The world of gaming is abuzz with anticipation for Bethesda’s latest offering, Starfield. But the excitement isn’t just about the game itself. The power behind the game, the Starfield engine, is also making waves. But what exactly is this engine, and why is it such a big deal? Let’s dive in and find out.
The Starfield Engine Unveiled
To begin with, Starfield is fuelled by the Creation Engine 2, a revamped edition of the long-standing Creation Engine that Bethesda has been utilizing since 2011. This piece of news was validated by Bethesda through a 2021 tweet, which stated “Starfield will be our first game to use Creation Engine 2.”
Starfield will be our first game to use Creation Engine 2. We’ve spent years developing it to power the next generation of immersion and exploration.
Bethesda Game Studios (@BethesdaStudios) [June 13, 2021]
Delving into the Creation Engine 2
So what is this Creation Engine 2 that’s powering the Starfield game? It’s a state-of-the-art game engine that was launched specifically for the advent of Starfield, and it’s also reportedly being utilized in the making of The Elder Scrolls 6.
The Creation Engine, in its original form, was used to bring to life games like Skyrim and its various versions, in addition to Fallout 4 and Fallout 76. Throughout its existence, it underwent numerous modifications to improve its graphical capabilities and to provide multiplayer functionality.
According to a Telegraph interview with Todd Howard, the Creation Engine 2 is essentially a further iteration of the original and serves more as a “new tech base”. Future games, like ES 6, will add to the feature set of the Creation Engine 2, introducing new modifications to cater to their unique requirements.
Why the Shift to a New Engine for Starfield?
Now the question arises, why did Bethesda decide to use a new engine for Starfield? The answer lies in their desire to enhance graphical fidelity, revamp animations, and procedural generation. Additionally, they wanted to facilitate quicker load times and provide faster access to the game.
This was confirmed by Todd Howard during the 2020 Develop: Brighton Conference interview, where he talked about the limitations of their old engine and the changes that were being made to the new one.
Howard made it clear that they “refresh” their engine with each game but accepted that their old engine needed “more work than it has in previous times”. He further talked about how the Creation Engine 2, although unnamed in the interview, had undergone the most extensive overhaul of any of their previous engines or engine iterations.
"From rendering to animation to pathing to procedural generation to, I don't want to say everything, but, it's a significant, significant overhaul."
The exact clip where Todd Howard discusses Bethesda’s game engine can be viewed below:
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Starfield engine, or Creation Engine 2, is not just a simple update of Bethesda’s old engine. It’s a dramatic overhaul, reimagined and redesigned to push the boundaries of what’s possible in gaming.
With Starfield, gamers are not just getting a new space adventure game. They’re also getting a sneak peek into the future of gaming technology, thanks to the power of the Starfield engine. This is why there’s so much excitement for Starfield and why we can’t wait to see what Bethesda has in store for us.
