How to get more from Starfield including DLSS.
Bethesda games have always been great candidates for modding by design – and Starfield is no different.
To sort the wheat from the chaff, we have our round-up on the best Starfield mods, fan-made cheats and hacks, including DLSS.
With Starfield being a very long game, you want it to feel and look the best it can – and below we’ll take a look at some of the ways modders have gone about improving and implementing quality-of-life features.
We can’t wait to see what companion mods will crop up, too, as some of those added to Skyrim were better than those found in the game – but it’s early days yet.
There’s plenty to be getting on with in Starfield, with outposts to set up and ships to build in better fidelity than ever, so we won’t keep you. Read on intrepid modders!
How to use Starfield mods
To use Starfield mods, first make a back-up of your save in case something goes awry and then head over to Nexus Mods and download and install the Vortex Mod Manager, which you will need a Nexus Mods account to do.
Vortex will automatically detect compatible games and Starfield will appear under the ‘Latest Extensions’ tab on the right-hand side, and you want to press the ‘Install’ button just underneath.
Click on the ‘Games’ tab, then ‘Select a game to manage’, then press on Starfield.
Now you will be able to go back to the Nexus Mods site and download any Starfield mod with your browser prompting you to open the file via Vortex.
With all that, your mod should be installed and good to go!
Individual mods may have specific instructions, so be sure to read the whole mod page before committing.
Read more on Starfield:
- Starfield review – our final verdict
- Starfield missions list – how far are you?
- Starfield tips and tricks – how to get started
- Starfield romance – all potential relationships
- Starfield character creation – all your options explained
- Starfield digipick – how to lockpick
- How long is Starfield? The hours you’ll need
- Will Starfield ever come to PS5? Developer comments
- Starfield cast – all voice actors
- Starfield companions – who to recruit
- Starfield soundtrack – how to listen
- Starfield storage guide – don’t be overburdened
- Starfield FOV – change your point of view
- Starfield FPS – developers explain 30fps
- Starfield PC requirements – specs needed
- Starfield performance – potential fixes
- Starfield factions – all possible groups
The best Starfield mods we’ve seen so far
Starfield Upscaler
After much post and pre-launch controversy regarding the inclusion of only AMD’s FSR 2, modders have come to save the day – and mere hours into the launch of early access, PureDark on Nexus Mods uploaded Starfield Upscaler, which implements Nvidia’s DLSS and Intel’s XeSS upscaling solutions.
DLSS, in particular for those running Nvidia cards, offers a much more temporally stable image – especially when the camera is moving.
You may have noticed when using FSR 2 that the image appeared shimmery, especially on the edges of objects. DLSS doesn’t have this at all, and oftentimes it can offer better image quality than a native resolution.
Neutral LUTs – No Colour Filters
With the advent of screen technologies such as OLED, where every individual pixel emits its own light, people have begun to appreciate more contrast and deep blacks in media – but curiously for a game set in space, Starfield has quite raised black levels, owing to its own colour-correction, which makes for a quite washed-out image at times.
For those who don’t like this effect, Neutral LUTs from fadingsignal on Nexus Mods removes Bethesda’s colour grading for a more natural appearance.
It’s quite astonishing how much of a difference this makes. Many dark rooms are far more readable without being awash with artistic intent.
FOV Changer
We ourselves have a handy-dandy guide on how to change your Starfield FOV on PC as, curiously, the game doesn’t include an FOV slider – making for some claustrophobic visuals.
You can manually adjust your first and third-person FOV on an individual basis if you want different FOVs for each.
Special-K HDR Retrofit
Starfield on PC doesn’t have a native HDR (High Dynamic Range) solution, and instead relies on Windows’s Auto-HDR functionality to provide nice bright highlights and deep blacks.
Special-K HDR Retrofit allows you to inject HDR into any DirectX 11-12 game and for a game like Starfield – it really feels like a necessity.
Planets and stars will pop so much more against the solitary darkness of the cosmos. Muzzle flashes from weapons will almost be blinding in dark rooms, too, but like any good mod, the values are completely adjustable.
A word of warning, however: you need an HDR-capable display and Special-K isn’t available through Vortex Mod Manager, but it has a very comprehensive installation guide.
Setting it up can be tricky, but if you can get through it you will be treated to a visual spectacle, especially when paired with Neutral LUTs.
Achievement Enabler
Perhaps understandably, Bethesda don’t want you to cheat your way through Starfield and unlock achievements unfairly – but given how modders are having to take it into their own hands to improve elements of the game, simply being barred from achievements by using the console hasn’t gone down well.
Enter Achievement Enabler from Priqrade on Nexus Mods, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Using the in-game console won’t disable achievements from being unlocked anymore, so if you are tinkering but in a way you feel isn’t giving you an unfair advantage – this is the mod for you.
DualSense – PS5 Icons
Prying Starfield from the clutches of Xbox is EASKATER on Nexus Mods with their DualSense – PS5 Icons mod, which replaces the UI elements and button prompts that will usually show Xbox buttons with PS5 controller icons.
If you are playing with a DualSense (or DualShock) controller, this just makes Starfield that little bit more seamless and won’t leave you confused and lost – especially in the shipbuilder with its oodles of buttons.
Compact Inventory UI
Being on a PC, you are most likely using a monitor that you are sitting quite close to, so readability isn’t so much of an issue when compared to those playing on a TV.
However, Starfield’s UI has clearly been designed with playing from a distance on a TV in mind, and so the UI elements are quite large to accommodate this.
Compact Inventory UI from Stentorious on Nexus Mods adjusts the size of the individual items in your inventory so that more of it can be displayed on your screen at once. Given how much stuff you’ll no doubt be lugging around, this mod feels like a no-brainer to include.
When installed, you’ll be able to see seventeen items instead of the default twelve.
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