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Earlier this month, Bethesda lifted the lid on its next update for Starfield. As you might recall, one of the major highlights is the fact the game now has Nvidia DLSS support on PC.
There's also a "Chunks" update and beyond this Bethesda has added all sorts of fixes and improvements to enhance gameplay, graphics, performance, and stability. Various quests have also received some fixes.
Bethesda has shared updated patch notes for this particular build of the game, which you can check out below:
Starfield Update 1.8.86 - November 20, 2023
NVIDIA DLSS SUPPORT
This update introduces Nvidia DLSS support for our PC players. Compatible Nvidia graphic cards can now use DLSS Super Resolution, Deep Learning Anti-aliasing (DLAA), Nvidia Reflex Low Latency, and DLSS Frame generation.
LET THEM EAT!
By popular request, we have added the ability to ingest food and drink items upon finding them in the environment. You can enjoy those Chunks immediately or save them for later. The choice is yours.
FIXES AND IMPROVEMENTS
PERFORMANCE AND STABILITY
- Addressed a number of memory related issues and leaks.
- Added some GPU performance optimizations, which will be more impactful on higher end cards.
- Improved renderer threading model, improving CPU usage most notably on higher end systems.
- Various stability and performance improvements.
GAMEPLAY
- Added the ability to eat the food placed in the world.
- Adjusted stealth to be a bit more forgiving.
- Fixed an issue where Andreja’s head would stay permanently cloaked.
- Fixed an issue that could prevent players from firing their weapons.
- Fixed issues where some NPC could be seen not wearing clothes (Note: This issue may resolve itself over time).
- Fixed an issue where already in-progress skill challenges could stop progressing after reaching the Unity and starting a new game.
- Fixed an issue that could temporarily prevent opening the inventory or saving after entering the Unity.
- PC: Fixed an issue where mouse movement could be choppy.
- Fixed a rare issue that could cause the home ship to be lost.
- Fixed an issue where the ship services technician might be missing.
- Fixed an issue where occasionally the camera could shake incorrectly during Traveling, Grav Jumping, Docking, or Landing transitions.
GRAPHICS
- Addressed an issue with how ambient occlusion appeared in ultrawide resolutions.
- Optimized initial shader compilation that occurs on start-up.
- Added the ability to adjust Brightness and Contrast in the Display Settings menu.
- Added the ability to adjust HDR Brightness provided that the system supports it. (Xbox & Windows 11 only).
- Addressed a number of materials that could sometimes present an unintended pattern under certain conditions.
- Fixed various visual issues related to the new FOV slider options.
- Improved the appearance of the eyes on crowd characters.
- Addressed a number of minor visual issues related to lighting, shadows, terrain, and vegetation.
- PC: Addressed additional visual issues related to DLSS.
QUESTS
- All That Money Can Buy: Fixed a rare issue where players couldn’t sit during the negotiation with Musgrove.
- Blast Zone: Fixed an issue where the hard rocks that need to be cleared out by players will not appear on Ngodup Tate’s land.
- Echoes of the Past: Fixed an issue where the Grylloba Queen could sometimes not be reachable during the objective “Secure the Shuttle Bay”.
- Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue where players' quest progression could potentially be blocked due to a missing docking prompt.
- Grunt Work: Addressed an issue where progress could appear blocked if “Supra et Ultra” was completed while returning to the Lodge during “High Price to Pay”.
- No Sudden Moves: Fixed an issue that could prevent the entrance door to the Scow ship from being opened again.
- Operation Starseed: Fixed an issue where the key that is needed to exit the facility could sometimes not be present.
- Sabotage: Fixed an issue where David Barron could potentially not be found by players.
- Short Sighted: Fixed an issue where players could rarely become control-locked while speaking with Vladimir.
- The Heart of Mars: Fixed an issue where players might not be able to mine the “The Heart of Mars”.
How are you finding Starfield on Xbox Series X|S after the recent updates? Tell us below.
[source bethesda.net]
Comments 12
"Added the ability to adjust HDR Brightness provided that the system supports it. (Xbox & Windows 11 only)."
I wasn't aware Starfield was on PS5 and Nintendo Switch as well. Good for them!
The visual update is great, takes the washed out affect, nicely.
@GuyinPA75 Well, I'm still running Windows 10 on my main machine, so I miss out.
@GuyinPA75 Don't forget Cloud also enables many people to play on various Platforms too and not everyone is running a PC with Windows 11 either.
Whilst Starfield may only be 'released' to play on Series Xbox consoles and 'PC', that also includes Consoles like Steam Deck or RoG Ally for example as well. It may not be on Switch/PS5, but that's about the only devices its not playable on...
Why does everything look worse now? Like a damn 360 game. And all my companions are now standing in their seats on the ship. Cool cool.
The game still has elevated black levels (though improved) which cannot be rectified with the new brightness/contrast settings. And it still doesn't have a proper implementation of HDR. The Luma mod on PC fixes these issues but it is beyond belief that a couple of modders can do this within days of the game being released while BGS still can't two months later.
That "eat" function is essential. Glad it came around.
Now please make it so you can skip the temple puzzles and don't have to run through 10ng+ to max them. There are enough planets to just scatter 260 temples around the universe after reaching Unity once.
@Xbox_Dashboard erm because...bethesda
Still not 60fps on console. Don't say its an artistic decision as PC should be locked at 30fps. For me Series X and PS5 is the most disappointing generation ever in nearly 40 years of gaming
@Spaceman-Spiff
I have never worked that out, how modders get these things done and fixed and Bethesda saying they have 250 workers still on Starfield can hardly fix anything.
Somethings not right or I’m missing the point.
@OldGamer999 the modding community is thousands of folks, usually modding non-stop. Whereas someone working at a studio usually works their day and then goes home.
I had no issues with this game until this new patch. Now I get repeated audio dialog from Sarah when in the ship that repeats constantly over and over, and I can't do any missions any more. When I click to talk to someone, nothing happens and the game basicly freezes.
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