Highlights

  • Some Starfield fans are unhappy with the fact that their characters' fingers clip through every pistol in the game.
  • Clipping, the incorrect rendering of overlapping object geometries, has frustrated gamers for a long time, and become widespread with the rise of 3D graphics.
  • A Reddit post criticizing Starfield's handgun design and showcasing the clipping issue received thousands of upvotes, indicating agreement among a portion of the fandom. However, many fans argue that clipping is a non-issue, or a common problem in games with weapon variety. Mods might improve Starfield's collision detection in the future.

Some vocal Starfield fans have taken to social media to bemoan the fact that their characters' fingers clip through every single pistol model in the game. Their grievances add to the list of complaints that the fandom voiced about Starfield since the game's release.

Clipping has been frustrating gamers for almost as long as video games have existed, although the phenomenon only became widespread with the rise of 3D graphics in the '90s. While there are several distinct types of clipping, they all come down to incorrect rendering of overlapping object geometries, which causes multiple assets to clip through one another.

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Like most other ambitiously scoped games, Starfield isn't immune to such graphical glitches. But the extent of its clipping issues with pistols recently prompted quite a heated discussion among the fandom, which started when Reddit user kronograf labeled the game's handgun design as "lazy." The player substantiated that criticism with screenshots of their character holding half a dozen different pistols, noting how their fingers clip through every single one of them to varying degrees.

The image amassed thousands of upvotes within hours of being posted, indicating that a portion of the fandom is in agreement with kronograf's sentiment. Several people used the ensuing discussion as an opportunity to highlight how Starfield's issues with weapon models extend well beyond handguns and clipping. One such highly-upvoted remark came from Reddit user Crumboa, who recalled how the Coachman rifle in Starfield doesn't even have a trigger.

And though the thread centered on this pistol issue only took a few hours to hit the front page of the game's largest subreddit, the reactions that it received were far from unanimous; some fans described clipping as a non-issue, while others sarcastically proclaimed that it makes Starfield "literally unplayable," mocking the very fact this complaint was even brought up. Others still said the phenomenon of character models clipping through gear is hardly exclusive to Bethesda's latest title, arguing that the vast majority of games that allow players to wield a variety of guns exhibit such issues.

Players who nonetheless find clipping distracting enough to warrant complaints can take some solace in the fact that the modding community might start addressing this problem in the near future. However, a comprehensive overhaul of Starfield's collision detection that would completely eliminate clipping likely won't be possible until Bethesda launches the RPG's Creation Kit. The studio recently said that the game's official mod tools are on course to release sometime in early 2024.