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The features on planet surface are fairly even and a bit dull. So make it a little bit more interesting, by scaling things! Rocks, plants, geysirs and perhaps some animals are alot bigger - more tiny or humungous huge - perhaps more dense in distribution. more like this. starfield-concept-art-desert-biome-1024x526.jpg (1024×526) (starfielddb.com) or this starfield-concept-art-jungle-1024x502.jpg (1024×502) (starfielddb.com)

OVERVIEW I think it goes without saying that Bethesda really skimped when they implemented the outpost building mechanic. They also left out some key features from planet generation. So as usual, it will be up to the incredibly talented modding community to fix these errors. I'm not a modder myself, unfortunately, but I wanted to assemble a thread that can be easily referenced for talented mod-savvy individuals that includes the most important changes that should be made to the system. I envision this to eventually be a package of mods that work individually, but also work seamlessly together with no conflicts. DISCLAIMER: I am not a modder. I do not know the work that goes into creating the awesome mods for games like Skyrim and Fallout 4. I do have some knowledge of what should be possible, but I do not have the technical expertise to implement it. With that being said, here is an overview of what will be discussed here: - Planet - Vehicles - Outposts - Tech PLANET Planets are amazing in Starfield! It is impressive that while they do seem mostly empty, there is still quite a lot to scan and even find. That being said, it is unfortunate that the feature is as underutilized as it is. There is literally an endless amount of content that can be added to planets, but we got repeated bases, identical POIs, and only a handful of natural phenomena that aside from scanning had nothing to add to gameplay. These changes should be implemented to fix that. Procedurally Generated Points of Interest. We all know that each instance on the planet generates the locations procedurally, but it essentially just plops down a pre-designed model and calls it a day. I believe it would be possible to create procedurally generated POIs using the assets already built into the game. If nothing else, we should at least have multiple versions of each type of place, so I don't feel like I'm literally in the same science lab killing pirates every time I find one. If it can be done, generating rocks, trees, and even buildings should all be placed in a procedural way to increase the variety available to the player. Rivers These are actually really important to some of the features in later sections. There are some technical hurdles to overcome (especially the 'instanced' planet maps). Rivers are the most complicated to add, but they may be possible as shown in recent Star Citizen tech demos. Ideally, these would be node-based procedural generations that are implemented at the planet map level. They could be cut or truncated at the borders of each instanced map, if that technical obstacle can't be overcome, but ideally, these would flow from a "mountain" biome to an "ocean" or "lake" biome. There would be three major stages: Tributaries, River Main, and Delta. Tributaries would have an origin point somewhere on the map, and would become larger as they went farther from the point of origin. They would join up with the River Main, which is a VERY WIDE body of water. It could be several thousand meters across in some areas. If the river flows to a lake, there would not be a delta, and instead, another River Main would start flowing away from the lake. If the river meets up with an ocean biome, it will form a Delta biome, which again can be very large, forming islands and such. Modders might be able to add plugins to this, modifying the generation to form waterfalls in some areas, creating swamps in others, etc. Roads These should have been in the game from the beginning, along with vehicles. I know exactly why they didn't do it, but that is no excuse. There should be vehicles and roads in the game. Roads would be created in a very similar way to rivers, with different levels of roads showing depending on the types and number of POIs in the area. Roads should connect most POIs, and some of the random generated structures throughout the landscapes of planets. These will be node-based terrain deforms that can gen with different textures. Roads will terrain deform to force terrain under them to stay within a certain angle. probably not larger than 35* or so, and will create sloped surfaces on both sides. Roads should be required to check paths at generation, to ensure they don't split a mountain or anything like that. These will connect two POIs, and will also create branches and "lots" where derelict or working vehicles could be parked, nearby structures. There could also be road-exclusive locations that generate, like tunnels, quarries, and even small towns. VEHICLES What better to drive on the newly generated roads than vehicles? Below is a list of various types and their functions. One of the main features I want to include is a vehicle builder, similar to the ship builder. You would be able to place modules, replace parts, and eventually construct vehicular monstrosities HAHAAAHA. There would be a module for your ship that would be able to carry these from planet to planet, with certain limitations on where you could take them out. To park them back on the ship, target the ship while in the driver's seat and "dock" with it, allowing for a cutscene of the vehicle loading onto your ship, and dropping you inside the ship as if you boarded it through the regular bay. Exploration Fast, light, and equipped with advanced sensors. These can be driven over rough terrain and perhaps have amphibious upgrades. Cargo meant to carry a lot of cargo over long distances, these beasts need mostly level terrain to go between places, but what they lack in mobility, they make up for in capacity.Combat Ever dream of rolling up on some poor crimson fleet outpost in a