Spore

[Senator]

Played around with it, I can see the fun in it; only 3/4 through the first stage where I am swimming around eating stuff and trying to avoid being eaten.

[Groundhog]

Played around with it, I can see the fun in it; only 3/4 through the first stage where I am swimming around eating stuff and trying to avoid being eaten.

That level was perhaps my favourite. Finding and evolving new parts makes a huge difference, which made this level a lot of fun. It's just that this level of the game goes by waaaaaay too quickly.

[gi]

That level was perhaps my favourite. Finding and evolving new parts makes a huge difference, which made this level a lot of fun. It's just that this level of the game goes by waaaaaay too quickly.

Agreed, played it twice now just to relive some of it and get all the parts. Overall I'm enjoying it, but don't know if it will hold up long term.

[Izulde]

That level was perhaps my favourite. Finding and evolving new parts makes a huge difference, which made this level a lot of fun. It's just that this level of the game goes by waaaaaay too quickly.

Have you ever tried playing E.V.O?

[Neon_Chaos]

Currently playing through the Space Stage, and it is most definitely the meat of the game.

Can't wait to start up another game from scratch and have an interplanetary war go on between my two creations.

[Coffee Warlord]

I played through till the civilization stage...

...and promptly got utterly massacred by the AI.

[Mustang]

I picked up Spore yesterday and spent a good 3 hours playing at night and made it up to the tribal stage. I think the 8.9/9.0 ratings are pretty spot on although, from a technical standpoint I think Spore is in the high 9.0's.

My biggest gripe is (and this probably strays into the 'hard core gamer' territory) is that there is no fear in the early stages. When I'm a cell and get gobbled up, there is no worries that the game is done or this negatively affects me. There should be some benefit to staying alive and not dying multiple times. I just respawn and continue on. Although, I guess that is technically what a save does so, guess there is no real fear in any game really.

Graphics, while are cartoony, are still nice. Interesting to see your creations or other creations populate the game. In one instance, I created a creature that I tried to make fast as crap and in one part of the game, I saw a herd of them ripping across the screen.

I need to figure out how not to have every creature variation not get saved to my Sporepedia. (I have the 10 variations dropped and while it is interesting to see the evolution of my creation.. I don't want 10 different variations loaded)

My spore id is kerg01 so, if anyone wants to add me. Would be nice to have others ID as for now I have the buddy list turned on just so I don't get a bunch of penises or trains imported.

[Coffee Warlord]

In my limited playing time, I haven't noticed a single penis monster. Quite surprised.

[Pumpy Tudors]

In my limited playing time, I haven't noticed a single penis monster. Quite surprised.
This is a profound disappointment.

[Mustang]

In my limited playing time, I haven't noticed a single penis monster. Quite surprised.

I'll only see your penis if you are on my buddy list.









(yes, I intentionally made that sound bad)

[Coffee Warlord]

I'll only see your penis if you are on my buddy list.

Add CoffeeW to your friends list if you wanna see my penis!


...yeah.

[CleBrownsfan]

So is this game worth getting? I've heard mix reviews and still on the fence about getting Spore. I've been following this damn game for at least 2 years...

[Bonegavel]

I'll be picking it up as soon as I can hit a store. The naysayers aren't scaring me off.

NAY

(probably picking this up tonight)

[Mustang]

So is this game worth getting? I've heard mix reviews and still on the fence about getting Spore. I've been following this damn game for at least 2 years...

Depends on what your expectations are.

If you liked The Sims, I'd say yes. If you didn't, I'd say no.

[Anthony]

Dolahint: a gamer keeps up-to-date enough with his hobby not to make stupid mistakes when talking down his nose to someone else.

trust me, since i'm one who gets vagina on a regular basis i'm quite fine with not being considered a real gamer.

[Neon_Chaos]

I'm loving the planetary obliteration thingy. (destroys any and every colony on a target planet)

"WAR!? WAR!? YOU WANT TO FRAK WITH ME!?"

(presses button)

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

[Senator]

trust me, since i'm one who gets vagina on a regular basis i'm quite fine with not being considered a real gamer.

The gaming industries loss is the Bada Bings gain.

[JPhillips]

trust me, since i'm one who gets ham sandwich on a regular basis i'm quite fine with not being considered a real gamer.

+1

[spleen1015]

My spore id is kerg01 so, if anyone wants to add me. Would be nice to have others ID as for now I have the buddy list turned on just so I don't get a bunch of penises or trains imported.

My ID is mayser if you'd like to add me. I just added you to mine on the website.

[Calis]

I picked it up yesterday morning with reservations. I figured I'd end up getting it though, but my expectations were low.

They were about correct. I've only finished the 3rd stage, so I can't speak on the space portion and such of the game, so maybe I'm missing out.

The first two stages had some charm. It was fun to try out different parts on my creature and do that thing, but the 2nd stage specifically I was already sick of by the end of it. I can't imagine wanting to do it again. It was a little too repetitive and simple for my tastes.

The RTS stage was pretty cumbersome as well.

So about what I expected. The creation of creatures and such is fun, but the game itself I have no desire to play.

I was hoping for a little more Sims-like approach but with creating and evolving creatures. I was really hoping they'd shoot for an a feeling almost like Creatures. Anyone remember that game? I think a more AI oriented approach could have made it more fun, with you as an outside force shaping up a bit how your creatures evolve rather than just plugging in whatever piece you want.

I don't regret buying it. We don't get many marquee PC releases anymore, and I like to see people take some chances and try different things, but I'm not interested in playing it anymore.

[BrianD]

Does anyone have any comments on the DRM on the game? Amazon gamer reviews are getting slammed with 1-star reviews complaining about the DRM.

[Coffee Warlord]

It's draconian and unnecessary, but it's no more annoying than much else out there (StarForce aside).

[Atocep]

I was hoping for a little more Sims-like approach but with creating and evolving creatures. I was really hoping they'd shoot for an a feeling almost like Creatures. Anyone remember that game?


Holy shit, yes. I found that game 10 times more interesting than spore has been. The initial fun has worn off for me and I haven't touched it in 3 days now. Have no desire to either.

[Neuqua]

Well if anyone out there wants to sell their copy cheap, let me know :)

[JPhillips]

I'll pay a dollar more than Neuqua!;)

[Groundhog]

In my limited playing time, I haven't noticed a single penis monster. Quite surprised.

While not a penis monster so much, I did have a mission last night to capture a beast from some planet, and whoever created it did include the detail of a penis in the groin region, so that's a start.

[WSUCougar]

Well if anyone out there wants to sell their copy cheap, let me know :)

+1 :popcorn:

[Godzilla Blitz]

It's draconian and unnecessary, but it's no more annoying than much else out there (StarForce aside).

Spore's 3-install limit is over the top for me. I would have bought it if not for that.

[Groundhog]

After playing the Space stage for a few hours last night, I'm unfortunately thinking that a 3-install limit is about 2 installs more than I'll ever need.

Honestly, nice idea, but there just flat out isn't very much to this game. I was playing some DOS space exploration game about 10 years ago that wasn't far behind the space segment of Spore.

The designer tools are fun, but the replay value of the game itself is looking more and more like zero.

[sabotai]

Does anyone have any comments on the DRM on the game? Amazon gamer reviews are getting slammed with 1-star reviews complaining about the DRM.

1,130 1-star reviews out of 1,214 total reviews, most of them about the DRM. I'm guessing the vast majority of people who buys games don't even really know what DRM is, especially the type of people who buy games like Spore (people who buy The Sims for example). Seems fishy to me that Amazon would get slammed with this many reviews about it.

[sabotai]

10 more 1-star reviews appeared after 10 minutes. It's either a trend that people are jumping on (unlikely at this point, IMO) or a group of people are spamming Amazon's reviews.

