#starfield various

[shatinn]

Starfield 29/?

[andnowanowl]

IT'S BORING, TODD.

I don't even want an Elder Scrolls 6 anymore if this is what we can expect from Bethesda in the future.

Honestly if someone made a game where the sole purpose of the game was to take pictures of astronomical objects or on alien planets, I would be happier with that.

[mae-says-hey]

can't wait to make my entire personality starfield for the next two months.

[pinkplantmakesstuff]

[orteil42]

some undifferentiated thoughts about my Starfield playthrough as i have them. i am a game developer with a strong interest in procedural generation and i've enjoyed a bunch of other bethesda games so this might get pretty mean sorry

(this is a long one)

starfield dialogue is already exhausting me "oh you must've been living under a moon rock ;)" get it! because they're in space! this would've been too corny for the Jetsons

there's a kind of cheap dusting of space theme over everything. the food isn't salmon but alien salmon. it's not seaweed but alien seaweed. cooking alien stir-fry. come on

cannot get over how clumsily the theming is handled. books, board games, weapon names revolve heavily around space. these people have been living on alien planets for hundreds of years yet have this unending sense of novelty about it. the game takes itself completely seriously but feels like it's attempting to parody itself

people's EYEBALLS are CLIPPING THROUGH THEIR EYELIDS

a woman is speaking to me in french. her accent is about as believable as her haircut

these are some of the worst reflection maps i've ever seen

next to nothing is interactive. you can sit in chairs and sleep in beds and that is about it. can't even drink from people's toilets. disgraceful

game helpfully crashes 5 seconds after i decide i should get some sleep. very handy!

my character has not said a single thing since i started playing. not one peep. this is an unmitigated improvement over Fallout 4 i'm so glad honestly

the more i poke around the big city the more the NPC quips feel like something out of gen-1 pokemon. can't get enough of this coffee :) this city is where it's at :) spacesuits are comfy and easy to wear

very strange sense of altered reality from the quest dialogue too. has anyone at bethesda met a person before? i move on to some mission that has me scanning wildlife on a faraway planet hoping this will, somehow, feel less alien than human conversation

just as with No Man's Sky, every planet is uniformly dotted with equidistantly-placed points of interest that you slowly make your way to (no vehicles besides your jetpack) which always turn out to be some cave or building identical to those you've cleared before

unlike with No Man's Sky, the seamless exploration is faked and the biodiversity is nil. you do get an impressive amount of raw loading screens however

the prefab bases and power stations found everywhere on planets seem to have very sparse, very specific slots for spawning consumables, which results in encountering some giant industrial installation in the middle of nowhere with, i don't know, a loaf of whole-grain sandwich bread just casually sitting next to it all proper. there is no breathable atmosphere here. who is eating this

planetary traversal is a CHORE. i am saying this as someone who loved Death Stranding

heinous "hold to confirm" buttons sprinkled in various flow-breaking places throughout the interface

enemy AI is abominable. nobody is pathing their way to get my ass. "must've been the wind" taken to the next level. an infant playing peekaboo has more object permanence

hoisting yourself up on ledges when jumping is…nice

companions randomly nowhere to be found. persists through multiple fast-travels and loading screens until, just as randomly, they pop back up

storage space is now limited! unlike in Fallout 4 and virtually every other bethesda game, your containers now hold a finite item capacity. god forbid we let the player have fun

baffling inventory UI. i imagine there's a mod out there that completely overhauls it the way SkyUI did for Skyrim. this should not be needed! how are your UIs getting worse a decade later!

scanning the precious few species inhabiting some dusty planet; one of them is this arching red root i've already seen several times before. my job done in this biome, i travel (read: teleport with a loading screen) to the polar region to find some other species. the first one i catalogue is the exact same red root again but this time it's named "boreas root" todd howard is a genius

some alien horror comes at me full fangs out. i hop on a pebble. obscenely, i am safe

procedural terrain generation beyond dull, impossibly unimaginative. these people have not had one critical thought on what makes a procedural world interesting. beginning to feel validated in my belief that only i should be trusted with proc gen. along with perhaps tarn adams

jokes aside this is making me feel genuinely insane. there have been excellent procedural generation techniques that produce compelling explorable maps for decades now. bethesda absolutely has the budget and know-how to do miles better than this yet somehow they just…do not? the same way Pokemon has decided to just no longer bother with their mainline games despite being the highest-grossing media franchise in history? hello? what is for real going on

some of the most cynical breadcrumbing i've seen in years. approaching some random cave and this person in space gear, who in the vast immensity of the infinite cosmos just happens to be snapping pictures right here, tells me more-or-less verbatim "if you like this place, you should see this other place" [other random cave has been added to your map.]

