Linearity

Linearity, a so small collection mod (see collection details at the end) [works with Free Lanes update]

-- The idea -- I found myself saving and reloading all the time while playing, almost subconsciously. This way I ruined my own immersion as the safety net of always being able to reload took away the thrill of encounters and good loot rolls, while the easy reversibiilty of my chocies in quests made the world feel less believable and lessened my roleplaying fun.

With Linearity reloading into an existing savegame costs a fraction of the XP your character needs to advance their current level (heralded by an ingame warning message). As of v1.1 you can configure this penalty in the gameplay options, ranging from 0 up to about 30%, with 15% as new default setting.

Note: The penalty is applied immediately after the reload, but does not affect the savegame itself. This means that the penalty does NOT stack when having to reload into the very same savegame multiple times (eg due to dying in the same situation again).

There are two important exceptions to this:

Reloading after startup of Starfield: The first save you chose to load into after you have started up Starfield has no XP penalty. This allows you to quit and continue your savegame later anytime you want without penalty.
Reloading into a save game made in the Lodge: You can at any time reload into a savegame made in the Lodge without XP penalty. These are considered your Home Saves (while all other save games are Field Saves). This way you can secure your progess by returning home to the Lodge inbetween your adventures.

-- Installation and usage -- On first usage of Linearity please save and then reload that save game to activate Linearity. This is only neccessary once. To the best of my knowledge Linearity can be uninstalled anytime without problems. XP lost remain lost though. It should be compatible with any other mod that I am currently aware of.

When changing characters you will want to guit and restart the game. This is because the penalty free load on game startup is just once per game startup, not per each character.

-- Contact, bug reporting and feedback -- I will create a thread on NoSodiumStarfield reddit after release (search for "Linearity" mod and my name there: yourfellowglitch) for feedback, bug hunting, updates and general chat with a good Terrabrew in hand.

-- so small collection -- This mod is part of the "so small collection" of mods. These mods dont require each other and can be played stand alone, even balancewise. They form a greater whole though - the more of them you combine, the more you see this final shape. The overarching idea is to create a gameworld that feels immensely vast, begs for thorough exploration, is full of mysteries, plays truely challenging and lasts very, very long. In other words the goal of the mods is to make the player feel: so small.

Here's the so small collection's homepage for further info: https://youngneil1.github.io/so-small-collection/

And an overview video on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKrZ3oP20aA

Finally a list of the Creations in the so small collection in case this idea resonates with you:

Dynamic Universe: A universe that dynamically scales up with your character level - be it star systems or individual enemies. No more outleveling of content, no more overleveled starts of NG+.

Gear Progression: Gear Progression adds levels to all weapons, suits, helmets and backpacks. Your character level must match these in order to equip the gear. Each NG+ these levels raise further.

Economy: Economy shifts income generation away from tiresome loot hauling. Ship building becomes the long term goal it's meant to be. As credits get more scarce, rewards remain meaningful.

Explorer: An immersive overhaul of the resources - crafting - exploration loop. Get out there into the Starfield and explore - the rewards are much bigger now, but so is the need to do it.

Linearity (alternatively have a look for "Death" or "Ruin" mods): Reloading midsession (eg due to dying or for reversing a choice) causes an XP penalty. The penalty does not stack in case you have to reload into the same savegame again.

Slow Travel: Slow Travel makes your journey through Starfield much more tactile and immersive by grav jump costs, less map markers, no move on overencumberance and restricted fast travel.

Star Powers: Live as a Spellblade in the Settled Systems. Powers are rebalanced so that eg crowd control, slowed time and near invisibiilty become interesting instead of game balance breaking.

The Isotopes: A compelling reason to explore POI in all Star Systems. Loot the 75 new Isotopes, each specific to a singular Star System. They are needed for rank 4 skills and gear mod crafting.

High Level Weapons: Continue to find better weapons, all the way up to level 300. 7+ new revisions/tiers for each of 50 weapon types. Uniquely named, legendary, each hidden in a specific star system.

High Level Armors: Continue to find better armors up to lvl 255. All HLA share about the same power level - mix and match for the looks you like. Starborn armors improve in quality and variety, too.

Counterfire: Starting with level 85 the player gets 1% more ground combat damage for each level. Idealy used in combination with the "High Level Weapons" mod.

Terra Incognita: All ground surface maps disabled. No markers, no topography, no top down small buildings, no white dots - nothing. Welcome to Terra Incognita - the universe is yours to discover.

Helium-4: Gravjumping requires a pilot to inhale new Helium-4. Not storable and non-tradable - lasts 2 jumps. Explore those moons to get it. Can you chart a course across the Blackest Sea?

Dusty: The new stat Suit Energy depletes rapidly on airless worlds. Mine minerals or take shelter to survive. Five very hidden grains of Elder Dust reward the true Dusties out there.

Less XP: Extra XP for more difficult vanilla gameplay options removed. New options to turn off crafting XP, lower XP for killing fauna and adjust XP gain rate to 75/50/25/10 percent.

The Waiting Game: Whenever you wait or sleep you will sell loot for zero profit for the next 60 real time minutes. Go visit vendors at different places, adventure naturally, quit the waiting game.

Enter Unity: With Enter Unity your origin universe has a max level of 60, raised by 30 with each NG+. If you enter Unity more than 50 levels below max though, you are in for big trouble.

POI Rotation: A new realtime timer and a new list of discovered POI (Points of Interest) effectively prevent repetition. It will take many hours before you can encounter the same POI twice.

Rarity: Increase your chances of finding Legendary and Epic loot by fully surveying Star Systems. The more you explore, the better the loot. But beware, all beginnings are hard.

Health: Health regeneration from the start, but only up to a limit. Increase it by killing enemies, but beware: if you die or reload midsession you have to rebuild your kill streak.

Journey: Skill ranks 3 and 4 only unlock after crossing Unity many times and having 1000 Units of varying minerals. Broaden your play style, rebuild outpost networks, embrace the journey.

Time: Touching the Artifact caused rapid cellular decay. Only 24 wait/sleep cycles then it's time to let the white dove go. Reach the next Universe to reset the counter. Use time wisely.

Waylayer: Open field random encounter system. For adventures inbetween the Points of Interest (POI). You never know what lurks out there.