Starfield

I have an admission, I just started playing Starfield. Are you this late to the game? Past its first expansion? Past the paid mods? Past the point where all the modders supposedly gave up on the game? Past the point where all the YouTube channels are trying to bury this game with clickbait videos?

Yes, I am that late.

I will avoid all the previews and trailers of movies and wait for the film so I can be surprised. I will not spoil the experience. I'll wait for a game to patch up and "get good" before committing serious time, and I'll avoid the playthrough videos. I will avoid spoilers.

Now I am playing, and for the first few hours, I am enjoying the immersion.

And I know, the game is broken, gets repetitive, has serious flaws, lacks depth, and all of the other things I have heard about it are likely true. The hardened, jaded gamers are probably right on this one, and I will likely end up feeling that way, too, by the end.

But there is one thing I love about this game.

It is the illusion of living in a science-fiction universe.

Granted, I know nothing, and I will eventually see how fake everything is, how this is all a Hollywood stage set, and how this is just a huge ruse and the wool is being pulled over my eyes. You are living an elaborate lie. All these systems are just fake, and you have not hit the grind where you hate everything in this synthetic digital life.

And yes, getting your first starship for free was strange, maybe it was a mod, I don't know. Also, how people immediately trust you and give you jobs and positions of power is also strange, but a game has to be a game, you know. I also have a few mods that liven up travel with POIs and combat encounters, so this will be more like an RPG experience where travel is combat-filled, allows exploration, and is engaging. There will be a lot to do out here.

But I am enjoying this "magic trick" for what it is, for the first few hours that I do not know better, and I am actually in a living, breathing, science fiction universe where I am a tiny person in a sea of stars.

Then I thought of GURPS: Space, since this is totally GURPS: Space. This is what living in a science fiction RPG is like. I don't like the "make it Star Wars" mods for this game, since it's not Star Wars. This is our best example of a generic science fiction universe (minus intelligent alien life) that we can see, explore, and exist inside of. We have human factions, alien monsters, and a mind-boggling number of worlds. We have cities and outposts. There are corporations and space criminals. We have space stations and ships flying around out there in the stars.

Having a living, breathing, visual model of a universe is an inspiration.

This is cool.

Know when inspiration grabs you, since it is the ambrosia and nectar of the gods when it comes to roleplaying and creating universes and adventures. This is what drives us, these magic feelings where we feel anything is possible, and all I need are the tools to express it.

GURPS is the best toolbox in the world to build dreams with.