Helpful Links and References

[Arthmoor]

15 hours ago, smr1957 said:

Allegedly, the quests that may potentially be affected are:

Back to Vectera
Empty Nest

I've completed Back to Vectera already. Had Empty Nest started but not advanced. I was able to run Into the Unknown just fine.

Information like this from reddit isn't considered credible so I'd pass that off as people doing dumb stuff since none of them ever say whether they're using mods or not and even if some do, they won't believe you if you tell them plugins will bork their saves.

I see no verifiable confirmation of Bethesda Support actually saying to avoid running the quest. A half obscured screenshot of something alleged to have been from them doesn't cut it for me.

[smr1957]

Starfield Updates and Mod Support - September 13, 2023:

"First, an enormous thank you to all of you playing Starfield and your support. We are absolutely blown away by the response and all you love about the game. We’re also reading all your great feedback on what you’d like to see improved or added to the game. This is a game we’ll be supporting for years and years to come, so please keep all the feedback coming! Even if we don’t get to your requests immediately, we’d love to do it in the future, like city maps. Our priority initially is making sure any top blocker bugs or stability issues are addressed, and adding quality-of-life features that many are asking for.

This first update is a small hotfix targeted at the few top issues were are seeing. After that, expect a regular interval of updates that have top community requested features including:
Brightness and Contrast controls
HDR Calibration Menu
FOV Slider
Nvidia DLSS Support (PC)
32:9 Ultrawide Monitor Support (PC)
Eat button for food!

We’re also working closely with Nvidia, AMD, and Intel on driver support, and each update will include new stability and performance improvements.

Additionally, we are working on our built-in mod support (Creations) that will work across all platforms similar to what we’ve done with Skyrim and Fallout 4. This full support is planned to launch early next year. Until then, we know our PC community is already very active in the modding space and if you have any feedback on how we can make this better, please let us know . Modding and creating in our games will always be a vital and important part of who we are, and we love seeing the community get off to such a strong start.

Keep the feedback coming, we really do read it all, and thank you all again for taking this journey with us!

Bethesda Game Studios
---
Update Version 1.7.29 - Fixes and Improvements
Performance and Stability
Xbox Series X|S Improved stability related to installations.
Various stability and performance improvements to reduce crashes and improve framerate.

Quests
All That Money Can Buy: Fixed an issue where player activity could result in a quest blocker.
Into the Unknown: Fixed an issue that could prevent the quest from appearing after the game is completed.
Shadows in Neon: Fixed an issue where player activity could result in a quest blocker."

[smr1957]

Just a note regarding game updates:

Any mod that requires SFSE, as well as SFSE itself, will probably need to be updated. As far as SFSE is concerned, if Skyrim Special Edition is anything to go by, an update should come relatively quickly (sometimes after an SSE update, the team had SKSE updated the same day).

Mods that do not use SFSE, should not be affected by the update.

Edited September 13, 2023 by smr1957

[smr1957]

SFSE is updated:
0.1.1 for game version 1.7.29

[smr1957]

[Starfield] Official Patch 1.7.29 by Arthmoor
"So it begins... like Skyrim and Fallout 4 before, we'll be keeping a log of the official updates here."

[smr1957]

ADDED:

A good guide for Starfield information:
https://theorigin.de/starfield/
(If it does not appear in English, then at the top of the page, on the right side, click on EN)

To General Information

[smr1957]

ADDED:

The ultimative Starfield Guide By TheOrigin

To Guides & Videos

[smr1957]

Regarding Mod Organizer 2
(originally posted by Avrie, HERE)

"Silarn — Yesterday at 8:22 PM (September 18, 2023)
2.5.0 + Starfield Support - Beta 8 @MO2 Feedback

IMPORTANT
2.5 builds include a number of dependency updates which ultimately means that these builds currently only support Windows 10 and above.

We currently only support Steam installs; Windows / Xbox Store does not work with the VFS.

Beta 8:
The return of the revamped category system
Categories can be imported from Nexus
New and old instances should get a prompt to update / import Nexus categories
The category editor now has an interface to fetch and assign Nexus categories to MO2 categories
These mappings can be optionally auto-assigned by the right-click menu or through the modlist dropdown menu
If you try to install a mod without a Nexus mapping set up, you will be prompted to update the mappings, proceed anyway, or disable mappings
You can disable automatic Nexus mappings in the settings pane
Please thouroughly test this so I can make sure it's release ready
Fix for being unable to check plugins in every game
GOG support for Enderal SE
Save parsing for Sword & Sorcery
LOOT integration updated to 0.21
Potentailly supports Enderal SE, Nehrim and Enderal to come
Downloads will now pause if your internet connection is disrupted (@SaltyTrout)
New schema handling to allow MO2 to download direct file links (@Eddoursul (Enderal SE))
Yes this still has Starfield support
Am I forgetting anything?"

