Bethesda Launches New Starfield “Free Lanes” Update, Which Includes New Features, Improvements, and DLC

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Image: Bethesda Game Works

Starfield “Free Lanes” is now available for all platforms, bringing many new features, DLC, fixes, and quality of life improvements at no cost to players. To say that the developers have put effort into giving back to their community with this free update is an understatement. From new weapons and armor to new long-requested planetary travel modes, a new vehicle, and player houses, there’s a little bit of everything in Free Lanes.

April 7 also marks the arrival of Starfield on the PlayStation 5, bringing the full game with all major updates thus far released, including Free Lanes. Support for the DualSense controller and its adaptive triggers gives players greater control in selecting weapons and experiencing their unique designs. Bethesda has also released the Terran Armada $9.99 paid DLC (free for premium edition owners), adding a new story for players to explore. More on it can be found here.

Features

  • Free Lanes: The player can now use cruise mode to travel in open space or to POI locations between planets inside a star system.
  • Added X-Tech crafting support to Weapons and Armor. This allows players to further customize the legendary effects on their equipment.
  • Added Additional Quality Tiers to weapons and suits.
  • Added Rank 4 Legendary effects for weapons and suits.
  • Added Upgrade modules. These can be installed to improve one attribute of a weapon or Suit.
  • Added New weapon skins that can be applied to select weapons at a workbench.
  • Added a buildable ship optimization terminal. The player can spend X-Tech to improve several attributes of their ship.
  • Added Ship Equipment schematics. This new equipment can be added in the ship builder after it is discovered.
  • Added Legendary Enemy Modifiers. Legendary enemies can now appear with new modifiers that make them more challenging.
  • Added Legendary Enemy Modifiers settings into Gameplay Options, so players can adjust when they start appearing.
  • Added Quantum Entanglement Device. This gives players the ability to transfer some items when they choose to go through the Unity.
  • Starborn Powers can now be upgraded with Quantum Essence.
  • Quantum Essence can now be added to the Favorites menu to for quick access.
  • Starborn ships now reward the player with Quantum Essence when destroyed.
  • Added the Database menu which allows for better location, resource, and recipe tracking based on character’s knowledge of the Settled Systems.
  • Added Outpost Quality of life improvements such as a Shared Outpost Container (allowing players to house and access inventory from various outpost locations), Production Rate information, and a more precise placement mode.
  • New vehicle: Moon Jumper.
  • Added new Player House – “Château des Étoiles”.
  • Added Colony Wars Action Heroes which provide benefits when found.
  • Added Colony War Action Heroes display cases as buildable objects.
  • Muria Siarkiewicz is now available to join player crew.
  • Added an additional 3rd person Ship Camera distance that allows more of the ship to be visible.
  • Added Always Show Landing Camera setting for those who want to see their ship land at known locations.
  • Added Anchorpoint Station, a new POI that can be found in the Algorab system.
  • Added New Dungeons, Space Encounters, and Points of Interest throughout the game.
  • Adjusted the distribution and cooldown timers for placement of points of interest on Planets.
  • Added additional photomode poses for the Rev-8.
  • Terran Armada DLC Now Available.

General

  • Steam – Disabled DLC will no longer re-install when launching the game.
  • General crash and stability fixes.

Gameplay

  • Improved loot found in containers with Expert and Master level locks.
  • Reactive Equipment – Resolved an issue with the sound effects for the Reactive legendary effect.
  • Addressed an issue that could cause NPCs to calculate weapon damage inconsistently.
  • Fixed an issue with CombaTech magazine accuracy bonuses not applying consistently.
  • The player can now jump while reloading the XM-2311, Old Earth Pistol, and Livingstone’s Pistol.
  • Bounty targets in cities should now be properly interactable.
  • Resolved an issue that could potentially cause non-combat background music to no longer play.
  • Photo Mode – Addressed an issue that could cause issues when entering photomode while also entering an interior.
  • Photo Mode – Addressed an issue that could cause the player’s right foot to display awkwardly.

