CDPR dev defends Starfield amid criticisms that its character animations don't match up to Cyberpunk 2077

[John Elden Ring]

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 Going back to Cyberpunk puts in perspective just how outdated Starfield's dialogue animations are, and it is staggering.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".

 

[Darth Vader]

It's the tools again. LOL

 

[Gods&Monsters]

Why is everyone in the industry defending Bethesda and Microsoft like they are fragile babies?

Starfield failed to make an impact on your favourite megacorp. Deal with it devs.

 

[Swift_Star]

Why is everyone in the industry defending Bethesda and Microsoft like they are fragile babies?

Starfield failed to make an impact on your favourite megacorp. Deal with it devs.

Yeah, to hell with that. But it might be fear of future backlash, who knows.

 

[Zzero]

I haven't actually played Starfield but "maximum player freedom", really? Thats not what I heard.

 

[Johnic]

Really means a lot coming from the company that lied to earn billions.

 

[AllBizness]

Why is everyone in the industry defending Bethesda and Microsoft like they are fragile babies?

Starfield failed to make an impact on your favourite megacorp. Deal with it devs.

Trying to line up future job opportunities

 

[KiryuRealty]

So THE TOOOLS are still NOT ready?

 

[Johnic]

So THE TOOOLS are still NOT ready?

It takes time. In about 3 years we'll see the tools mature and the X be all that it can be. Which is the same thing it is today.

 

[anonpuffs]

Stop defending incompetence

 

[Alabtrosmyster]

He just said it's not the engine (which sounds right).

 

[anonpuffs]

He just said it's not the engine (which sounds right).

I mean it could be the engine, if the engine is so arcane that it's not possible to make streamlined tools that allow good looking npc animations and modeling then it's the engine's fault

 

[Deleted member 223]

Coming to the defense of a poorly performant dev is not a good look after the disaster and con CDPR tried to pull with Cyberpunk.

You either perform to standards and modern date expectations or get grilled by the consumer base, rightfully..... whether that be on the quality front, or on the tech, aesthetic front....

Devs love to make excuses just to fit in the false "reasonable bubble" that they create for themselves so as to project friendliness to other devs and pat themselves in the back when consumers lash out. Got news for you, this market is not a safe space. More to the point, no job out there is safe from criticism by the end-user of the product you sell. Deal with it.

The product ain't free - it's cost money to the gamer, whether that be a traditional purchase or a subscription fee.

 

[Nimrota]

Funny Reddit comment on a post about that article:

Starfield is MASSIVE and has dozens of sub-spheres of activity. I'd bet that Jemison alone could RDR2 map inside it. As gamers we can't, and shouldn't, expect everything possible in a game. I'll take what starfield gave us as a game more than any finite game...no matter animations, textures, sound, VA etc...a game that offers almost limitless sinks and playtime, imo, trump games that limit the player. I think sometimes people just nitpick too damn much and don't appreciate what we get. Starfield is a triumph no matter how many say...and animations or whatever we wanna dissect arent going to change that

 

[KiryuRealty]

He just said it's not the engine (which sounds right).

It’s a combination of a shitty engine and an untalented studio.

 

[Deleted member 223]

I mean it could be the engine, if the engine is so arcane that it's not possible to make streamlined tools that allow good looking npc animations and modeling then it's the engine's fault

It's obviously a combo of all in-between - poor engine, poor tools, and poor resource management (dev priority) in a laggard department (character modeling, rigging and facial animations). Even more, when you have both poor engine and poor tools, you have to throw even more resources to the animation pipeline just to compensate for the inefficiency. There is absolutely no excuse here. Incompetence for failing to prioritize consumer facing aspects of the product (character modeling-animation) and incompetence for failing to update the engine, tools and tech despite having the resources to do so (which clearly were pocketed or poorly allocated somewhere else many years prior to starting the work of this project). Clearly what the R&D budget is for other businesses, in Bethesda's case, was either extremely small or largely misused.

Luckily for Bethesda, it's Microsoft's bag on the line now. They can release these duds with a bit more relief.

 

[reziel]

I haven't actually played Starfield but "maximum player freedom", really? Thats not what I heard.

As someone who has played it. Loading screens upon loading screens, extremely limited flight in space. Copy and pasted bases, outposts on planets, mostly empty caves on planets. No ground vehicles to help traverse mostly empty planets so alot of sprint hopping to get around worse then Skyrim honestly. AI that run up to each other to shoot each other at point blank range. Also the joke of Npcs in conversation don't always turn to face you when talking so you'll be talking to the back of their heads or they run out of camera but continue to talk. Plus sides I've seen are pretty much ship building that's it. Games a solid 8 at best. Minor gripe from me is the way they said this game is pre-alien contact so no alien npcs. Yet humanity is able to jump millions of light-years in seconds.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

 

[Would_you_kindly]

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;



In response, the dev said:





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:



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".

Has absolutely no clue what he's talking about

 

[Would_you_kindly]

He just said it's not the engine (which sounds right).

That's not true at all ... & the 'mind boggling number of locations' are all just procedurally generated & look pretty much the same