Gaming
Starfield Problems: 5 Things You Need to Know
Starfield problems are plaguing gamers on Xbox and Windows. With that in mind, we want to take a look at everything you need to know about the game’s issues, offer places to go for fixes, and show you how to report bugs should you encounter them during your play through.
Bethesda’s space RPG is an ambitious, complex game with tons of moving parts. It features tons of quests, items, characters, towns, enemies, and more.
And while Starfield is more polished than its predecessors (Fallout 4, Skyrim, etc), it’s far from perfect. It has its fair share of problems.
In the hours since its launch, we’ve been hearing about some of the Starfield problems plaguing the game on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and Windows PC.
Table of Contents
So today we want to take a look at the current state of Starfield problems, a look ahead at official fixes, and some resources that will come in handy should you run into trouble.
Starfield Day One Patch
Bethesda released a day one patch for both Xbox and Windows that fixed performance issues, bugs, and various problems with gameplay. The update brings the game to version 1.7.23.0.
Unfortunately, Bethesda hasn’t officially released the patch notes, but thanks to a leak from the typically reliable Insider-Gaming, we can share the fixes the update brings to the game.
Performance and Stability Fixes
- Improved stability related to suspending and resuming the game. (Xbox Series X/S)
- Fixed rare crash that could occur when viewing the credits after completing the game.
- Fixed crash that could appear when repeatedly loading some saves inside of ships.
- Various stability and performance improvements.
Visual Fixes
- Fixed an issue where sometimes hair would not appear on characters.
- Improved distant object appearance when transitioning to the surface of a planet.
- Addressed an issue that sometimes caused face animations to move abruptly.
- Fixed an issue where rarely in certain views white flashing boxes could appear in the Handscanner.
- Fixed an issue that would cause an undesirable texture blend near the coastline.
- Fixed an issue that would cause textures to degrade unnecessarily. (Xbox Series S)
Gameplay Fixes
- Fixed a rare issue that could cause Companions to float in the air.
- Fixed an issue that could cause some ship modules to become misaligned.
- Fixed some issues that would prevent touch-down points from turning red in Ship Builder.
- Fixed an issue that could cause the player to appear incorrectly when equipping items.
- Addressed an issue that could prevent the Isolation skill from behaving as intended.
- Adjusted the distance the player is able to access and store cargo in their ship.
- Fixed an issue that could sometimes cause a long delay on the Press any button screen.
Quest Fixes
- Fixed rare issue that could cause ship patrols not to appear for “First to Fight, First to Die.”
- Addressed a rare issue where the Contraband scan would not occur potentially preventing landing at New Atlantis.
- Fixed an unlikely issue that could prevent landing at New Atlantis during “Deep Cover.”
- Fixed an issue that could prevent Heat Leeches from counting as killed after completing “A Legacy Forged.”
- Fixed how a location would appear near a hidden Earth landmark.
- Fixed a rare issue that could potentially trap the player in The Facility.
- Addressed an infrequent issue where a Spacer Ship didn’t correctly appear for a radiant quest.
- Fixed an unlikely issue that could appear during “Revelation” depending on how the player interacted with the Emissary.
- Addressed an issue with the Deimos Slim bottom ship module that is used on the Razorleaf.
- Fixed rare issue that could prevent companions from accompanying the player after “No Sudden Moves”.
- Addressed a rare issue that could impact “Power from Beyond.”
Look for Bethesda to release a new Starfield patch in the near future.
Starfield Support
It’s important to remember this is a marathon not a sprint. Problems in massive, open world RPG’s are normal and there’s little chance Starfield will ever be bug free.
The developer plans to support this game for many years. Part of that support comes in the way of mods and DLC (Downloadable Content), but Bethesda will also continuously patch the game to improve its performance and eradicate bugs.
Bethesda hasn’t confirmed the next Starfield update but the hope is that the company will get into the habit of posting upcoming updates on its website and social media accounts. Much like it did for Fallout 4.
You’ll want to bookmark those and check in regularly if you’re experiencing issues or you simply want to stay up-to-date about the status of the game.
Starfield Problems
As we push away from Starfield’s release date, we’ve heard about the problems impacting the game. Some of these issues are extremely minor, others, like crashes, are a pretty big deal.
So far, we’ve heard about issues with textures, language problems, loading screen issues, crashes, problems with mods, issues with saves, sound problems, and more.
We expect complaints about the bugs and other problems to pick up as more people download the game and as Bethesda releases new patches.
Patches are great, but they often introduce unforeseen problems of their own. So before you download a Starfield update, you might want to hunt for feedback about its performance.
How to Report Starfield Problems
You can, and should, report Starfield problems as you see them.
The most logical place is Bethesda’s own Starfield support page. The developer will use the feedback sent in via its website to improve the game and your bug report could help save thousands of players from a potential headache.
You might also choose to report a bug on social media sites like Twitter, the growing Starfield Reddit, Steam forums, or the appropriate Bethesda Discord channel.
Where to Find Help
If you ran into a Starfield problem today, or if you run into one down the road, there are a few resources that you’ll want to keep on your radar.
We’ve released a guide that provides fixes for some of the more basic Starfield issues. We’ll continue to add to the guide as time goes on.
We also recommend hunting around for potential fixes on social media sites like Twitter, the Starfield Reddit, and/or the Steam forums if you’re playing on Windows.
If you run into a Starfield issue on the Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, and it’s not directly related to a quest or an item in the game, you may want to get into contact with Microsoft.
You can also search for more information about Xbox error codes right here.
Enhanced Player Heath Bar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Let's start with a Starfield mod that's extremely basic, but has a huge impact on gameplay. Enhanced Player Heath Bar is a popular Starfield mod for PC that simply changes the player's health bar color when health reaches 75%, 50% and 25%. At 75% health your player's health bar will change to yellow. At 50%, it changes to orange. And if you're at 25% and close to dying, it will of course change to red. It's simple, but it's extremely nice at a glance, especially when you're in a particularly tough fight with Terrormorphs or a group of mercs. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||