So, it would seem that an MO2 version with support for Starfield is not far off.

[smr1957]

DIFFICULTY LEVELS IN STARFIELD

 

There are 5 difficulty levels in Starfield to choose from, and they will effect damage dealt, damage received, and the chances of encountering Legendary enemies.  The levels are: Very Easy, Easy, Normal (the default setting), Hard, Very Hard.

 

The effects (in general terms) are as follows;

 

 

Very Easy

 

Inflicted Damage - Maximum

Received Damage - Minimum

Legendaries - Rare

 

 

Easy

 

Inflicted Damage - Above Average

Received Damage - Below Average

Legendaries - Minimum

 

 

Normal - (this is the game's default setting)

 

Inflicted Damage - Moderate

Received Damage - Moderate

Legendaries - Common

 

 

Hard

 

Inflicted Damage - Below Average

Received Damage - Above Average

Legendaries - Extra

 

 

Very Hard

 

Inflicted Damage - Minimum

Received Damage - Maximum

Legendaries - Maximum

 

Link to post added to Miscellaneous section

Edited September 24, 2023 by smr1957

[smr1957]

Starfield Updates 1.7.33 – September 25, 2023

A small update has gone out for Starfield on Xbox Series X|S, Microsoft Store, and Steam. This update addresses some issues with performance and stability as well as a few general gameplay issues. We are continuing to work on a larger update that will add features and improvements that we noted in our last update notes. Thank you so much for your continued feedback and support of Starfield and we look forward to a future with you on this journey.

---

Starfield 1.7.33 Update - Fixes and Improvements
General
Characters: Fixed an issue that could cause some characters to not be in their proper location.
Star Stations: Fixed an issue where Star Stations would be labeled as a player-owned ship.
Vendors: Addressed an issue that allowed for a vendor’s full inventory to be accessible.

Graphics
AMD (PC): Resolved an issue that caused star lens flares not to appear correctly AMD GPUs.
Graphics: Addressed an upscaling issue that could cause textures to become blurry.
Graphics: Resolved an issue that could cause photosensitivity issues when scrolling through the inventory menu.

Performance and Stability
Hand Scanner: Addressed an issue where the Hand Scanner caused hitching.
Various stability and performance improvements to address crashing and freezes.

Ships
Displays: Fixed an issue that would cause displayed items to disappear when applied to in-ship mannequins.
Displays: Fixed an issue that would cause items stored in Razorleaf Storage Containers and Weapon Racks to disappear after commandeering another ship.
 

[smr1957]

Starfield Script Extender (SFSE ) - https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/106
Has been updated.
SFSE Version 0.1.3 compatible with Starfield version 1.7.33

[smr1957]

There have been reported instances of some NPCs not being where they should be and being unaccessible.  It that happens, using the moveto player command should place them at your player character.  See the following for a list of NPC FormIDs to be used if necessary.

Useful NPC ID's for .moveto player command By Jaggid Edje

Added to General Troubleshooting

Edited September 29, 2023 by smr1957

[smr1957]

There has been some talk stating that the number of saves present in the save folder affects the stability of the game. THIS IS ABSOLUTLEY INCORRECT.

The number of saves is totally irrelevant. People saying that too many saves affect game stability is one of the more common bits of misinformation that has been floating around the net for years. The number of saves a person may have, has zero effect on a game's stability.

Though, purely for ease of organizing things, and so that the saves don't take up too much of your computer's space, it is a good idea to delete some of your older ones, and move any that you wish to save to either a memory stick or to another location on your PC.

However, it should be pointed out, that while the number of saves may not be an issue, that having autosaves enabled often does have an adverse effect, as it can affect load times. So, the best option is to use manual saves, and save often - as autosaves are limited in number and individuals may find that if they are relying solely on autosaves, in case of an error where they may need to roll back, the autosaves often do not go back far enough. Which is why, in almost all Bethesda games, it is recommended to turn off autosaves and just save manually, one, because if you are relying on just autosaves, they easily get overwritten and you may not be able to have an early enough save to roll back to if needed, and two, because of the aforementioned effect they may have on load time.

And, in talking about saves, it should be stated that another major cause of issues is the use of Cloud Saves - they are a constant source of issues, as they are limited in number and will be replaced by newer saves - regardless of the game. Using them is just asking for trouble - and it's been seen extremely often that people have lost their saves due to the way cloud saves work.

