Starfield: How does the open world work? Starfield guide, tips

Space travel is important in Starfield. Here you will learn how the game's open world works.

Last update: 31 August 2023

In Starfield you can travel both in space and on the surface of planets. Our guide clarifies how exactly the open world in the game works.

• Surface of the planets
• Travelling in space

Surface of the planets

There are around 1,000 planets in Starfield, but the player can't land on every planet; you won't land on gas or ice giants, for instance. The various planets differ in their fauna, flora or surface temperatures.

1. Some of them have hand-crafted cities where you can talk to characters, trade, hire companions, and accept missions. It is possible to land directly in such places, as there are spaceports.
2. Outside the cities are wild areas where you can find, among other things, abandoned research outposts or hostile enemy bases.
3. Every planet can be explored, to do it 100%, you need to scan all animal species, specific items in special places and minerals.
4. The planets are mostly procedurally generated. In the uninhabited areas, you can wander almost endlessly. You'll come across all the minerals and special sites from time to time.
5. Icons of important locations will be displayed after using the scanner - you can teleport to them only when you visit them for the first time.
6. You can only travel on planets by foot. If the player is in a closed room, they have the option to teleport to their ship.

Travelling in space

A lot of time may also be spent flying in space. Space travel in Starfield is actually based on a fast travel system and leaping between successive "maps" in space.

1. In space, it is possible to come across neutral spaceships that can be attacked. You can also trade with them.
2. Sometimes, the player encounters pirate ships that will attack him. The fight can be avoided if you use a gravity jump to another system.
3. If we want to get to distant systems, it will require a lot of fuel to do so. The game prevents travel if there is not enough of this resource. In this case, you have to make several gravity jumps to get to your destination.
4. The player can only land on a planet if he or she is in the correct system.