'Spore' : One all designers will be thinking about. See the video links!

The times of saying, "That can't be done." are over. Wow!

Although the game is appears to be designed to look some what cartoonish that is just the one culture created for the demonstration. Plus I'm sure other designers can take this game as an example and do their own thing for a new game.

main site Link

Wikipedia site Link

But mostly, see these video clips!:


Link

and Link

Quotes:

Spore will be a simulation that "ranges from the cellular level to the galactic level". In his GDC speech, Will Wright likened the style of game-play of each stage to an existing game:

1. Microbial stage, similar to Pac-Man
2. Creature stage, Diablo
3. Tribal stage, Populous
4. City stage, SimCity
5. Civilization stage, Risk and Civilization
6. Spacefaring stage, (a.k.a. UFO stage or Invasion), with some elements reminiscent of Destroy All Humans!
7. Galactic stage, which is a giant sandbox game

Will Wright has said that the game was also influenced by many TV shows, movies, and toys, such as Lego and Star Wars.

Wright calls the game a "massively single player online game". Simultaneous multiplayer gaming is not a feature of Spore. The creatures, vehicles, and buildings the player can create will be uploaded automatically to a central database (or a peer-to-peer system), catalogued and rated for quality (based on how many users have downloaded the object or creature in question), and then re-distributed to populate other players' games. The data transmitted will be extremely small — only 1 kilobyte, according to Wright, who presented an analogy: think of it as sharing the DNA template of a creature while the game, like a womb, builds the "phenotypes" of the animal, which represent a few megabytes of texturing, animation, etc.

When the player progresses to a new stage, Spore will import creatures as needed. For example, if a flying carnivore is needed to balance the ecosystem, a creature that fits that description will be downloaded. The editor also allows the player to design things ranging from species to custom buildings and vehicles. That includes tanks, aircraft, submarines, boats, and UFOs. If the player has no internet connection, Wright mentioned, it is possible to fit tens of thousands of objects and creatures on the game's disc itself, due to their small size. This means that people with no Internet connection would still have a balanced ecosystem, even if it happens to be more limited in diversity.

End Quotes.


-Wade
10,181 views 16 replies
Reply #1 Top
The times of saying, "That can't be done." are over. Wow!
Reply #2 Top
Yes, I have been watching the game since its development was announced and I can't wait for it to be actually developed. It sounds like the ultimate customisable game, which I think is the dream of any gamer. It's supposed to not need any graphic designers as the game is going to create all the graphics you need. Imagine you build a weird creature, the game will texture it and choose the right meshes on its own. It is exciting. I can't wait to realise my custom race from Galciv to Spore, hehehe!

Although the fact that it is going to be published by EA is very sad.... They are probably gonna rush it out unfinished and then make an 'expansion' pack, which is just going to be the rest of the game.... I ... don't like..... EA.
Reply #3 Top
Published by EA, i will not buy it, its been a LONG time since i bought anything good from EA.
Reply #4 Top
My guess, and I'm sure they'll rush to prove me wrong, but my guess is that EA will be very careful and very hands off with this one. Given the name attached and the clout this title could bring, they'll be smart to let this one run its course and see if it can live up to its potential before meddling around.
Reply #5 Top
Not to mention it's by the creator of the sims. I'm not a fan of the sims myself, but if you check out the top10 pc games for april (which galciv managed to make #10), number 5 is the sims 2 which was released in 2004!

Wright had made a LOT of money for EA. I'm guessing EA will probably give as much space/time as needed to the creator of the sims and sim city.

I won't but it myself, as my vow to not buy anything EA is stonger than my want for this game.. but it does look very cool.

-Neb
Reply #6 Top
The sims 2 gets it's "extra items" packs, which contain no gameplay, in the top ten. I'll admit, I used to be a sims addict (to the point where, like a now-sober alcoholic, should I put that damned disc in I'm not leaving until my alarm clock sets off), but I'm not excited by spore. However, if in some awful bizzaro universe they made galsimsporeciv, I swear my double would die of starvation without realising it.
Reply #7 Top
I see lots of stuff like city building,rts,4X.etc,but each part appears to have little depth.I don't buy the hype.
Reply #8 Top
Wow, you guys are slow getting the word on this one. WW was demoing this last year at GDC.
Reply #9 Top
Yes, but they published a new video more recently due to E3 this year.

