A Starfield player has discovered evidence of complex exploration and survival features removed during development, buried in the game’s files.

Based on recent data mining results, it appears that Starfield was a much more complex and difficult game to develop, with several space travel mechanics removed from the final version. While Starfield has undoubtedly been a success for Microsoft, many gamers have expressed disappointment with Bethesda’s latest sandbox game, especially when compared to previous titles such as Skyrim and Fallout 4. Starfield’s most recent rating on Steam is only 28%, and the number of players is steadily declining.

While Bethesda deserves praise for taking the bold step of introducing procedural generation to Starfield, the public response to the game’s exploration cycle has been lukewarm. Many fans have praised Starfield’s shipbuilding feature, but just as many have criticized the monotonous wandering around the barren planets of settled systems, coupled with uninspiring loading screens and a user interface that leaves something to be desired.

However, it seems that more emphasis has been placed on survival elements in the development of Starfield, as Todd Howard confirmed in an earlier interview. A fan, redsaltyborger, discovered remnants of Starfield’s old star map in the game’s files, which makes this find particularly interesting in that the star systems had features and dangers that players had to face. This suggests that space travel played a larger role in Starfield before its release, and the map reinforces discarded mechanics such as fuel consumption and interstellar trade.

Early concept/iteration of the starmap found tucked away in data files
byu/redsaltyborger inNoSodiumStarfield

The map depicts Leviathan IV, with a brief lore description that it is a mineral-rich system used by pirates to hide valuables. This feature is missing from Starfield’s current UI, and its addition would have greatly enhanced the atmosphere and history of settled systems. In addition, Leviathan IV previously featured solar radiation and micrometeoroids, two hazards that would have made space travel difficult – the first could cause minor hull damage, while the second could have been fatal to the player’s ship.

Bethesda told us that Starfield had become a joy to play after seven years of development, so there was probably a good reason for removing these mechanics. Starfield’s economy is static, players can quickly travel from planet to planet, they don’t have to worry about running out of fuel, and there are no dangers in space. While this makes for stable gameplay, some players on the Reddit forums feel that the final version feels bloated.

With a major Starfield update scheduled for February 2024, Bethesda has already begun post-launch support for the game. Although the update will focus mainly on bug fixes, the developers hint that a “new travel mode” could be added to the game in the first half of 2024. Ultimately, it remains to be seen if these cut features will ever reappear in the game.

Source: Gamerant