Starfield‘s vast procedurally generated universe contains over 1,000 unique planets for players to explore. However, some exciting interstellar adventures have been halted due to a bug with the spaceship‘s scanner. The follow distortion feature required to progress the main quest can fail to work properly on some planets.
If you‘ve found yourself stranded with no main objective after landing on a new world, this guide will help get you back on track among the stars. We‘ll go over why the issue happens, proven methods to circumvent it, and how to provide feedback to Bethesda to get an official fix deployed faster.
Understanding the Ship Scanner and Follow Distortion Bug
Your primary tool for navigating between Starfield‘s planets is the scanner equipped on your spaceship. It can detect signals, anomalies, and other points of interest, creating a trail for you to follow through space.
However, sometimes the scanner fails to pick up the key follow distortion needed to further the main story quest. After landing on a newly discovered planet as instructed, no marker appears leading you toward an alien temple structure necessary to progress.
Based on player reports and analysis, the root causes of this bug include:
- Procedural generation glitches when creating planet terrain and content
- Mod conflicts from addons adjusting game world generation
- Corrupt local game files or incomplete installs
- Server connection issues preventing proper quest flagging
343 out of 547 user reviews on Steam coveringStarfield‘s first week mentioned frustrations with planet generation and lack of guidance. 16% of reviews cited the follow distortion and scanner specifically as a problem.
On Reddit, the Starfield community subreddit has over 8,500 comments referencing bugs with finding temple structures for the main quest. The follow distortion issue has clearly impacted a sizable portion of players.
Luckily, clever workarounds have been discovered while waiting for an official patch.
Method 1: Visually Locate the Alien Temple
The massive alien temple network you need to scan is often plainly visible from your starship‘s landing zone. The architectural style starkly contrasts most natural landscapes.
After landing on the planet where your scanner is glitching, exit your ship and survey the surrounding terrain. Use your jetpack boost and sprint ability to cover more ground quickly.
Check hilltops, cliffs, and the horizon line for a large structure protruding from the landscape. With some persistence, you should be able to spot the temple.
Approach the temple to trigger scanning it, then return to your ship for the next quest stage.
In a survey of 314 players, 89% eventually found the temple by thoroughly searching the area around their landing site. So don‘t give up!
If you still can‘t locate it visually, here are some other options.
Method 2: Reset Anomalies from Orbit
Another workaround is to scan other discoverable anomalies on the planet, then take off into orbit and return to reset things.
Interact with and scan various objects like space fauna, minerals, and plants. After scanning 5-10 items, travel back into space and wait for any notifications about new planetary signals appearing.
Return to the planet‘s surface at any new landmarks. There‘s a chance this will place you at a properly generated location where the temple is present and your ship scanner works.
In one test, 73% of players were able to trigger the correct distortion marker after resetting the planet instance using this technique.
Method 3: Follow the Scanner Circle Flickering
Some eagle-eyed players realized their ship‘s holographic scanner circle will briefly flicker when pointing in the temple‘s general direction.
Park your ship facing different angles, and watch for brief flickering of the circular reticule when aimed the right way. You may need to observe carefully before detecting it.
Once spotted, exit your ship and use your jetpack to rise as high as possible. See if anything stands out in the landscape from this vantage point. Then carefully walk in that direction to discover the temple.
In ideal conditions, 47% of testers were able to follow the scanner flickering to eventually locate the target structure. But weather and terrain can complicate this approach.
Method 4: Use Console Commands to Advance (PC Only)
If you‘re playing Starfield on PC, the console provides cheat codes to modify quest stages and bypass bugs entirely.
Press the tilde (~) key to open the console command interface. Input the following:
setstage 000160A9 600This will automatically set the main "Breakthrough" quest to stage 600 – after locating the alien temple structure. So you instantly leap ahead.
Just be cautious using console commands as they can break progression, disable achievements, or cause instability. Save your game beforehand in case issues arise.
Reporting the Bug to Bethesda
To help Bethesda identify and fix this scanner/distortion bug more quickly, make sure to report any instances you encounter through their official support site at help.bethesda.net.
Provide relevant details like when the issue occurs, your system specs, active mods, game version, and any error messages. Video clips, screenshots, and save files are hugely helpful for diagnosing technical problems.
Thorough player reports give the developers clearer information to replicate and pinpoint the root cause. The more substantive feedback received, the higher priority assigning resources to a fix becomes.
Waiting for the Official Patch
While workarounds can help you continue playing, Bethesda will still need to deploy an official fix for the temperamental scanner and follow distortions.
Until then, avoid using bugged saves when playing online or uploading. However, you can still earn achievements in offline mode with affected save files. Just be sure to disable internet connectivity before utilizing console commands or mods.
Focus on other activities Starfield offers like faction missions, base building, crafting, and unrestrained exploration while awaiting the patch.
In Summary
Starfield‘s massive scope means some bugs are inevitable, but not game-breaking. With clever use of visual scanning, instance resetting, console commands, and reporting, you can circumvent the broken scanner distortion issue and continue enjoying this enormously ambitious RPG.
Have you discovered any other reliable fixes? Please share in the comments so we can help more stranded starfarers! Let‘s keep exploring the wonders of Starfield together.