Well I hope that EA leaves Wright alone on this one, to make it a good game, and I am gonna be excited about it, until at least I see something that pops my bubble.
Reply #10 Top
Thanks for posting this. I took a look at what I could see of Spore before, and was less intruiged than I am now.
I watched the videos, and I have a question for you:

Although I must obviously remove my hat and cheer what looks to be a very creative, very promising editor, I am totally clueless as to what you actually DO in this game once you have made all the neat creatures and gadgets you can make. I mean: where is the challenge, where is the fun? Please note that this is an honest question, not a rhetorical one or a whine. I would like to be interested in this game, but I as of yet fail to see how it is going to captivate me. I enjoy, somewhat, the shipyard of GC2 -- however, if it werent for the good AI which offers me a strategical challenge, I wouldnt be playing this game at all. What is it about Spore that makes it a strategic challenge? It doesnt seem like an RPG, perhaps it isnt a RTS either -- but what is it, and how is it challenging?
thank you
Reply #11 Top
Your goal is to giude your creature which you create, through its evolution, survive, fight other creatures, create your city in order to conquer other races either militarily or via trade I think, then take over the planet and go in space to look for more races, to conquer, befriend and eventually make the galaxy your playground. You can terraform other planets as well and build more cities on them.
Reply #12 Top
Hm the video showed your little creature running from larger ones and biting smaller ones in what looked like fairly simple combat (considering what it could bite didnt have any defenses). So you are saying there is a competetive AI against which you can compete with military options, combat, etc.? You can "win" or "lose" by conquering or getting conquered? It is like an RTS? (I just read that someone compared it with the Sims, which I couldnt imagine playing, so I dont know about that.)
Reply #13 Top
Well, later on when you can build cities it's like an RTS, but when you are a creature it's more like trying to survive. It is like the Sims in some aspects. We will have to see when it actually comes out. Read some reviews on it, you might understand better than the stuff I am telling you.
Reply #14 Top
I'm betting on this game being terrible. Its from EA for one.

Also if you ever played a Maxis game in the past you will know that this will probably be like Sim Earth and Sim Life and nothing even NEAR compairable to a Civilization or Master of Orion game. You guys all fell into their marketing scheme.

As for origional? HAH! This has been done before, its just a combination of Sim Life and Sim Earth. You people are just too young to remember those.

Saying it will be a "sandbox game" (stupid phrase, sandbox maybe meaning that its for kids who like games like "Destroy all Humans) compairable to some Space Empire game is laughable.

OOOOO, you get to run around and kill things at first like a 3rd person console game. Its Mario on pc!! OMG! Then you get to manage and build one city!! KILLER! Oh damn, next you get to go back onto the 3rd person "Destroy all Humans" type of gameplay, neato. Oh next you get the super watered down populous ripoff space strategy segment that people assume will be Master of Orion but wont! OMG!
Reply #15 Top
Well, I admit on seeing some more stuff from it, scouring the web, I am intrigued. The evolution stage does look interesting: becoming faster, stronger, more discreet etc would have the impact on combat similar to statistic games. Like galciv2. (Bear with me on this). In galciv2 you choose weapons and defences. And it's diced rolled. In spore you shape a creature, and see how he turns out. You might arm him, or make him able to hide or escape, or make him tough, or aquatic so that bloody great spider couldn't go after you.

However, the sandbox thing is something that I'm not sure of. I like customising individuals, which is why I liked the sims. But being able to click a button and blow up the planet of you enemies? I know thats end game, but still. It lacks the appeal, and if I ever got it I'd just re-do evolution again and again. Either way, E3 is here, so we'll see more soon enough.

Saying it will be a "sandbox game" (stupid phrase, sandbox maybe meaning that its for kids who like games like "Destroy all Humans) compairable to some Space Empire game is laughable.


Galciv is mostly sandbox, in case you hadn't noticed.
Reply #16 Top
I'm betting on this game being terrible. Its from EA for one.

Also if you ever played a Maxis game in the past you will know that this will probably be like Sim Earth and Sim Life and nothing even NEAR compairable to a Civilization or Master of Orion game. You guys all fell into their marketing scheme.

As for origional? HAH! This has been done before, its just a combination of Sim Life and Sim Earth. You people are just too young to remember those.

Saying it will be a "sandbox game" (stupid phrase, sandbox maybe meaning that its for kids who like games like "Destroy all Humans) compairable to some Space Empire game is laughable.

OOOOO, you get to run around and kill things at first like a 3rd person console game. Its Mario on pc!! OMG! Then you get to manage and build one city!! KILLER! Oh damn, next you get to go back onto the 3rd person "Destroy all Humans" type of gameplay, neato. Oh next you get the super watered down populous ripoff space strategy segment that people assume will be Master of Orion but wont! OMG!



Please spare us from the sarcasm. I played both Simlife and Simearth and I loved both. I never said that it's gonna be like Galciv or MoO, not at all.

And comparing Spore with Simlife is a joke. Anybody who played simlife can understand. It's another thing to see a collection of pixels 10x10 representing an animal and another to get to design your own creature and see it move real time. Anyway enough of this, let's go play GalCiv 2

EDIT: By the way, about 'Destroy all humans', I don't even have an idea of what that thing is or is about.