There is also this, from Arthmoor:
"There is no credible evidence from any source that having more than 512 saves in your Documents folder for the game causes a problem outside of a brief pause as it loads the list of all your saves to pick from. Even in games going all the way back to Oblivion this has never been an issue."
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1716740/discussions/0/3807281445020926448/?ctp=72#c3882722559229754728

Edited September 29, 2023 by smr1957

[Arthmoor]

I just want to point out that the presence of autosaves also has no effect on the stability of the game or on any sort of performance issue related to load times. An autosave is literally the same thing as a manual save, just with a different name on it.

And before someone tries to say it, the same is true of quicksaves as well. There is no credible evidence of those having any effect on load times or game performance.

That being said, yes, it's kind of risky to rely solely on using these two methods to preserve your progress. Quests can bug out. NPCs might not be where they should be. Even stuff as stupid as a ghost ship intersecting your own in space. You may need to walk back a lot further than an autosave or quicksave will allow for in order to make another attempt at doing what broke in the game.

I agree on the use of cloud saves. My stance: Just don't. They're a time bomb. Plus if you happen to be on a slow internet connection, saving to the cloud WILL cause noticeable delays as the network syncs your data.

[smr1957]

Thanks, Arthmoor!  I am quoting you and providing a link back to your post in my other Helpful Links topics on other sites.  Good info!

[smr1957]

ADDED:

THE GOLDEN RULE OF MODDING

to Modding the Game, section

[smr1957]

Latest information on the development of xEdit for Starfield:

from the xEdit discord

ElminsterAU — Yesterday at 11:14 PM
"I'm pretty much at the point where I think the record definitions are as good as I can make them right now when only concentrating on the things that are needed to provide a relatively safe editing experience. So now is the point here I'm creating a big .esm that contains override for most of the records in Starfield.esm, and this needs to be tested in-game (by loading the file, nothing should change in behaviour)
[11:15 PM]
I'm going to do some initial tests myself, and then I'll open testing of this file up to anyone that wants to risk it

@Soma
Most understand that it's a tremendous undertaking.

ElminsterAU — Yesterday at 11:16 PM
Indeed. I alone have put over 300h into this already since the 1st of Sept. That's not counting the countless hours by other contributors that have also helped."

(originally posted by by Avrie, here.)

[smr1957]

More information on the current state of progress being made with mod managers to make them so they will be compatible with Starfield.

First, Wrye Bash:

"Infernio — 09/26/2023 1:18 PM
Wrye Bash 312.202309262014

Recent Major Changes
Part 10 of refactoring towards FO4 BP support - 14 new records have been implemented and added to already-ported patchers where applicable
Very early Starfield support has been added
Note that plugins are not supported yet and WB will not enable you to load any of them yet. This is by design and not a bug. Do not use any .esp/.esm/.esl files besides the four official files!
WB will issue warnings for v1 BA2s. This is also by design and not a bug
Completely rewrote Steam game detection to avoid the registry
Ported the first batch of patchers to Fallout 4
Part 9 of refactoring towards Fallout 4 BP support"

Next, Mod Organizor 2:

"Beta 11:
MO2 plugin settings for Starfield has a new option to enable the plugin management tab
This is for use with Plugins.txt Enabler
This will not work without the above SFSE plugin
Starfield plugin management being disabled now fully disables plugins.txt
No writes
No virtualization
Reworked save parsing for Starfield to reduce the time spent decompressing the data
Potential fix for the "failed to communicate with running process" error after downloading from Nexus
Added Starfield theme by Trosski
Potential EGS support for New Vegas
Tutorial updates
General refresh of tutorials to make them more up-to-date and clear
It is now possible to exit tutorials early"

Thanks goes to Avrie for making the information available - it is much appreciated!

[smr1957]

Mod Organizer 2 Build update

"2.5.0 - Beta 12 @MO2 Feedback
Please don't link this externally or upload somewhere else.

IMPORTANT
2.5 builds include a number of dependency updates which ultimately means that these builds currently only support Windows 10 and above.

We currently can't support Windows / Xbox Store (gamepass) installs as these do not work with the VFS.

Beta 12:
Starfield:
Changing plugin management should now automatically update the plugin display
(lib)LOOT 0.22.0 with Starfield support
Adds 'sort' button functionality
Requires plugin management to be enabled (and no sTestFile entries)
Fix for empty plugins.txt warning message
Fix plugin index handling with 'overwrite'-flagged plugins
Added support for force-enabled (but not loaded) plugins (BlueprintShips-Starfield.esm)
EGS (and GOG) support for New Vegas should now be complete
Refresh updates (Holt59)
Better performance / function
Launch arguments are now included and can be picked up by plugins
Updated discord links
Updated translations

Please Note: For the 2.5.0 installer, plugins will be wiped to account for 2.4 plugins being incompatible with 2.5."

