Starfield Developer on Balancing Fun and Realism: Not Every Planet is “Supposed to be Disney World”

"The point of the vastness of space is you should feel small. It should feel overwhelming," says Bethesda managing director Ashley Cheng.

Posted By | On 04th, Sep. 2023

starfield

Starfield will be released worldwide on September 6th, but it’s had hundreds of thousands of players courtesy of early access. Many are already having fun traversing the universe and its +1000 planets. However, not all have heaps of content, which matches director Todd Howard’s statement that only 10 percent have life on them.

Speaking to The New York Times, studio managing director Ashley Cheng shined more light on the barren planets. The studio had to balance “enjoyment and authenticity”, and not every planet “is supposed to be Disney World.” This approach also emphasizes the “vastness of space” and how small the player feels in the face of it.

“The point of the vastness of space is you should feel small. It should feel overwhelming. Everyone’s concerned that empty planets are going to be boring. But when the astronauts went to the moon, there was nothing there. They certainly weren’t bored.”

Of course, each planet in Starfield does have something to do, from mining resources to surveying life and setting up outposts. The good news is that there’s plenty of handcrafted content, like in the Volii Alpha system, which is home to the cyberpunk-esque city of Neon. There’s also New Atlantis on the planet Jemison in the Alpha Centauri system.

For more details on Starfield, check out our review and various tips and tricks here.


Amazing Articles You Might Want To Check Out!

Share Your Thoughts Below  (Always follow our comments policy!)



Keep On Reading!

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Accolades Trailer Highlights Critical Acclaim

Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred Accolades Trailer Highlights Critical Acclaim

Blizzard Entertainment's action RPG received its first paid expansion recently, seeing widespread acclaim from...

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Trailer Highlights Mysteries, Timelines, and More

Life is Strange: Double Exposure Trailer Highlights Mysteries, Timelines, and More

Returning protagonist Max Caulfield will find herself trying to unravel the mysteries behind her friend's deat...

Silent Hill 2 Remake Peaks at Over 23,000 Concurrent Steam Players Upon Launch

Silent Hill 2 Remake Peaks at Over 23,000 Concurrent Steam Players Upon Launch

Konami and Bloober Team's survival horror remake is seeing decent numbers upon release, but not to the level o...

Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Sees Over 91,000 Concurrent Steam Players, Surpassing Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and More

Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO Sees Over 91,000 Concurrent Steam Players, Surpassing Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and More

Bandai Namco and Spike Chunsoft's 3D fighter became available in early access for Deluxe and Ultimate Edition ...

God of War Ragnarok Will be PS5 Pro Enhanced

God of War Ragnarok Will be PS5 Pro Enhanced

SIE Santa Monica Studio's action-adventure title will be one of several first-party games to receive PS5 Pro e...

Red Dead Redemption PC Requirements Revealed

Red Dead Redemption PC Requirements Revealed

The open world Wild West epic, which originally released in 2010, will finally launch for PC later this month....