Starfield and Bethesda lead says "Morrowind and its themes and overall vibe were a big inspiration" for the Shattered Space DLC's main planet and city

Starfield Shattered Space is finally here, adding a chunky story expansion to Bethesda's open-world sci-fi adventure. As the developer worked to build on its latest game, it looked to one of its most popular classics, with The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind informing the feel of Shattered Space's central planet and especially the city of Dazra. 

"We really love the aesthetic of the homeworld, and the city of Dazra in particular," Bethesda studio design director Emil Pagliarulo says in an interview with GamesRadar+, explaining how Starfield Shattered Space lets players explore like they did in Fallout and Skyrim. 

"I think it’s really unique fictionally and aesthetically, especially when you compare it to the other cities in the game. It tells the story of a human faction that is at the edge of 'normal' civilization. Pushing the boundaries of the game’s NASAPunk aesthetic, certainly, but also, on a lot of levels, pushing the boundaries of what is and is not culturally acceptable. In fact, Morrowind and its themes and overall vibe were a big inspiration." 

The look and culture of the Va'ruun home planet, the main stage for the first and long-awaited Starfield story expansion, was a key and evolving discussion within Bethesda. "We talked a lot in those early days about what Va’ruun’kai was like," Pagliarulo says. "But it’s interesting, because one of the reasons we never really fleshed their homeworld out on paper was because we really hoped that someday, somehow, we’d be able to bring House Va’ruun to life as a playable faction. And we’d be able to give players Va’ruun’kai. And however else you want to describe it, Va’ruun’kai would be… weird. But how weird? And weird in what way? What could we pull off?" 

There are traces of Star Trek in Shattered Space, too, particularly the harshness of the Klingon planet. "The Klingon homeworld and Rura Penthe both came up as references," Pagliarulo adds. "But then we pushed it even more by asking, 'How can we make this place beautiful in its own specific Va’ruun way?'"

Todd Howard reflects on Starfield development: "How do we generate these planets? Is that even a good idea? OK, maybe at the time, no, but we made it work."