Thanks goes to Avrie for the information.

[smr1957]

There recently came up a question as to the different weapon/spacesuit tiers in the game, and what they were and in what order.  So I am posting this:

From the starfieldwiki.

From https://starfieldwiki.net/wiki/Starfield:Weapons#Weapon_Tiers

"When the game spawns a weapon it can upgrade it with a quality tier based on player level. All tiers of the weapon look identical, but higher tiers have increased damage and monetary value.

Tier
Calibrated
Refined
Advanced    
Superior

And from https://starfieldwiki.net/wiki/Starfield:Spacesuits#Spacesuit_Tier_System 

"Like weapons, spacesuits in Starfield are subject to a tier system that depends on player level. Each tier will see an increase in spacesuit base stats and come with their respective suffixes. These suffixes are not to be confused with the suffixes that come about from spacesuit modification. Suffixes that indicate spacesuit level are as follows:

None (Spacesuit will not come with any suffixes unless modified)
Calibrated (2nd Tier)
Refined (3rd Tier)
Advanced (4th Tier)
Superior (5th Tier)"

[smr1957]

A new Mod Organizer 2 beta. 

"Silarn — Today at 1:21 AM
2.5.0 - Lucky Beta 13 @MO2 Feedback
Please don't link this externally or upload somewhere else.

IMPORTANT
2.5 builds include a number of dependency updates which ultimately means that these builds currently only support Windows 10 and above.

We currently can't support Windows / Xbox Store (gamepass) installs as these do not work with the VFS.

Beta 13:
Starfield:
Fix issue with 'enabled' core plugins when management is disabled
Add 'geometries' content type
Add LOOT to default executables (0.22.0)
Overlay plugin type flag has improved display
BSA (BA2) improvements
Fixed BSA preview
Fixed BSA packer
Initial Starfield support for both
Added potential translation support for tutorial names (and some other fixes)
Probably final GOG/EGS support for FNV / TTW
BasicLocalSavegames added to basic_games for improved save display (ZashIn)

Please Note: For the 2.5.0 installer, plugins will be wiped to account for 2.4 plugins being incompatible with 2.5."

Only available on the discord until the full release

Thanks to Avrie for the update.

[smr1957]

First, my apologies for not updating in a timely manner, but my internet was down and there was a delay as regards the provider getting a tech out to repair it, so I was severely limited due to the fact that I couldn only post using my phone, which has only a limited amount of internet time.  But all is good now (keeping fingers crossed that it stays that way - for a while, at least.)

Now, onto business.

On October 9, Bethesda released another patch:

"A new update has been released for Starfield on all platforms. This update includes changes to Settings that allow for players to adjust their FOV as well as some other performance and stability improvements.

Thank you so much for your continued feedback and support of Starfield and we look forward to a future with you on this journey.

STARFIELD 1.7.36 UPDATE - FIXES AND IMPROVEMENTS

GENERAL
FOV: Sliders are now available in Settings that allow players using first person or third person to adjust their FOV.

PERFORMANCE AND STABILITY
[PC ONLY] Improved stability for Intel Arc GPUs.
Various additional stability and performance improvements.

QUEST
Echoes of the Past: Addressed an issue where tunneling creatures could pick a location that would prevent progression."

[smr1957]

REGARDING CONSOLE COMMANDS

Most Often Used "Safe" Console Commands

Just a short (very short) list of console commands that are relatively safe to use. If it is not listed here, then the best thing is to avoid using that command or first verifying that it is safe to do so by asking. It should be noted that some commands which were used in prior games do not work or may not work as intended due to changes which were made by Bethesda.

Three notes first:

Note 1 - As always, even when using "safe" commands, make a save before using it, so you can roll back if necessary - just in case.

Note 2 - In the case of game bugs, the first thing to be done is to load an earlier save (hence the importance of using manual saves and saving often - auto saves should not be relied on as they overwrite each other and are limited in number). Only if loading an earlier save does not work, should attempting to advance the quest via the console be used - use of console commands in this manner is an absolute last resort and may have unintended consequence, such as other quest triggers being bypassed, which may lead to a cascade effect of subsequent quests failing to occur/proceed properly.