[Neon_Chaos]

I'm loving the planetary obliteration thingy. (destroys any and every colony on a target planet)

"WAR!? WAR!? YOU WANT TO FRAK WITH ME!?"

(presses button)

MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.

I just realized that that special skill (Graviton Wave), was a bonus that was given to my civ for playing the past four stages in a certain way.

I entered the Space stage as a Scientist, hence I got the Gravitation Wave device,

I am definitely loving this game. Everything you do during the first four stages affects how you play your Space game a lot... from the bonuses to the special skills.

Can't wait to fire up another game from the start.

[gi]

I just realized that that special skill (Graviton Wave), was a bonus that was given to my civ for playing the past four stages in a certain way.

I entered the Space stage as a Scientist, hence I got the Gravitation Wave device,

I am definitely loving this game. Everything you do during the first four stages affects how you play your Space game a lot... from the bonuses to the special skills.

Can't wait to fire up another game from the start.

I'm enjoying this game too. Might not last longer than a month, but it is still fun. A lot of games do the individual pieces better than Spore, but with the more options, and deeper play...etc more fun isn't guaranteed. Spore does have the fun factor for me. I've started over once already once I saw how early actions influence you in the space age.

[Bonegavel]

I'm in the tribe stage now and I will say that it is more interesting than I was expecting but still far less than I was hoping.

There is so much potential in here it is maddening. They seem to have dumbed it down to the LCD it hurts. But hell, I toyed with the sims2 for quite a bit and I'm going to let my 8 year old loose on this and see what she thinks.

It was fun seeing some of my creations from the creature creator in the game. Look for stuff from UncleMatch in your game. That's me.

[Bonegavel]

Dola, i haven't seen how to add anyone to the friends list, but feel free to add me

UncleMatch

[Neon_Chaos]

All the stages before the Space stage are very minimalist. The Space stage is where the real meat of the entire game is

I'm in the tribe stage now and I will say that it is more interesting than I was expecting but still far less than I was hoping.

There is so much potential in here it is maddening. They seem to have dumbed it down to the LCD it hurts. But hell, I toyed with the sims2 for quite a bit and I'm going to let my 8 year old loose on this and see what she thinks.

It was fun seeing some of my creations from the creature creator in the game. Look for stuff from UncleMatch in your game. That's me.

[Coffee Warlord]

You know, this game does give rise to comedy gold.

I'm in the creature strage, with my scaled blue flying pygmy demons of unholy doom. My girlfriend walks in while this horror is cutely dancing with another creature.

"Is he dancing?"

"Yep, see, they're cute!"

"...if you say so."

"Fine!" *switches to attack and he and his pack of hellspawn proceed to rip apart the offending beast*

And seconds later, they chase down a terrified little shivering baby creature and rip it to shreds, feasting on its carcass.

"Told you they were cute hon!"

[Mustang]

Dola, i haven't seen how to add anyone to the friends list, but feel free to add me

UncleMatch

I haven't looked in the program, but if you log onto spore.com and go to the sporepedia, you can search for a user and then look at their profile and click on the + sign to add them.


Probably a bassackward way, but it works.

[BrianD]

10 more 1-star reviews appeared after 10 minutes. It's either a trend that people are jumping on (unlikely at this point, IMO) or a group of people are spamming Amazon's reviews.

I was figuring that it was a coordinated Fark-style spam, but I was surprised that a campaign like that would get started without people here complaining as well.

[Anthony]

so the meat and potatoes of a game that allows you to start out at the cellular level is actually the last stage in space? that seems counter-intuitive to me. why allow one to start off as a single cell entity then?

[CleBrownsfan]

My Laptop:
Toshiba Satellite 205
1.67 GHZ
2.0 GB Ram
Dual Nvidia GeForce 8600M-GT graphics cards with 256MB each
2GB DDR2-667 RAM

SPORE'S PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

# FOR WINDOWS VISTA
# * 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
# * 768 MB RAM
# * A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0


Thanks in advance for any input...

[Deattribution]

My Laptop:
Toshiba Satellite 205
1.67 GHZ
2.0 GB Ram
Dual Nvidia GeForce 8600M-GT graphics cards with 256MB each
2GB DDR2-667 RAM

SPORE'S PC SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

# FOR WINDOWS VISTA
# * 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
# * 768 MB RAM
# * A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0


Thanks in advance for any input...

I'd think so. With the dual cards, and considerable amount of memory you should be okay. If you're running into problems with other games though, that could be a good gauge.

[Coffee Warlord]

Space will never be the same now that the pygmy demons have arrived.

[Groundhog]

Played around a bit with a peaceful herbivour from the cellular level last night. Was a little more fun than just killing everything but damn if this game still isn't insanely shallow.

[rjolley]

So, is this like Creatures 3 except you can create your own species?

[FBPro]

This is one I am quite tempted to grab, problem is that the only games that EVER hold my interest are sports games......prolly gonna pass.

[Izulde]

This is starting to sound more and more like a game I'd get enjoyment out of at, say, the $20 price point, but at the $50 price point, I'd think I wasted my money.

[spleen1015]

There is some spoilerish details about some of the stages, so if you want to avoid any info, don't read below.

When I first fired up the game, I started as a herbivore. Playing through the cell stage was pretty straight forward and simple. You just want to eat the green stuff, I guess it is some sort of plant. You spend most of your time staying away from the predators. If you want to get all of the cell parts in this stage, you need to let the predators kill things that drop the parts or find meteor pieces to break open yourself. The number of different cell pieces you can get leaves something to be desired. There are only 3 available in each group, eyes, mouth, propulsion, and weapons. Basically all you do in this stage is eat shit and collect body parts that make eating shit easier.

Once you finish the cell stage, you go to the creature stage. In this stage, you are pretty much building your creature. As a herbivore, It seems all there is to this stage is going to other creatures and singing and dancing for them so that they like you. The more you do this, the more your progress bar fills up. You also gain DNA points that allow you to buy better parts for your creature. I didn't get very far into this before starting up a carnivore.

The cell stage as a carnivore is a little more involved because you have to kill things to get your food, unless you want to wait around for something else to do the killing for you. You're a carnivore though, so killing shit is the fun part. Poison is a damn good weapon to get. Once you drain the HP of the other cells, just run into them and they die, turning into food.

Having played through the cell stage as both a herbivore and a carnivore, I see no reason to go back through it. Luckily, once you finish it successful the first time the game doesn't make you do it the next time. I think it is the same way with every stage. Once you reach a stage, you can start a new game in that stage.

The creature stage as a carnivore was basicaly just running around, killing things, collecting parts, making your creature better at killing shit, done. I did encounter a couple of creatures that were stroinger than mine, so I had to avoid them. The tool you use to modify your creature during this stage is pretty much the Creature Creator that was released a few months ago.

After the creature stage comes the Tribal stage. This stage is a little more complicated than the creature stage, but not by much. In this stage, you're controlling a tribe of creatures. You no longer can change your creature's body, but you can put clothes on it. This is kind cool. Each piece of clothing improves your creature in some way. Since I was a carnivore, I chose things that increased the health of my creatures and the attack power.

The more involved part of this stage is having your creatures kill primitive creatures to gather food and using that food to build some simple buildings. You start out with your main tent that serves as the main building of your tribe. Lose your main hut and your tribe is done.

From this tent, you can create other buildings. To gain the ability to create other buildings, you have to destroy the main hut of other tribes. There are 5 tribes you have to deal with. You can either kill all of them and destroy their main hut or talk them into being an ally. Again, carnivore equals kill everything.

As a carnivore, I was only worries about the buildings that made my creatures better at killing shit. It was all pretty simple really. I found a pretty easy strategy that made the stage very easy. I believe I started out able to have 6 creatures. Until I killed 2 of the tribes that's all I had.