i do not like how good this makes No Man's Sky's gameplay look. it depresses me how much i have to hand it to No Man's Sky for at least not fucking up this bad. please stop making me wish i was playing No Man's Sky instead this is grotesque

i think i've exhausted my interest and patience for this game at the moment. i'll get back to the main story at some point and try some other systems ie. crafting and base-building to see if there's any engagement to be found but so far, my god. my god

[bloedewir]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

(some spoilers free thoughts)

- environment is stunning. there's something grim and hopeless about the atmosphere in the location they shown.

- want to believe there will be various settings to show/remove info on the screen. wouldn't like to see damage numbers like I'm doing math or annoying quests "!!!!!" everywhere. it would be great to use only a minimap to clean the screen.

- combat actually looks fine. and it's definitely not that bright and colorful to remember freaking fortnite and mobile gaming.

- interface doesn't look that weird and awful as some people say. it's just a new thing you get used to really fast.

- slow running looks funny as hell. walking and fast running is fine.

- Assan is fascinating little fellow. I hope he does blinks.

- Lighthouse looks magically beautiful. I wanna die there and be buried in the courtyard or backyard (if it has one).

- traveling system seems to be really interesting to investigate.

- some people mention IGN's gameplay reveal reminds them of Hogwarts Legacy. I hope it won't be so. HL is the most boring game I played in years. such atmospheric but absolutely dull and annoying.

- facial animations is bad. really bad. Rook looks like a mannequin. I don't really know how it happened and why, especially if Anthem was better in this matter, but.. it is what it is. If it's an important part of game for you (as it is for me) and you want to prepare yourself to avoid any disappointment on release, that's the time.

It's not Andromeda-bad but close to The Thaumaturge, SW:Outlaws or Starfield (y'know, lips moving and eyes blinks but the face looks like it was cemented).

You have no reasons to be upset. If you're thrilled and can't wait to play - I'm with you (my disappointment with facial animations is only my subjective opinion).

[fiend-streak]

Bunch of random screenshots. Any you find to your liking? Outside Harleep, of course. We all love him. Can I rant, though? I tried to play Starfield. I emm... expected nothing and still was dissapointed - already at character creation. In most of my games I'm playing guys but half of the hairstyles there were various variations of bald... No matter, I managed to patch something up, then I go play and meet empty worlds and empty city - walk 100000km from point A to B without any good scenery or world filled with... something. It's just plain empty, no soul. It looks unfinished af. Oh, and being even slightly "evil" makes everyone hate you. You MUST be the good hero. Which is beyond ridiculous. I don't want to play the hero of the hour in a video game, helping literally everyone and giving everyone money (yeah, that's a thing in Starfield lol). Ok, that's it. I think I feel better now. Not going back there again. I'll just play BG3 till Phantom Liberty.

[disparition]

ive been reading/watching/playing/writing speculative fiction in various forms since i was a child, for over four decades, so naturally i tried starfield because it was free on gamepass. i explored a fair amount of the universe, and aside from all the typical bethesda bug issues, its got to be the most generic and unimaginative takes on the whole future/scifi umbrella genre that ive ever encountered.  i'm sure there are some passionate people who put a lot of work in, but the worldbuilding feels like it was led by a corporate hivemind that soullessly analyzed and replicated the aesthetics of a handful of popular franchise-based scifi-ish media, and took away anything alien or weird, so we are left with this bland nasa aesthetic and cities that look and feel just like somewhat more barren versions of places you've already seen a hundred times in other games, movies, or tv shows. 1000 planets and no surprises on any of them.

[danshive]

(Sits atop a grassy hill)

Maybe… Maybe it doesn’t matter exactly why Starfield is bad. Maybe it’s enough to know that… I… Don’t like it, and… Move on.

Yeah.

That’s good enough.

(Opens YouTube on phone, and tells YouTube not to recommend various “THE REASON Starfield is bad” videos.)

(Lies back on grass.)

Also, to no one in particular, it’s an okay game if you don’t care about replaying it over and over. Which is ironic given New Game Plus, but whatever, peacefully lying on the grass now.

