Starfield announced a big update on Monday, officially rolling out DLSS 3 support to PC players, various graphics and performance improvements, the ability to eat food without picking it up first, and more.
Bethesda Game Studios has been testing DLSS 3 support in beta for the past few weeks. However, with update 1.8.86, all players with compatible Nvidia graphics cards can now take advantage of DLSS Super Resolution, Deep Learning Antialiasing (DLAA), Nvidia Reflex Low Latency, and DLSS Frame Generation. It fulfills a feature long requested by PC players.
In another long-awaited addition, this update also adds a “consume” button for food and drinks, allowing you to eat items as soon as you find them in the world, or save them for later. Previously, you could pick up chunks and add them to your inventory, after that Eating it – a much more inconvenient process than in previous Bethesda RPGs. Players can now eat to their heart’s content on the spot, saving a ton of time.
Both of these improvements were outlined in September.
This update also improves the appearance of crowd characters’ eyes (hopefully fixing the dead eye issue). Adds the ability to adjust brightness, contrast, and HDR brightness to the display settings menu. Contains various stability and performance improvements. We’ve also adjusted stealth to be “a little more forgiving,” addressing another common complaint.
See full patch notes below. For more information, check out our complete walkthrough and guide to all ships in Starfield.
NVIDIA DLSS support
This update introduces Nvidia DLSS support for PC players. His compatible Nvidia graphics cards can now use DLSS Super Resolution, Deep Learning Antialiasing (DLAA), Nvidia Reflex Low Latency, and DLSS Frame Generation.
Feed them!
By popular demand, we’ve added the ability to ingest food and drink items when you find them in your environment. Enjoy these chunks right away or save them for later. The choice is yours.
Fixes and improvements
Performance and stability
- Addressed a number of memory-related issues and leaks.
- Added several GPU performance optimizations. This has a bigger impact on high-end cards.
- The renderer’s threading model has been improved to improve CPU usage, especially on high-end systems.
- Various stability and performance improvements.
gameplay
- Added the ability to eat food placed in the world.
- Adjusted stealth to be a little more forgiving.
- Fixed an issue where Andreja’s head would remain permanently covered.
- Fixed an issue that could cause players to be unable to fire their weapons.
- Fixed an issue where some NPCs were not wearing clothes (note: this issue may be resolved over time).
- Fixed an issue that could cause skill challenges already in progress to stop progressing after reaching Unity and starting a new game.
- Fixed an issue that could temporarily prevent you from opening or saving your inventory after entering Unity.
- PC: Fixed an issue that caused choppy mouse movements.
- Fixed a rare issue where the mothership could be lost.
- Fixed an issue where a Ship Service Technician could go missing.
- Fixed an issue where the camera could sometimes erroneously shake during movement, gravity jump, docking, or landing transitions.
Graphics
- Addressed an issue with how ambient occlusion appears in ultrawide resolutions.
- Initial shader compilation at startup has been optimized.
- Added the ability to adjust brightness and contrast to the display settings menu.
- Added ability to adjust HDR brightness if your system supports it. (Xbox and Windows 11 only).
- Addressed a number of materials that could display unintended patterns under certain conditions.
- Fixed various visual issues related to the new FOV slider option.
- Improved the appearance of crowd characters’ eyes.
- Addressed a number of minor visual issues related to lighting, shadows, terrain, and vegetation.
- PC: Addressed additional visual issues related to DLSS.
quest
- All That Money Can Buy: Fixed a rare issue where players were unable to sit down during negotiations with Musgrove.
- Blast Zone: Fixed an issue where hard rocks that players needed to remove would not appear on Ngodup Tate lands.
- Echoes of the Past: Fixed an issue where Queen Grilla could sometimes be unreachable during the objective “Secure the Shuttle Bay”.
- Eye of the Storm: Fixed an issue where players could be blocked from progressing through the quest due to missing docking prompts.
- Grunt Work: Addressed an issue where progress could appear blocked if “Supra et Ultra” was completed while returning to the lodge during “High Price to Pay.”
- No Sudden Movements: Fixed an issue that could prevent the entrance door to the scow ship from opening again.
- Operation Starseed: Fixed an issue where keys required to exit the facility were sometimes missing.
- Sabotage: Fixed an issue where David Baron could be missing from players.
- Short Sighted: Fixed a rare issue where players could get control locked when talking to Vladimir.
- The Heart of Mars: Fixed an issue that could prevent players from mining “The Heart of Mars”
Alex Steadman is IGN’s senior news editor and oversees entertainment coverage. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.