Starfield - Bethesda's new space IP: will probably be full of fun and easily trackable bugs

[Epoch]

File size optimization is a dead art in a lot of modern big games. Expect gigantic data storage for the most mundane of things typically.

Clearly, this is less optimized than Skyrim or Fallout 4 even in the texture department.

Ignore the file sizes, BSA browser seems to not fully work with the new BA2s at the moment. But they are using separate textures for every single channel, including AO. This multiplies the file size by a vast amount when they could be packing a bunch of stuff into single textures. AO could be packed with Roughness (or literally just bake the AO into the colour, all that happens to it in PBR is that it gets multiplied on top anyway, its pointless), normal could be packed with something in the Alpha channel, or even the Blue channel if they solve for Z in shader like they did in Skyrim. Skyrim packs specularity into the normal in the alpha channel, so all objects are just colour and normal, since colour uses alpha for alpha, where as this just uses completely different textures for everything. There is 40gb of texture BA2s and they could cut down each texture set to 4 or fewer textures down from 6 or even 7 with metalness, probably saving upwards of 10+ gig, and lowering the VRAM usage by a lot as well, since you don't need to load 6 or 7 4k textures into memory.

 

[Breadbassket]

Clearly, this is less optimized than Skyrim or Fallout 4 even in the texture department.
View attachment 5308735
Ignore the file sizes, BSA browser seems to not fully work with the new BA2s at the moment. But they are using separate textures for every single channel, including AO. This multiplies the file size by a vast amount when they could be packing a bunch of stuff into single textures. AO could be packed with Roughness (or literally just bake the AO into the colour, all that happens to it in PBR is that it gets multiplied on top anyway, its pointless), normal could be packed with something in the Alpha channel, or even the Blue channel if they solve for Z in shader like they did in Skyrim. Skyrim packs specularity into the normal in the alpha channel, so all objects are just colour and normal, since colour uses alpha for alpha, where as this just uses completely different textures for everything. There is 40gb of texture BA2s and they could cut down each texture set to 4 or fewer textures down from 6 or even 7 with metalness, probably saving upwards of 10+ gig, and lowering the VRAM usage by a lot as well, since you don't need to load 6 or 7 4k textures into memory.

They certainly want to make sure a terabyte drive isn't the size increase it used to be.

 

[Epoch]

Use the console command 'toggletaa off' to turn off the garbage TAA, it makes the hair look stringy and jittery but it makes the game look substantially less blurry.

The volumetric fog has insane ghosting, and the entire game looks washed out, the black level is mid gray, this has to be a bug, no way this is intentional.


They also moved the audio to WWise, so I doubt that mod to force enable HRTF will work, and the mixing is pretty poor right now.

 

[RAT Team Six]

Niggers are 13% of the population yet 50% of Starfield NPCs

 

[Kerr Avon]

It's funny because the Digital Foundry video on it say's it's bug free and well optimised.

It's funny that they still have certain fans after their Hogwarts chimpout

 

[cybertoaster]

Is it Microsoft sanctioned ESG pandering or a bug with NPC spawning? We might never know, and all the mods that even touch it will get banned instantly.

Waiting for the inevitable video of someone shooting all black NPCs for no reason and the outrage at it from the usual suspects.

No spacefaring people would drag it's racial chaff along for the ride.

People in the not that distant past must be wondering the same about out times, and I'm not talking just black people...

i am watching dr disrespect's stream and so far this is my main takeaway

the future has no yppo

View attachment 5308623
View attachment 5308627

Haven't seen NPCs this ugly and badly animated since asseffect andromeda.

These idiots never learn...

 

[Male Idiot]

Okey, so far, the biggest problem is audio. Sometimes, it lags by as much as 15 seconds and stutters.

I was able to run Cyberpunk on full graphics, this ain't that pretty to bonk out even the audio.

I'm thinking they messed up the sound files, propably an unencrypted mess.

Dow2's Relic file compression reduced files to 1/4th of their original size....

 

[Lyster]

Some people are refunding it already, all they needed to do was being more honest and direct in the marketing.

 

[Epoch]

Character creator absolutely sucks, its all just premade shapes you can barely move around, and there are like 6 different red eyes, like 4 brown eyes, and 1 barely blue eye that looks more gray, rip aryan chad characters, also zero green eyes, rip white people I guess?

The UI is also an actual struggle to use with a mouse and it has the same issue Skyrim had where you have to re-hover over things or else the input doesn't work.

This is my hardest attempt to make an ugly oblivion character, its literally impossible because of how shitty this editor is. TAA also is forced on in the racemenu.

Okey, so far, the biggest problem is audio. Sometimes, it lags by as much as 15 seconds and stutters.

I was able to run Cyberpunk on full graphics, this ain't that pretty to bonk out even the audio.

I'm thinking they messed up the sound files, propably an unencrypted mess.

Sound files are in BA2 files like in fallout 4, but they are now labeled WWise Sounds, so they are using audio middleware which runs independently from the game, usually this is good since it means music can keep playing if the game lags or something, but if the game has bad optimization and eats into the CPU which the sound middleware runs on then it can get out of sync.

 

[Evil Peter Griffin]

Isn't New Vegas the game where if you don't follow the path they explicitly laid out for you to make the first half of their narrative work you get mauled to death by overpowered flies and mosquitos?

This guy didn't use a Stealth Boy.