[hpysprkl]

I had this thought about Fallout 4 and the Institute a while back when my daughter (who is autistic and has a lot of issues with food) was really into this high-protein yogurt in pouches, but only one or two specific flavors that didn't have any bits in them. We dubbed it Space Yogurt (I was playing a lot of Starfield at the time and the pouches looked like the drink pouches in the game).

So in Fallout 4, the only food the Institute serves is this nutritionally complete food paste. My headcanon is that it's not because it's all they have or are capable of producing, but because synths (and a lot of the non-synth residents of the Institute) are very clearly autistically coded.

This choice of food has nothing to do with availability, IMO - it's about getting all these people with their various issues to actually consume enough nutrition in a day to keep them alive and functioning.

Food paste is textureless, easy to eat, doesn't require much attention or focus to consume, is probably not strongly flavored, and most importantly, it's consistent. Day after day, year after year, it's exactly the fucking same. Basically, it's ideal food for autistics, just like Space Yogurt.

Remember that one scientist who's complaining loudly that they've discontinued his favorite flavor of food paste? He's probably eaten this paste year in and year out, for as long as he can remember. Now it's gone, and he's having a meltdown because it was comforting and part of his routine and he fucking counted on it.

I don't have much sympathy for any of the Institute scientists, but I feel a little bad for Food Paste Guy, and for anyone who has to deal with him for the rest of that week.

[trainwiz]

Look there's probably better worldbuilding advice out there for things where you're trying to give stuff some more nuance, but for a vast majority of a world's setting or races or factions if they're worth their salt in any way then you should be able to describe them in a condescending greentext with a soyjack attached to them that's overly excited about details on them. And if you can't then that worldbuilding thing needs some sort of work.

Like

>DUDE THEY LIVE IN MUSHROOM TOWERS AND HOLLOW OUT BUGS TO RIDE THEM >DUDE THEY'RE A THEOCRACY BUT GET THIS THEIR GODS ARE ALSO THEIR POLITICIANS >DUDE THEY FARM GIANT LAND JELLYFISH AS LIVESTOCK

Like again, there's nuance to it, but with a world that's compelling there are details that a person could get excited over.

Which brings me to my next point that Starfield for a lot of its stuff just kind of fails at it. There's a vague outline of what the various nations are, but there's not really a strong identity in terms of cultural beliefs going through it (except maybe for House Va'ruun, who we see largely nothing of).

The vast majority of the things in Starfield just become interchangeable because they don't seem to have an identity beyond aesthetics and some basic footnotes.

[demifiendrsa]

Bethesda Softworks will close Redfall developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi RUSH and The Evil Within developer Tango Gameworks, as well as Alpha Dog Games and Roundhouse Studios, according to a companywide email sent out by Microsoft Gaming president of game content and studios Matt Booty this morning.

Full email

Today I’m sharing changes we are making to our Bethesda and ZeniMax teams. These changes are grounded in prioritizing high-impact titles and further investing in Bethesda’s portfolio of blockbuster games and beloved worlds which you have nurtured over many decades.

To double down on these franchises and invest to build new ones requires us to look across the business to identify the opportunities that are best positioned for success. This reprioritization of titles and resources means a few teams will be realigned to others and that some of our colleagues will be leaving us.

Here are the changes going into effect:

Arkane Austin – This studio will close with some members of the team joining other studios to work on projects across Bethesda. Arkane Austin has a history of making impactful and innovative games and it is a pedigree that everyone should be proud of. Redfall‘s previous update will be its last as we end all development on the game. The game and its servers will remain online for players to enjoy and we will provide make-good offers to players who purchased the “Hero” downloadable content.

Alpha Dog Studios – This studio will also close. We appreciate the team’s creativity in bringing DOOM to new players. Mighty DOOM will be sunset on August 7 and we will be turning off the ability for players to make any purchases in the game.

Tango Gameworks – Tango Gameworks will also close. We are thankful for their contributions to Bethesda and players around the world. Hi-Fi RUSH will continue to be available to players on the platforms it is today.

Roundhouse Games – The team at Roundhouse Games will be joining ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS). Roundhouse has played a key role in many of our recent game launches and bringing them into ZOS to work on The Elder Scrolls Online will mean we can do even more to grow the world that millions of players call home.

