What you need to know
- The latest patch for Bethesda Game Studios' Starfield is now available in beta testing on Steam.
- This update adds NVIDIA DLSS support, allowing players using NVIDIA hardware to get vastly better framerates without hurting image quality.
- The update also adds HDR and brightness calibration, alongside a number of bug fixes.
- This update will leave beta testing and be available for all players on Xbox and PC sometime later in the month.
- Update, Nov. 20, 2023: The update has left beta testing and is now available on all platforms.
Update:
Bethesda Softworks shared on Monday that the Starfield update has exited Steam beta testing, meaning it's now available for all Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC players. The update is around 14.56GB to download, though the total size of the game won't increase by that much.
Original story:
Another update is here for Bethesda Game Studios' spacefaring adventure, though there's a caveat attached.
Bethesda shared on Wednesday that the latest update for Starfield is now available in beta testing form on Steam, giving players the chance to opt into the beta and try the changes out. The update will roll out for all players on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC at some point later in the month once this public testing period is complete.
The biggest thing added with this update is NVIDIA DLSS support, meaning any PC players with supported NVIDIA graphics cards can utilize Super Resolution, Deep Learning Anti-aliasing, NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency, and Frame generation for a smoother experience.
Additionally, there's a number of other improvements, including HDR calibration settings and bug fixes. The full patch notes can be found below:
Performance and stability
- Addressed a number of memory related issues and leaks.
- [PC Only] Add some GPU performance optimizations, which will be more impactful on higher end cards.
- [PC Only] Improved renderer threading model, improving CPU usage most notably on higher end systems.
- Various stability and performance improvements.
Gameplay
- Added the ability to eat the food placed in the world
- Adjusted stealth to be a bit more forgiving.
- Fixed an issue where Andreja’s head would stay permanently cloaked.
- Fixed an issue that could prevent players from firing their weapons.
- Fixed issues where some NPC could be seen not wearing clothes.
- Fixed an issue where already in-progress skill challenges could stop progressing after reaching the Unity and starting a new game.
- Fixed an issue that could temporarily prevent opening the inventory or saving after entering the Unity.
- PC: Fixed an issue where mouse movement could be choppy.
- Fixed a rare issue that could cause the home ship to be lost.
- Fixed an issue where the ship services technician might be missing.
Graphics
- Addressed an issue with how ambient occlusion appeared in ultrawide resolutions.
- Optimized initial shader compilation that occurs on start-up.
- Added the ability to adjust Brightness and Contrast in the Display Settings menu.
- Added the ability to adjust HDR Brightness provided that the system supports it. (Xbox & Windows 11 only).
- Addressed a number of materials that could sometimes present an unintended pattern under certain conditions.
- Fixed various visual issues related to the new FOV slider options.
- Improved the appearance of the eyes on crowd characters.
- Addressed a number of minor visual issues related to lighting, shadows, terrain, and vegetation.
Quests
- All That Money Can Buy: Fixed a rare issue where players couldn’t sit during the negotiation with Musgrove.
- Blast Zone: Fixed an issue where the hard rocks that need to be cleared out by players will not appear on Ngodup Tate’s land.
- Echoes of the Past: Fixed an issue where the Grylloba Queen could sometimes not be reachable during the objective “Secure the Shuttle Bay”.
- Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue where players' quest progression could potentially be blocked due to a missing docking prompt.
- Grunt Work: Addressed an issue where progress could appear blocked if “Supra et Ultra” was completed while returning to the Lodge during “High Price to Pay”.
- No Sudden Moves: Fixed an issue the that could prevent the entrance door to the Scow ship from being opened again.
- Operation Starseed: Fixed an issue where the key that is needed to exit the facility could sometimes not be present.
- Sabotage: Fixed an issue where David Barron could potentially not be found by players.
- Short Sighted: Fixed an issue where players could rarely become control-locked while speaking with Vladimir.
- The Heart of Mars: Fixed an issue where players might not be able to mine the “The Heart of Mars”.
Analysis: Cool to see, but hopefully other players aren't waiting long
This is a pretty big update, and I know these bug fixes, HDR support, and DLSS implementation are going to be a big deal for a lot of players. Publicly testing it is fine, but I do hope everyone gets this update sooner rather than later. This month is a decent release window, but it would be nice if we could get at least one more update after that before the team gets a holiday break.
Looking ahead, the Fallout 4 current-generation update is still technically supposed to launch sometime this year as it hasn't been delayed. Bethesda Game Studios is also planning to make the Starfield Creation Kit available sometime in early 2024, so there's a lot to look forward to in the coming months. With Starfield being the best-selling game of September in the U.S, hopefully we'll continue to see this game supported for a long time to come.