tank? Heavy armor, heavy guns, heavy everything. Support Some vehicles function just to increase your own abilities. imagine having a vehicle with an animal trap on it? Or one that can collect and harvest plants as you drive it? Maybe one has a built in scanner booster? The possibilities are endless.Mounts Yes, you heard right. Tame an animal, and ride it across that desert. Place different packs on them to increase carry capacity or technical features. OUTPOSTS Outposts are a joke. It was the single thing I was looking forward to most, and by far the most disappointing feature. Honestly, the number of fixes this feature alone needs deserves its own thread. Really, it would be pretty cool if we could just merge Satisfactory with Starfield, which is exactly what this proposal aims to do, essentially. The major things that need to be fixed are: Outpost objects/buildings, resource Management, Defensive mechanics, and Terrain Modification. A new feature would be Colony Building. Outpost Buildings/Objects - Basic foundation - Basic Wall (half length of square hab, and whole length of square hab, snap points with 90* available. Also full and half length walls for manually creating hexagonal rooms) - Basic Roof - Bracing beams/pillars/crossbeams/support decor - More options for changeable snap points (windows/walls/doors) - DOORS?!??! - More options for swapping, such as changing the roof, changing the interior appearance, changing floor appearance, creating raised/lowered areas, toggling railings or placeable snap railings, togglable walls (for building connected interiors between habs) - Interior walls - Landing Pads have snap points for foundations, containers, airlocks, habs, and decorative items like cranes, pipes, belts, etc - So much more - Air purifiers and Oxygen generators are needed to make a hab livable. These can be built inside or outside at specific snap-points. - Water and food are now required resources to keep NPCs around the Outpost happy, so sinks, showers, and kitchens are needed. - placeable Stairs and walkways for foundations, interior habs, etc - buildable node-based roads within outposts - More Resource Management - A new structure/object for logistics. - snappable conveyor belts for building real factories (think Fallout 4, not Satisfactory) - Control panels to access materials in connected containers - Piping for liquid and gas materials (plus great for decoration) - Larger containers - like BIG - Ability to set a container to accept only one item - Ability to auto-drop or auto-pick-up items onto your ship, such as keeping a minimum or maximum item count Defensive Mechanics - Ability to build walls (node-based) around an outpost - Watchtowers can be designated with guards - Additional defensive structures, such as Anti-ship guns, Missile launchers, defensive positions, sandbags, more and bigger auto-turrets, various strength doors and gates, alert systems, town-gathering places, etc. - Medical system, where crew and other NPS, and the player, can go to heal up. - NPCs can be wounded, get sick, or have other ailments. - Defend from nature by combating the elements - build sheltered walkways that NPCs will prefer in inclement weather. - Attacks with numbers and equipment based on outpost wealth - Raiders may bring ships or vehicles to attack Terrain Modification - By far the most challenging feature to implement, but I'm sure modders are up to the challenge! To be clear, this does not need to be voxel based like NMS, it just has to adapt to a couple of things using placement modifiers. So if I want to have my landing pad lower down, I can place it and the terrain will deform within a set limit to it. - The same goes for hab units, it would be nice to set some of them back into hills just a little - Roads would deform and smooth the terrain around them - various structures would have a minimum deform, so instead of building a weird concrete foundation under my cargo storage, it would slightly deform the ground to better suit the container. - If someone is feeling extremely ballsy, they could attempt a terrain deform tool, that would allow the player to manually flatten, raise, or lower terrain. Not sure how this would work without voxels, but it might be possible. Colony Building - This is a brand-new set of features that would greatly increase the joy of building outposts. - Once a certain threshold has been reached, and certain requirements met, an outpost can be upgraded to a Colony - A colony has additional building options, and significantly expands the borders of the Outpost - Colonies generate passive income through trade (much like Fallout 4) - Colonists are non-controllable NPCs that will populate a Colony as requirements are met. - You must provide colonists with Food, Water, Shelter, Income, Entertainment, and Security - I envision this more like Rimworld, where each colonist becomes a very important part of the colony, performing various tasks to increase the value of the colony and assist in production or income generation. - Each colonist will have traits, i.e. Rimworld - Colonists can die, either in combat raids, or from natural causes - Notification system assisting in colony management - Population Cap of 100 Colonists per Colony - Colonies can trade with each other using land-based means if they are on the same planet and within a certain range - All new tech progression for colonies - Colony management tools, allowing you to customize uniforms for different jobs, weapons, etc - Enact raids on other colonies TECH There are a lot of technical limitations for Starfield, but I have faith that all of them can be overcomeOne of the biggest obstacles is the way the map generates - overcoming this will lead to many more abilities as outlined in the above postNode-based procedural generation is pretty new tech, but I know it can be done. The sheer number of features that COULD be added to Starfield is immense. Outposts/planets are only one aspect. ​ Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this! I look forward to feedback and additional suggestions.

