Project Asteria - Freeform Alternate Start

Project Asteria = Sandbox Starfield

Project Asteria offers a fresh starting point for sandbox play with maximal player choice.

You get to create the character you want, in a pre-game section packed with a selection of ships, clothing, weapons, and other items. You move freely around the Project Asteria station as you build your character.

Pick up what you want, then use the kiosk to teleport away to start your game.

Using Project Asteria

1. Start a New Game 
2. (Optional) Explore the Project Asteria station, picking up starting items.
3. Use the terminal to choose a starting ship and location.

Starting Locations

United Colonies Space • New Atlantis • Londinion • Cydonia

Freestar Collective Space • Akila City • Neon • Hopetown • Niira

Independent Space • Charybdis III • Freya III • McClure II • Beta Marae I

House Va'ruun Space • Work in progress

Crimson Fleet Space • Work in progress

Main Quest Compatibility

You can begin the Main Quest by visiting the Lodge, the same as if you did a regular NG+. This means you have the Starborn trait and dialogue options.

According to a player who has completed a full main quest playthrough using Project Asteria, when you complete the game and begin NG+, you will appear again at Project Asteria.

Returning to Project Asteria Mid-game

If you add Project Asteria to an existing save, it will instantly teleport you upon loading.

You can also return by using the command 'coc tcAsteria'.

Choose Your Ship

You can now choose your ship! Selecting any option will remove the Frontier and Starborn Guardian from your ownership, leaving you with only the ship you selected. Be sure to click 'Begin' for this to work.

Your ship won't land where you spawn, but it will appear if you make any edits to it at a ship technician, or if you fast-travel beyond walking distance.

Also important, the ship will not be registered. Most of the below ships cost around 14,000 to register, so if you'd like to begin with a registered ship consider taking enough credits.

The ship choices are:

Starborn Guardian + Frontier (Default)
Frontier
UC Dagger
UC Econohaul
UC Transpo
Freestar Mustang
Freestar Rambler
Freestar Railstar
Va'ruun Dirge
Ecliptic Falcata
Crimson Fleet Ghost
Spacer Raven

The Story of Project Asteria

The player finds themselves alone on a station, and the only way out is to make use of a terminal that is seemingly connected to a crystalline entity.

The player can access the Project Asteria archives to read the logs of Dr. L. Kanh, a scientist obsessed with the peculiar crystal.

Author's Note

Choose what you feel is reasonable to the custom experience you want to begin. I recommend picking up some themed clothing, a special weapon, and the construction materials to start an outpost. If you want a challenge, see how few items you can begin with.

I hope you enjoy! I created a similar mod for Skyrim called 'Realm of Lorkhan'. There are some references to the mod in the Project Asteria archive terminal.

Many people use my alternate starts as a 'mod testing chamber' to help you test out mods. You can easily jump to different locations, and the game begins quickly in an open state without intro or tutorial.

Future Expansion

I like to build my mods as a companion to my gameplay, so you may see expansion to Project Asteria over the years.

The general principle is to expand on sandbox play potential by broadening the ways you can begin, and the ways you can optionally customize your character. I'll be doing this while making as little impact to compatibility as is possible.

Credits & Thanks

SKK Fast Start New Game, I referred to its scripts and rely on knowledge from those who came before.

Veerloth, for day 1 testing and reporting, and helping me expand on the storytelling themes of the mod! RlyehStudios, for reporting the first successful test! XeratosMX, for day 1 testing and suggestions. Unspacey, for first known Main Quest completion and successful entry into NG+.

Thanks also to you, for reading and/or testing out the mod!

If you'd like to become a Patron, your support is very welcome at www.patreon.com/c/twincrows