![16 Of The Best Starfield Mods We’ve Seen So Far [Updated]](https://www.kotaku.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/BETHESDA.png?quality=75&w=640&h=360&crop=1)
Starfield mods are already spreading across the internet, even though the game has only been available in early access for a few days (at the time of writing). From community-made packages that address specific bugs to custom helmet visors or funny flashlight memes, the list of available mods on the Starfield NexusMods page is growing rapidly.
Many of the early mods for Bethesda’s latest RPG are built around disagreements with the studio’s choice of colour palette. Many of the game’s planets have specific tints to their light — not all suns and atmospheres are created equal, and the light looks different from world to world. Fuck that, say the palette modders. All planets should look like Earth regardless of their proximity to their nearest celestial bodies, and we have the technology to make that happen. There are already stacks of reshade and recolour mods that strip the tint out of the light on particular planets. I won’t be listing any of those in this piece, but if those are the sorts of mods you’d like to get hold of, you can find them right over here.
Rather, this piece will focus on mods that might have some utility to you as a player, particularly on PC. All of these mods can be found on NexusMods. Let’s get started.
Updated 5/9/23: The Script Extender is here! Also corrected the record on the AMD FSR2 section — you guys are right, I goofed that one. Blame it on the early start. — David.
Starfield Script Extender (SFSE)
Here it is: the Starfield Script Extender, perhaps the most important mod the game will ever get — and it’s arrived before the game is even officially out of early access. As PC Gamer noted this morning, the Script Extender adds a number of additional scripting tools that modders can use to expand the scope of their projects beyond what Bethesda allows by default. It is considered the true starter pistol for mod development on any Bethesda RPG — must-have mods like Skyrim‘s SkyUI don’t exist without the capabilities a Script Extender can provide. Expect the mod scene to grow rapidly over the coming months with this mod in hand.
Starfield Upscaler
One of the most popular mods of the moment pushes AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution 2 (or FSR2) aside and adds Nvidia DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) or Intel XeSS (Xe Super Sampling) support. The baseline idea behind this tech, for those not familiar or particularly technical, is that FSR2 and DLSS use AI to create additional frames in your video games. In so doing, the overall load on your graphics card is decreased, allowing it to output a lot more than if it were trying to do everything itself. This leads to a jump in image quality for those running compatible graphics cards.
In the case of Starfield, Bethesda and Xbox inked a deal with AMD to make its FSR2 super resolution tech the game’s official super sampling solution on PC. Tale as old as time. Publishers have been making these kinds of hardware deals forever. However, the modders said, “We don’t care about your brand deal,” and had a working mod live for Nvidia and Intel card owners within around 16 hours of Starfield entering early access. To be clear, you don’t NEED an AMD card for FSR2 to work, but, for those that want their card’s specific super sampling solution, now they can have it.
Starfield Performance Optimisations
This next mod is a rolling catalogue of crowd-sourced bugfixes and performance enhancements for Starfield. Though the game seems to be in fairly good shape by Bethesda’s notoriously bug-ridden standards, a few issues have slipped under the radar. You can find the full (and growing) list of patch notes on the mod’s NexusMods page.
Achievement Enabler
One of the ways Starfield tries to stop people from cheesing all the game’s achievements and unlocking them without putting in the work is to turn them off the second mods are activated. But what if we simply used another mod to turn them back on? Good news, you can now use all the mods you like, and you won’t lose access to those precious chievos.
Starfield FOV
Starfield has a set FOV, and this has put many players’ teeth on edge. There are already several mods to expand the game’s default FOV for those for those who absolutely must have a full 180 degrees of vision, or otherwise view the world through a fish eye lens.
Cleanfield
There’s also a number of mods that dump the game’s opening video. One, called Cleanfield, gets rid of the opening videos and cleans up the main menu (aka removes the Bethesda logo and the message of the day box) allowing you to get into the game that little bit faster.
Better HUD
What it says on the tin. Lots of UI improvements to the default HUD, some of which may be useful to you.
DualSense PS5 Icons
Because Starfield is an Xbox game, the button icons it displays onscreen when playing with a controller on PC are those of the Xbox controller. But what if you’re playing with a DualSense controller? Now your HUD will show the PlayStation inputs instead of the default Xbox ones.
Enhanced Player Healthbar
A mod that adds some extra colour bands to the player’s health bar to make it that little bit more readable in combat.
Ship builder tweaks
A mod that tweaks the ship builder screen to make building more responsive and enjoyable. For those who’ve already been messing around in the ship builder, you’ll know it’s far from a perfect setup. This mod goes some way to improving the situation, but it’s still not perfect.
New Game+ Save
For those who just want a clean save and to kick off in New Game+ mode. This save comes with everything unlocked, fully ready to tackle the galaxy’s toughest opponents.
Save before character creation
Another timesaver mod, this one allows you to skip the game’s mining work intro sequence and get straight to character customisation. This mod will be very useful if you want to try a few different character builds really quickly.
Vasco paint job but make it hentai
This custom character that looks like Ryan Gosling
Or this custom character that looks like George Costanza
This mod that removes portraits featuring Starfield game director Todd Howard
Goodbye, Todd. So far this mod only removes one specific Todd portrait, but will add others as they are found in the game world.
Have you seen any great Starfield mods on your travels we haven’t included here? Drop em in the comments below and help your fellow Constellation operatives out.
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