With this consolidation of our Bethesda studio teams, so that we can invest more deeply in our portfolio of games and new IP, a small number of roles across select Bethesda publishing and corporate teams will also be eliminated.

Those whose roles will be impacted will be notified today, and we ask that you please treat your departing colleagues with respect and compassion. We will provide our full support to those who are impacted in today’s notifications and through their transitions, including severance benefits informed by local laws.

These changes are not a reflection of the creativity and skill of the talented individuals at these teams or the risks they took to try new things. I acknowledge that these changes are also disruptive to the various support teams across ZeniMax and Bethesda that bring our games to market. We are making these tough decisions to create capacity to increase investment in other parts of our portfolio and focus on our priority games.

Bethesda remains one of the key pillars of Xbox with a strong portfolio of amazing games and thriving communities. As we look to the future, there is an impressive line-up of games on the horizon. In 2024 alone we have Starfield “Shattered Space,” Fallout 76 “Skyline Valley,” Indiana Jones and The Great Circle, and The Elder Scrolls Online‘s “Golden Road.” As we align our plans and resources to best set ourselves up for success in this complex and changing industry, our teams across Arkane Lyon, Bethesda Game Studios, id Software, MachineGames, ZeniMax Online Studios, and the Bethesda publishing and corporate teams will be well-positioned to build new IP, explore new game concepts, and expand on our existing franchises.

—Matt

Messages from each studio

Arkane Austin

Tango Gameworks

Alpha Dog Games

[the-gateway-to-madness]

Jack Frost Headcanons 2

Jack's head and hair are his affection weakness. If anyone were to gently massage around his ears or run their fingers through his hair or push his bangs out of his eyes/finger-comb his hair into place, he'd fall all over himself like a puppy.

Jack is clearly more outdoorsy, but he IS actually willing to play some video games- puzzle games like Trine or Portal 2 where he's gotta get creative, or big world exploration games like Skyrim or Baldur's Gate where he can peer into every nook and cranny and interact with a million npcs ("they all actually respond when I talk to them :'D")

Jack likes cuddles. More specifically, he likes to wrap his whole dang lanky body around whoever or whatever he is cuddling.

Jack actually really likes cooking, and of course picking up any other hobby he can. It's not enough for him to admire a skill, he has to Have them. He collects hobbies like a Starfield player collects succulents, or like a DnD player collects dice and traumatic character backstories.

Jack secretly loves rom-coms. The quality of the rom-com dictates the level of sarcasm with which he watches various titles, of course.

[silent-moons-camp]

Starfield May Update!

TL;DR -

new detailed surface maps for locations with new icons for stores, areas, restaurants, etc

additional gameplay options to customize your experience (vendor credits, cargo access distance, and more) alongside a new difficulty mode called "Extreme" which is a level above Very Hard

Ship customization! The ability to decorate the interior of your ship like you would with outposts, plus empty habs that are empty versions of existing habs that you can customize to your heart's content

Respec your traits in NG+!

Console performance tweaks

Various quality of life tweaks and fixes

In the future: - Land vehicles - new armors? - new quests - Shattered Space DLC - Beta tool kit for Creations (and mods I assume) sent out to verified creators, more info soon

Exciting stuff! The Steam Beta is out now, and the new update will be out for everyone within the month.

[kineticpenguin]

One thing that's kinda turned me off of Starfield is also a problem I've kinda noticed being a recurring thing with recent BethSoft RPGs.

It's not enough to get involved in a situation. You have to pick a team. Like how in Oblivion you could be the leader of the FIghters' Guild, the Mage's Guild, the Thieves' Guild and the Dark Brotherhood, and that got expanded in Skyrim, and Fallout 4 has you joined up to major factions just by talking to people whether you like it or not.

Except that in Starfield, it's more absurd than that. You're not a freak taking over various power players because you're the protagonist and that important, you're such an incredible busybody that, for example, you can't help out a gang without joining them, you can't help out the Rangers without being deputized; hell, the game starts with you being admitted to a funky little club and gifted a spaceship because you touched a space rock and had a funky vision.

I feel like open world RPGs are at their best when they actually feel like open worlds, and Starfield is oddly stifling. I can't go anywhere without being a full-time employee or member of someone or something. Any sidequest that has a multi-part storyline pretty much requires this. Oh sure, none of these quests will ever actually limit me in any way. I am free to go about my business wherever I please. Being a full-time employee doesn't require me to ever show up if I don't feel like it, and the plot will wait on me.

