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[Draugoth]

A veteran developer at CD Projekt Red has leapt to Starfield's defence amid criticism of the game's character animations, responding to Twitter, user @SynthPotato who wrote;

As much as I like Starfield, Creation Engine needs to go. Going back to Cyberpunk puts in perspective just how outdated Starfield's dialogue animations are, and it is staggering. Starfield does not have body animations in dialogue, aside from basic turns and the occasional generic hand gesture. I've been really feeling more and more critical of Starfield after going back to Cyberpunk, with the constant load screens, awful dialogue camera and lackluster animations.

In response, the dev said:

I like starfield a lot, so I'm not getting involved in the core criticism here, but I will say that the way they handle cinematics vs 2077 is not down to engine so much as it is tools and design. Related but not the same.

He also points out that each of Cyberpunk 2077's major scenes took years to put together, which just wouldn't be feasible in a game as huge as Starfield:

"Instead, [Bethesda Game Studios] puts their resources into giving maximum levels of player freedom, they are just doing something different with their time and that's cool. You can want their scenes to be more cinematic or whatever, and that's fair, but it comes at a cost."

This isn't the first time Mills has come to Starfield's defence. Last month, the developer responded to a video comparing the game to Cyberpunk 2077, implying it lacked the level of detail and realism found in CD Projekt Red's offering. Mills wasn't having any of it and described it as "fake criticism" and "actively harmful".

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Basically, they half-arsed animations for various reasons.

Funnily enough, the reason I quit playing Witcher 3 early on in the game was because the stiff animations put me off.

 

[Jack Videogames]

"criticisms that its character animations don't match up to Cyberpunk 2077"

Which are true. Any major NPC from Cyberpunk 2077 gives any major NPC from Starfield a run for its money. They move and emote like human beings (Well... almost). Starfield's NPCs are scary mannequins.

"Instead, [Bethesda Game Studios] puts their resources into giving maximum levels of player freedom, they are just doing something different with their time and that's cool. You can want their scenes to be more cinematic or whatever, and that's fair, but it comes at a cost."

Which is also true. While Night City is big, there's really only one critical path and it's laid out from the start. It's not really a sandbox. Starfield's freedom of action is pretty impressive.

 

[Raven117]

Basically, they half-arsed animations for various reasons.

Yup.

Sure, they are different games trying to deliver different experiences.

But man....playing Phantom Liberty and Starfield really feels like a complete jump in a generation, regardless of design.

 

[Tomeru]

Why even the need to "defend" starfield? Shouldve said nothing at all. Is he "defending" the devs? The game? The design? What exactly?

Why do people keep making excuses? Starfield is what it is.

 

[GymWolf]

After forbidden west and cyberpunk, open world don't have excuses for lackluster shit acting during chats with npcs, both those games are gigantic not on the small side like spiderman/sunset overdrive/infamous 3.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

He's just being nice. We all know what they think about Bethesda effort in this area behind closed doors...

 

[violence]

I’m not a programmer, but I thought the engine is a collection of tools.

I assumed to make starfield easier to mod, there was concessions that had to be made.

 

[Gaiff]

But that's even worse? It's not the engine, it's incompetence. One of these is much easier to fix than the other.

 

[adamsapple]

I see the twitter-verse has moved on from the BG3 comparisons and started the Cyberpunk comparisons.

 

[JokerMM]

Todd "Monster cock" howard is in bed with all these developers
looks like every week we have one of them comes out and defend this game

 

[Bonfires Down]

Why even the need to "defend" starfield? Shouldve said nothing at all. Is he "defending" the devs? The game? The design? What exactly?

Why do people keep making excuses? Starfield is what it is.

Right? What is this game developer doing discussing game design? He should just shut up and talk about something relevant like gardening instead.

