Starfield’s ‘biggest update yet,’ patch 1.9.47, targets graphics improvements, introduces myriad bug-fixes

From the outset, Starfield was pitched as a game that could possible match the legendary longevity of Skyrim. While Starfield as it exists now is divisive, Bethesda Softworks is trying to bring it to that lofty standard through post-launch support, including DLC, official modding tools, and free updates.

Case in point: The huge 1.9.47 update, which released today for players who have opted into Starfield‘s Steam Beta track. For those who haven’t, the patch will hit wide release in “about two weeks” according to Bethesda—but either way, here’s a taste of what to look forward to.

The patch was sold as Starfield‘s biggest update yet, and certainly lives up to that title with a laundry list of fixes and improvements across the board. The headliner of this update seems to be the host of graphical improvements, most of which come from tweaks to the game’s lighting and shadows, as well as how they’re rendered. For all its technical innovations, it’s easy to see the bones of Fallout 3 alive and well in Starfield, and tweaking the game’s relatively flat lighting should do wonders to remedy this. According to official patch notes, contact shadows have received a rework, lighting is improved in the character creation menu to help you create something a little closer to your vision, water reflections are updated, and—perhaps most impressively—generic crowd NPCs have gotten a makeover. That last point in particular is significant, as clips of Starfield‘s dead-eyed, mannequin-esque crowd NPCs have exploded in popularity on every corner of the internet. Finally (as far as visual tweaks go), Starfield now has proper widescreen support.

The update also comes packed in with a litany of fixes for Bethesda’s biggest (and buggiest) playground yet. Most notably, the rare glitch where an asteroid (or even an entire city) will follow your ship around in space has reportedly been taken care of after surviving a fix attempt last patch. A host of quest-related softlocks were also fixed—Amelia Earhart’s quest should actually be working properly now after months of being broken—and certain powers like Solar Flare had functionality restored after essentially not doing anything.

Last but certainly not least, Bethesda noted, somewhat vaguely, “stability” has been improved, which should hopefully lead to fewer crashes. Pair that with a fix for corrupted saves, and you might just be able to make it through a run of the main story issue-free. Knock on wood!

For a full, more granular list of absolutely every change made in this update, check out Bethesda’s original patch notes. This patch certainly represents a step in the right direction—but where are my space radio stations, Bethesda?