How does procedural generation work in Starfield?

Starfield aims to redefine the term open world with its enormous galaxy. The space adventure will be Bethesda’s largest game yet, and fans get to explore numerous planets as they progress through the storyline.

As the game geared up toward its release, “How many planets are in Starfield?” became one of the top questions the fans had. With over 1,000 explorable worlds, it would be unrealistic to expect each of them to be crafted one by one.

That’s where procedural generation comes into play, a technique of creating game content that saves developers a considerable amount of time.

Does Starfield use procedural generation?

Yes, Bethesda used procedural in Starfield to generate more than 1,000 planets that will be fully explorable. These planets will still have unique elements, but the majority of them will be built via procedural generation.

Related: The seven most anticipated Starfield features

Generation allows Bethesda to create the assets that will be used and combine them with algorithms placing these assets in the right places.

What does procedural generation mean in Starfield?

In Starfield, procedural generation refers to the technique used to create the game’s planets and their various features. The game boasts over 1,000 fully explorable planets and procedural generation is a key element in making this expansive universe possible.

Procedural generation relies on Bethesda’s art team to create different pieces of terrain that are known as “terrain chunks.” A special algorithm then takes these terrains and assembles them in realistic ways to form complete planets.

This algorithm in question factors in different variables for each planet. Even the temperature will change the assets that are to be used on certain planets.

Will all playthroughs be the same in Starfield?

No, all playthroughs in Starfield will have unique characteristics thanks to the procedural generation used in the game. While there can be similar-looking planets in two playthroughs, the world events and other side quests appearing on them might differ due to other factors.

This means that specific points of interest can vary from one player to another, enhancing the uniqueness of each player’s experience.

Are there non-procedural generated features and assets in Starfield?

Yes, despite using a lot of procedural generation to create over 1,000 planets, there’s still a ton of content that was hand-crafted to be unique in Starfield and its wider universe. Large cities, dungeons, and space stations aren’t a part of the procedurally generated system, and they’ll have handcrafted models.