Starfield game director Todd Howard offers a little more insight into what the sci-fi epic will ultimately be like in advance of Starfield's September release. Apparently, it's going to be a pretty lonely piece of work: according to Howard, only "about 10 percent" of the game's 1,000-plus planets will have life on them, as Bethesda seeks to represent the "epic desolation" of the universe.

Howard was talking about Starfield on today's episode of the Kinda Funny Xcast when the question came up about the game's many, many pro-gen planets. When asked how much handcrafted content there is on these planets and whether there is really a lot for players to do, Howard replied, "I'm not going to handcraft an entire planet."

Instead, Bethesda will "handcraft individual locations, some of which will be specifically placed," meaning things like cities and quest-related locations.

To me, it sounds like the planet in the original "Mass Effect," which was mostly barren except for a few mercenary and bandit bases placed there. Hopefully the Starfield "suite" will have a bit more variety than ME1.

Howard notes that with 10% of Starfield's planets harboring life, it will be quite busy from a scientific standpoint. "We're pushing [the science]," Howard said, "and about 10% of those planets have life. What is the difference between a planet in the Goldilocks zone and a planet with resources?"

For the most part, however, "Starfield" seems to be trying to capture the beauty and solitude of the actual real universe. We generate certain things for you to discover that it is (a barren planet)," said Howard, "but when you look at the planet ...... there is, to quote Buzz Aldrin, "spectacular desolation"

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"I think there is a certain beauty in landing on a planet like that and feeling like, 'I'm the only person, or the only human being, who has visited this planet,'" Howard said. 'But it's a different kind of exploration than what we've experienced.'

As an enthusiast of the "Elite: Elite:Dangerous" space track, I have to say that this story sounds very familiar and quite intriguing. While I'm all for wandering the vast and lonely wildernesses of the galaxy, I'm concerned that fans who came to the game directly from "Skyrim" or "Fallout 4" might find themselves in a bind. Still, Howard said Bethesda has tried to balance the exploratory feel with "gamey" elements, and the studio has "worked it out pretty well."

We'll find out come September.