It's like it's trying to make me care from the wrong end. I like being an aloof, uncommitted stranger who helps people because there's money in it for me or because the people in need seem like decent sorts. I don't like everything in the game needing me to complete a job interview and being inducted as a member of every organization I talk to without shooting first.

[silurisanguine]

OC character deep delve - Seren Jones

Questions originally from a post by Painted-Bees, but the post seems to have vanished. Luckily I'd kept my draft as i started answering so here they are in their entirety. I tag the Coemancer Crew as always and anyone who'd like to do this as i really found it helped flesh out my ocs as the questions ask things i hadn't thought about. This is for Seren Jones, my Starfield OC - See her original look, her look during her early Starborn days and her more settled self.

Under cut because there are 50 questions!

1. How does your character think of their father? What do they hate and love about him? What influence - literal or imagined - did the father have? She loves her father Michael dearly. He helped give her a strong understanding for the need for education, but made learning fun, even in the most trying circumstances. She loves his enthusiasm for learning, but wishes he'd be more careful with his gambling. Though knows he is a secret card shark when it comes to poker!

2. Their mother? How do they think of her? What do they hate? Love? What influence - literal or imagined - did the mother have? She adores her mother Anne. Her mom was always the rock that held her family together even when they had to move from one planet to another. She was always there when Seren was upset, though she knows she got her emotional reactions to things from her mom too. As well as she thinks her empathic nature. She knows her mum hides it but now she is an adult she sees little tells and wishes her mum was more open about it. Once Starborn, she senses it clearly from the versions of Anne she brings herself to meet.

3. Brothers, sisters? Who do they like? Why? What do they despise about their siblings? Thanks to the Colony war, it put a scupper on her parents wanting any more children, instead choosing to focus on Seren alone.

4. What type of discipline was your character subjected to at home? Strict? Lenient? Her parents were pretty laid back with her growing up, never really needing to be strict with her as she was a quiet child who never really got into trouble, who enjoyed learning and kept to herself mostly.

5. Were they overprotected as a child? Sheltered? She was protected as a kid, mainly at first from the war, as much as possible but when she moved back to Akila, she soon learnt about prejudice and resentment from others that was only made worse when they moved to New Atlantis again. Her parents may have been laid back with her, but were protective against those who tried to bully her.

6. Did they feel rejection or affection as a child? Only ever affection from her parents.

7. What was the economic status of their family? She remembers them living in a large home in Midtown when she was little, then a modest apartment in New Atlantis, then when they moved back to Akila, the home was smaller in Mid town. Thanks to her father being a professor and her mom working for various businesses as PA, she never went without, but they tended to be modest with their income, just in case. It's why she was happy to help fund a nice central apartment for them when they retired to NA.

8. How does your character feel about religion? Her parents are both Enlightened, though not deeply involved and she is an atheist too, but doesn't subscribe to any system. She can respect other faiths until they start assuming she is like them or tries to push their beliefs on her. Now she is Starborn she knows there are things she doesn't understand, but still doesn't think a divine being created it.

9. What about political beliefs? She grew up Freestar and values freedom, but she also sees the theoretical benefits of the UC. Having grown up in both societies she sees the good and bad in both. Now she feels both systems need a major overhaul and redesign. Ones that care for all walks of life.

10. Is your character street-smart, book-smart, intelligent, intellectual, slow-witted? She has two degrees, one is starship design, the other business, so yes she is well educated. She wasn't street smart at first, but soon learnt to be once she became a whistleblower.

11. How do they see themselves: as smart, as intelligent, uneducated? She knows she is smart and thanks to her empathic nature, can be manipulative. She hopes her compassionate morality tempers that.

12. How does their education and intelligence – or lack thereof - reflect in their speech pattern, vocabulary, and pronunciations?

As above she can use words to manipulate people to her point of view. People have always considered her to have a 'silver tongue'. Being Starborn now and knowing how events usually play out makes it even easier for her.

13. Did they like school? Teachers? Schoolmates? She did a combination of virtual and in situ learning. She didn't enjoy early school as jumping from Freestar to UC then back, made her a target for kids from both sides. It wasn't until secondary school, where she had settled into Akila again, did she find at least some fair weather friends to make life less lonely. When she moved once again to UC space, she stayed with the school for a bit learning virtually so she'd be with people she knew, even if they were never close with her. Her teachers were alright, though she knew they also held prejudices against her, especially the UC teachers when they found she was educated in FC space. She often had to work to prove she was as educated as the rest of the students. Thankfully her father being an acclaimed professor himself, was often able to have a quiet word now and then with them and put that to rest.

