While Bethesda hasn't yet fully opened the gates of mod support for Starfield, the community is charting the route on its own, and an absolutely essential mod has been released.
The mod in question is the "Starfield Script Extender" and it's actually rather unassuming, as it won't do anything visible to your game. It's basically a tool that enables modders to do their magic.
While simple texture and visual mods (like the inevitable nude mods) can be done pretty easily, more advanced mods that actually deeply affect the gameplay and actually make things happen in the game require often complex scripting, and the Script Extender does exactly that.
This isn't a new thing for veteran modders of Bethesda games, and we've had Script Extenders for pretty much all semi-recent games by the developers, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, and more.
Now their creator Ian Patterson (A.K.A. "ianpatt") is back with the version for Starfield two full days before the official release of the game. This means that now modders can start creating some seriously interesting experiences and expanding the gameplay of our new beloved space game.
It's worth mentioning that for now, it works only with the Steam version of the game, so if you have the Windows Store version or you're playing via Game Pass, you'll have to wait.
How Do You Install the Starfield Script Extender?
- Download the 7z file from the NexusMods url above
- Unpack sfse_1_7_23.dll and sfse_loader.exe in your Starfield folder (usually \Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\common\Starfield\)
- Launch the game with sfse_loader.exe making sure that the Steam client is running.
Additionally, if you prefer launching the game directly via the Steam client, you can install the SFSE - Launch with Steam mod also available on NexusMods by Accessdeniied. It's worth mentioning that the original Starfield Script Extender is still required.
Of course, since these mods involve executable files, TechRaptor takes no responsibility for what they can do to your PC, and you install them at your own risk. Ianpatt is a highly respected member of the modding community, but this disclaimer is still mandatory for obvious reasons.
If you want to know more about Starfield, you can read our review, in which our Erren Van Duine explained that "Starfield's biggest strength is its complimentary content - sidequests, exploration, and more will gather your attention for hours despite a less-than-compelling narrative."
You can also listen to our team discuss the game in our latest podcast.
Starfield will officially release on Xbox Series X|S and PC (via Steam and Windows Store), and Game Pass on September 6.
Featured image credit: The image uses a rather fetching character created by SilverWolfMNG since mine is nowhere close to that cute.
