Freelancer vs WC

Of course, one of the big questions gamers will have is how closely related to the Wing Commander series these games will be--after all, Roberts created those games, too. "Starlancer is a space-combat simulator just as Wing Commander is," said Roberts. "What takes it beyond Wing Commander is the attention [to] and quality [of] detail. Missions are very detailed and are much more than just showing up at a nav point and fighting a dozen ships."

OK, but what about Freelancer? "Freelancer is way beyond anything I've done in the Wing Commander universe. It's going to be a fully functioning, living, breathing universe with a whole ecosystem. You can see the promise in something like Privateer, but this is geometrically beyond that game," said Roberts. "It's like building a city. Compared to Privateer, the scope, the dynamic universe--it's all 3D--is much more interesting. There's much more intrigue the player can get involved in. Everything's rule-based vs. scripted. Commerce happens, trade happens, and piracy happens because of what's going on in the game universe and not because of scripted events."

I asked Roberts if there is any chance he will work on the Wing Commander franchise again. "Never say never...but working on Wing Commander seems pretty unlikely at the moment," replied Roberts. He did mention that he was a bit disappointed that Origin has no plans for any more single-player Wing Commander games.

Finally, I wanted to know if he has plans to direct any more movies. He replied, "Directing is on hold right now. I do have a small film I want to do about a guy who has to deliver a package on New Year's Eve and what happens to him. I cowrote it with a screenwriter friend. It's called The Package, and I may shoot it in Austin this winter." Hmmm...I guess there are no Kilrathi in it, eh Chris?