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God of War writer flies to a planet in Starfield without the loading break, sort of"Pluto confirmed flat!"
“Pluto confirmed flat!”
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Softworks
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda Softworks
One of the bigger Discourse torpedoes aimed atStarfield’s glittering hull over the past month has been its strict division between planetary surfaces and outer space. Space sim fanatics were dismayed to learn that you can’t actually fly down to the surface of the planets you’re orbiting - instead, you hit a button to initiate a loading break and a landing cutscene, which makes outer space feel more like a glorified airlock chamber than, well, outer space. This segmented approach has prompted many unflattering comparisons withNo Man’s Sky, in which you can manually pilot through the atmosphere.
Streamer and Sony Santa Monica writer Alanah Pearceset herself the goalof travelling from Pluto’s orbit to Pluto itself over the weekend,leaving her ship in transit overnight and waking herself up at 30 minute intervals to course-correct. She had to course-correct because planets in Starfield do actually follow orbits, which is a nice touch. After seven hours of Old-Man-and-the-Sea-esque penury she made the trip. Sort of.
Unlike planetary maps, Starfield’s orbital playspaces don’t seem to have invisible boundaries. You can indeed fly up close to the “planet” you’re orbiting - whereupon you’ll clip inside it, and eventuallypop out the other side. Honestly, I think this sounds brilliant. Perhaps evenElder Scrolls-esque. Mysterious are the workings of spacetime!
Alice B is powering away at our fashionably lateStarfield review, which confuses me a little asI thought I’d already written it. Are you playing the Premium early access release? What do you think?
