Chris Roberts: “Star Citizen IS a PC game. It will NEVER be dumbed down…” (Also: $28 Million!)

I guess there were some rumours floating around that Star Citizen might end up getting ported to the PlayStation 4, which I gather had something to do with a development kit for said platform being spotted on the desk of one of the game’s developers.

Well…Chris Roberts had something to say about that:

Star Citizen IS a PC game. It will NEVER be dumbed down for a lesser platform. We will NOT limit the input options or supported peripherals to the lowest common denominator. We will NOT pass on features and technology just because they will only run on some hardware configurations.

That said, he isn’t entirely closed to the idea of porting the game to a console, despite there being no plans at present. He defines the terms under which he would consider a console port in the same fierce, clear tone as above:

IF the platform holders (Sony & Microsoft) allow us to update the code and data without restrictions and odious time consuming QC procedures, IF they allow our community to openly interact with each other across platforms then I would CONSIDER supporting them.

Tall order? Probably.

As well, Star Citizen reached the $28 million funding milestone today, which means that a new starter ship — the Mustang — will be added to the game; we should get a look at in the near future. In announcing the milestone, Roberts also had this to say about the stretch goals that the project will pursue going forward:

…stretch goals are an example: one big thing we will be doing with some of the money. Every additional million means that we’re hiring additional artists and programmers, equipping the team with better development tools and increasing the size of the talented outsource groups being trusted with aspects of Star Citizen’s development. It means more actors and time for mocap studios, more reference for designers, greater variety in game characters, more options in clothing and armor and a large array of ship items and weapons.

Every dollar improves the project. That isn’t as sexy as spending large amounts of money on impressive, headline-grabbing stretch goals… but it means a significantly better game in the end. So, for the next several stretch goals, we’re going to leave you with the knowledge that the money goes to improving all aspects of Star Citizen’s development. Instead of specifying some new development goal, we’re going to add a new ship to the game as a reward.

And, indeed, he has already announced the next ship to be added, should the game reach $31 million in funding. There’s even a poll in which community members can vote, to help define the role this new ship should be built for.

5 Responses

  1. Infinitron says:

    Hmmm, shouldn’t Star Citizen news also be covered on the “WTFBlog”? Or is this really more of an “Ex-Origin” blog than just an Ultima blog?

    • WtF Dragon says:

      This site still has an ex-Origin section. And CIG shares a few resources with Portalarium, so there’s also a tenuous link there.

      The WtFBlog gaming content is meant for stuff outside the Originsphere, really. Which I realize means I should maybe think about moving news about Irrational Games back here to Codex Main, but…gotta draw a line somewhere.

      And to be fair, I only usually cover the major funding milestones that SC reaches. If you want up to the minute coverage, hit up the CIC.

  2. Sanctimonia says:

    C is typed with your left middle finger and G is typed with your left index finger. Thou hast lost an eighth and must repent by smoking a CIG while apologizing to the CIC. 🙂

    My two cents are that anything not involving Ultima directly should be somewhere else. Inspiration or former employees shouldn’t count, with the exception of Garriott for obvious reasons. Stories about Ultima, references to Ultima, Ultima IP, Ultima mods and tools and Garriott’s musings should all be here.