Starfield is due out in just under two months, and I can’t wait to dive in and lose hours of my life with the game’s ship customization system.
There’s a lot unknown about what you’ll be able to do in the game and that includes how robust the ship customization will be. But Starfield developer Bethesda has been half open about some of the details. There’s an entire segment of the Starfield Direct from June’s Xbox Showcase that was devoted to customizing the ship. And a recent tweet from the morning of July 14 states that players can “customize everything about your ships, right down to their name!”
And honestly, I’m here for it. I’m a sucker for a game with a good customization system. I’m talking about one that will allow you to spend hours diving into every little detail. Fine-tune the look of your characters, which you can also do in Starfield, to find just the right style to display your avatar.
At Starfield, however, I get really excited about the ships. You can mix and match tons of ship parts for what seems like an untold number of combinations. Rearrange things to get the desired mix of ship system values and features. As a larger area for the ship’s crew. Or faster propulsion systems to propel you through space at higher speeds. You can even name your ships. Because why on earth would you go to all the trouble to give players so much customization freedom and not allow ship names? It only seems natural to have them. And luckily Starfield will too.
Customize everything about your ships, right down to their names! 🚀 #Starfield pic.twitter.com/9jC04v1oan
— Starfield (@StarfieldGame) July 14, 2023
Customizing Starfield ships will be like a game in itself
There will be a lot to discover in the game Starfield, including ship customization. So much so that your ship almost feels like a different character with how much you can do with it. According to the game’s lead designer Ryan Sears, players will be amazed at the amount of things you can do. If that turns out to be true, then we’re all in for a good time. Because tinkering with the ship and all its possible outcomes will be a game in itself.
Of course, that all depends on how much you care about this stuff. Not everyone goes super deep into these elements in games. Maybe you’re someone who prefers to do the bare minimum for shipbuilding when you head to the stars in September. And that’s totally fine. But if you Doing like spending time with customization, it looks like you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what Starfield has to offer.
Based on what’s been shown so far alone, there appear to be six ships you can purchase in-game. And you can expand things like the cargo hold, fuselage and more. Not to mention moving all of these part extensions around to create a ship that is truly one of a kind.
A story as old as time
If you’ve spent much of your spare time playing games that are extensive and offer plenty of story-driven missions to complete, then you know how it goes. You can get lost in a number of things that make it easy to stray from the main series progression. It’s a story as old as time and there will surely be a lot for you to do in Starfield.
Although at this point I can only imagine what you need to do to get more ships and more parts. But I can already assure you that whatever it is, I will spend a lot of time on it. Part of me hopes that the nature of collecting materials or currency needed for ship upgrades is significant. Because it gives me something to look forward to every time I fire up the game. Something to chase.
The “carrot on the stick” if you will. I absolutely want to get lost in the Starfield universe. Hunting for resources for whatever I might need them for. And completing a collection of mundane or otherwise less exciting tasks for money that will allow me to buy new parts for the ship. Granted, this all depends on how many ship parts are available to acquire. But if there are tons of them, I’ll happily work on adding them to my own personal collection. All this while ignoring the game’s main story. As much as I can anyway.
It all starts with the shipbuilder mode
The shipbuilder mode is the meat and potatoes. It’s where you probably blink and realize that several hours have passed without you noticing. While you can upgrade individual parts in shipports (where you can also buy ships), shipbuilder mode is where things get really crazy. This mode gives you tons of granular control. You can swap and upgrade your ship’s systems here. But you can also change the layout of each individual module.
This includes the very first ship you get in the game, the Frontier. All the modules you see in the image above are things you can swap and move around. And just looking at it immediately brings to mind playing with LEGOs. Where I put something together only to take it apart again 20 minutes later. I wouldn’t be happy with how things were set up. So I would take them apart and rearrange them. Getting closer and closer to my goal of an ultimate creation. I can see myself falling into a similar endless pit of customization in Starfield.
Once the ship is finished, I’ll be free to finally explore the universe and take on more missions. The thing is, Starfield promises some crazy customization mechanics. The universe is your oyster and it all starts with your ship. Starfield launches on September 6 for Xbox Series X/S and PC.
