Former Bethesda veteran Nate Purkeypile, known for his work on Skyrim and Fallout series, has shared his vision for how he would have redesigned the space epic, Starfield. With 14 years at Bethesda Game Studios under his belt before founding Just Purkey Games in 2021, Purkeypile was once the lead lighting artist and senior world artist on Starfield but left the project two years before its release. In a recent interview with The Examined Game, he revealed his concerns about Starfield's ambitious plan to include 1,000 planets, which became a significant pre-release marketing point. When only 10% of these planets were confirmed to have life by Bethesda chief Todd Howard, Purkeypile criticized the repetitive content and lack of procedural generation, comparing it unfavorably to Mass Effect 1's procedural planets with repeated dungeons. Instead, he suggests a focus on a handful of planets with bespoke layouts, arguing that repeating content dilutes the player experience and undermines the sense of discovery in Starfield. He also questions the incoherent environmental design, particularly the lack of substance outside major cities. His comments echo those of Bruce Nesmith, another former Bethesda lead designer who suggested a smaller scale for Starfield's planet exploration.