Quests

  • Friends Like These – Players should now be able to return the Terrormorph data at the end of the quest.
  • Guilty Parties – Addressed an issue where this quest could possibly not start after completing “Background Checks”.
  • Missed Beyond Measure – Addressed an issue that could cause the player to be locked with an invalid companion.
  • One Giant Leap – The player’s helmet should now be visible.
  • Refurbished Goods – All weapons required by the quest should now be able to be found.
  • Refurbished Goods – Turning in this quest will no longer take incorrect items from the player’s inventory.
  • The Hammer Falls – Addressed an issue that could cause the player to not receive the Star Eagle ship upon completion.
  • Two Tales, Two Cities – Addressed a situation where the player could potentially be control locked if choosing to arrest Tahir.

Locations

  • Resolved an issue that could cause some beds in Akila City to not grant Rested Bonus as intended.
  • Characters should now correctly sit in chairs in the Explorer’s Refuge.

UI

  • Improved and issue that could make Weapons Workbenches difficult to place in houses or ships.
  • Added visual improvements to the Ship Repair UI.
  • Ship Builder – Addressed an issue that could prevent unique or stolen ships from being renamed.
  • Ship Builder – Resolved an issue that could cause a duplicate model of a ship to persist on the landing pad after modifying it.
  • Ship Builder – Hopetech All-In-One Berth 2×2 furnished version is now accessible in game.
  • Ship Builder – Improvements to UI in Large Font Mode.
  • Outpost – Improvements to UI in Large Font mode.
  • Players can now use the escape key to back out of renaming an item in a workbench. (PC)
  • Fixed a typo with the Scan Jammer’s description.

Shattered Space

  • The Oracle has updated music.

Creations

  • A Perfect Recipe: Resolved an issue that could prevent the Ashta from spawning.
  • Updated the description for Plushie Andreja.
  • At Hell’s Gate: Plushies can now be placed in Plushie cases.
  • The “Plushie Case – Mount” can now be placed closer to the “Plushie Case – Stackable” variant.
  • Allied Winter Camo Skins will now show up on the Creation menu when installed.

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Discussion (5 replies)

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DrMrLordX

Is Starfield worth playing at this point? I mostly try to get my single-player games off GoG and I don't think it's even available there yet. Skyrim sure is though.

Riccochet
Riccochet

"DrMrLordX, post: 103248, member: 10824" wrote:

Is Starfield worth playing at this point? I mostly try to get my single-player games off GoG and I don't think it's even available there yet. Skyrim sure is though.


It's on GamePass right now.

I installed it, played for like 30 minutes and uninstalled it. Biggest turn off was not being able to switch weapons with the mouse wheel. Like....wtf?

Peter_Brosdahl
Peter_Brosdahl

I keep telling myself that one day I'll get back to it. Bought it at launch due to all the hype, played 5-10 hours tops and uninstalled. Lol, I did a steamdb check a few weeks back when the announcement for this happened, and only ~20K concurrent players there, not excactly what I would consider a good sign for it but perhaps once you factor in Gamepass it might be a lot higher and is probably way higher now that its on PS5.

Grimlakin
Grimlakin 👍 1

I played through at launch. I hate building bases and everything then resetting the universe for incremental gains each time and having to re do all of that.

DAPUNISHER
DAPUNISHER 👍 1

I too, did a play through at launch. It was bundled with the Hell Hound RX 7800XT in my son's PC. There were sections of the game I really liked. However, the copy pasta of so many assets got old fast. Main story was cheesy. I think the last time I was playing they had finally added the ability to just eat food instead of having to go into inventory to use it. :ROFLMAO:

There have been so many updates since then, perhaps it will be a better experience. I am doing all the things in Assassin's Creed Odyssey for the second time, so maybe I will grind out another Starfeild run after this.

Peter Brosdahl
As a child of the 70’s I was part of the many who became enthralled by the video arcade invasion of the 1980’s. Saving money from various odd jobs I purchased my first computer from a friend of my dad, a used Atari 400, around 1982. Eventually it would end up being a lifelong passion of upgrading and modifying equipment that, of course, led into a career in IT support.

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