While Bethesda Game Studios won't release the official mod tools until some time in 2024, new Starfield mods are continuously appearing on the Web. Yesterday, modder flexcreator published their first Starfield mod, and it's an interesting one.
As the developers revealed a long time before launch, the sci-fi roleplaying game includes procedural generation of planets (of which there are 1,695, and someone scanned them all). However, the procedural generation is also randomized, which means everyone's landscape and points of interests (POIs) will be different, making it impossible for two players to experience the same Mars or Moon, for instance.
Flexcreator's Consistent World - Custom Seed Starfield mod aims to rectify that. Here's the modder's overview of how the default mechanics works and how the mod changes it:
Planet names and planet biome data are fixed and stored in the game files. The "landings" however are procedurally generated (points of interests and landscape) based on the Seed. The game subsystem "Planet Content Manager" has a Seed value. The Seed is randomly generated each time you create new character and is written into savegames. Same character will carry the same seed, but as soon as you create a new one, a new character will explore a different universe.
There is, however, a way to change the Seed midgame using a console command:
- setini "iPlanetContentManagerSeed:Planet" 14731564
- save the game (feel free to use your own number for the Seed; just don't forget to share it with friends playing Starfield!)
Alternatively, you can download the batch file from the "Files" section of this Starfield mod, place it in the directory with Starfield.exe, run the console command "bat consistent", then save the game. You have to do it just once. The inherited saves will carry the same seed value.
As a result, everyone playing with the same Seed will see exactly the same world. It will be procedural but not random. That means - no matter where Player A lands, her experience would match Player B at this exact planet location - same points of interests, same landscape. The weather and events will differ.
The main reason to remove the randomization of procedural generation with this Starfield mod would be to allow the community to share their findings and discoveries made while exploring the game's universe. Of course, a group of players must agree on a set Seed beforehand.
Starfield players are still waiting for the first meaningful update. Announced nearly a month ago, it should introduce brightness and contrast controls, an HDR calibration menu, a Field of View slider, NVIDIA DLSS and 32:9 Ultrawide Monitor support (PC), and an eat button for food.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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