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Starfield update adds lighting improvements, and loads more

by Adam Cook on January 31, 2024

Bethesda has announced update 1.9.51.0 for Starfield which brings the lighting changes out of Steam beta for all players.

The official blog has all the details, but we’ve got the patch notes here for you as well. Bethesda says that “We’re grateful for all the feedback we’ve seen and received and will continue to monitor and track your issues and critiques”, and added “As we noted last year, we’ll continue to have a steady stream of updates about every six weeks, so if you don’t see your issue addressed below, don’t lose faith! Keep sharing your feedback and issues so we can do our best to prioritize”.

Anyway, the fixes are split into categories, and we’ve dropped some of the key ones below.

Animation

Fixed player character’s eyes remaining closed instead of blinking in third person view.
Addressed rare cases where small animation pops could be seen in third person.

Creatures and Enemies

Fixed incorrectly invisible creatures on some planets.
Fixed an issue that could occur on some enemies causing them to stand instead of falling to the ground.

Crew and Companions

Fixed crew members and companions positioning near the cockpit after fast traveling to the ship.
Companions: Fixed a possible control-lock when talking to a companion without entering a dialogue while simultaneously trying to exit the ship.

General fixes

[ADDED TO 1.9.51] Addressed a crash that could occur when changing from Fullscreen to Windowed mode. (PC)
Fixed an issue that prevented Windows users saving if their username featured certain characters (PC).
Fixed rare save game corruptions on PC (MSS and Steam).
Fixed an issue that could lead to a control lock or a crash after loading a quicksave while in the targeting mode.
Fixed player marker following the camera on the surface map.
Fixed a rare issue that could prevent access to the main menu on when prompted to “Press any button to Start” (Xbox).
Body type should no longer reset to default when loading a Starborn save from the main menu.
Fixed flickering on Neon’s Trade Tower elevator panel.
Improved the appearance of the Ryujin Kiosk material during nighttime.
Fixed rare issue with how Cydonia’s panel could display the hours without incident.
Added Optimizations to cloud syncing of save games (MSS/Xbox).
Improved how crowds behave when desired target is reserved.
Fixed an issue that could cause airlock doors to sometimes appear floating in sky when arriving at locations.
Fixed unintended text appearing on the shipbuilder’s UI.
Fixed game session not properly resuming from shutdown in Energy Save mode (Xbox).
Various stability improvements.

Graphics

Shadows can now be seen on planet rings from planet surface.
Improved eyes and skin on crowd characters.
Improved reflection on water.
Improved contact shadows on character skin (Xbox and PC Medium/High/Ultra).
Improved contact shadows on character cloth (PC High/Ultra).
Improved contact shadows on first person (PC Ultra).
Improved lighting in character generation menu.

There are a whole lot more fixes, including many more updates to the graphics, outposts, powers, quests and random encounters, ships and customisation, skills, and weapon and items. It really is a pretty heft update for Starfield.