Using the Kardashev Scale, scientists and science fiction authors have been able to imagine civilizations so advanced that they are able to harness the power of all the stars in their galaxies. Currently, humans are nowhere near that capable, but nobody knows what the future holds. Though the Starfield version of humanity likely doesn’t score too high on the scale, it doesn’t mean that players won’t come across advanced alien civilizations.
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What Is the Kardashev Scale?
For as long as humans have gazed at the heavens, the species has wondered what lies out there. Perhaps there are some primitive microscopic lifeforms lying just beneath Mars’ surface. Maybe some planets are graveyards for aliens that have long since gone extinct. Scientists and entertainers alike have dared to imagine the possibility of there being intelligent extraterrestrial life, maybe even far cleverer than humans; fans have yet to discover if Starfield has aliens of this caliber. To help categorize the different complexity levels of potential alien societies, the Kardashev Scale was created.
The scale was created by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev, and it focuses on a civilization’s energy generation processes to gauge how advanced they are. The scale is divided into three levels, with Type 1 civilizations being capable of harnessing all the power that reaches their home planet from its parent star. Such a civilization would have access to immense power, as the amount of solar energy that hits the Earth in one hour is enough to fuel the planet for a year.
A Type 2 civilization would be capable of utilizing all the energy emitted by its parent star - not just what reaches its planet. Science fiction authors have imagined a Dyson Sphere as a possible means to achieve this. In short, a Dyson Sphere is a massive structure that encapsulates an entire star and is able to harness all its energy output. Creating such a structure would require utilizing entire planets to acquire the resources necessary, as well as engineering and industrial capabilities that are far beyond current human understanding. Dyson Spheres have been depicted in various sci-fi works, including Star Trek: The Next Generation and Fritz Leiber’s novel The Wanderer.
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The most advanced civilizations, Type 3s, would be able to exploit all the stars in their galaxies. There are a hundred million stars in the average galaxy, so the amount of energy available is impossible to even fathom. Civilizations capable of harnessing this power would be capable of magic-like technological feats. With all this in mind, humans sadly don’t rank among these options. They’re technically a Type 0 civilization, as they don’t meet the basic requirements to be considered a Type 1 civilization. The species has barely begun to take advantage of all the solar energy the planet is bombarded with daily and instead chooses to use finite fossil fuels.
Starfield and the Kardashev Scale
Bethesda’s Starfield isn’t exactly hard sci-fi, but there is heavy research being done to ensure the game feels authentic. For inspiration, Todd Howard and his team turned to NASA’s space missions, and they even visited SpaceX to speak with the top minds about future technology. Nevertheless, Starfield will still contain soft sci-fi elements, such as sound in a vacuum. The game presents a future set in the Settled Systems, a corner of the internet that has long been a war zone between factions, namely the United Colonies and the Freestar Collective. By 2310, they manage to find relative peace, which is when the main events of the game begin.
The humans of Starfield are far more advanced than the humans of today, as they have managed to move past their home planet and conquer other solar systems. Gamers have also gotten a glimpse of the futuristic cities humans have managed to build on the planets they call home. New Atlantis is a settlement on the planet Jemison, and it sports gorgeous glass towers and robots that patrol the streets. Despite all this, the humans of Starfield are still firmly a type 0 on the Kardashev Scale. Players are still going around gathering resources to fuel outposts and spaceships, which is a sign that energy is still a scarcity.
This doesn’t mean that the game won’t be exploring higher Kardashev Scales at all. Starfield will be asking many philosophical puzzles, including whether humans are truly alone in the universe and the age-old question of what could be out there. This question is posed in the gameplay reveal trailer shown during 2022’s Xbox and Bethesda Showcase. While the question is shown, players see humans gathered around a hologram machine showing an image of some kind of sphere. Some fans have speculated that it may be a Dyson sphere or the remnants of one from an ancient civilization. Hence, the main quest in Starfield may be about uncovering this mysterious Type 2 civilization.
Starfield has been in development for a long time, and over the years, it has had the opportunity to accumulate a lot of ideas from everyone at Bethesda. Overall, it appears that the game is aiming for a grounded future that is not too unlike our current world. Consequently, humans in the game likely don’t make it onto the Kardashev Scale. Nevertheless, with there being several hints of intelligent aliens in Starfield, players may still meet alien species that are Type 1 or even Type 2 civilizations.
Starfield is scheduled to release in 2023 on PC and Xbox Series X/S.
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