 

[General Emílio Médici]

Clearly, this is less optimized than Skyrim or Fallout 4 even in the texture department.
View attachment 5308735
Ignore the file sizes, BSA browser seems to not fully work with the new BA2s at the moment. But they are using separate textures for every single channel, including AO. This multiplies the file size by a vast amount when they could be packing a bunch of stuff into single textures. AO could be packed with Roughness (or literally just bake the AO into the colour, all that happens to it in PBR is that it gets multiplied on top anyway, its pointless), normal could be packed with something in the Alpha channel, or even the Blue channel if they solve for Z in shader like they did in Skyrim. Skyrim packs specularity into the normal in the alpha channel, so all objects are just colour and normal, since colour uses alpha for alpha, where as this just uses completely different textures for everything. There is 40gb of texture BA2s and they could cut down each texture set to 4 or fewer textures down from 6 or even 7 with metalness, probably saving upwards of 10+ gig, and lowering the VRAM usage by a lot as well, since you don't need to load 6 or 7 4k textures into memory.

I just had a horrendous thought that explains this shitshow.

They are doing the "it just works" Bethesda bullshit. but they don't have the same talent they had when Skyrim came out much less the older folks in Oblivion and OGs from Morrowind. The name might be the same but almost none of the programmers are the same are they? Much less the offices and the skill. You don't have the veterans of coding who knew why they were still using Morrowind and Oblivion code to do some things and the little tricks on how to make sure the modders could get in later to do their Bethesda after launch support.

Starfield was programmed by pajeets and fresh college graduates trying to work back code older than they are. They were likely not even given docs and direction on why shit is done this way. They don't have the smarts to work the spaghetti code into the final plate of a Bethesda RPG, and the few guys who might be smart enough to pull it off are likely not encouraged to put the work in or don't feel like it matters because why should they? It's a AAA game where you are but one in a team of hundreds and no one really have any personal connection to it and the entire things has been turned into a complete corporate venture.

It's cargo cult in code form.

 

[Epoch]

snip

Didn't they hire a bunch of modders or something? I know that modders know absolutely nothing about asset optimization and I have to regularly go through and clean up Skyrim mods myself because they have non existent texture optimization. That would explain the incompetence somewhat, they don't know the actual proper ways of doing things because it just works in Bethesda's engine.

 

[FILTH Tourist]

View attachment 5308798
Some people are refunding it already, all they needed to do was being more honest and direct in the marketing.

Honestly, the fast travel and scripted landing sequence seems like a feature to me. The thing that annoyed me the most about NMS is just how long it can take just to get to the specific landing zone on a planet. If they have spots marked that have points of interests and they can quickly get you there then that's great!

 

[X Prime]

That is not a black person on the left. That is a caricature, a god-damned bipedal ape.

@SIMIΔN confirmed working for Bethesda.

 

[Alter Ego]

Niggers are 13% of the population yet 50% of Starfield NPCs

Rest assured that any mod lessening the % black population will be promptly banned on Nexus.

 

[General Emílio Médici]

Didn't they hire a bunch of modders or something? I know that modders know absolutely nothing about asset optimization and I have to regularly go through and clean up Skyrim mods myself because they non existent texture optimization. That would explain the incompetence somewhat, they don't know the actual proper ways of doing things because it just works in Bethesda's engine.

That would also make things worse. Modders can make for good devs but without direction and focus you are not gonna have a good end result. And of course the fact is modders are used to working backwards from a "finished" game to add things not from the start which would add issues.

Seems to me like a competent developer would have realized the game could be optimized, but we don't have any of those around anymore.

 

[Epoch]

I'm getting 40 - 50 fps on high settings at native res 1440p, 3070ti, 5900x, the shadows look awful no matter what setting and they have bad acne. Game is just ugly

TAA disabled and ini tweak to set FOV to 110, since the fov command no longer works

[Display]
bTemporalAA_idTech7=0
[Camera]
fFPWorldFOV=110.0000
fTPWorldFOV=110.0000

Put this into a file called 'StarfieldCustom.ini' in your My Games/Starfield folder

FOV affects viewmodel like every bethesda game, but in this the LOD bias on the gun viewmodel is so aggressive that sprinting swaps it for the super low res version, seems like this is their idea of optimizing

That must be why there is no FOV slider.

Extremely quick edit since I just noticed, running against a wall keeps the gun close up, its not the FOV changing the distance, they quite literally just lower the LOD while sprinting, I guess its usually hidden behind the absurd motion blur and TAA smearing, but I disabled all that so it sticks out like a sore thumb

 

[xXx: State of the Union]

Rest assured that any mod lessening the % black population will be promptly banned on Nexus.

Isn't there a popuulation density slider?

I'mma just slide that waaaaaaay down low I guess

 

[Not Who You Think]

The player can choose their pronouns, but does the game force the player to respect any NPC's pronouns? For example, will the player be forced to call a man a woman or vice versa, or is the player the only potentially sexually confused entity in the game?

Elder scrolls has zombies and fallout has ghouls, but does this game have an equivalent to those? Killing zombies isn't a big priority for me, but it was a nice change of pace from fighting armored humans with guns/swords.

 

[Mr.Miyagi]

there are like 6 different red eyes, like 4 brown eyes, and 1 barely blue eye that looks more gray, rip aryan chad characters, also zero green eyes, rip white people I guess?

Really? No green eye option at all? That's such a bizarrely specific thing to leave out. It just confuses me.

they quite literally just lower the LOD while sprinting

What? Really? I'm baffled. Are they trying to wring better performance out by doing that? I just don't get it.