 

[RoboFu]

Before starfield “ cyber punk sucks., it’s nothing like they said! “

After starfield “ starfield sucks it’s nothing like they said! Why can’t it be more like cyberpunk!? “

 

[adamsapple]

Before starfield “ cyber punk sucks., it’s nothing like they said! “

After starfield “ starfield sucks it’s nothing like they said! Why can’t it be more like cyberpunk!? “

Like Todd said, Starfield will live rent-free for at least 5 years.

 

[Guerilla Munch]

Starfield feels like a fucking Xbox 360 game with a high res texture mod. Cyberpunk feels like it's 2 generations ahead in just about every regard

 

[Senua]

Funnily enough, the reason I quit playing Witcher 3 early on in the game was because the stiff animations put me off.

Well that's a reason to stop playing a game entirely!

 

[Gambit2483]

When one of the most impressive npc animations is the bartender wiping down the counter you know there's an animation problem in your big budget 2023 AAA game.

 

[Loomy]

Everytime engine conversations come up we learn that people have no idea what a game engine is responsible for vs art direction/animation.

 

[Bkdk]

As dated as their engine is, I really wish bethesda would keep using their engine because no other game engine allow mods to that level. If they switches engine to something like unreal then there might be 0 AAA games that are so moddable in the future which sucks big time. There are enough games use better engines for vanilla games already.

 

[Thirty7ven]

Damn Starfield is getting the pitty fuck treatment just because they sad for Bethesda.

First they cried about BG3 being unfair and now they go to bat for a mediocre game.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Well that's a reason to stop playing a game entirely!

Yes, if characters and the combat feel stiff, I don't like it.

 

[Skifi28]

I wonder what a hellpoint dev has to say about this.

 

[TheRedRiders]

CDPR devs are not exactly on the high pedestal they think they’re on these days.

 

[Del_X]

Starfield's facial animations aren't that bad, what makes them very uncanny is the way everyone stands with their hands by their side and doesn't gesticulate. Witcher has some of those hand animations and it helps compensate for the stilted facial animations.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

For a 2023 open world game that got body/facial animation right, look no further than Dead Island 2. Criminally underrated game!

 

[MirageMew2]

Which is also true. While Night City is big, there's really only one critical path and it's laid out from the start. It's not really a sandbox. Starfield's freedom of action is pretty impressive.

I don’t really see a difference in this regard, especially since 2.0. Cyberpunk’s sim elements have never felt better, and I don’t need to be able to pick up and put down each individual to get that level of immersion. Both games excel in pointless stat driven dialogue but one looks better doing it.

 

[Gambit2483]

Starfield's facial animations aren't that bad, what makes them very uncanny is the way everyone stands with their hands by their side and doesn't gesticulate. Witcher has some of those hand animations and it helps compensate for the stilted facial animations.

Starfield characters barely animate period. Most of all during conversations. Compare a conversation from Horizon Forbidden West to Starfield and it's a "night n' day"/generational difference.

 

[balls of snow]

For a 2023 open world game that got body/facial animation right, look no further than Dead Island 2. Criminally underrated game!

I need to play this.

 

[eNT1TY]

If you can tolerate the non-main scenario quest npc animations from FF16 you can tolerate Starfield's animations.

 

[nowhat]

If you can tolerate the non-main scenario quest npc animations from FF16 you can tolerate Starfield's animations.

Haven't played Starfield yet, but agreed on FFXVI. I don't recall another game, at least in recent memory, that can look both so awesome and so ugly, depending on the scene.

 

[Tomeru]

Right? What is this game developer doing discussing game design? He should just shut up and talk about something relevant like gardening instead.

 

[nemiroff]

Why even the need to "defend" starfield? Shouldve said nothing at all. Is he "defending" the devs? The game? The design? What exactly?.

He is obviously defending the truth seen from his perspective and experience as a developer on a big game.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

That brave developer will definitely get schooled over how game development actually works now.

 

[ADiTAR]

Funnily enough, the reason I quit playing Witcher 3 early on in the game was because the stiff animations put me off.

