Todd Howard raised a ruckus when he revealed in an interview this Monday that Starfield will receive new display modes in an update. Today, just two days after that podcast appearance, Bethesda officially rolls out that patch for Steam Beta testing.
We heard Todd Howard right after all when he told Greg Miller last Monday that “new display modes” are coming to its biggest RPG, Starfield. Immediately after the interview, some users on X theorized that these modes could include a frame rate of 60 frames per second for the space exploration RPG on the Xbox Series S and X.
Fortunately, we didn’t have to wait long to find out what these display modes are and where they’ll be going because Bethesda has confirmed these details today in a blog post on the Starfield official website.
Similar to the display modes included in the Fallout 4 next-gen update, the two modes will allow players to customize their graphics experience by setting which aspect the game should prioritize: Visuals or Performance.
The Performance mode tells the console to prioritize a high frame rate while sacrificing display resolution and image detail. On the other hand, the Visuals mode focuses on providing the best display resolution but with a lower frame rate as a trade-off.
Related: Will Starfield Run At 60fps On Xbox?
Players with variable refresh rate displays can also set a target frame rate of up to 60 fps or leave it uncapped. Those with non-VRR displays can also choose between 30 and 60 fps.
Curiously, these display modes are only available for players enjoying Starfield on the Series X but are not extended for those on the Series S. While both consoles had previously run Starfield with an fps cap of 30, the Series S suffered noticeable difficulties in rendering background elements in high quality in Starfield, while the Series X had none.
With this handicap, it’s possible that the Series S may not be capable of running both Visuals and Performance modes. However, it could’ve received a boost from the Performance mode alone.
Of course, these improvements are only the tip of the iceberg. This update also brings another feature that many players requested: city maps. These maps make it easier to navigate large cities like New Atlantis and could finally help people avoid getting lost while looking for their penthouse in the UC capital.
READ MORE: Starfield Shattered Space Release Date Revealed
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