I had the pleasure of reviewing Starfield and have been playing this sci-fi epic for a few weeks now, and while I was impressed with the deep RPG system and engaging side quests, I was really disappointed with the space exploration.
Exploring numerous star systems has been one of Starfied's most proud features since pre-release, allowing players to visit over 1,000 Planets, many of which are randomly generated with each playthrough . Given the vastness of the explorable world of
Starfield, the maps of Skyrim and Fallout 4 seem small by comparison. To achieve this scale without forcing developers to work long hours, Bethesda had to employ a technique called Procedural Generation.
Procedural Generation creates in-game content on demand using an algorithm and set of metrics specified by the game developer. With Starfield, Bethesda set many parameters to maximize planetary diversity. The planet's topography, gravity strength, temperature, atmosphere, magnetosphere, water quality, available resources, and number of life forms (if any) are displayed on a sliding scale.
By randomly generating all of these metrics, the algorithm allows Bethesda's talented team of game developers to avoid having to manually design each of his 1000+ planets individually, giving them a variety of different planets for each playthrough. You can create planets.
Procedural generation is not quite the same as artificial intelligence. The latter uses machine learning to improve its algorithms over time. Still, Julian Togelius, co-director of the New York University Game Innovation Lab, believes procedural generation has enough similarities to say that generative AI is the same, at least in terms of the methods of movement used in game development. told Wired. .
When it comes to Starfield, procedural generation works similarly to artificial intelligence in that it creates a world that can be explored by algorithms, rather than handcrafted by humans. In theory, relying on procedural generation to create a universe of this magnitude makes sense, but I felt it had an undesirable impact on the game experience.
Procedurally generated planets were very boring to explore. Yes, the planets looked completely different, but they were all limited in terms of interactivity. Bethesda cleverly added random events that could happen on any planet, such as pirates taking over an abandoned space station or a group of explorers seeking a vehicle getting stranded. However, such events are recycled from planet to planet, which not only makes dialogue more and more tedious, but also less immersive.
By comparison, pre-made planets like Voli Alpha and Akira are covered in more prominent sights, such as densely populated cities. Neon City was a personal favorite. The cyberpunk vibe, rampant crime, and plenty of story-driven side quests make the world feel real and a lot of fun. Procedural generation cannot achieve this level of detail.
