For many Starfield players, the need to go through a loading screen each time you want to land on a planet – rather than seamlessly travel through the planet’s atmosphere like in No Man’s Sky – was a big turn-off.
Now, over three years after Starfield’s initial release, we’re finally close to having our seamless planetary landings, all thanks to Frederik Wessberg, who’s been working on a mod to enable just that.
Although the mod has not yet been released, Wessberg was confident enough in its current state to show it in a new video. The mod is inspired by Seamless Grav Jumps and Seamless Planet Takeoff -popular Starfield mods which likewise address two other pain points.
“After seeing the Seamless Grav Jumps and Seamless Planet Takeoffs mods, and especially after we got cruise mode officially in the game, not being able to also land on planets without loading screens really stood out to me,” Wessberg said.
With the mod, it’s now possible to enter a planet’s atmosphere manually and fly in low orbit before you decide to land. The video shows the autopilot option, which lets you “leave your cockpit seat and walk freely around your ship or enjoy the views while the ship flies from orbit to ground”.
The mod also seems to offer greater control on where you can land your spacecraft, including the ability to land on water. The added atmosphere is apparently made up of “real 3D layers of volumetric clouds, driven by climate data and weather systems” built from the game’s data, Wessberg said.
The mod is only in development for PC at this time, and does not yet have a release target. When it’s ready, you’ll be able to find it and freely download it on Nexus Mods.
Developer Bethesda said prior to the game’s release on PlayStation 5 that it has long-term plans for Starfield. What that means in practice remains a mystery, but a Switch 2 port looks increasingly likely.