Note 3 - Unlike in previous Bethesda games, use of some console commands will disable achievements. Players should use a mod to re-enable them. It is recommended that Achievement Enabler by Priqrade be used, as it is not affected by game updates, since it does not require SFSE (which is designed to break with each update for reasons of the data needing to be reset).
Achievement Enabler - https://www.nexusmods.com/starfield/mods/252

(Final note: console commands are not case sensitive, so it is irrelevant whether or not you capitalize anything or not.)

player.additem - unless you are adding a quest specific item, this is completely and totally safe. And, even if you are adding a quest specific item, what will happen is the console added item will not count as fulfilling the quest - so you would still need to obtain the item through gameplay in order to fulfill the quest requirements. Additem will not break the game - unless you choose to add some outrageous number of something, like thousands of sandwiches, coffee mugs, or star plushies. However, the game itself will not be bugged out, but it may be that the engine will not be able to handle and render all the objects. Almost Totally Safe, with limited caveats

moveto player - Will move an NPC or object to the player character's position. Useful when a follower/NPC goes missing, or if an NPC is bugged and is not appearing where they are supposed to be. Safe.

qqq - immediately closes the game to desktop. Occasional issues may occur, which are resolved by reopening and then closing Starfield normally. Totally safe.

SaveGame - Does what it says - it saves the game - a name for the save needs to be entered, as in: SaveGame Whatever - and then hit enter (the save will appear as Whatever in your ingame saves list).

TCL - turn off collision. Mostly used when stuck behind an object. so as to pass through the object. Mostly safe, with caveats.
WARNING - if used to bypass quest locked areas, or to access a quest area that should be accessible, but which, due to a bug, is not, there is a real risk of bypassing game triggers, leading to the future issues - See Note 2, above.

TFC - freezes the game. Mostly useful to take screenshots when not using the in game photo app. Totally safe.

TGM - turns god mode on. The player character takes no damage and incurs no adverse effects (the exceptions being anything scripted by the game to occur). Totally safe.

TM - Turns off all on screen menus. Mostly used for screen shots in conjunction with TFC. Totally Safe.

The above are just the most frequently used, mostly safe commands. Commands which advance levels, skills, actor values, may have unintended consequences and are not recommended unless the player has some knowledge of what they do and their effects.

A full list of commands may be found in the starfieldwiki - https://starfieldwiki.net/wiki/Starfield:Console

It is important to realize that the console is a developer's tool, and not a gameplay aid; and although many players make use of it for gameplay, that was and is not it's purpose. Use of the console can have unintended effects - up to and including CTDs and breaking of a playthrough. So use with caution, and ALWAYS save beforehand - just in case.

Good luck!

 

Link ADDED to General Troubleshooting section

Edited October 13, 2023 by smr1957

[Scythe Bearer]

Right up front, I am assuming that the user knows what they are doing when using console commands.  I DO NOT recommend that casual users undertake the use of console commands without guidance and assistance from a more experienced game player/mod maker.  If the player does decide to use console commands without guidance, then the results are the responsibility of the user; don't call for help when you have pppppool (too much p in pool).  With that out of the way, moving on.

For the list of Console Commands known to work as before ...

ADDPERK works as before to add a perk to the player (the companion REMOVEPERK also works).  I use PLAYER.ADDPERK in one of my proof of concept mods. 

AMOD/RMOD (Add/Remove MOD) also works as before for adding a mod to a weapon or piece of armor. 

MODAV (MODify Actor Value) works as before.  The issue with this command is the name of actual Actor Values.  I know that Experience is one (player.modav experience 999) will add nine hundred and ninety nine experience points to the character. 

As a bonus, here is a command to add skill points to the player who feels constrained by a single skill point per level.  CGF "Game.AddPerkPoints" <int> where <int> is the number of skill points to add.  I would not recommend using a value higher than 255 for <int>, as I suspect that the number will wrap at 256. In this command, CGF is the abbreviation for Call Global Function.  I use this command in an extension of the same proof of concept mod mentioned above to increase the skill points per level from 1 to four. 

[smr1957]

Thanks, Scythe!  But if there is one thing all my years helping in the Skyrim forums have taught me, its that most people do not understand about console commands and the risks - they see it as something in the game which is meant to be used, and that they don't need to ask for help - even when they should!  And then, by the time they realize that they need to ask someone for help, they have already broken their playthrough.  Improper use of the console is one of the leading causes of issues in the game that we see in the Steam forums.  Hence why, as you posted, it is not recommended - unless a person knows what they are about (and not just thinks they do); are willing to accept responsibility of the risks involved; and makes a manual save before using a command - just in case.

Edited October 13, 2023 by smr1957