Starfield: How to get achievements while using mods

❘ Published: 2023-09-07T15:58:43

Bethesda

Using mods in Starfield prevents players from unlocking Achievements, but a different mod has already solved the problem.

As things currently stand, Starfield includes a feature that can detect if a player has mods activated. Apparently, that feature disables a user’s ability to unlock Achievements on their account.

Those well-versed in games from Bethesda Game Studios aren’t new to this kind of setup. After all, the team implemented similar measures across the likes of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Fallout 4.

Akin to Skyrim and Fallout 4, PC modders have already figured out a way to circumvent these specific preventative measures.

Starfield mod lets users to unlock achievements while using mods

As noted by Twitter user Synth Potato, the PC modding community has created Achievement Enabler – a mod that allows players to earn achievements if they have mods enabled.

Achievement Enabler can be downloaded through Nexus Mods to stop “your save from being marked as modded.”

Notably, the modder tells Starfield players to take heed of the following: “Before renaming or replacing any files, please make a backup of the original file/s and store this somewhere safe so if anything does go wrong you can restore your original files and try again.”

It's so hilarious to me that Bethesda implemented a feature that disables achievements on your save if the game detects that you have mods, and modders just modded that feature out the game same day Starfield came out 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/V3sQyu3q8H
— Synth Potato (Ameer) 🥔 (@SynthPotato) September 5, 2023

The mod’s description page features a full guide on how best to install Achievement Enabler for Starfield’s Steam and UWP versions. The Steam instructions read as follows:

On the ASI Loader GitHub page (https://github.com/ThirteenAG/Ultimate-ASI-Loader) scroll down to the “Description” section and download “bink2w64.dll“
Go to your root directory of your Starfield game (steamapp\common\Starfield) and rename the “bink2w64.dll” that is already in there to “bink2w64Hooked.dll“
Now copy over the “bink2w64.dll” downloaded from GitHub (from step 1 above) and place this in the root folder of your Starfield game (steamapp\common\Starfield)
Create a new folder in the root directory of your Starfield game called “Plugins.” Your folder structure should look like this (steamapp\common\Starfield\Plugins)
Download the mod from this page and place the “starfield-achievementenabler.asi” file from this mod inside the “Plugins” folder
[After] following these steps, the below is what your folder/file structure for this mod should look like
- XboxGames\Starfield\Content\dinput8.dll (downloaded from GitHub)
- XboxGames\Starfield\Content\wininet.dll (your original dinput8.dll that is already in the folder that you have renamed to wininet.dll)
- XboxGames\Starfield\Content\Plugins\starfield-achievementenabler.asi (downloaded from this mod)

For more on Starfield, check out our other guides and content.