Unofficial Starfield Patch: Readme
Version: 1.0.0
By the Unofficial Patch Project Team
1. What the Unofficial Starfield Patch Does
2. Known Issues, Incompatibilities and Notes
3. Installation (Manual Version)
4. Uninstalling (Manual Version)
5. Disclaimer
6. Permissions
7. Credits
8. Frequently Asked Questions - BUGS
9. Frequently Asked Questions - About the Project
10. USFP Version History
1. What the Unofficial Starfield Patch (USFP) Does
This mod is a joint effort to fix the vast amount of bugs currently existing in Starfield and its official DLCs. If you're experiencing a bug with Starfield or one of the DLCs and it isn't fixed by the USFP yet please report the bug on the Starfield tracker in as much detail as possible. Please search first to ensure you aren't posting something already there; with more than a thousand active entries currently it's very likely it already is! Thank you for any contributions! For details on what qualifies as a bug, and what you can do to report it, see our Bug FAQ.
Warning: Only use the Unofficial Starfield Patch with the latest release version of Starfield! Using it on an older version may cause bugs or things not to be fixed that were advertised as such! It will of course be updated to match each official update, including having fixes removed that are included in official updates.
2. Known Issues, Incompatibilities and Notes
- A Mod Manager is recommended: If you're reading this and you're new to using mods, it's recommended to use a mod manager such as Wrye Bash or Vortex to install and manage your mods. This will prevent problems of conflicts, leftover files after uninstallation and other issues. This is especially important with script files, since they are separate from the ESP they can overwrite other script files and thus override even if the mod is earlier-loaded, and remain behind still active if it's uninstalled. If you use many mods, it's also recommended to use LOOT to prevent load order problems. You are strongly advised to avoid the use of Vortex as it does not support manual load order adjustments which are a critical element of modding Bethesda games.
3. Manual Installation
1.) Extract the contents of Unofficial Starfield Patch.7z, into your Starfield\Data folder. The default location is C:\Program files\Steam\Steamapps\common\starfield\data. There should be an ESM file, 2 BSA files, an INI file, a modgroups file, and the Bash Tags file in the BashTags folder under Data. It is strongly advised that you not have Steam installed in Program Files due to issues caused by Windows UAC permissions. Many 3rd party modding tools will not function correctly with Steam installed in the default location.
2.) Launch the game. When the main menu comes up, click on "Mods".
3.) Press "T" to go to the load order. In the menu that comes up, click on "Unofficial Starfield Patch.esp". A checkmark should appear next to it to indicate it's active.
4.) Press "X" to enter the menu to reorder the plugins. Use the arrow keys to make sure "Unofficial Starfield Patch.esp" is at the very top of the list. Press "X" when you're done.
5.) Press "Esc" until you get the prompt telling you that the game needs to reload its data. Once the menu is back, you may then load your existing saves or start a new game.
Do not clean the file with xEdit! We have already cleaned it.
Your load order should start like this once it has been installed correctly:
- Starfield.esm
- [Other Official Files TBD]
- [Creation Club Content]
- Unofficial Starfield Patch.esm
- [Everything else you have installed]
Please note that this load order should be set automatically by the game and will not be changeable at the user level, it is just listed here for completeness. Starfield will not deviate from this even if the plugins.txt file is edited manually.
6.) Click Play and enjoy your much-improved Starfield.
If you are having trouble with your mod manager recognizing the falsed flagged ESP file, you need to update it. Wrye Bash as of version 304.2 will support this, Nexus Mod Manager should have no trouble with versions 0.45 and higher.
The modgroups file is useful for doing conflict detection using xEdit and is explained in the Tome of xEdit.
Upgrading
If you are upgrading manually, simply install the new ESP, BSAs, and INI files into your Data folder. Otherwise consult the documentation for your preferred mod manager for how to update a package installation.
Once the updated files are installed, simply start the game as usual. USFP will perform any necessary updates when the game first loads. You may see messages on screen for things that have been updated. You can resume play right away.
4. Uninstalling (Manual Version)
Due to the nature of Starfield mods, especially those adding scripts, it is strongly discouraged to attempt uninstalling a mod from your active game. Any mod that is more than pure mesh or texture replacements has the possibility to leave behind permanent changes to your save that you may not want. This is not something modders can correct for. It is how the game was designed by Bethesda. No support will be provided for anyone who uninstalls this mod from an active game and continues on with that save. Even if that means you reinstalled the patch afterward.
If you insist on removing it for whatever reason, simply delete the ESP, BSAs, and INI and then load your game without them. You will get a missing content warning. Say yes, and continue playing.
5. Disclaimer
The Unofficial Starfield Patch is provided free and "as is" for use at your own risk; the creators cannot be held responsible/liable for anything that happens while using it. It is recommended to only use the Unofficial Starfield Patch with the version of Starfield it was created for. This product is not created by, nor associated with, Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, Zenimax Media, Microsoft, nor any of their affiliates.
6. Permissions
The following terms of use must be adhered to with regard to the unofficial patches:
- You may upload unmodified copies of the latest version of the patch to any website of your choosing so long as the documentation is retained as-is. All credits must be properly maintained, and you are responsible for making sure the updates are taken care of on the site it's uploaded to.
- Porting this mod for use on a game other than Starfield is strictly prohibited. Examples of "other games" include (but are not limited to) Starfield VR, etc.
- Porting this mod to a platform where modding is not officially supported or legally allowed is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, Nintendo Switch, PS4, or other consoles.
- Assets such as mesh files (.nif), textures, scripts, audio files, and other things found in the BSA may be freely used as the basis for your own work in order to help prevent fixes from being lost due to work starting from broken vanilla assets instead.
- You are permitted to use the unofficial patches as master files in your own work for the purpose of ensuring that fixes are not lost. Please try to be sure any changes to things which have been fixed do not cause further problems as we will not be able to provide support under those conditions.
- You may also copy any needed fixes into your own work to use without the USFP as a master so long as you agree to be responsible for any support issues that arise from doing so and that you will actively keep up with any needed changes in future updates.
- Altering fixes is specifically prohibited as this tends to lead to serious problems. If you think you've found an issue with a fix, please report it to us. Do not simply upload something that amounts to "this is the right way to do it" because more often than not, this turns out to be false and people mistakenly believe we are at fault when we are not aware of what's been done.
- The Unofficial Starfield Patch may not be included in any "mod packs" under any circumstances.
- Translation of the unofficial patches into other languages is permitted so long as the English documentation is also included and all credits are properly maintained and all provisions of previous terms are adhered to.
7. Credits
A number of people throughout the years have helped this project to not only get off the ground, but to survive and be allowed to grow into what it is today. A HUGE thanks to the following people for their contributions to the unofficial patches:
Arthmoor - Many bug fixes and for project management across several games.
And finally a big thanks to everyone else who reported bugs, sent in save games, or helped provide plugins, meshes, and textures for various fixes.