Todd Howard said Starfield was a much harder RPG pre-release, and this early Starmap reportedly found in the game files makes that even clearer

On the heels of Starfield's launch, Bethesda boss Todd Howard explained that exploring space and dealing with planetary hazards used to be a lot more dangerous before the team "nerfed the hell out of it." A Starfield sleuth now claims to have uncovered an old version of the RPG's Starmap, and it seems to have shed some light on the more punishing game that might've been. 

First shared by Reddit user Redsaltyborger, this dated version of the Starmap – which is technically unofficial and could be an elaborate hoax, though that looks unlikely right now – closely resembles the final map at first blush, but it also contains a few significant features apparently left on the cutting room floor at some point. 

Early concept/iteration of the starmap found tucked away in data files from r/NoSodiumStarfield

The standout to me (and GamesRadar+'s resident Starfield-heads) is the list of hazards on the far right – in this case, "solar radiation" which can cause "light hull damage," and "micrometeoroids" which "can cause catastrophic stop." These hazards are notably listed below a fuel consumption meter, seemingly outlining the added risks imposed on Starfield players back when you risked running out of fuel mid-excursion.

Howard actually discussed ship fuel in a separate comment back in October 2022. "We were playing that and it became very punitive to the player. Your ship would run out of fuel and the game would just stop," he said. "You just want to get back to what you're doing. So we recently changed it where the fuel in your ship and your ship and the grav drive limits how far you can go at once, but it doesn't run out of fuel. Maybe there will be an update or mod that allows that, but that's what we're doing now." 

Just to the left of this Starmap's hazards tab is what looks like route or map filters for "systems," "planets," or "economy." How these may have functioned is anyone's guess, but the "economy" option in particular raises the possibility of a more involved trading or networking system. 

Starfield players have also latched onto the short descriptions for each system, which seem to hint at the sort of encounters you might expect from those destinations. The lore for the designation in this screenshot, Leviathan, reads: "Leviathan is cataloged by early explorers as a mineral rich but otherwise unremarkable system. Pirate crews used to use moons in the system for loot stashing. Constellation notices explorer's recovery of stolen goods is against regulations." I gather you'd be able to dig up some pirate treasure and valuable minerals, then. 

It's unclear when and how these features were cut, nor do we know how far along they were before seemingly getting axed. The response to these breadcrumbs has been mixed, with some Starfield players hungry for a more dangerous, hardcore survival experience, and others actually preferring the look and functionality of the final map we ended up with. Speculating optimistically, perhaps polished versions of some of these ideas will be folded back into the game in some way through future updates, as Howard previously suggested regarding ship fuel. 

Bethesda's Starfield roadmap for early 2024 has the space RPG's community feeling optimistic for the future.