Veteran Starfield developer surprised by sheer number of loading screens added late in development

Veteran Bethesda developer Nate Purkeypile revealed his surprise at the large number of loading zones in Starfield on launch.

[neutralgamer1992]

For a game which was 15 to 20 years to what Bethesda wanted to do for a long time and for them to do such a poor job of it it's just next level disappointment

Can't fly your ships loading screens everywhere a broken game map a very boring story way too much AI generated content

[cloganart]

There is also the problem that when you work on for something for such a long time in this field, some of the tech back end is already a decade old by the time of release.

Won't be the case for the next TES. But Starfield has been kneecapped by its ambition and engine.

[Profchaos]

Creation engine that was used should have been scrapped prior to fallout 4 yet here we are seeing their games fail to do what their competition does with ease.

Ti me the biggest turn off for starfield was just how clunky it is.

If you're still prompting me with tutorials on how to play the game in text windows 6 hours after starting that's just poor game design. The loading gates are frustrating but it's like they did everything they could to kill immersion by putting some friction in front of the user another system they had to master or loading screen or crippled space section

[Armaggedon]

@Profchaos

Their “competition “ isnt doing what they do, and thats the thing people miss. There is a reason developers dont make games like Bethesda, because it is very risky. Cyberpunk came out a buggy mess and it want even close to the number of permutations a gsme like starfield handles.

[Christopher]

Yeah, CP2077 came out a mess. But look at it now because it had a good base and really good writing and quest design. Starfield has really good ship building and space combat, but not much else.

[jznrpg]

It probably wasn’t running well with bigger spaces/connected areas and they had to zone off areas for better performance. The cause of that could be design choices, engine etc. That would be my guess.

[dveio]

I strongly believe Bethesda's Creation Engine is just completely exhausted.

I always think of it as it is with Internet speed - you can plug in Ethernet cables, do some router adjustments, keep it up-to-date or even change DNS servers for a better ping.

And it works.

But eventually, no matter what else you do, you just can't increase the actual speed available on your connection.

You then need a better or a new one to go further.

Starfield won't be the promoted "game of a generation". It ain't even now.

[peppeaccardo]

Game engine dated as the ideas behind the game ... milking the sheeps that buy anything bethesda decides to drop in the toilet !

[Pyrofire95]

If the world has to be how it is because they wanted you to be able to simulate 10,000 potatoes at a time then they did a bad job making a game.
They didn't make engine choices based on gameplay they made them for some strange ego.

[LoveSpuds]

I always felt that it wasn't just the engine that was dated, but their game design too. Blows my mind that Todd Howard struts around like he's hot shit when he has overseen such a decline in quality. They have been left completely behind by many much better RPG developers for a long time now.

[Armaggedon]

He left the cycle before the later stages. They made changes, changes that likely require loading screens for stability

[warriorcase]

Engine either needs an entire overhaul or they move on to a pre-packaged engine.

Been playing Cyberpunk 2077 and in a massive city with very high detail, debris, interiors etc, I can drive anywhere and go in anywhere without a single loading screen and even they moved onto an external engine as the upkeep of an internal engine was taking way too many resources.

[isarai]

I really hope they get their crap together for the next elder scrolls. And no, I'm not one of those people that think the on real engine is their solution I actually think that would be just as bad of a decision as sticking with the creation engine. They need to put the same amount of effort into creating something new or overhauling it as they did when first making the creation engine. For some reason it's like they didn't once and can never do it again

[anast]

They could make some extra cash by charging $1 to remove one loading screen.

[S2Killinit]

I wouldn’t put it past MS.

[gold_drake]

i think everyone was surprised Just how many there were.

Toddy boy, as per usual, hyped the game up to unimaginable hights too.

[Smellsforfree]

"Can't fast travel while docked." Watches slow animation of undocking... reopens fast travel screen clicks button again. Yeah, the loading screens don't help but my biggest gripe is that the story line and quest lines are just boring. I'm flabbergasted at the amount of time I've put into the game without doing much of anything. Run back and forth talking to people like nobody has a means of communication in a space age. I'm just getting into Outlaws which I know wasn't well received either, but at least the quests so far have been a lot more interesting and fun than anything in Starfield.