New Starfield mod adds much-needed survival features into the mix

Even though Starfield isn’t doing all too well at this time, especially compared to Skyrim, it’s bound to jump back up again once its Creation Kit releases in 2024. In the interim, modders have been making do, leading to the creation of an “immersive survival addon” for Starfield.

The aptly titled “Starvival” comes from a modder known as lKocMoHaBTl, and it successfully introduces a fairly important new gameplay mechanic into Starfield: the so-called Needs. Needs are, essentially, a comprehensive set of counters, buffs, addictions, and other complimentary features that turn Starfield into a game where food is, in fact, necessary. In the simplest terms possible, Starvival allows your Starfield character to get hungry and, if you’re persistent enough, addicted to alcohol, which turns the game’s core gameplay loop up on its head.

Starfield’s Starvival mod is the survival addon you’ve been waiting for

lKocMoHaBTl’s Starvival is now readily available for download via the Starfield Nexus page, proving that you don’t really need an official Bethesda Creation Kit to set up deep, complex gameplay-changing mods. Once you install it, you’ll need to keep an eye on your nutrition (among other things), which may sound like just another annoyance, but it does help ground things a fair bit all on its own.

Starvival doesn’t just throw the nerf book at the player either, mind. Keeping your character well-fed sets you up with a slew of buffs, for example, and there’s even a special Adrenaline mechanic that triggers when you’re on a killing spree.

Moreover, while you might’ve been able to simply ignore the vast majority of Starfield‘s status afflictions before installing Starvival, the mod turns them into important considerations at last. They are “far more dangerous,” according to the mod’s description, and some of them include “maddening detrimental effects.”

This won’t necessarily sound enticing to everyone, we appreciate that well enough, but if you’ve been waiting for something to make Starfield into the hardcore space survival sim you knew it could be, Starvival may be the way to go.