Killing the first one was pretty simple. Just run over there with 3 creatures, kill them all, destroy the hut. There really wasn't much resistence. I was getting my crew ready to attack a 2nd tribe when one of them decided to attack me instead. I was able to defend my tribe and that left them with 3 of 6 creatures left. So, I just sent my 6 creatures over to their tribe and decimated them.

That was the strategy. I just wait for a tribe to attack me. After defending aginst the attack, I immediately sent my entire tribe to them and blew them away. It wasn't very hard. After killing 2 tribes, I was able to have 9 creatures. After the 4, I was able to have 12.

Once you destroy the 5th tribe, you advance to the Civilization stage. I didn't play this stage. Once you hit the advance button, you get to design your City Hall and the one ground unit you'll use during this stage. I got through the inital tutorial for this stage before quitting. This stage looks to be more involved than the last.

This is where I am now. I will play further into the game later in the week. Overall, what I have done has been fun, but I don't see how it can be fun more than 2 or 3 times. As has been said already, the 3 stages I have played are very shallow and offer very little replay value.

I knew before the game came out that the space stage was going to be where a large portion of the game will be. I guess I expect the rest of the game to have more to it as well. I'm not ready to say that I am pleased or disappointed. I'll see once I play the space stage.

I hope this post isn't too long. I wanted to give a more in depth view of how the game has been for me.

[Groundhog]

This is where I am now. I will play further into the game later in the week. Overall, what I have done has been fun, but I don't see how it can be fun more than 2 or 3 times. As has been said already, the 3 stages I have played are very shallow and offer very little replay value.

That's the thing. The pre-space stages are "fun" in a very basic way, but they are comparable to a "tutorial", and the big problem is that there is no actual LEVEL to go along with these tutorials. Your hand is held the entire time through these very basic stages (I think I "died", a term I use loosely given the lack of any negative effect on the game when you "die", a grand total of 4 or 5 times total - the majority during the first stage), and you are barely given enough time to make use of the advances you gain - be they technological or evolutional - before the stage is over and you are on to the next mini-game.

I've played around with the space stage for a number of hours now as well, and there is just so many things lacking from even this portion of the game that are available in other games of this type in terms of economics/trading as well as the combat (not to mention the poor quality of repetitive missions you are sent on) that I'm really struggling to see what took this game so long to create.

I suspect the ratio of time spent putting the various creature/vehicle designers and online portion of the game together, compared to the actual game itself, was heavily leaning towards the former.

The designer tools are great to be sure, as is the online portion of the game, but it's just a shame that there really isn't a "game" attached to them.

Maybe Spore 2 will get it right... (sounds familiar when dealing with an EA title...)

[spleen1015]

I've played around with the space stage for a number of hours now as well, and there is just so many things lacking from even this portion of the game that are available in other games of this type in terms of economics/trading as well as the combat (not to mention the poor quality of repetitive missions you are sent on) that I'm really struggling to see what took this game so long to create.

I was wondering the same thing last night. I bet there was a time during the project where a major focus shift happened and the gameplay was changed drastically.

[gi]

I started out as aggressive and found it pretty easy to get through all the stages up to Space. I restarted, trying to be middle of the road and found it a lot more challenging. Hoping to fire up the Spare stage tonight as a Trader. The peaceful route seems to offer a little more challenge. I'll probably replay all the beginning stages once more at the hardest difficulty and never play them again.

[Bonegavel]

I hit the space stage now (breezed through the civ stage in no time). I really hope they start pumping out expansions for this so there is more to do during the pre-space stages.

I can't imagine what took them so long putting this together since the complexity is almost non-existent.

There should be little mutagens in the later stages where you can slip back into the creature creator and add some things. The best part of the game by far (to me) is the creature designing.

I'm hoping Spore 2 takes this foundation and goes deeper, while still allowing this fast progress if wanted. If they just add more to do each stage, this would be a much better game. I like how you can hold off on the next stage.

FWIW, my 8 year-old loved the cell stage and has just crawled out of the water and she is loving topping each hill and her eyes pop open every time she discovers a new species. Fun to watch.

[Bonegavel]

I started out as aggressive and found it pretty easy to get through all the stages up to Space. I restarted, trying to be middle of the road and found it a lot more challenging. Hoping to fire up the Spare stage tonight as a Trader. The peaceful route seems to offer a little more challenge. I'll probably replay all the beginning stages once more at the hardest difficulty and never play them again.

I've now seen the cell stage twice through and both times were identical in regards to the creature. The body was the same and I think that's a mistake. Did I just get unlucky? I would gladly play through the beginning stages if I knew the initial seed would lead to drastically different outcomes. But not so much.

Any chance a patch will add a bunch a things?

[bob]

Any chance a patch will add a bunch a things?

Any chance a patch will? Probably not.

Any chance the 20 already planned expansion packs (costing $30 each) will? Yes

[gi]

I've now seen the cell stage twice through and both times were identical in regards to the creature. The body was the same and I think that's a mistake. Did I just get unlucky? I would gladly play through the beginning stages if I knew the initial seed would lead to drastically different outcomes. But not so much.

Any chance a patch will add a bunch a things?

Yeah, I think all their single cell start points are the same. It was a little more challenging being an omnivore.

[Anthony]

funny thing with expansion packs - you need to have a really fun game initially to start from that people would want to expand on. you can't just start with peanut butter and jelly and expect people to want to stick around till you expand it into filet mignon and lobster tails.

[Critch]

Here are the three problems I have been having with Spore:

1. Every time I start it prompts me to download the Flash add-in twice, even though it's already been installed,

2. I can't register the game, I get the message that the game cannot be registered with key used to install.

3. The game itself is shallow, overly easy at normal setting, and a bit dull. As has been mentioned before, the first 4 stages feel like a long tutorial and have little replayability.

I'm sure I can find solutions for the first two, but 3 does seem to be that a shallow game has been released in order to pull people in for the expansions that will flesh it out.

[sabotai]

Got the game today. Started up a few different types of organisms. I played it pretty much all day and had a lot of fun and got up to the Space stage.

Doubt I'll feel the urge to play again for awhile.

[JeeberD]

I bought the game today and can't even get the fucker installed. It keeps stalling out when trying to install the audio files. Seems to be an issue with more folks than just me...

[Tasan]

I had this in my hands today at Target, then put it back on the shelf after thinking of this thread. I think this will be a sub $30 purchase for me after the price starts falling, if then.

[sachmo71]

This game is great fun with kids. After they went to bed, I played for a while alone, and it began to get repetative on the creature phase. The novelty will wear off, but it's going to be a great activity to do with the kids.

[Coffee Warlord]

Space is fun...for a short while.

Then the neverending streak of 'aliens are attacking planet X' while you're in the middle of something, or 'save planet Y from eco disaster!' just gets very, very old. I wanted more of a sandbox to play in, but instead I find myself constantly distracted by annoying little things that demand my attention.

My people need to build another bloody few ships to protect my piddly little colonies or something. Lord.

[chesapeake]

Don't you hate that feeling when you were looking forward to new game for months and then find out that it is a dog?

*sigh*

[MJ4H]

Don't you hate that feeling when you were looking forward to new game for years and then find out that it is a dog?

*sigh*

better

[Anthony]

yeesh, how bad was this game before they decided they needed to delay its release? i shudder to think of how boring it was before they delayed putting it on shelves.

Maxis employee: "ummm, Mr Wright, there really isn't much to do in this game. We can't honestly expect people to buy such a bare bones games and think they'll want to spend more money on expansions."

Will Wright: "you're right, waiting even longer to release this will allow us to build up even more hype."

