Starfield’s Shattered Space DLC expands the basic map with additional locations. Like other Bethesda DLC, installing Shattered Space opens a new region containing missions, locations, and NPCs for the plot. Players must go to a new place to start the DLC and will likely stay there throughout their runs.
The map of Starfield’s almost 1,700 planets is large and dull. Because of the planet’s procedural creation, the same sites of interest recur indefinitely around the galaxy. Shattered Space reinvents map design regardless of size. Its immensity is stunning, but exploring it is a new experience for Starfield gamers.
The map of Shattered Space is smaller than Starfield’s, yet still big.
Shattered Space’s map is smaller than Starfield’s, centering on a single-star system. The bigger planet has five moons, while the smaller one has two. If the main game comprises 1,700 planets, the DLC is less than two-thousandths of the map.
Va’ruun’kai, home to the mysterious House Va’ruun religious group, is where much of Shattered Space’s action occurs. Va’ruun’kai is a large Starfield planet, rivaling Akila and Jemison. Dazra, a huge metropolis, is full of Va’ruun followers. The player will spend much of the DLC in this Starfield city, which features merchants and crafting facilities to make Shattered Space’s new recipes.
A vast planet awaits exploration outside Dazra. Va’ruun’kai has 50 attractions. Human-made satellite colonies, House Va’ruun ancient sites, and, oddly, Chunks. Others are natural, such as ore-rich caverns or occurrences. While some are part of the main mission, many are tied to side quests or left for the player to uncover as they traverse the world.
One of Bethesda’s biggest DLC files is Shattered Space. Although it’s smaller than the usual Bethesda basic game (much alone Starfield), its DLC map is outstanding. Shattered Space is one of Bethesda’s largest DLCs by surface area and runtime, although how much time people spend on it depends on how many side activities they do.
Shattered Space Has More Handmade Environments
Shattered Space’s map is smaller and denser than Starfield’s, but that’s okay. Due to its handcrafted nature, the map is tiny. Base Starfield’s maps are mostly generated. This implies that most of its planets are machine-made and randomly created depending on several characteristics.
Some Starfield locations, such large cities and landmarks, are hand-crafted.
Starfield’s poor map design stems from this. The same POIs keep appearing because they were intended to fit onto any randomly produced planet. Large, vacant expanses between landmarks remain since the algorithms didn’t account for player boredom. The environment is chilly and illogical, making it uninteresting to explore.
Not so for Shattered Space. Everything on the DLC’s map is hand-crafted, from its layout to its attractions. As a human-made game, player experience was important. Shattered Space significantly reduces open space travel, another Starfield flaw. It won’t improve Starfield’s basic game, but it will meet player expectations.
Bethesda, whose early games were famously easy to get lost in, returns to form. Shattered Space’s map is supposed to be explored differently than Starfield. Rarely will they find themselves on desert worlds with the closest landmark kilometers away and have to quick travel. They’re encouraged to go on the Rev-8 or on foot and rewarded for discovering new things.
Because of this, gamers may spend more time exploring Va’ruun’kai than on any other Starfield planet. Even though its size is small compared to the original game, it seems much bigger.
Remember that Shattered Space is a large DLC. The galaxy may dwarf it, but it’s vast compared to Bethesda games like Fallout 4’s Nuka-World and Far Harbor and will keep players busy for a long time. Even though it’s just a little part of Starfield, Shattered Space’s Va’ruun’kai is one of the greatest maps due to its handcrafting.
Read More: Starfield: Shattered Space in terms of the Size of Its Map
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