Summary
Starfield’s enemy spaceship AI was apparently dumbed down significantly compared to early Bethesda design, according to director Todd Howard. Space combat inStarfield, like most of the game’s systems, can be complex and rewarding should players invest their time into it. But in terms of difficulty, currentStarfieldspace combat is a shadow of what it used to be. In a recent interview, Howard detailed how Bethesda had to make enemies in space easier as it added more space combat features.
Space combat inStarfieldis a surprisingly controversial topic. There’s a solid portion of theStarfieldcommunity that simply doesn’t enjoy fighting against enemy spaceship AI whatsoever. Part of the reason is due to the difficulty of space combat. Players argue that it’s difficult to survive if there’s more than one opponent because movement is so limited that additional enemies can shoot players out of space like ducks in a barrel. Some players recommendswappingStarfield’s difficulty to Very Easy, which can make space combat much more tolerable.
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Todd Howard,Bethesda’s game director forStarfield, recently sat down and talked about space combat difficulty as part of the AIAS Game Maker’s Notebook Podcast. During the podcast, Howard explained that, “it turns out you have to make the AI really stupid,” in space combat. The statement was made after Howard described space combat inStarfieldas initially just “jousting,” perhaps meaning that combat was over fast and unpredictable.
DumbingStarfield’s enemy spaceship AIdown allowed for a more consistent combat experience. Howard would go on to describe how Bethesda had to make enemy spaceships turn in a way that enabled players to shoot them with ease. Bethesda also had to figure out ways for space combat to teachStarfieldplayers how to use their own abilities, like giving enemies boosters so players would try boosting on their own.
Howard also mentioned some of the video games that influenced the design ofStarfield’s space combat gameplay. He mentions bothFTLand oldMechWarriortitles, which players can see inStarfield’s ship customization features. Those systems are toned down, however, which Howard says was necessary so players could understand them without, “having to pause the game in space.”
OnlyStarfieldplayers can judge whether Howard’s efforts to make space combat easily accessible and fun were successful. Successful or not, it’s difficult to argue thatStarfield’s space combatshould be more difficult than it already is. Still, combat that’s more akin to “jousting” does sound exciting in its own way.
Starfieldis available now on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
