Meet the creator behind this Starfield ship “passion project” that was more than 4000 hours in the making

Starfield is home to a lot of exciting features that promise to let us shape our own adventure among the stars. From the character we create to the choices we make, we're set to explore an expansive universe that's home to myriad  planets, factions, cities, and more just waiting to be discovered. But of course, all that space exploration is only possible thanks to the ships we can pilot. As lead ships artist Ryan Sears said in the Starfield Direct in June, "your ship is almost like having another character, or home, you can make all your own". With options that allow us to build and modify ships and even assign our own crew, Starfield ship customization is quickly shaping up to be one of the most appealing aspects of Bethesda's upcoming RPG. 

As last month's gameplay deep dive demonstrated, there are so many possibilities when it comes to crafting our own ship - we can even turn it into Optimus Prime if we so desire. But nothing has amped up my excitement about the chance to create my own spacecraft quite like the Starfield ship concepts creative fans have been bringing to life in the leadup to launch. One such fan, by the name of Michael Thomas (aka Its_All_Pixels on Reddit), has spent the last three months working on the current version of an impressive Starfield inspired ship render created in Blender that recently caught Bethesda's attention. 

"So far for this version [of the ship], I have spent the better part of the last three months building it each day when I am not working. It has truly been a passion project that I find myself enjoying and getting excited about. I am currently finishing the interior, including the engineering, crew and main sections, so I can create a full walkthrough animation of the ship. I have over 4400 hours in Blender 3D since I installed it on Steam, and more hours before that when it wasn't on Steam." 

"NASA punk"  

Custom Starfield inspired ship built in Blender, 99% of exterior textures complete but had to take some beauty shots from r/Starfield

The initial design for the ship Thomas created came about last year after Bethesda released a series of videos featuring more details and concept art for Starfield: "[W]hen they provided more details with videos and concept art, I had been learning and growing as a 3D artist with Blender 3D," Thomas tells me. "What made me really inspired was the modular and realistic feel of the ships. Many science fiction ships in games or movies lack that edge of realism and I have seen very few that use such a modular design."

While the design began life before the Starfield Direct, the "Nasa-punk" aesthetic Bethesda has outlined for Starfield only solidified Thomas' approach to the design of his ship. With Bethesda going for a "slight retro and analogue touch", the visual style is designed to give the impression that everything is "well-used, worn, and lived-in". 

What first struck me about Thomas' ship design was all of the smaller details, such as scratches and dints on the exhaust panels - little touches that give off the impression the craft is both functional and "well-used". It's certainly easy to see why the impressively detailed build has won the approval of the studio and fellow fans alike. 

Drawing from the "modular design", Thomas set about pulling together all of the concept art and videos into one place using a program called PureRef to use as reference material. Then he analyzed the images to figure out how the design might work and come together. "Once I was set on the concept of modular design something in my creative brain just clicked, it suddenly all made sense of how to build it in 3D. I settled on the main ship idea of having a main cockpit attached to a hull and modules of cargo, or other items alongside that and leading to the engines," Thomas explains. 

"From there, I had to teach myself new modelling techniques and settle down into a workflow that didn’t overwhelm me. It's easy to get overloaded when creating something new, you want to jump from designing to texturing to details. What I had to learn was to design first and worry about the rest later. For me, the biggest goal was to not only make it appear functional and possible but also still sci-fi enough, with massive engines and parts that come together in a cohesive manner."  

Thomas also felt it was important not to just copy parts shown in videos and concept art, but instead make his own interpretation of them by drawing inspiration from the ships that had pods with landing gear. "To build on the realism, I also took on some key engineering in my designs; landing gear had to fold and stow in a realistic way. I am especially proud of the rear air lock and ramp. I engineered concepts into them that are unique and functional." 

"I have to also praise another fellow Blender user, Markom3D," Thomas adds. "His tutorials and the engagement on his Discord have been of significant influence in my Blender learning, helping me understand animation techniques for things like my landing gear and ramp. The textures that he developed have been instrumental in helping me get past the hurdle of texturing something so complex - he gave me the building blocks to start so that I could take my creative twists and what I have learned and apply them to the textures as well." 

Take flight  

When I ask Thomas what he's most looking for when it comes to ship customization, he tells me that he's interested to see just how they piece everything together and how, for instance, a section can change up how a ship's interior looks and feels. And as Thomas highlights, it'll be exciting to see how much variety there is when it comes to the types of ships we can pilot in Bethesda's new universe.

Since posting the Starfield inspired ship, responses have been soaring on Reddit, with Bethesda even reaching out to spotlight the creation on Twitter. "I am very humbled by the response," Thomas says. "I have put a ton of passion, creativity, thought, and time into this project. At the start I thought it would only be a few weeks, but I found myself challenging myself to do better, reaching out to others for their opinions, and taking a step back to really think about what I am trying to achieve." 

"I rebuilt the landing gear several times because it just wasn’t complicated enough or sci-fi enough. So for others I shared with on Reddit to appreciate the design was amazing, and for Bethesda to reach out and share my creativity with so many is to me just amazing. The greatest thing you can do is share what you have with as many that want to see it, hear it, or experience it, no matter the response. Now I want to work harder to create my final vision for this ship and the plans I have for it. Just to be able to share it with everyone who has been kind enough to see it and enjoy it." 

It's amazing to see just how much creativity Starfield's ship customization features are already inspiring ahead of launch. With fans like Thomas cooking up impressive concepts, I can't wait to see just what creations the player community will bring to life and create when Starfield officially lifts off this September. 

Excited to jump into Starfield later this year? Get ready with our guide to all of the Starfield factions revealed so far.