For me it was the over-talking, like things you can say in a sentence went on and on for so long. In Novigrad I just started skipping all of it.

 

[Little Chicken]

Mills points out that the focus for Starfield is more on offering a tremendous amount of freedom on a mammoth scale. "They do some scenes that are staged in a more refined way, like meeting constellation for the first time, some quest sequences etc," he says. "But they have vastly more scenes with a revolving cast of characters and a mind boggling number of possible locations."

 

[Macaron]

Did he "defend" Starfield though? Sounds more like "Hey just so you guys know, the things you don't like are cause of THIS, not that"

 

[bender]

Animations are probably the thing that is furthest behind in BGS games relative to modern standards and that is saying something considering the amount of things the lag behind with.

 

[peronmls]

At least cyberpunk is not make constant awkward eye contact but yes, the body language in these games are non-existent. It is just canned animations. Devs think it is a charm that makes their games what they are. It's goofy.

 

[Flutta]

Now imagine if devs were to clown eachother for the low effort some of them squeeze out, think of all the amazing games we would've gotten?? instead of all this "Humble Kumbayah" bullshit act at display. It's clear as day that either the devs at Bathesda are lazy asses or they just lack talent or both and this weasel is insulting us by trying to brush it under the rug. SMH!

 

[Flutta]

That brave developer will definitely get schooled over how game development actually works now.

BRAVE??? LMAO he clearly choose to take the coward's way out.

 

[diffusionx]

It’s interesting that people near simultaneously claimed that BG3 was a standard they could not possibly live up to, and that Starfield is no really an amazing achievement in spite of its litany of limitations and issues, many of which were present 17 years ago in Oblivion. It’s like we simply cannot have any standards to hold these games to.

I don’t even know why a CDPR dev would wade into this. We all can see the difference clear as day and this guy comes off as patronizing more than anything else. Really stupid. Let bethesda defend their own disappointing game.

 

[Woggleman]

They still have PTSD from three years ago so they have sympathy.

 

[Eotheod]

Oh boy the rent free mindset this game keeps delivering is just too good. How are people so attached to a game they apparently hate or find reasons from other games to contrast for showcases of poor quality? Truly this has to be the epitome of rent free thoughts and conjectures.

Now imagine if devs were to clown eachother for the low effort some of them squeeze out, think of all the amazing games we would've gotten?? instead of all this "Humble Kumbayah" bullshit act at display. It's clear as day that either the devs at Bathesda are lazy asses or they just lack talent or both and this weasel is insulting us by trying to brush it under the rug. SMH!

I very much doubt developers at Bethesda are lazy or lack talent comparative to yourself. There are most definitely varied levels of competency in the games market, but laziness or untalented are not present in Bethesda.

 

[EDMIX]

I see the twitter-verse has moved on from the BG3 comparisons and started the Cyberpunk comparisons.

It will be the Spiderman 2 comparison later this month, watch..

 

[Boss Mog]

The combat animations and effects are even more embarassing for Starfield when put next to Cyberpunk's incredible combat.

 

[Zuzu]

While it couldn’t be done for every NPC interaction Starfield at least needed to add some more life to the character/dialogue animations for the main story and perhaps the faction quests.

 

[Slicker than your average]

Like Todd said, Starfield will live rent-free for at least 5 years.

We'll see next year when nobody is even talking about it any more.

 

[Freelance Yakuza]

A simple and elegant response to a comment made by someone who has no idea how the thing he is criticizing works.
Isn’t that basically Twitter 101?

 

[Poplin]

people seem to say engine when they mean renderer. graphics are only a small part of everything an engine handles.

 

[Spyxos]

The combat animations and effects are even more embarassing for Starfield when put next to Cyberpunk's incredible combat.

It looks great, but to be honest you should compare release combat in Cyberpunk to just released Starfield. It's only since the 2. 0 update that I really enjoy fighting in Cyberpunk. Before that, it was just okay.