[sachmo71]

Buddies (please make a note if you have inappropriate content)

Bonegavel - unclematch
Sachmo71 - mrsachmo
RendeR - RendeR
Mustang - kerg01
Bearcat729 - bearcat
JeeberD - JeeberD
spleen1015 - mayser
CoffeeWarlord - coffeew
Thomkal - Thomkal
Yellow5 - Yellow5
Gstelmack - gstelmack
Galaril - galaril
Macroguru - Macroguru
CleBrownsfan - Broth32

[Bad-example]

Don't you hate that feeling when you were looking forward to new game for months and then find out that it is a dog?

*sigh*

This game had Black and White-sized disappointment written all over it. I scratch my head over people that are willing to preorder computer games based on hype. I will check it out at some point, when a bargain loss leader shows up in the ads.

[RendeR]

This game had Black and White-sized disappointment written all over it. I scratch my head over people that are willing to preorder computer games based on hype. I will check it out at some point, when a bargain loss leader shows up in the ads.


Good luck with that as its probably not going to happen. The game is great, yes there are some slow points, but there are in any video game. it has very addicting areas as well and there are enough differences in levels and styles of play to make the replay value just fine.

I got mine yesterday (preorders got shipped on monday, fucking losers, we should have had them the friday before release.) And I've already played one game through to the space stage and am taking my time really digging into that, as the universe is a big place.

The first game I started I had a bitch of a time in the tribal level and its proving to be quite entertaining to figure out the best way to finish that one off.


Overall its a good game. I'm not placing it up near starcraft levels (the ultimate game in my own experience) but its solid, entertaining and mildly addictive in many areas.

One point I'm interested in checking out is the ability to start in any section of the game. I noticed when I started my 2nd game that I could have started anywhere up to civilisation level instead of at the beginning.

For those that wondered about always starting as the same shape/form o critter, you can change that in the editor, call your mate, then in the editor click on the "spine" of your single celled organizm and shrink or stretch the individual pieces untit its the size and shape you want. Not sure of anyone else has posted that.

Anyway, back to "squishy" and my space faring empire!

[RendeR]

Buddies (please post if you have inappropriate content)

Bonegavel - unclematch
Sachmo71 - mrsachmo


RendeR == RendeR

I'll add you guys too!

[Galaril]

This game is great fun with kids. After they went to bed, I played for a while alone, and it began to get repetative on the creature phase. The novelty will wear off, but it's going to be a great activity to do with the kids.

Yeah, I ordered a copy for my 5 year old daughter and I to play together through the cold winter here in Colorado. I figure if nothing else it will be fun to play for her and me or her mom to play together with. And who knows maybe some of the expansions over the next few years will expand the game more. I will add you guys as buddies and you can do the same once we get the game since like you need to have kid safe content no vagina monsters needed :)

[Bonegavel]

This game had Black and White-sized disappointment written all over it. I scratch my head over people that are willing to preorder computer games based on hype. I will check it out at some point, when a bargain loss leader shows up in the ads.

I don't think this is the epic scale disappointment that B&W was (maybe that release has really numbed me to all games), but this sure has more potential than B&W.

As was mentioned, I think this sort of game needs to be encouraged with my dollars but they really have to not dumb it down so that an amoeba can play it.

[Bonegavel]

RendeR == RendeR

I'll add you guys too!

I added sachmo, but I can't find you RendeR.

[Alan T]

I got this game for my wife and kids to play some. I've played it a bit and it seems fun. My biggest problem is that evidentally now I can't play fast moving games like i used to when I was younger. I remember I used to be able to play Dune2, Warcraft, etc type games.. Now when I play this I literally can only play 10 minutes or so before I need a break.

[gi]

I got this game for my wife and kids to play some. I've played it a bit and it seems fun. My biggest problem is that evidentally now I can't play fast moving games like i used to when I was younger. I remember I used to be able to play Dune2, Warcraft, etc type games.. Now when I play this I literally can only play 10 minutes or so before I need a break.

lol, as I've gotten into my mid-30's I've found that I can really only play turn based games or those RTS's that move real slow. Getting old sucks:) Though I'd love to try Dune 2 again.....

[Alan T]

lol, as I've gotten into my mid-30's I've found that I can really only play turn based games or those RTS's that move real slow. Getting old sucks:) Though I'd love to try Dune 2 again.....


That is really what I spend most of my time playing these days. Eu3, Civ4 and then various sport sims for my sim leagues I am in. I play a game like Spore and told my wife, "There seems to be too much mouse clicking for me.." Only later I realized I used to do that much ore more in any of the Empire Earth, Age of Empires, etc type of games.

[gi]

That is really what I spend most of my time playing these days. Eu3, Civ4 and then various sport sims for my sim leagues I am in. I play a game like Spore and told my wife, "There seems to be too much mouse clicking for me.." Only later I realized I used to do that much ore more in any of the Empire Earth, Age of Empires, etc type of games.

You speak the truth

[Galaril]

lol, as I've gotten into my mid-30's I've found that I can really only play turn based games or those RTS's that move real slow. Getting old sucks:) Though I'd love to try Dune 2 again.....

Have you found any that have come out that fit this "play slow"? I too prefer RTS that I can turtle in but haven't found any like some of the older ones -Age of Empires 2, Age of Mythology etc.

[gi]

Sins of a Solar Empire and Company of Heroes moved slow most of the time for me. Sometimes I found myself 'cracking' the wrist or taking a break after extended play. I've come to the realization that I just shouldn't purchase these games anymore. There seems to be a lot of mouse clicks in the Space stage. I could only play for an hour or so before stopping. I'm paying the price since, in my youth, I'd play for 8 hours or more of Dune II, C&C, Starcraft, etc.

[sachmo71]

RendeR == RendeR

I'll add you guys too!

added. thanks.

[Mustang]

kerg01 if you guys want to add me.

[Bearcat729]

Bearcat if you want to add me

[JeeberD]

Got the game up and running, finally.

JeeberD is my name on there as well, of course.

[Bonegavel]

List thus far

Bearcat
JeeberD
RendeR
Kerg01
mrsachmo
UncleMatch

[spleen1015]

I am mayser

[Coffee Warlord]

CoffeeW

[Northwood_DK]

I’m not sure if this has been posted already.

Anti Spore (http://antispore.com/)

The religious anti-Spore Blogg that turned out to be a joke.

But the Bible teaches us that God was not done with man. For we were His creation and He then spoke to Noah in Genesis 8:21-27 after the flood.
“21. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never gonna give you up. 22. “Never gonna let you down.” 23.”Never gonna run around and desert you.” 24. “Never gonna make you cry.” 25. “Never gonna say goodbye.” 26. “Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.” 27.”Never truly believe anything you read on the Internet. There will always be cases of Poe’s Law.”

[sachmo71]

My spores:

<embed width="384" height="206" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" src="http://www.spore.com/flash/csa_widget.swf?userid=2267701320&username=mrsachmo&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spore.com%2Fview%2Fuser-thumbnail" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" scale="showall" name="latest-creatures" /></embed>

[spleen1015]

Cool! Here's mine...

<embed width="384" height="206" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" src="http://www.spore.com/flash/csa_widget.swf?userid=2263167398&username=mayser&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spore.com%2Fview%2Fuser-thumbnail" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" scale="showall" name="latest-creatures" /></embed>

[MikeVic]

What the hell. Do you have creatures or houses and cars?

[spleen1015]

What the hell. Do you have creatures or houses and cars?

Once you get to the Civilization Stage, you create buildings and vehicles.

