Bethesda have released a 7 minute developer diary for their upcoming space roleplaying game Starfield.

There aren't any major revelations in it but Game Director Todd Howard does have a few interesting things to say.

I think the one thing people underestimate about video games is that people think it's just play time but I always say that the one thing video games can give you that nothing else in entertainment can is that feeling of pride.

Right. Look at what I did.

And even though we want to make a game that is very big and is very long you can play for all those years, it's all the paths you didn't take that make it special to you.

He didn't but we are going to say it - "achievements".

Achievements

They've become a popular staple among game developers but are not considered value adding by every gamer.

At their most basic they introduce tedious checklists to a game, like kill 10,000 rats.

Unless you especially despise rats it's the not the sort of thing you'd do if you just played the game for enjoyment and immersion.

Others require you to make certain choices during quests and take paths you otherwise wouldn't through its story.

Sure, developers spend a lot of time crafting those alternate story routes but players aren't passive receivers for that content and "achievements" which require players to replay the game to see all of those various paths?

No thanks.

Not the only problem in this department though and we can point to Fallout 4 as a prime example of others.

Fallout 4

It's a hugely popular and successful game so obviously they got a lot of things right.

But in a similar vein to achievements, some of Fallout 4's character progression mechanics (perks) and equipment require gameplay potentially very at odds with how players would choose to play.

Their final DLC Nuka World is the worst offender.

Leading up to that point a big part of the game is helping to build for and settle refugees in a post apocalyptic Earth. Nice.

Nuka World tips that on its head and introduces pillaging and plundering raiders. 

You can just walk in there and wipe them all out but that permanently locks you out of some choice perks and equipment.

Players either need to horrifically ally with and allow raiders to pillage and plunder and terrorise settlements, then later betray them.

Alternatively start a new game and play the raider content before building and settling people, so they have no-one to terrorise, and then betray them. Before playing the rest of the game.

Less horrific but it's also in artifical kill 10,000 rats territory.

We look at design like this and shake our head.

It's a far cry from the likes of Morrowind which did lock some equipment behind certain quest choices, but those items were weaker than equipment which players could make for themselves.

Like most Bethesda games, Fallout 4 allows mods and some of those can fix problems like this but not everyone wants to have to research and piece together their own game.

Stepping Out With Todd

Todd also threw out a cryptic tease.

We always have that step out moment into the world.

So to say.

Technology has changed. We've all changed so our expectations when loading up a game, like I'm going to step out and have this moment.

Us being able to do that and have it feel new every generation, every game is something that is really special about what we do.

I like to say that Starfield has two stepout moments. That's cryptic.

That could mean a lot of things and possibly the internet is abuzz with people trying to guess what it is.

We are slightly curious. Tease successful. But will just wait for it to be revealed.

Starfield is due to release on November 11, 2022 for PC and XBox only.

[ Main Image: Starfield developer diary. Credit: Bethesda via YouTube. ]

References

Bethesda Softworks (December 1, 2021). Into the Starfield: The Endless Pursuit. YouTube.