A proficient Starfield modder is working to enhance one of many sport’s most disappointing options — its disjointed spaceship take-off and flight sequence.
Whereas Starfield has its followers, the long-awaited Bethesda area RPG has lengthy suffered from feeling like a sport divided up by loading screens. That is notably true when taking off from a planet and heading out of the environment — and the identical once more upon touchdown.
After all, there are technical the reason why the sport works this manner — which followers say is a results of the sport being constructed on the studio’s present engine. Bethesda itself has additionally improved the sport’s spaceflight expertise to some extent, too, extra not too long ago permitting gamers to truly fly between planets in the identical photo voltaic system.
However followers have, since day one, needed extra. Particularly, they’ve needed the expertise you get in different video games, such as No Man’s Sky, the place you possibly can seamlessly take off from one planet, head to area, and fly all the way in which to the opposite finish of the galaxy to land some place else with out a loading display screen. And now, thanks to the Seamless Planet Takeoffs mod, you will get one thing that feels way more akin to this (thanks, PC Gamer).
Since Starfield launched, one of many largest requests from some gamers has been the flexibility to take off from a planet and fly seamlessly into area with out a loading display screen.
Personally, it has by no means bothered me a lot, however for others it has been close to the highest of the want checklist… pic.twitter.com/4RrsUigEZ7
— Jay Dook (@JayDook) July 20, 2026
“This mod goals to take away the loading display screen when taking off from a planet, and spawns your ship above the touchdown website for a seamless expertise,” states the mod’s creator, 0xBobby. “The mod is presently in beta, so count on bugs. The seamlessness of the transition will rely on the environment and climate of the planet, I’m engaged on making the transition even smoother.”
Footage of the mod in motion exhibits the conventional third-person view of your ship taking off changed by a first-person in-cockpit digital camera angle. Whereas there’s nonetheless a transition second between Starfield’s on-planet atmosphere and the orbit space, it’s disguised fairly properly by the mod spawning your ship within the right place, and replicating the view to conceal the change as a lot as doable.
Whereas nonetheless one thing of a fast repair, it gives an expertise that feels far much less disjointed than the bottom sport. Nevertheless, an identical repair for seamless landings sounds much more troublesome — and never one thing that 0xBobby thinks he can obtain.
“It in all probability will not ever occur, no less than not from me,” 0xBobby wrote. “Sure, I do know of all the methods I might use, hiding the loading via clouds or entry flames and so on, however even that may be far more complicated than what this mod or seamless grav jumps do. Plus they do not actually attraction to me, if I need seamless landings, I need the complete factor, No Man’s Sky type. I could try that, however the possibilities of it taking place are just about zero.”
Whereas the majority of Bethesda is now busy constructing The Elder Scrolls 6, with early work additionally underway on Fallout 5, the corporate mentioned final week that Starfield “stays an vital a part of our future,” teasing the sport’s long-awaited Starborn DLC, now coming in 2027.
Following the latest announcement of Xbox layoffs — with job losses additionally impacting Bethesda’s groups — followers have been fast to level out that Starfield was absent from Bethesda’s new precedence checklist. Starfield largely failed to meet fan expectations upon its 2023 launch, and its subsequent sporadic updates and expansions have been far slower to arrive than anticipated.
“STARFIELD CONTINUES,” Bethesda boss Todd Howard trumpeted final week, seemingly in response to fan concern that the franchise was being placed on the again burner. “With over 17 million gamers logging virtually a billion hours to date, Starfield stays an vital a part of our future. As we enter Yr 3, we’ll proceed increasing the Settled Programs with new tales, focused gameplay enhancements, and extra updates, whereas getting ready for the launch of recent Starborn content material subsequent 12 months. Greater than 40% of gamers already customise their expertise via Creations, and we’ll proceed investing in creators and giving gamers new methods to make Starfield their very own.”
Will Starfield 2 ever materialize, with seamless floor to area gameplay inbuilt? That continues to be to be seen. Till then, modders are attempting their greatest.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s Information Editor. You possibly can attain Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or discover him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social