Tired of navigating the cumbersome fast-travel menus in Starfield? If you’re a PC gamer, there’s exciting news for you. A mod called STL (Slower Than Light) has emerged, promising to transform your interplanetary travel experience in Bethesda’s latest space RPG.
With this mod, you can dramatically increase your ship’s speed, allowing you to traverse the vastness of space and reach nearby planets in a fraction of the time it would normally take.
Starfield’s Promise and Limitations
Starfield generated considerable excitement with promises of a massive galactic scale, teeming with item-rich dungeons, intricate questlines, and a multitude of activities. However, early on, Bethesda clarified that the game would not offer the same freedom to directly fly down to planet surfaces as seen in titles like No Man’s Sky.
Instead, players would access planetary locations through menus and loading screens. This limitation extends to travel between planets and solar systems, where players rely on a star map to warp from one planet’s orbit to another.
While the solar systems in Starfield are technically explorable, they are separated by vast distances. It could take hours, at the normal game speed, to journey between celestial bodies that appear relatively close to each other.
Some players have estimated that Starfield’s size, at least on the planetary scale, is approximately 1:20 in relation to reality. This vastness presents a unique challenge for space explorers.
The STL Mod: A Game-Changer
Enter the ingeniously named STL (Slower Than Light) mod, created by 105gun. This mod enables players to increase their ship’s speed to cross these daunting interplanetary distances in mere minutes.
The mod accomplishes this by mapping increased speed options to dedicated hotkeys. Contrary to its name, the increased speed allows players to move at what is described as the “equivalent of hundreds of times the speed of light.” It’s a practical solution for those seeking a more immersive and efficient experience in Starfield.
However, it’s worth noting that installing mods can sometimes disable achievements, although there are mods available to address this issue.
Intrasystem Travel and Minor Quirks
While the STL mod offers a thrilling interplanetary travel experience, it’s essential to acknowledge that Bethesda didn’t originally design the game with manual, high-speed travel in mind.
As a result, there are a few visual glitches and issues with the game rendering new space correctly when players manually travel between planets. Fortunately, most of these problems can be resolved with a simple save and reload.
A Return to Early-Game Exploration
In many Bethesda games like Skyrim and Fallout, fast travel is often the default method for getting around. However, Starfield stands out by offering fast travel as the primary means of accessing various parts of the game.
The Slower Than Light mod enables players to recapture some of the early-game moments when patience still prevails, and manually traversing vast distances feels like an adventure.
However, it’s important to note that the novelty of long journeys may wear off over time, leading some players to revert to fast-traveling for convenience.
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