[Bonegavel]

List thus far

Bearcat
JeeberD
RendeR
Kerg01
mrsachmo
UncleMatch

Add

Mayser

[RendeR]

Ok, started a game today on the hard level, tried to be an omnivore, took for fucking ever to get through the single cell stage, I mean I was being attacked constantly, its eat and run man, I was getting rive by spoonings from creatures that popped out of nowhere just as I swim by. it was sick.

Finally I managed (after 12 billion deaths) to get to critter stage and now I can't manage to migrate!! There are a dozen un-impressible carnavors betwen me and the new nest!! GAHHH!


Anyway, loving this game =)

[RendeR]

anyone else having an impossible time logging in right now?

[sachmo71]

interesting...went to remove my spore cd (game no longer running) and got a BSOD. Yikes.

[RendeR]

I just realized I don't need the cd to play, hallelujah.

[Thomkal]

I've joined as Thomkal. Just got my first creature out of the soup so haven't done much with the game yet.

[RendeR]

I just spent the first 3 hours of my work shift creating a herbivore that was really kicking ass on the normal level. Got out of the soup, and was impressing every damned creature I met, seriously like every one, took some doing but it was going great.....

Then the game crashed.

And I hadn't SAVED IT.....*CRIES*

[mauchow]

Your creature should be saved... just not the progress.

[Yellow5]

BUddy name is.. Yellow5. Love some of the work you guys have done, makes my stuff look like a little kid made them. :)

[sachmo71]

My conclusion fits with what others have said...if you like the Sims, you will probably enjoy this game. The focus of the game is creating things, with the gameplay seeming almost unfinished.

I enjoyed the cellular stage a lot, but would have liked a bit more variety. I'm also not sure why these cell creatures don't get uploaded to the server. I enjoy playing against the non-maxis creations, but i don't see that as an option during this stage.

Creature stage took me the longest time until I got it down. It's becomes a bit tedious after a while, and I was ready to move on quickly. I think more quests in this stage would help break the monotony.

Tribe stage was fun for me, but it was here that I realized how bad the manual sucked. I'm glad they have everything online and can update documentation quickly, but I like to read and play at the same time, and you can't do that with the in-game guide up. It wasn't very challenging playing on easy, though, and I did like the length. I was disappointed at the options avaliable on this level, but since it's so short, I guess they aren't needed. After creature stage, this stage would be the next for Maxis to look at, IMO.

I enjoyed the civilization stage a lot. I enjoyed the options open to the play styles, although economic seemed like the easiest path to victory. THe problem i ran into was the customization slowed the flow down a bit. I found myself using some of the default buildings just so I could get things moving. I might mess around with it a bit more in future games, but I was itching to make it into space! I also lost track of my units a bit, but I'm not very good at RTS. Maybe there is a pause feature I'm overlooking here? Also, I didn't see anything about the religious aspect, so I'm not sure how to access that part of the stage.

And finally; space. I've only scratched the surface with this stage, but I really enjoy it. I think it might take a while to get tired of this stage, as I'm one of those who enjoyed flying and exploring outside of the mission path, just looking around. I like the fact that you are free to do whatever you want, but the tool unlocking will always be there to get you back on track. It got me with the "one more turn" hook last night, and I'm itching to get back home and play some more. Terraforming is a great feature, as well as the custom sculpting objets. I am enjoying the freedom of this stage, as well as the vastness. When I realized you could go anywhere you wished, my excitement level for the game went up dramatically.

The game itself doesn't seem like it will be much of a challenge, but I'm really ok with that. I'm really having fun playing this with the kids, teaching them a bit about science and having a blast watching their creativity flow. However, I'm also having fun playing by myself, checking out the scenery and messing around. I really like seeing the buddy content show up in the game; i think it will really help the community solidify, and is a great system for getting content out. I have to wonder if the new Sims will have a similar feature, although that might affect sales of the massive expansions.

I feel like I've gotten my money's worth with this game, but I can see how it would be a disappointment to some. It really feels unfinished in the creature stage, and that's the first real stage that you hit. It's nice that the stages seem to pick up as the game goes on, but if you lose your audience early on, who is going to be there to see it?

[gstelmack]

Bought 2 copies this weekend (me + wife + 5 year-old daughter + 4 computers at home = 2 copies needed). Wife and I both having fun, although we're both still in the Creature phase (although we're working on the last brain expansion). I definitely see things I'd do differently next time through, so I don't think replayability (at least once more) will be an issue.

My daughter is not into the main game, as she doesn't like creatures attacking her. Although, and I'm sure my "no violence on TV" friends here will love this, while watching my wife she has finally realised that some creatures are really mean and just begging to be eaten, so we'll see if that changes. She LOVES the creator though, and is creating some awesome buildings and cars and ships. Looking forward to those populating my world.

[RendeR]

I worked through a 4th planet last night, went as anti-death as I could in each phase. Couldn't help but destroy 3 of the 5 other tribes though and I used religious eforts to convert every single city on the civ phase.

I am getting ready to start the space age and I'm doing it as a Shaman. The special ability this gives you?

One step return flights to your home planet, no matter how FAR you are away. Thats a HUGE bonus in the space race.

[RendeR]

I don't see the issue with replayability at all. Every single game can turn into a different result. everything leading up to space is really only there to develope WHO you are in the space segment.

I see where people find the critter stage a little tedious, even frustrating on the hard level (grumbles) but there are enough options in each stage that you can turn out as any of 10 different styles of race once you hit the space age.

I'm trying to see if I can get all 10, somehow I don't think that is going to be easy.

[gstelmack]

Did forget to mention: I'm gstelmack in Spore. I'll be adding some of you to the buddy list soon. I have kids, so my content should be safe.

[Bonegavel]

why is it so hard to find users on the spore.com page? Type in Thomkal and you get everything but Thomkal. I don't get it.

[Bonegavel]

Bearcat
JeeberD
RendeR
Kerg01
mrsachmo
UncleMatch
Mayser
CoffeeW
Thomkal
gstelmack

[Bonegavel]

why is it so hard to find users on the spore.com page? Type in Thomkal and you get everything but Thomkal. I don't get it.

Well, all I'm doing now is typing in directly

hxxp://www.spore.com/view/profile/username

seems to work

[RendeR]

I had trouble finding meyser, but everyone else came right up.

[Bonegavel]

I knew the scroll wheel made pieces bigger/smaller (fat/skinny) but it didn't dawn on my until yesterday that you could do it to the body section. D'oh! I was messing around with the spine but I never made the body section bigger or smaller with the scroll wheel until yesterday. I was always using what shape was resulting from my spine adjustments.

[Mustang]

On Xspore (and other sites) there are steps to mod your files in order to make attacks and eco disasters occur less frequently so you can actually explore the galaxy.

They are indepth manual steps right now, but hopefully someone will create something more automated if you aren't comfortable changing files.

[RendeR]

There are things/steps you can take in the game to make them occur less frequently as well, everything that happens in the space stage is based on what you do previously.

I'm tryin to figure out how I could possibly have changed the ways I've done these first games to get those other results, very intriguing.

The depth of this game is far more deceptive than many believe.

[RendeR]

I just domesticated 3 animals, my next task is to kill the Epic Creature in tribal stage.

[RendeR]

Ok that went rather easily, though it cost me 6 tribesman. Took down the 1000 hp epic beasty, gave us TONS of food. throwing spears FTW!

[RendeR]

back in a bit, need food!

[Galaril]

Bearcat
JeeberD
RendeR
Kerg01
mrsachmo
UncleMatch
Mayser
CoffeeW
Thomkal
gstelmack

You add me to the list and I also got kids so my content is safe as well. Our user name is Galaril

[illinifan999]

So I know there are 2 versions of the creature creator, the free one and the one that isn't free that has more parts. Do you still need to buy that if you buy the game? Or does it come with it?

[Shkspr]

Comes with it. The creature creator is, how you say? Oh, yes. Extinct.

