Todd Howard said Starfield was a much harder RPG pre-release, and this early Starmap reportedly found in the game files makes that even clearer

An old version of Starfield’s Starmap seemingly hints at cut features and hazards

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

On the heels of Starfield’s launch, Bethesda boss Todd Howard explained that exploring space and dealing with planetary hazards used to be a lot more dangerousbefore the team “nerfed the hell out of it.“AStarfieldsleuth now claims to have uncovered an old version of the RPG’s Starmap, and it seems to have shed some light on the more punishing game that might’ve been.

First shared by Reddit user Redsaltyborger, this dated version of the Starmap – which is technically unofficial and could be an elaborate hoax, though that looks unlikely right now – closely resembles the final map at first blush, but it also contains a few significant features apparently left on the cutting room floor at some point.

The standout to me (and GamesRadar+’s resident Starfield-heads) is the list of hazards on the far right – in this case, “solar radiation” which can cause “light hull damage,” and “micrometeoroids” which “can cause catastrophic stop.” These hazards are notably listed below a fuel consumption meter, seemingly outlining the added risks imposed on Starfield players back when you risked running out of fuel mid-excursion.

Howard actually discussed ship fuel in a separate commentback in October 2022. “We were playing that and it became very punitive to the player. Your ship would run out of fuel and the game would just stop,” he said. “You just want to get back to what you’re doing. So we recently changed it where the fuel in your ship and your ship and the grav drive limits how far you can go at once, but it doesn’t run out of fuel. Maybe there will be an update or mod that allows that, but that’s what we’re doing now.”

Just to the left of this Starmap’s hazards tab is what looks like route or map filters for “systems,” “planets,” or “economy.” How these may have functioned is anyone’s guess, but the “economy” option in particular raises the possibility of a more involved trading or networking system.

Starfield players have also latched onto the short descriptions for each system, which seem to hint at the sort of encounters you might expect from those destinations. The lore for the designation in this screenshot, Leviathan, reads: “Leviathan is cataloged by early explorers as a mineral rich but otherwise unremarkable system. Pirate crews used to use moons in the system for loot stashing. Constellation notices explorer’s recovery of stolen goods is against regulations.” I gather you’d be able to dig up some pirate treasure and valuable minerals, then.

It’s unclear when and how these features were cut, nor do we know how far along they were before seemingly getting axed. Theresponseto these breadcrumbs has been mixed, with some Starfield players hungry for a more dangerous, hardcore survival experience, and others actually preferring the look and functionality of the final map we ended up with. Speculating optimistically, perhaps polished versions of some of these ideas will be folded back into the game in some way through future updates, as Howard previously suggested regarding ship fuel.

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

Bethesda’s Starfield roadmap for early 2024has the space RPG’s community feeling optimistic for the future.

Austin freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and he’s been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They’ve yet to realize that his position as a senior writer is just a cover up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he’s kept the ruse going with a focus on news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.

Dragon Age: Origins writer says the RPG series has a secret “overarching plan,” but won’t reveal the “very last plot” in case BioWare actually makes it

6 years after Deltarune’s initial launch, Toby Fox says the RPG’s next 2 chapters will “100% come out in 2025”

The Ultimate versions of Wolverine and Nick Fury make their official debut in next month’s Ultimate Universe: One Year In special