14. Were they involved at school? Sports? Clubs? Debate? Were they unconnected? Not really. She did get involved in history club at one point as she was fascinated by Solomon Coe and how he started the FC, but she often argued with the teacher who ran it, who often was very biased against the UC for everything, which Seren knew wasn't accurate. Other than that she tended to keep to herself.

15. Did they graduate? High-School? College? Do they have a PHD? A GED? She graduated with honors in Business and starship design.

16. What does your character do for a living? How do they see their profession? What do they like about it? Dislike? Currently? She doesn't have a set occupation. Each universe is so unique she has to adapt to them. Practically she is an explorer and adventurer...sometimes thief and smuggler: acts she does to survive. In the original universe she loved being part of Constellation and hopes to go back to that when the time..and universe are right.

17. Did they travel? Where? Why? When? She moved a lot with her parents between Akila and New Atlantis, as her father took what ever teaching jobs he could before, during and after the Colony war. When she as an adult turned whistle-blower against the company she worked for, she had to move around a lot whilst she was in hiding as a miner. She made the best of it, her explorer nature developed as part of it. Once she joined Constellation she travelled so much she lost count of the planets she visited. Now her travels take her to places she'd never though possible.

18. What did they find abroad, and what did they remember? That people are the same no matter what.

19. What were your character’s deepest disillusions? In life? What are they now? That when you think things are bad, they can get worse.

20. What were the most deeply impressive political or social, national or international, events that they experienced? Oh boy...The fact the UC kept Vae Victis alive and he knew and used Terrormorphs? The fact Ron Hope was a traitor to the FC, that the UC created the Crimson Fleet in their vile treatment of prisoners. That the artifacts Constellation were collecting led to the multiverse! Just a few things...

21. What are your character’s manners like? What is their type of hero? Whom do they hate?

She is polite, but she is street-smart now and can get the feel for how to interact with people. That was how she was so good at going under cover with the CF for Sysdef. She doesn't have heroes, though her parents are close to that. She hates anyone who enjoys cruelty- The Hunter especially.

22. Who are their friends? Lovers? ‘Type’ or 'ideal’ partner? She is close friends with Barrett and Andreja, as well as Vlad. Less so with Sarah, though she respects her. The love of her life is Sam, in all ways and forms. She never met someone who sparked joy in her life, like he did and still does.

23. What do they want from a partner? What do they think and feel of sex? A best friend, someone who understands them and supports them. She loves sex, the intimacy and connection with another person on that deep level. Thankfully she found a partner who was very into it too.

24. What social groups and activities does your character attend? What role do they like to play? What role do they actually play, usually? Reluctant leader in her original verse. She never wanted to take such a role in Constellation, and even though Sarah was the defacto leader, she often felt that she did more to run the group than Sarah did, when it came to the Artifacts at least. Now they play what ever they need to be to survive each new universe.

25. What are their hobbies and interests? She used to love ship building, and that will come back to her soon. she also loved decorating her homes and outposts. She enjoys weapon and spacesuit design as well as everything that comes with exploring.

26. What does your character’s home look like? Personal taste? Clothing? Hair? Appearance?

Her OG home in Akila was cosy as was her apartment in NA. She liked to mix the more rustic FC style with contemporary features. Clothing wise, she is smart practical, favouring darker colours. Her hair was originally dyed silver grey, but she's since been dark turquoise blue and now sporting deep purple.

27. How do they relate to their appearance? How do they wear their clothing? Style? Quality? She like to wear darker makeup, especially lipstick, getting some semi permanent makeup done at Enhance so she doesn't have to worry about it. Hair wise, she loves colour even if her styles are practical. In fact everything now is practical, but she is keen to maintain her appearance.

28. Who is your character’s mate? How do they relate to them? How did they make their choice? Partner? Sam Coe. She and Sam share a similar sense of humour, she adores how devoted he is to his daughter and thinks she fell in love with him over that first. It showed how compassionate he was.