[spleen1015]

When I installed Spore, it uninstalled the Creature Creator.

[illinifan999]

Ok thanks guys!

[MacroGuru]

My name is macroguru for this.

[gstelmack]

So I hit tribal stage last night. Is it normal that when I click a creature and tell him to do something, he gets a question mark over his head and then sits there for a minute or more before going off to do whatever I told him to do?

I swear my creatures would go from full to starving by the time they got over to the animal to hunt it...

[Neon_Chaos]

So I hit tribal stage last night. Is it normal that when I click a creature and tell him to do something, he gets a question mark over his head and then sits there for a minute or more before going off to do whatever I told him to do?

I swear my creatures would go from full to starving by the time they got over to the animal to hunt it...

Are you herbivore or carnivore?

[gstelmack]

Are you herbivore or carnivore?

Carnivore into Predator, despite my best Omnivorous efforts...

[RendeR]

Anyone else have a really hard time finding the probiscus (omnivorous mouth piece) in the tidal pool stage? I've only found it 2x out of 4 tries.

[RendeR]

DOLA to add, having the probiscus when you move to the critter stage makes the whole food issue FAR easier, its also easier in tribal stage as it allows you to hunt or gather and collect mad amounts of food.

[CleBrownsfan]

After a couple weeks after it's release are you guys still liking Spore? I'm still on the fence about getting this one. I've been told if you like Sims - which I have played and liked - then I should like Spore. But I just don't want to get another game that has no real "lasting appeal"...

[sachmo71]

After a couple weeks after it's release are you guys still liking Spore? I'm still on the fence about getting this one. I've been told if you like Sims - which I have played and liked - then I should like Spore. But I just don't want to get another game that has no real "lasting appeal"...

Actually, I would break it down like this:

if you have kids, buy it now. the fun you can have just making things is well worth it, and then you can bring your creations to life in the game.

if you are just going to play it for yourself, i would wait for the first patch. my favorite stage, space, finally revealed it's annoying side...constantly being called across the galaxy to save my colonies. it's really interrupting to the flow of the game. That means that each level has a pretty big annoyance, and would probably cause many adult gamers to just move on.

[sachmo71]

Buddies (please make a note if you have inappropriate content)

Bonegavel - unclematch
Sachmo71 - mrsachmo
RendeR - RendeR
Mustang - kerg01
Bearcat729 - bearcat
JeeberD - JeeberD
spleen1015 - mayser
CoffeeWarlord - coffeew
Thomkal - Thomkal
Yellow5 - Yellow5
Gstelmack - gstelmack
Galaril - galaril
Macroguru - Macroguru

[Mustang]

constantly being called across the galaxy to save my colonies. it's really interrupting to the flow of the game. That means that each level has a pretty big annoyance, and would probably cause many adult gamers to just move on.

I had made a note up above that there are mods that you can do to reduce this.

[spleen1015]

Buddies (please make a note if you have inappropriate content)

Bonegavel - unclematch
Sachmo71 - mrsachmo
RendeR - RendeR
Mustang - kerg01
Bearcat729 - bearcat
JeeberD - JeeberD
spleen1015 - mayser
CoffeeWarlord - coffeew
Thomkal - Thomkal
Yellow5 - Yellow5
Gstelmack - gstelmack
Galaril - galaril
Macroguru - Macroguru

You won't see anything inappropriate from me. I like my creatures to be simple, not a lot of crap all over them. I prefer bipeds for some reason was well.

[sachmo71]

I had made a note up above that there are mods that you can do to reduce this.

I saw that, but don't want to abandon my current game. Maybe on the next go-round.

[darkenigma510]

any good Spore mod sites out there?

[RendeR]

if you are just going to play it for yourself, i would wait for the first patch. my favorite stage, space, finally revealed it's annoying side...constantly being called across the galaxy to save my colonies. it's really interrupting to the flow of the game. That means that each level has a pretty big annoyance, and would probably cause many adult gamers to just move on.


I've played through to the space staqge (and into it a bit) 4x now and I have yet to see anything annoying on any level? What have people been reporting?

I've been called to save a colony of an ALIEN race one time, never my own. Maybe I've just been really lucky thus far?

[gstelmack]

There were some hints above that actions earlier can affect this. Perhaps violent carnivores get attacked a lot by alien races, while peaceful herbivores do not?

[sachmo71]

Not sure. My race is middle of the road, so i can't be sure. Nor can I be sure that the notices are coming more frequently as the game goes on, but I can attest to the fact that there is a lot more to do, and less time to screw around. Then, suddenly, you are bombarded with messages from all over. Some races giving you tribute, some races demanding money, and those take time to deal with. And then every 480 seconds the game checks for aliens\pirates\enviornmental disasters occuring on one of your colonies. Or maybe it checks for EACH colony, so it seems to happen more frequently.

Either way, I can't really play the game the way I want. When I have to go to each colony to get spice, and then trade it to get cash... This is why I would suggest an adult gamer wait for a patch. Or buy the game, suffer through creature, and hack your .exe before you start!

[Bonegavel]

I've played through to the space staqge (and into it a bit) 4x now and I have yet to see anything annoying on any level? What have people been reporting?

I've been called to save a colony of an ALIEN race one time, never my own. Maybe I've just been really lucky thus far?

I'm a full fledged carnie and I came across 1 race that eventually allowed me to ally with them but I also came across a race that attacks my colonies every other turn. Very annoying. They won't leave me alone and they always have like 8 or so ships that I have to kill. They are relentless.

[sachmo71]

I'm a full fledged carnie and I came across 1 race that eventually allowed me to ally with them but I also came across a race that attacks my colonies every other turn. Very annoying. They won't leave me alone and they always have like 8 or so ships that I have to kill. They are relentless.

Do you have any allied ships with you? they sure make things easier.
A lock-on feature would be GREAT in this game.

[Critch]

I bought the game the day it was released and I still havent managed to register it so that I can share and receive other user's stuff.

I've got a couple of support questions in there, both that are guaranteed to be answered within 24 hours and both have no response at all after 5 or 6 days. Oh well, at least the game isnt appealing to me so I don't feel I'm missing anything.

[Thomkal]

Buddies (please make a note if you have inappropriate content)

Bonegavel - unclematch
Sachmo71 - mrsachmo
RendeR - RendeR
Mustang - kerg01
Bearcat729 - bearcat
JeeberD - JeeberD
spleen1015 - mayser
CoffeeWarlord - coffeew
Thomkal - Thomkal
Yellow5 - Yellow5
Gstelmack - gstelmack
Galaril - galaril
Macroguru - Macroguru

Had problems finding several of these because it requires an exact match. So several of them need to be capitalized before you can find them, and one needs the capitalization taken off.

UncleMatch
Kerg01
Bearcat
CoffeeW
macroguru

I think those are the ones I couldn't find originally. As you can see from my page, I'm still hanging out in the creature part of the game. Haven't played much, and still getting used to the creature creator.

[MacroGuru]

Had problems finding several of these because it requires an exact match. So several of them need to be capitalized before you can find them, and one needs the capitalization taken off.

UncleMatch
Kerg01
Bearcat
CoffeeW
macroguru

I think those are the ones I couldn't find originally. As you can see from my page, I'm still hanging out in the creature part of the game. Haven't played much, and still getting used to the creature creator.

I thought I hooked up my account, it is now correct and should be able to add me.

[Bonegavel]

Had problems finding several of these because it requires an exact match. So several of them need to be capitalized before you can find them, and one needs the capitalization taken off.

UncleMatch
Kerg01
Bearcat
CoffeeW
macroguru

I think those are the ones I couldn't find originally. As you can see from my page, I'm still hanging out in the creature part of the game. Haven't played much, and still getting used to the creature creator.

ah, good catch! I must have must have gotten lucky with my caps when I added.

