Starfield is a relatively uncharted domain for even a gaming behemoth like Bethesda Game Studios. The vastness of the game's space combat, riddled with challenges, was as much of a roadblock as the studio's ambition to make a universe explorable. While the thrill of space exploration and spaceship battles allure players, the journey to get the mechanics right was long and arduos.
Todd Howard, Bethesda's vision-bearer, shared candid insights about the game's AI development in a recent interaction with the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. He highlighted that programming the AI for spaceships in Starfield was intriguing. "It's very easy when you get out into outer space... to make the enemies really smart," Howard says, But, the intricate dance between player and enemy was lost in jousting matches. The solution? Simplifying the AI, making it more predictable. He continued, "It turns out you have to make the AI really stupid. You have to have them fly, then they need to turn, basically like 'hey player, why don't you just shoot me for a while?'"
The challenge lay not in creating an AI too intelligent or too naive but in striking a delicate balance. Howard says that he found inspiration in games like FTL and MechWarrior. Their slower-paced combat and power allocation mechanisms resonated with him. Bethesda wanted to harness these elements, making them intuitive, avoiding any pause in space gameplay.
Despite these adjustments, players have expressed a universal distaste for the "stupid" AI in Starfield. It's not unusual for the AI to fail to acknowledge the player's presence, leading to underwhelming confrontations - a big no when you want to experience the thrill of the chase when you're out venturing and living out your days as a space pirate.