British gaming news site Rock, Paper, Shotgun! has published a (currently) two-part interview with Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts. In the first part, Roberts discusses his latest project, Star Citizen, its scale, and just how PvP combat fits into the mix:

You can’t just blast away and then respawn and go back. If you go out in space and your ship gets destroyed, you’ve lost your ship. We’re basically trying to do a lot of things like the real world. We’re trying to simulate an economy. You can buy ship insurance just like you could buy car insurance in the real world. You can buy cargo insurance. If you’re smart, you’ll pay a bit of money for insurance, because… With insurance, if you get blasted, you’ll lose your cargo, you’ll end up on the same planet again in a replacement ship. If you don’t have insurance you’re going to lose it all. You can take that risk, but it shouldn’t be the idea that you just go out there and get blasted and just instantly respawn with a ship. There needs to be a consequence.

For instance, if you’re someone operating on the outer edge of the galaxy, it’s just like if you’re living in a really bad neighborhood. Your insurance is gonna cost more than your insurance costs in the center of the galaxy, where it’s pretty safe. If you’re in the center of the galaxy and there’s a lot of military and law enforcement around, it’s safe. There’s not going to be a lot of PvP stuff, or people jumping newbies and stuff like that. Like out here [motions at, er, existence], I couldn’t just start taking stuff from people in the street. The police would stop me. But of course, when you’re landing on Earth and you’re selling goods, you pay tariffs and taxes. Someone’s got to pay for the infrastructure. Someone’s got to pay for the police force.

On the other hand, on the outer edges of the empire where there isn’t really law and order, you don’t have landing taxes or anything. But you also don’t have any protection from police or the military. So again, the concept is that it’s like the real world. You make your choices – where you want to be, how you want to play. If you want to be on the other side of the law, a player-killer, you can be. But there will be areas of space that you’ll want to exist in, because if you try to do that right nearby Earth where the strongest part of the empire is, you won’t last very long.

You can definitely attack people, it’s just that suddenly you’ll be on the most wanted list and every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be zeroing in on you. The times you can shoot people down inside those areas of law and order is when they’re on the most wanted list, so to speak. The idea would be that the systems that you build inside this universe kind of help regulate the world, just like in the real world. That’s one of the concepts. We don’t have it running yet, so who knows?

Ambitious? Yes. But then, this is Chris Roberts we’re hearing from here.

The second part of the interview focuses a bit more on the background of Star Citizen and its progression mechanics, as well as on more general topics like PC gaming and space:

I chose the PC because it enables [this kind of scope and creativity and ambition and openness]. The game I want to build and the community I want to build, I could not do it on a PlayStation or an Xbox right now. The terms of service would prevent me. The only platform I can do it properly with is the PC. I guess my answer would be, if there are other platforms coming along that let me deliver this experience, then I would do it. Even the next-gen consoles, which technically will be able to handle this if they change it around. I would certainly consider supporting it. But it’s the open platform aspect that’s the most important for me, to let you integrate with the community. Even on the tablet basis, if the tech comes to a level that lets you do that, I would certainly consider supporting it.

There’s a bit of worry. I feel like the Windows 8 thing is worrying. Although the issue is more the way they’ve set it up. They still have the same stuff you have in Windows 7, it’s just that they’ve tried to build this Mac type of [infrastructure] because that’s all they want to do, right? Microsoft wants to control an App Store-style thing. Star Citizen isn’t going to be a Metro application. This is going to be an actual client type of game.

This clarification may be of interest to some (Sergorn, I’m looking at you!), who (correctly) noted that in terms of pure hardware support for the awesome engine and detailed models that Star Citizen will utilize, next-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft will certainly meet the game’s requirements.

Not being a console gamer myself, I can’t speak to matters such as the XBox terms of service or speculate as to exactly how it is prohibitive to Roberts’ design aims. But it’s interesting that his affinity for the PC, and PC gaming, is based on more than just the fact that current-generation console hardware is rather dated and can’t support the latest and greatest in graphics engine technology.

Also: It would seem that Star Citizen has reached its $750,000 stretch goal on Kickstarter, unlocking a repair bot for all backers’ ships. The next two stretch goals, both on Kickstarter and for the combined total between Kickstarter and the game’s website, will involve additional spaceships. Pledge today, if you haven’t already!