Summary

  • Starfield's ship builder feature has allowed players to showcase their creativity by creating unique and inspired starship designs, such as a sword-shaped ship.
  • The ship builder also has gameplay aspects, where players can enhance their starship's strength and capabilities by adding better engines, shields, and fuel canisters.
  • Players have requested improvements to the ship interiors in Starfield, such as having less reliance on ladders and the addition of stairs or elevators for smoother navigation.

Starfield players have used its ship builder to create all sorts of inspired designs, as one fan shared their starship, made to resemble a sword, with the rest of the community. While ship builders have attempted to lovingly recreate some of the most iconic vessels from Star Wars, Star Trek, and other sci-fi franchises, the best part about the feature is that it's modular enough to enable all sorts of original creativity. For example, players have used it to create literal gun-shaped gunships in Starfield, or even traditional sailing boats and retro cars.

The ship builder in Starfield also has a gameplay aspect to it, where non-structural parts have attributes that make a starship stronger. Installing better engines or better shields can give Starfield players more versatility in space combat, while adding fuel canisters lets them jump across more star systems without needing to make a stop. Most notably, attaching cargo holds increases their storage capacity, which can rapidly fill up with all sorts of materials (and junk) as players explore the Settled Systems.

A Christmas train featuring the Starfield logo
Starfield Player Builds a Christmas Train

As the festive season approaches, a Starfield player adds their name to the list of creative designs by building a ship resembling a Christmas train.

By 

For L4westby, their Starfield vessel not only seems to have decent stats, but it also has a rather striking short-sword shape. Appropriately named Gladius, this ship design has its docking port situated at the very tip of the blade, effectively "docking" enemy vessels by piercing them. It has a maximum jump distance of 30 LY and a very respectable shield value of 2880. Given that players can use their ship to ram other enemy vessels at low health, the Gladius could conceivably function much like its namesake when conventional space weaponry is thrown out of the equation.

While Starfield has had its issues that players are hoping Bethesda will address, the ship builder has been one of those features that received near-universal praise from the community. Starfield ship mods have already expanded on what the base game allows by removing certain restrictions, and the release of official modding tools in early 2024 will also likely see an expansion of habitat types and structural part variety.

One aspect that players are asking for is having less reliance on ladders in Starfield to walk through their ship. Solutions such as having two-story habitats with stairs have been suggested since launch, though even an elevator would make the experience much smoother. As Bethesda prepares to launch Shattered Space in 2024, it may be a decent opportunity for the developers to address all player feedback similarly to how Fallout 4 DLCs tightened up its gameplay.

Rating block community and brand ratings Image
Starfield Tag Page Cover Art
10 /10

Starfield
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Action
RPG
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Systems
PC-1 Xbox-1
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Top Critic Avg: 85 /100 Critics Rec: 83%
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Released
September 6, 2023
ESRB
M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs, Strong Language, Violence
Developer(s)
Bethesda
Publisher(s)
Bethesda
Engine
proprietary engine
Cross-Platform Play
no multiplayer
Cross Save
no
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
PHYSICAL
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info

Starfield is the first new universe in 25 years from Bethesda Game Studios, the award-winning creators of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4. In this next generation role-playing game set amongst the stars, create any character you want and explore with unparalleled freedom as you embark on an epic journey to answer humanity’s greatest mystery.
The year is 2330. Humanity has ventured beyond our solar system, settling new planets, and living as a spacefaring people. From humble beginnings as a space miner, you will join Constellation – the last group of space explorers seeking rare artifacts throughout the galaxy – and navigate the vast expanse of the Settled Systems in Bethesda Game Studios’ biggest and most ambitious game.

How Long To Beat
20 Hours
Metascore
86
Genre(s)
Action, RPG