Me slaughtered the performance at launch. Has Bethesda fixed the game yet?

#slaughtered #performance #launch #Bethesda #fixed #game

Bethesda games are a bit like good cheese. They often need a year or two to mature, and there is rarely any point in buying them at launch.

The developer has become notorious for releasing unfinished games. Their strategy is apparently based on the fact that the players themselves have to correct all minor errors through modifications.

Starfield was no exception when it was launched in September.

But things happen. During 2024, Bethesda will come with both an expansion and the mod tool Creation Kit, and on May 15 they will release the biggest update for the game to date.

The developer has fixed many of the problems since launch. You can already download the update in Steam’s Beta program, and I have tried.

Progress

Bethesda has made changes to both the technical and game mechanics aspects of the game.

The player gets, among other things, more detailed maps, more options to set the difficulty level, new choices for the inside of the ship, the option to change the figure with New Game Plus and a number of minor changes that make the experience better.

The update has also weeded out a long list of small bugs. Everything from characters that don’t respond, quests that stop to textures that disappear, have been removed.

That doesn’t mean that Starfield is still a flawless experience, but it has definitely gotten better.

20 percent faster

During the five hours with the new update, I have experienced characters that want to talk to me, movie sequences that start out of the blue, textures that flicker and enemies that don’t take damage.

But the game hasn’t crashed. It has also not been mistakes that have stopped me from doing assignments.

It is an improvement since the last time.

The performance is probably where I notice the biggest difference. I haven’t played Starfield since September, so here things have probably happened gradually through several updates.

Areas with many people in particular are less demanding on the processor, and you notice this well with slightly older computers and in lower resolutions.

This is how the numbers look with Nvidia’s flagship RTX 4090 and an Intel Core-i9 13900k processor:

Setting level (4K without FSR, New Atlantis)Frame rate, averageAverage frame rate, 1% lowUltra, launch6152Ultra May Update7350High, launch7160High, May update7753

The frame rate has on average increased by 20 percent at the “ultra” setting level. The difference is smaller on “high”.

The lowest level of the frame rate is also reduced, actually quite significantly on “high”. Strange, but the flow is definitely better thanks to the lower frame time.

The game is not as choppy. Unfortunately, you will occasionally experience significant drops in frame rate in new areas, but this is mostly short-lived.

The measurements are made with the viewing angle of 85. Bethesda introduced a switch for this after launch, but on PC you can use the command line to change this more than the switch allows.

Help with upscaling

Bethesda introduced the AI ​​upscaling technique DLSS some time after launch.

DLSS is still the best upscaling, but I experienced a few cases where textures flashed like Christmas tree lights. FSR3 is far worse. It has major problems with poor edge smoothing and flickering textures.

It seems that DLSS also gives somewhat better performance.

RTX 4090, 4KFrame rate, averageAverage frame rate, 1% lowUltra, DLSS Quality (67 percent resolution)8960FSR3 (67 percent resolution)8458 Ultra, without upscaling7350

The game has supported Frame Generation for AMD since launch. In the autumn it also came to Nvidia, but I haven’t been able to get it to work.

If I turn it on in the menu, it’s off when I open it again.

Thousands of modifications

Bethesda’s games would not have been the same without the large mod communities. Starfield already has over 7,000 modifications on NexusMods, and it’s a lot of fun to play with.

The Creation Kit is not out yet, so there are fewer major modifications, but there are many useful modifications for weapons, skills, figures and general game mechanics.

Reddit user nineties_nostalgia posted a nice overview of the highlights a little while ago.

Many of the modifications require Starfield Script Extender to work, but the modifications probably need an adjustment for the new update. It may take a while.

Worth downloading?

The new update fixes a lot in Starfield, but has not made the game more attractive for me. That is because the biggest problems in Starfield are about completely different things than the technical.

The story, the exploration and the universe are still the same. If you didn’t like Starfield at launch, you’re unlikely to like it now either.

I’m crossing my fingers for an engaging expansion, but have more faith that the modders will make the game worth the price tag in the end. That is why I am most excited about the Creation Kit.

In Bethesda games, it’s about being patient. Then you can also get the game at a lower price.

Nevertheless, this is primarily a technical review, and the performance is undoubtedly better. There are fewer small errors, and the gaming experience is raised a small notch. Bethesda shows that they are trying.