get in and out of your ship, when you land and take off, and when you travel to other planets or moons or systems. We also compromised with planets not being seamlessly explorable or having atmospheric flight.

So at the very least I thought the compensation would be that I could fly my ship around in the solar systems like in NMS or ED but no, space is just a skybox and you MUST fast travel to go anywhere.

What a fantastic space RPG where you can't properly roleplay as most professions in a futuristic space setting, all while running at a buttery smooth 50 FPS at not even 1080p

Not true at all.

You can travel, it's just not fast.
ED Supercruise is interesting the first couple of times, then it's boring af anyway, so fast travel ftw. Landing and takeoffs? Also interesting a few times, then boring af, so I'll take the cutscenes with great sound design there too.

Not true at all, because the choice is NOT

A) Starfield: All fast travel and loading screens.
B) Elite Dangerous: 10 minutes of supercruising to every destination.

There are numerous third options.

There is a very obvious middle ground - and it's been done before. They could have reduced the travel time and made their own supercruise as in No Many's Sky. They could have had a top down "sonar map" approach, they could have 'travel lanes' as in X4.

This would have made space travel into something fun and interesting, and allowed for actually exploring space, and having points of interest "in space" as we have in No Man's Sky, Elite, X4, and other games.

The idea that space travel is limited to tiny bubbles and fast travel is nonsensical, unfun, and indefensible - and its been called out in pretty much every critical review of this game.

[Bearsuit]

I love how unaware OP is. Because you can absolutely fly between planets. Proof positive is on YT. Sure, it's an "image", but you can still fly there.

Hundreds of hours in NMS, I'm over space sim - my god, its a chore.

[GoreTiger]

Originally posted by d-_-b:

Originally posted by Derp:

We compromised with loading screens when you get in and out of your ship, when you land and take off, and when you travel to other planets or moons or systems. We also compromised with planets not being seamlessly explorable or having atmospheric flight.

So at the very least I thought the compensation would be that I could fly my ship around in the solar systems like in NMS or ED but no, space is just a skybox and you MUST fast travel to go anywhere.

What a fantastic space RPG where you can't properly roleplay as most professions in a futuristic space setting, all while running at a buttery smooth 50 FPS at not even 1080p

Not true at all.

You can travel, it's just not fast.
ED Supercruise is interesting the first couple of times, then it's boring af anyway, so fast travel ftw. Landing and takeoffs? Also interesting a few times, then boring af, so I'll take the cutscenes with great sound design there too.

You can also totally fly around asteroid fields to mine, fly around space stations/structures and dock on them, formation fly with other ships if you want, in addition to space combat. Seriously, people need to spend a little more time in their ships exploring what you can actually do instead of repeating this bs that you can't do anything in your ships.

Why in your right mind would you want to just waste time flying from point a to point b anyway? Do what you need to do, then fast travel. If you want to simulate the total boredom of long supercruise, just go to sleep in your bed for a few hours, wake up, then fast travel. It's the same result.

Want to check out the outside? Use free camera mode. Much easier to use then ED's too.

The only things I miss, but they are not dealbreakers either:
. Fly across planet surfaces/atmos, but I can understand why not - it takes MSFS to do that. You can do it in ED, but it's like watching paint dry, NMS as well, but like ED paint drying just more colorful. If it was like MSFS it would be much more interesting, but that's an entirely different game infrastructure/architecture. SC you can, but that's perpetual buggy alpha, a bit like NMS but more realistic.
. Space walking - but I'll use free camera and ship to ship docking instead. X4 spacewalking was kind of cool, but also a little boring after a while too.

"Why would you want to do all the things that make a space game, a space game?"
I'm glad NMS didn't take your advice, Otherwise it never would of improved.