Especially after fallout 76
Fallout 76 was not made by Bethesda-Maryland
So? It still has a huge blemish on their record
No? would a bad gta developed by someone other than rockstar be a blemish on rockstars record?
True im just saying that they have a lot to prove
This will be the biggest event of the first half of this gen. Iâm expecting a min of 20m copies sold, biggest Xbox exclusive of all time, easily
It was worked on by many, many people from Bethesda-Maryland, including senior staff. After the launch of Fallout 4 the entirety of Maryland wasnât solely working on Starfield, thatâs for sure. There is no neat distinction between games worked on exclusively at one branch or the other.
Essentially every lead on F4 is credited on F76 in either a Lead or Director role. The new Leads they were directing were basically all people who also worked on F4 in the same department. Quite a few also worked on Skyrim, or F3 or even older Beth titles as well if you dig deep, but I wonât bother listing that.
For example:
Todd Howard
- F4: Game Director
- F76: Executive Producer
Jeffrey Gardiner
- F4: Lead Producer
- F76: Project Lead
Jason Hasenbuhler
- F4: Systems Programming
- F76: Lead Programmer
Istvan Pely
- F4: Lead Artist
- F76: Art Director
Nathan Purkeypile
- F4: World Art
- F76: Lead Artist
Emil Pagliarulo
- F4: Lead Designer
- F76: Design Director
Christian Cummings
- F4: Level Designer
- F76: Lead Designer
Mark Lampert
- F4: Audio Director
- F76: Audio Director
A lot of junior staff had the same or similar roles on both projects too. Way too many to list though.
The idea that F76 was exclusively a B-team affair does loom large in the fan consciousness, but Maryland had itâs fingers in the pie too. Every big decision being made on the game was being signed off by multiple senior people at Maryland. Staff at Maryland were in the trenches developing the game alongside the staff in Texas (and also alongside a small number of people from Arkane, id, and MachineGames and Iron Galaxy at various points, if the credits are anything to go by).
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The big issue with F76 is that it is a live service game compared to the single player games Bethesda normally do. You need a different set of skills and mindset to develop a GaaS and boy did it show in F76. However, Starfield is Bethesda going back to what they know, so I would honestly not be too worried about Starfield on the basis of F76 anymore than I am worried about God of War for example.
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I agree that theyâre very different sorts of games and that F76 sucking at launch isnât a reason to be specifically worried about Starfield. I was just pushing back against the notion that Maryland wasnât heavily involved with 76.
Iâm curious to see how Starfield turns out. Not super interested per se, Bethesdaâs mainline RPGs have traditionally not done it for me, but hey, âincluded with GPâ probably means Iâll at least install it and give it a go.
If I was to put on a bet, I would say it will be similar to their previous games, but new technology has allowed them to make some systems deeper, but we shall see. As you say, GP makes it risk free for you 
.
On one hand leaks are messed up, because they can get you hyped and eventually disappointed if it turns out to be fake. That screenshot yesterday is a good example. Looked significantly better than their previous games, the ground detail looks great. But it could be as fake as can be too.
Itâs also a huge improvement over the leaked shots from last year. But that was very, very WIP.
Not sure what to expect from this game. I feel like itâs going to steer more toward hard/grounded sci-fi rather than a space-fantasy adventure, just a hunch though. Itâs an exciting feeling to be right on the cusp of a giant new Bethesda world about to drop on us. Like starting up Skyrim: Here you are, now go explore!
Fallout 4 went from reveal to release in 5 months. I donât think itâs impossible that Starfield will follow a similar track. If I had to guess Iâd say we get a blowout reveal this summer, then the game releases either Christmas 2021, or probably more likely, March 2022.
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They were involved but it clearly wasnât their main priority. All hands are on deck right now for Starfield.
Fallout 76 was a side project that didnât work out.
For me, I am hoping Starfield is able to go back a bit to BGSâs roots and make the game more of a hard-core RPG. I fully expect there to be a revamped dialogue model that is closer to Skyrim/Oblivion, improved base building mechanics, vast cities and improved NPCs, and a few other features that will be expanded on for TES6.
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I mean the game has turned around and has an established community. Clearly was a Zenimax effort to try and make something happen before eventually the Microsoft purchase.
I wonder whoâs going to be responsible for the music in Starfield. BGS games have always had some beautiful music, from Oblivion to Skyrim. Fallout 3 and 4 too, played 76 too briefly to judge on it. But Iâve always vastly preferred the music in TES games.
Jeremy Soule has handled all the previous Elder Scrolls games, but there was some controversy in 2019 when he was accused of rape and sexual harassment, so it might be a different composer such as Inon Zur.
Oh yes, I recall that too. What ever come of that? I didnât do my own research on that so I have no idea. But youâre right, itâs probably going to be someone else. I looked Inon Zur up and he made Fallout 4 main theme, Dragon Age Origins music among many others. Yes please!
It doesnât appear anything else happened with Soule, no supporting evidence was provided, no charges were brought, and he called the accusations outrageous, so who knows.
OK thatâs good to know. Anyone can claim anything these days and certain sites and forums will condemn you immediately and donât even want to hear the other sideâs story. Not me, I am SO not down with that mentality.
As for the music, I have faith it will have great music. BGS has yet to disappoint me on that.