Starfield patch goes live with lighting overhaul

Starfield has had somewhat of a controversial existence. Following a multi-year long hype and marketing period, the game launched to solid reviews – albeit with much a greater disparity in opinions. Fortunately, the team at Bethesda have been continuously updating the game – with the last patch perhaps being its biggest yet.

Making the announcement on their blog, the Starfield team said “Let there be LIGHT….ing improvements! Our latest update has moved out of Steam Beta and is now available for all Starfield players. The patch notes have remained the same as previously released during the beta except for a version number change and one additional PC crash fix.”

Speaking of patch notes, some of the biggest changes, improvements and additions include:

• Fixed player character’s eyes remaining closed instead of blinking in third person view.
• Fixed an issue that could occur on some enemies causing them to stand instead of falling to the ground
• Fixed crew members and companions positioning near the cockpit after fast traveling to the ship.
• Addressed a crash that could occur when changing from Fullscreen to Windowed mode
• Fixed rare save game corruptions on PC
• Body type should no longer reset to default when loading a Starborn save from the main menu.
• Fixed an issue that could cause airlock doors to sometimes appear floating in sky when arriving at locations
• Fixed the extreme speed that could occur in zero G when using the Phased Time power
• Fixed FOV and zoom issues with weapon scopes.

The full list of changes is highly exhaustive, however the biggest features to come with this update has to do with the game’s lighting and graphics, most notably:

• Improved widescreen support (32:9, 21:9 and 16:10).
• Shadows can now be seen on planet rings from planet surface
• Improved eyes and skin on crowd characters
• Improved reflection on water
• Improved contact shadows on characters
• Improved contact shadows on first person
• Addressed various shadow popping, flickering and artifact issues.
• Improved the visibility of the sun’s lens flare during sunrise and sunset
• Improved the appearance of clouds during weather transition
• Fixed various FSR2 and DLSS artifacts (noise, black dots, ghosting)
• Improved lighting at 73 locations.
• Fixed various geometry, texture, and ghosting issues

As mentioned, the full patch notes include dozens or even hundreds of other miscellaneous fixes, but the focus was clearly on making the game more attractive visually. Starfield can look impressive in certain situations – but highly outdated in others. It’s encouraging to see notable improvements being made over time.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

KitGuru says: What do you think of the update? Will you hop back in? What else could they do to improve the game further? Let us know down below.

Become a Patron!