Bethesda is famous for its open-world, massive RPG titles. Starfield is one of their largest games, with over 1,000 planets to visit. Learning to save your progress is crucial, especially when making choices or before tough boss fights.
Starfield may be the newest title in Bethesda's catalogue, but it isn't the first time they have made an ambitious game like this. The Elder Scrolls and Fallout also have massive worlds to explore, conquer, or save.
Saving in Starfield
Like in any other Bethesda game, saving manually is required for Starfield. Boss fights can lurk around any corner, while world-changing decisions can appear in any conversation.
Besides, saving frequently is sensible; early adopters of their previous titles will know just how buggy and glitch-filled they can be. The solution to fixing these hiccups is often reloading a previous save. If you have not saved manually, the last autosave may be further back than you would have liked.
Types of Saves in Starfield
Like The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, Starfield has a similar save system. Their system comprises two types of saves that the player can rely on if they make a wrong decision, glitch out, or die prematurely.
Auto-save
Auto-save is the first type of save and is performed automatically by the game at set points. Usually, the game will make an autosave to mark progress upon entering a new area or building. This is handy if you forget about manually saving, but it's not ideal.
Manual Save
The user performs these saves, which can be done at most points during the game. During cut-scenes and NPC dialogue, you cannot save, and when you attempt a manual save during a battle, the game will inform you that you cannot save now.
How to Save in Starfield
All you need to do is pause the game, and on the data screen, head to system and then choose save. You need to be careful not to save over a previous file in case the game glitches and you can't reload. Quicksaves are almost pointless, so you can ignore them.
Creating a new save is also a good way for players to see how another option during an important choice may play out. You can customize how the game saves by heading to the pause menu, settings, and then gameplay.
There are a few ways to tweak how Starfield's save system works; we have listed them below -
- Save on Rest
This will save the game when you go to sleep.
- Save on Wait
This will save the game whenever you wait to pass the time.
- Save on Travel
This will save the game whenever you fast-travel
- Save on Pause
This will save the game whenever you pause the game. This option can be further customized by selecting how frequently the game will save, from every five minutes to every hour when paused.
How Often Should I Save the Game in Starfield?
How often you should save is up to you. For some advice, we would recommend saving at the following -
- Landing on a new planet
- Before a main quest mission
- Before making dialogue choices
- Before taking on any boss
- Before using up any resources or items
- Entering a new area
Saving isn't limited to these recommendations; save as much as you like, as often as you like. If a big decision must be made, leave the conversation if possible, save the game, and return. If it plays out the wrong way, you can revert to the last save and correct your choices.
However you decide to play, plenty of manual saves are for the best, no matter the reason. Auto-saves are fine but not as reliable when an entire galaxy exists to explore.
While you are here, why not check out some of our other guides and articles like Starfield - Quests or How Starfield's Backgrounds Systems Work?
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