29. What is your character’s weaknesses? Hubris? Pride? Controlling? Grief and vengeance.

30. Are they holding on to something in the past? Can he or she forgive? At the moment she cannot forgive the Hunter for what he did and from everything she's seen and experienced, she never will. She wishes she could have held onto something from her past, but lost it all in the Unity except her memories. But she holds onto her love for Sam.

31. Does your character have children? How do they feel about their parental role? About the children? How do the children relate? She doesn't have any biological children, though she became much like a mother to Cora originally. She believes Cora thought of her as a mom too, but things didn't go well after Sam's death, with Cora blaming her for not saving him. Now she's Starborn, she's not sure she can have children herself.

32. How does your character react to stress situations? Defensively? Aggressively? Evasively? Depends on the situation. When she knows it's going to be stressful, she can be steady. But sudden events can knock her for six and she can be very emotional about them.

33. Do they drink? Take drugs? What about their health? She is Freestar, so can hold her liquor. She enjoys a glass or three of whisky or bourbon. She had tried Aurora once, didn't think much of it. Now she is Starborn her health is exceptional, but she knows it comes with caveats.

34. Does your character feel self-righteous? Revengeful? Contemptuous? She believes in vengeance. She crosses the Unity in order to become strong enough to end the Hunter.

35. Do they always rationalize errors? How do they accept disasters and failures? She didn't do well after Sam's death. Found it very hard to accept it wasn't her fault. Since then she'd had to time to accept that The Hunter played them all.

36. Do they like to suffer? Like to see other people suffering? They do not enjoy suffering. They jumped universes to try and run from it! But they would happily see The Hunter suffer as well as anyone else who enjoyed cruelty.

37. How is your character’s imagination? Daydreaming a lot? Worried most of the time? Living in memories? She daydreams a lot about finding somewhere to just stop. She worries she will never find that. She keeps her memories close, though she is starting to be more open to living in the moment.

38. Are they basically negative when facing new things? Suspicious? Hostile? Scared? Enthusiastic? She has no choice in experiencing new things, if she has a chance to find a universe she can stay in, she'd take it. She is often terrified of what she will find next but she is quick to adapt.

39. What do they like to ridicule? What do they find stupid? Stupidity and arrogance. She likes to bring down those who are both. See her original universe Delgado and The Crimson Fleet...also Ron Hope.

40. How is their sense of humor? Do they have one? Sometimes quirky and light hearted, sometimes dark and dry. Her experiences have changed her somewhat.

41. Is your character aware of who they are? Strengths? Weaknesses? Idiosyncrasies? Capable of self-irony? She is now acutely aware of the fact she is Starborn. She isn't human anymore. She knows she has powers beyond any human and that comes with a sense of superiority she fights to restrain. Thankfully her empathy helps her keep her sense of compassion and morality.

42. What does your character want most? What do they need really badly, compulsively? What are they willing to do, to sacrifice, to obtain? To find a universe with a Sam just like her first. She knows now it wont be the same, but she can try again and do better this time. She sacrificed her humanity to do this.

43. Does your character have any secrets? If so, are they holding them back? She keeps her Starborn nature close until she trusts those she's with as there is no hiding her abilities in a fight.

44. How badly do they want to obtain their life objectives? How do they pursue them? Desperately. She jumps universes to find the right one.

45. Is your character pragmatic? Think first? Responsible? All action? A visionary? Passionate? Quixotic? She is passionate, but holds it back as best she can in situations where she needs a clear head.

46. Is your character tall? Short? What about size? Weight? Posture? How do they feel about their physical body? She is 5'6" and strong, wiry physique. She is Akilan born so stronger than she appears. She holds herself tall. She knows her Starborn body will always be healthy, but worries what it has changed about her.

47. Do they want to project an image of a younger, older, more important person? Do they want to be visible or invisible? She knows she can command authority, but temper it with camaraderie that people just happily work with her. Being Starborn and in new universes she plays the role she needs to whilst learning where she is.

48. How are your character’s gestures? Vigorous? Weak? Controlled? Compulsive? Energetic? Sluggish? She tends to mirror people when she talks with them, as her empathic nature uses that to make them feel comfortable around her.

49. What about voice? Pitch? Strength? Tempo and rhythm of speech? Pronunciation? Accent? Her voice is cultured Akilan though again she can mirror accents if needed to work with people. Slightly melodic and well spoken.

50. What are the prevailing facial expressions? Sour? Cheerful? Dominating? Very neutral face, but she's been told her eyes are piercing as if looking into their souls.