So I've had this idea for quite some time. It started out as nothing more than a lore-ignorant premise just for the sake of fun, but it has grown considerably since then. Here's the pitch. Centuries ago, the mortal plane of Mundus was designed and built by Magnus, the god of magic, together with the et'Ada. However, when it became evident that such a venture would require many of them to sacrifice their power, Magnus fled to Aetherius, tearing a hole in the sky which became the sun. Some et'Ada stayed behind and gave rise to the mortal races, but most followed Magnus, tearing smaller holes which became the stars. At least, that's what we have always been taught.... THE ELDER SCROLLS: COSMOS Using a starter pack consisting of an ESM (containing all available planets) and several ESPs, you choose one ESP as a starting planet and, by extension, which races you are permitted to play as. Each planet is themed after a different genre or franchise (or the real world, if you choose Earth) and comes with appropriate playable races. All types of Earth human would prove the greatest challenge to play as, having no innate magical talent and below-average physical attributes. You go through a short quest on your starting planet to unlock space travel. The full-size ship appears in the worldspace and can be explored in its entirety. On the bridge, the captain's chair functions as a door, ejecting you into an underwater environment designed to look like deep space. At this point, you are equipped with a costume made to disguise you as the spaceship, and spaceflight uses the same controls as swimming. The ship costume is equipped with: A life support system (a piece of equipment with a Water Breathing enchantment—if broken, it will unequip itself and the ship's atmosphere will vent/you will suffocate)An energy cannon (an invisible bladed weapon with scripted visual effects) ideal for combating rival spaceships (specially-designed aquatic creatures)A shield generator (an invisible shield)Engines (a piece of equipment with a speed fortification enchantment—if broken, it will unequip itself and the ship will become much slower)In deep space, several doors made to resemble wormholes allow access to the different systems, placing you back in the ship's interior. Separately-downloaded add-on ESPs make the other planets visitable—this lets you pick and choose which genres/franchises you're interested in visiting. Each planet has a quest to obtain some sort of token that upgrades your ship, giving you better life support, engines, shields and weapons (i.e. the number of tokens obtained changes which ship parts are scripted to equip on you in space). After collecting five of these tokens, your ship is fully upgraded and a quest is unlocked which takes you beyond the boundaries of the mortal plane and into Aetherius itself.... Visitable Planets Obviously, Nirn remains visitable and largely unaltered, though perhaps with a main quest delayer in place. The idea would be to keep it compatible with most other mods, the only additions from this one being two new questlines (one if not chosen as the starting planet). Like all the other planets, access to Nirn is optional. I really want modern-day Earth to be accessible—it lends itself to a space exploration game and could appeal to fans of multiple genres. Personally, I'd love to have other planets themed around various movies, shows and other video games, but should that prove beyond the realm of possibility, simply basing them around other popular genres would do nicely. Why haven't I done this yet? Because I lack the time, skill and patience necessary to use a 3D modeling program. I can do plot-writing and voice acting, and could maybe learn to do scripting, but meshes and textures are out of my reach, at least for now. Whether the future will bring with it a change to this harsh reality remains to be seen. So why should you consider helping? Face it, if you made it this far, the idea has you interested. Don't try to deny it. :tongue: In all seriousness, if you have an interest in helping to make this mod a reality, please don't hesitate to say something. I will be truly grateful for any and all contributions, constructive criticism included.

Hey, I'm a really big fan of what everyone has been able to do for this game so far. I'd love to be part of the community, but I'm terrible at 3D models and animations. What I'm absolutely capable of doing is writing, so I was curious if anyone working on mods right now would be interested in having me writing their animal's Zoopedia entry text! For some sample writing, here's some potential Zoopedia writing for my favorite spider species, the Gooty Sapphire Ornamental: The Gooty sapphire ornamental (or Poecilotheria metallica) - also known as the Gooty sapphire tarantula - is a large species of tarantula that lives in the deciduous forests of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The 'sapphire' part of their name is derived from their striking blue coloration, which is broken up sporadically by the white and yellow bands on their leg joints and by the intricate white patterns on their backs, although young spiders are much duller in color. Gooty sapphire ornamentals are somewhat large spiders with a maximum leg span of 15 to 20 cm. They are considered critically endangered due to their extremely small natural habitat, which is being made progressively smaller due to deforestation and the harvesting of firewood. SOCIAL Gooty sapphire ornamentals are solitary animals and are likely to be aggressive towards each other if kept together in a terrarium. REPRODUCTION The male will spin a web on the ground onto which he will deposit sperm before absorbing it onto his palps (mouth appendages). After locating a female, he will deposit the sperm from his palps into a furrow on her abdomen. Unlike most tarantula species, the male Gooty has no tibial clasps, meaning the female can easily kill him before mating is finished if she is sufficiently hungry. She will store the sperm in the furrow until she is ready to lay over 100 eggs in an egg sac, a period of time that can last anywhere from 4 to 6 months. ZOOPEDIA FUN FACTS The Gooty sapphire ornamental was named after the town of Gooty in India where the spider was first discovered in a local railyard. However, the spider likely was transported there by rail as their actual habitat is a tiny 39 square mile forest located 100 kilometers northeast of Gooty. Gooty sapphire ornamentals are highly sensitive to light and will flee at the sudden presence of bright lights. Although normally solitary in nature, Gooty ornamentals will live communally if living space is scarce. While the venom of the Gooty sapphire ornamental is known to be extremely painful, there has yet to be a single recorded death linked to the Gooty's venom. The genus name Poecilotheria is derived from the Ancient Greek "poikilos", meaning "spotted" and "therion", meaning "wild beast". I know it's not perfect, but this is my way of trying to get somewhat into the modding community for this game. Let me know if you're interested!