Welcome back friends to the Nero Gaming Newsletter. Here’s what we have for you today:

• Everything we know about Starfield mods

• Starfield mod ideas from your Emperor

• Game releases we’re excited about

The State of Starfield Mods

Today marks two weeks since Starfield launched to the early access nerds.

With the big release behind us, mods are the next chunk of juicy news for the title. Here’s what we know:

Official mod support isn’t here yet and has vaguely been promised for “sometime next year.”

This follows the standard practice for other Bethesda releases and is likely to be worth the wait as the studio is known for robust mod support.

Even so, some mods have already been made available.

Predictably, the best place to find mods for starfield is nexus mods. If you’ve played starfield at all, it’s worth a browse.

One very important mod that’s already arrived is the Starfield Script Extender which provides some useful tools to other modders—basically making it easier to make other mods.

Unfortunately, this mod only works with steam—meaning all mods made using it will be limited to steam also.

Hopefully when official tools arrive the SFSE team will have everything they need to include all PC platforms.

Lastly, your noble Emperor has some mod ideas for any aspiring tinkerers out there, which I’ll layout here:

Mod Idea: Shipwide Inventory 

When you get a new ship, items come scattered all over that ship—in the cargo hold, captains locker, gun racks and even just sitting out on the furniture.

I once captured a pirate ship and checked the cargo bay for loot—nothing special. Then I took it to a dock to try to register and got arrested for possessing contraband!

I never even found out what the contraband was—just paid an enormous fine and that was that.

It would be REALLY great to be able to see all of that inventory in one space.

Mod Idea: Ship Component Transfer

This one is simple. Currently, if you install a part for a ship you cannot take it off that ship.

Similarly, if you capture a ship that has a great component in particular (shields, for example) there is no way to salvage just that component.

I get that there might be balance issues with this—it could be done in a way that adds a bit of friction (maybe adding a removal fee in or something).

I think this would make piracy much more interesting and give people a bit more incentive to invest in a ship.

Onwards and Upwards: Game Releases We’re Looking Forward To

With the starfield release behind us, let’s take a look at upcoming games that could be just as exciting.

Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria 

Release Date: October 24, 2023

This is an upcoming survival crafting game set in the mines of Moria on Middle Earth (and taking place after the events in LotR Trilogy).

Players take on the role of a dwarf who must lead a fellowship of dwarves back into the lost mining kingdom to reclaim it from the darkness.

Why we’re excited: Looks like it will be heavy on crafting and cooperative play with a pretty unique mix of iconic locations and procedural generation.

Life By You

Release Date: March 5, 2024

This is a weird one! Life By You is a life simulation game published by Paradox and headed up by Rod Humble (who has previously lead development on the Sims series at EA).

Why we’re excited: This one’s atypical for the Emperor, but we’re stoked and hopeful (stokeful?) for some very specific reasons.

First, Paradox is involved. 

A bit of a history lesson here: Paradox straight up stole the urban city building genre from EA with Cities: Skylines (specifically motivated by the abysmal failure of SimCity).

They didn’t just win that battle—they destroyed the SimCity franchise forever.

Now, they’re coming after “life simulation” — emerging as a real and dangerous threat to “The Sims.” The Emperor trusts they’ll perform well in this battle.

Second, the game is “Designed to be one of the most moddable and open” games in the space. 

This goes directly against the EA / Sims model which so far has been “Why do you need mods? There’s a DLC for that.”

Paradox needs to strike balance here, though—if the whole appeal is “you can mod it really well” there may not be enough momentum to foster a heavy modding scene. Time will tell.

All in all, we’re pretty excited about these upcoming games—lot’s to look forward to. (If you have games you want to see reviewed here, reply and let us know!)

The Emperor’s New (Starfield) Memes