No man’s sky accomplishes procedural generation 1000x better than Starfield
*yes I know these games are very different obviously, but my criticisms could be applied to any game using procedural generation*
I’ve been returning to nms after finishing Starfield’s main story, side quests (most), faction quests, etc. I even made a point to discover all star systems.
In no man’s sky, space is truly endless, yet there are TONS of poi’s, quests, and seamless travel in and out of space, not just a series of loading screens. I refuse to be gaslit into thinking this feature is somehow trivial or not important in a space game made in 2023. Come on people. Not only is space effectively unlimited in nms, there is INCENTIVE FOR EXPLORATION unlike Starfield, where there is jack shit to do in high level systems.
Immediately after scrapping for resources to build the different warp drives in nms, I am rewarded for my hard work by getting access to rarer resources, rarer ships, rarer encounters and poi’s, and rarer more unique planets and systems. This is an excellent use for procedural generation because the game slowly ramps up what planets, creatures, resources, etc. you have access to. So many times I’ll land in a planet and genuinely feel like I have not seen anything like it. Starfield biomes DO vary, but not nearly as much. This downfall is compounded by the fact that Starfield doesn’t have that many poi’s, and in order to reach them you have to go through the loading screen barrage just to slowly run across nothingness on the way there.
IMO, as far as map-based procedural generation goes, it’s all or nothing. nms gives you the “all” and Starfield sits in this awkward middle ground where space feels finite because most of your play time is around the same systems, you aren’t incentivized to travel that much, not that many poi’s, and depending on your allegiance in the factions, many of the Starfield POIs are simply not fun.
I sided with the crimson fleet so a good 60% of the poi’s with the objective to clear pirates out, becomes useless. Why couldn’t they just replace them with spacers if it already knows you’re sided with the crimson fleet! 🙄
So ultimately, both games have procedurally generated worlds, but Starfield feels, and literally is, infinitely smaller. I will grant that Bethesda’s world building is unparalleled and that goes for Starfield as well, but the gameplay itself seems to fall short and there are too many immersion breakers for me to come back to the game. For now, I’m super happy coming back after all these amazing updates to no man’s sky.
submitted by /u/Buckwheat333
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