Starfield takes place in the distant future of 2330 when technology has advanced to a stage that led humanity to the stars but apparently has also taken away their ability to create city maps. The spacefaring game from the makers of Skyrim is understandably receiving complaints from a few who are frustrated and would like more useful directions to guide their character, yet the developers at Bethesda most likely designed the lackluster maps in this manner on purpose. The level of detail in Starfield overall, with the intricate worlds that have been created, lends itself to the idea that the dev team simply could not have overlooked the maps.
It is still possible that Bethesda could make an update to Starfield that would provide city maps for areas such as New Atlantis, Neon, or Akila City, due to feedback. Currently, when inside one of these large and crowded cities, the map is little more than a blue screen with a dotted white grid and a couple of key locations that can be selected. Even the key locations listed are extremely limited and do not include basic things like weapon shops or places to buy meds. While the scan ability is helpful, its use is significantly diminished in more complex cities.
Starfield Is Designed For Exploration
Bethesda has been very quiet about any reasoning behind making the map system so plain, but it was likely a design choice. Starfield is about exploration, whether that is exploring the galaxy in space or walking around unfamiliar cities. A lack of navigational aids, which many in the real world rely on, forces people to slow down and take a look at their surroundings.
This system adds to the overall emphasis on exploring and is a nice touch that not everything is immediately apparent and provided. Optional quests are stumbled upon, interesting sights and shops are discovered, and it provides an added sense of accomplishment and a bit of an unexpected dopamine rush.
Immersion In Starfield Would Be Hindered By City Maps That Gave Everything Away
Games such as Starfield are more immersive when people can take things a bit slower and walk around a location rather than just jumping immediately from one place to the next. Walking through the cities leads to hearing conversations between NPCs, which even provides the means to pick up some of the best quests in Starfield that would have otherwise been missed. There is a level of detail that has been crafted into each place with interesting things to see, conversations to hear, and plenty of interesting attributes of each of the worlds, and all of this could be missed by rushing around or utilizing fast travel.
Though large and a bit distracting with all there is to see, the cities in Starfield are laid out quite logically. For example, in New Atlantis there are signs pointing out where each of the districts are located, and each district is very straightforward. The Commercial District is the likely choice for someone seeking a weapons shop, although searching around that district will still be required to find the shop itself.
Wandering the streets of some of these areas can let one see things they would have otherwise missed out on, and following threads of conversations can add a lot to the enjoyment value of the game if one is not too distracted by trying to get where they are headed instead.
By 2330, There Really Should Be Better Maps And Modders Are Making This Happen
In the current year of 2023, there are travel apps such as Google Maps and many other systems in place to help people get around the real world. By the year 2330, it seems odd that this would have regressed as much as it appears to, but perhaps with interstellar travel, it became overly complicated. Talented Starfield modders on PC have already undertaken the challenge of creating more user-friendly maps for the game’s major cities.
Likely, these will continue to be improved upon and tweaked as time passes, but this is a good workaround for those bothered by the lack of city maps. Additionally, many have created images of the city maps for Xbox players to have a reference if they need to show important locations.
Planets In Starfield Are Procedurally Generated
The major cities in Starfield are, of course, going to remain the same and could include maps, yet it is important to remember that, for the most part, planets in Starfield are all randomly generated, which could have presented a problem for developers in the case of more detailed mapping. Technology can render maps to go along with the procedurally generated planets, but this would take a lot of resources and coding to accomplish. Considering the game’s size and scope, it is likely much easier on the game engine itself to have a more generalized blue map that can show the direction of important areas.
It is still entirely possible that in future updates or DLC for Starfield, developers will include more user-friendly maps for the cities in the game due to the response they have received from the gaming community. This has not been confirmed at this point; however, there are many things to enjoy by slowing down and fully exploring cities. Obviously, there will still be some walking in circles and getting lost, but the benefits of finding that hidden quest or Easter egg in Starfield by wandering aimlessly could outweigh the fleeting frustrations.