[CleBrownsfan]

Not sure if this has been posted but here is a pretty funny review of spore:

hxxp://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/218-Spore

[RendeR]

It was kinda funny. I think spore may well out-do the sims over time, Spore seems to have been laid out perfectly for expansion after expansion, added depth in each level, adding new levels, it will go on and on and on.

10 years from now the game may well be what we all had hoped it would be right from the beginning, but they want to be able to squeeze every penny from this cash cow so we'l ave to wait for it to happen over time.

[CleBrownsfan]

So I broke down and purchased Spore. I installed it but I don't see any shortcuts to start the game... I'm having a rough time lately with computer games so this doesn't shock me that I can't find a damn shortcut :banghead:

[Alan T]

So I broke down and purchased Spore. I installed it but I don't see any shortcuts to start the game... I'm having a rough time lately with computer games so this doesn't shock me that I can't find a damn shortcut :banghead:

This happened when I installed it for my wife on her vista system too. You have to manually create the shortcut yourself. No problem on XP from what I saw.

[Bonegavel]

It was kinda funny. I think spore may well out-do the sims over time, Spore seems to have been laid out perfectly for expansion after expansion, added depth in each level, adding new levels, it will go on and on and on.

10 years from now the game may well be what we all had hoped it would be right from the beginning, but they want to be able to squeeze every penny from this cash cow so we'l ave to wait for it to happen over time.

I will happily pay for this. I don't mind paying folks to make games I want even if I have to take baby steps. Nobody else is even dipping their little toes in waters such as these.

[Thomkal]

There is a patch out now for Spore. You can download it in game if you load the EA Download Manager first. I didn't download the Download Manager because you supposedly can download the patch without it. I would advise not downloading it quite yet though as some people are reporting problems with it. Like slow loading of certain graphics after not having a problem with them before the patch.

[Thomkal]

Anyone else have a really hard time finding the probiscus (omnivorous mouth piece) in the tidal pool stage? I've only found it 2x out of 4 tries.

I've never found it, have a creature in the tide pool now ready to evolve to land, but trying to find that piece so I can try an omnivore. I'm finding it hard just finding the comet pieces at all.

[sachmo71]

Urk...downloading patch now.

[Groundhog]

I haven't played this since 3 days after I bought it. :(

And I noticed the price had been slashed by $20 since I bought it, too. :(

[CleBrownsfan]

I had a fun time playing Spore last night... I'm nearly done with the creature stage. If you all want to add me to your buddy list it's under Broth32

RendeR - I've killed off a couple of your user made critters last night ;)

Have you guys d/l any mods yet?

[Shepp]

Where did you see it $20.00 off? I've been tempted to get it but I just can't justify spending $50.00 on it.

[CleBrownsfan]

There is a patch out now for Spore. You can download it in game if you load the EA Download Manager first. I didn't download the Download Manager because you supposedly can download the patch without it. I would advise not downloading it quite yet though as some people are reporting problems with it. Like slow loading of certain graphics after not having a problem with them before the patch.

Patch Features:

Features
New Cheat: "evoadvantage". Enter this cheat when are starting a new Creature game to choose any creature from the Sporepedia. Start a new game with one of your more evolved creatures!

Display part statistics when you are in Build mode. Rollover any part and hold down the 'i' key.

New Cheat: "blocksmode". Turns creatures into their blocky representations.

More style filters. Open the cheat window and type: "stylefilter -microscope" or "stylefilter -norainbows" or "stylefilter -nextgen" to see the new styles

Added 70 new planet scripts with a low terraform score, especially of the "hot and high atmosphere" type

Graphics/Aesthetics

Animation improvements

Improved the planets fogging, blooming and lighting

Fixed animation issues with tool handling, hand walking and some of the more oddly shaped creatures

Tuning

Creature phase: Improved the pacing towards the end of the game, and increased the challenge in Normal and Hard modes.

Tribe phase: Increased the challenge in Normal and Hard difficulty modes.

Civilization phase: Increased the challenge in Normal and Hard difficulty modes.

Space phase: Made Empires in Easy and Normal modes demand reasonable amounts of money in exchange for peace and adjust the level of punishment if the player doesn't pay

Space phase: Made disasters less likely to occur in Easy and Normal modes and increased the time between each attack from the enemy empire when the player is at war

Miscellaneous

Creature phase: Improved the way posse members behave during threatening situations and fights.

Space phase: Made finding your home world and colonies easier in the Galactic view.

Tribe phase: Made it so that tribe members can travel on steep hills if they need to do so now, but their speed will be reduced a lot.

Fixed an issue with attacks not working on some bigger animals and larger animals not dying correctly

Fixed collect mission not completing correctly when all parts have been collected

Fixed problems with the "Rolling Thunder" and "Déjà Vu" achievements not being awarded as they should

Fixed floating parts not being deducted from the budget when loaded into creator

Fixed an issue with the rotation rings not resizing correctly when a part was resized and improved their look

Fixed an issue where the terraforming score of planet could differ when revisiting a solar system

Fixed the keyboard controls for zoom & pitch in the Colony Planner not working properly

Fixed a crash that could occur when watching an epic creature attack a city

Fixed some issues where the game would freeze when using the Creature

Tweaker tool or when capturing a planet in solar view

Fixed an issue where not all tribe members would obey the raid order when a large group was ordered to raid

Fixed an issue where banning a creation from one of your other saved games would black out the main menu

[gstelmack]

This happened when I installed it for my wife on her vista system too. You have to manually create the shortcut yourself. No problem on XP from what I saw.

On my wife's system, the shortcut was in the "Games" browser, like nearly every other game that understands Vista. Was it not there for you?

[Alan T]

On my wife's system, the shortcut was in the "Games" browser, like nearly every other game that understands Vista. Was it not there for you?

Oh maybe it was then. I'm not familiar at all with Vista, don't use it myself on anything. Does the one in the game folder automatically run as administrator? I noticed on the one I created for her, it won't work right unless she chooses to do that.

[CleBrownsfan]

On my wife's system, the shortcut was in the "Games" browser, like nearly every other game that understands Vista. Was it not there for you?

Crud - never even thought to look there... what was odd was I did a search for Spore on my C: and nothing came up... oh well, it's working now so that's all I care about. I was seeing people were having problems with the game freezing after the patch but I didn't have any...

[gstelmack]

The Game Explorer is one of Vista's new big features, so yes almost anything made in the past year or so is going to install its shortcuts there.

[sachmo71]

Where was it $20 off? I have people thinking about getting it, and $20 off would be nice for them.

I played space for about half and hour last night with the patch. Many less annoyances from pirates and such, which was nice. I was able to actually administer some of my colonies. :)

[sachmo71]

Buddies (please make a note if you have inappropriate content)

Bonegavel - unclematch
Sachmo71 - mrsachmo
RendeR - RendeR
Mustang - kerg01
Bearcat729 - bearcat
JeeberD - JeeberD
spleen1015 - mayser
CoffeeWarlord - coffeew
Thomkal - Thomkal
Yellow5 - Yellow5
Gstelmack - gstelmack
Galaril - galaril
Macroguru - Macroguru
CleBrownsfan - Broth32
Swaggs - Swaggs
mauboy1 - mmau1

[MacroGuru]

The Game Explorer is one of Vista's new big features, so yes almost anything made in the past year or so is going to install its shortcuts there.

Interesting, it's not in the games shortcut in my program files but in the explorer, I just created my own shortcut because I couldn't find it. Thanks for the heads up.

[gstelmack]

Interesting, it's not in the games shortcut in my program files but in the explorer, I just created my own shortcut because I couldn't find it. Thanks for the heads up.

It wouldn't be in Program Files. Do Start -> Games.

[RendeR]

I'm thrilled that there is a patch for some stuff out already, it bodes well for their response time to real issues =)

I love this game.

[Godzilla Blitz]

And I noticed the price had been slashed by $20 since I bought it, too. :(

It's $30 now? Pray tell, where?

EDIT: Sorry, this question's been asked; didn't need to be asked again. (I didn't see the last page.)

Be nice to see where, though. I can't find it anywhere for $30. Maybe someone's gotten confused with the DS version?

[Groundhog]

Sorry guys, I'm in Australia where we get shafted on videogame prices. I bought the game for $110, and it's now available for $90, which is stil a damn sight more than $50US. :(

[Thomkal]

yikes Groundhog, move out of Australia :)

[Swaggs]

add Swaggs to your buddy list.

I haven't played much yet, but thought I'd give it a try.

[mauchow]

mmau1 is my user name.. although I'm not so sure any of you would want my creatures or buildings as they all suck. :)

[RendeR]

mmau1 is my user name.. although I'm not so sure any of you would want my creatures or buildings as they all suck. :)



I don't think any of them can suck, they might need tweaking or additional touches, but nothing sucks, everything is just unique =)

[sachmo71]

Buddies (please make a note if you have inappropriate content)

Bonegavel - unclematch
Sachmo71 - mrsachmo
RendeR - RendeR
Mustang - kerg01
Bearcat729 - bearcat
JeeberD - JeeberD
spleen1015 - mayser
CoffeeWarlord - coffeew
Thomkal - Thomkal
Yellow5 - Yellow5
Gstelmack - gstelmack
Galaril - galaril
Macroguru - Macroguru
CleBrownsfan - Broth32
Swaggs - Swaggs
mauboy1 - mmau1

[RendeR]

I need to add a ew more of you, I'm tiring of slaughtering gstelmack, Jeeber, Sachmo, and Bonegavel's critters ;) Spleen's one monster actually gave me fits in the tribal stage. Damn things just wouldn't....die ;)

[sachmo71]

LOL...I never thought about making a creature to make the game harder. Even my military aircraft are weak, but i enjoy the way they look!

[mauchow]

They could have at least called the game Space Rangers 1.5+ or something. The + being that you get to create your little character from the beginning...

Space Rangers 2 much more with the game than Spore did. Spore mimicked a lot of what SR2 did but made it a lot more ... repetitive. Eco-disasters get annoying real fast... but at least I finally figured out what to do every time that happens. I let the planet go to hell until it's time to 'refresh' with animals again. *shrug*

Overall, I've enjoyed the game very much and I still have not 'beat' the game. I have re-started the game multiple times at multiple stages. The most recent replay I start from cell organism and played all the way through where I'm at now.. nearly finished with Space.. or at least the bar is almost full. I suppose I should be looking for the Gork by now.

Anyhow... off to play some more.

[RendeR]

Well I must say that I got a little worried when so many people started dissing the game. I've been playing the game almost constantly. I'm finding the tiny nuances of a little change here and there shaping the entire outcome quite intriguing.

Anyone else noticed that every time you get a planet to the space stage a new "new game" planet opens up? I've got like 12 planets available every time i start the game now when there were only 7 the first time I started things.

[sachmo71]

Well I must say that I got a little worried when so many people started dissing the game. I've been playing the game almost constantly. I'm finding the tiny nuances of a little change here and there shaping the entire outcome quite intriguing.

Anyone else noticed that every time you get a planet to the space stage a new "new game" planet opens up? I've got like 12 planets available every time i start the game now when there were only 7 the first time I started things.

Didn't notice that, either.
I'm also playing the game constantly, but I can definitely see the warts that turn people off.

[Critch]

Finally got a reply from support about why I can't register the game, apparently my code has already been used by somebody else. Since I bought the game sealed from an EB Gamestop on the day it was released, they're either reusing reg codes, or some warez kiddie stumbled on my code with a keygen. From what I've been reading, this is a pretty common problem, 500k warez copies and keygens.

EA's support is basically "not our problem, go away". Friggin annoying.

[Shepp]

Just saw this article over at Gamespot:

hxxp://www.gamespot.com/news/6198136.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;4

Its a shame that the regular consumer is the real loser. No matter what kind of copy protection is placed on a piece of software, some hacker somewhere is going to crack it.

[sachmo71]

Finally got a reply from support about why I can't register the game, apparently my code has already been used by somebody else. Since I bought the game sealed from an EB Gamestop on the day it was released, they're either reusing reg codes, or some warez kiddie stumbled on my code with a keygen. From what I've been reading, this is a pretty common problem, 500k warez copies and keygens.

EA's support is basically "not our problem, go away". Friggin annoying.

so too bad for your $50?

[Critch]

so too bad for your $50?

I have to take up my complaint with the retailer now, so I've got a support log thing open with Gamestop now.

[Surtt]

Finally got a reply from support about why I can't register the game, apparently my code has already been used by somebody else. Since I bought the game sealed from an EB Gamestop on the day it was released, they're either reusing reg codes, or some warez kiddie stumbled on my code with a keygen. From what I've been reading, this is a pretty common problem, 500k warez copies and keygens.

EA's support is basically "not our problem, go away". Friggin annoying.


Maybe you need to download the keygen...
< /sarcasm>

[dbd1963]

I have to take up my complaint with the retailer now, so I've got a support log thing open with Gamestop now.

They are asking either you or the retailer to pay for the stolen game. Seems kind of shitty and I feel your pain. I hate this stuff. It makes me think about just not buying any more games.

Speaking philosophically, it's a tough question now that I think about it. If you buy a car and it is stolen before it can be delivered to you -- who is on the hook? The dealer seems like the obvious choice. But this is no perfect analogy. The root cause is the software industry's inability to come up with a way to protect their product. I'm sure the key wasn't stolen from the store you bought the game at. It was stolen somewhere in cyberspace. It's a problem inherent to the industry, but the industry wants to pass the cost along down the line in a way that isn't fair. It'd be fairer (though way sucky) to spread the cost out with a price rise.

Anyway, I bought Spore and I'm not loving it. My kids thought building creatures was a riot though. To me, the game is too repetitive and not very rewarding.

If you are looking for kid-friendly downloads, you can check out dbd1963. We made about two dozen creatures.

[Fidatelo]

Why can't EA just cancel your original (stolen) key, gen you a new one, and give it to you over the phone? Problem solved, zero cost to anyone, right?

[Mustang]

Turn Gamestop into the police for selling stolen goods.

[gstelmack]

Why can't EA just cancel your original (stolen) key, gen you a new one, and give it to you over the phone? Problem solved, zero cost to anyone, right?

They have to make sure he's got the legal copy. Some companies will have you send in the old copy and they'll send you a new one with a new key. That handles the verification.

[BrianD]

They have to make sure he's got the legal copy. Some companies will have you send in the old copy and they'll send you a new one with a new key. That handles the verification.

I would imagine this is how Gamestop will handle it. I don't know if they will have to do any back-end dealing with EA, but functionally this isn't much different than a defective disc.

[Bonegavel]

Why can't EA just cancel your original (stolen) key, gen you a new one, and give it to you over the phone? Problem solved, zero cost to anyone, right?

Supposed I'm over at your house, grab your key and call them...

[Alan T]

Supposed I'm over at your house, grab your key and call them...


If you were at someone's house and wanted to do something malicious to them, there are endless numbers of things I can think of that would be worse than canceling a game code.

[Bonegavel]

If you were at someone's house and wanted to do something malicious to them, there are endless numbers of things I can think of that would be worse than canceling a game code.

understood, but this is what the above idea could easily lead to.

[Fidatelo]

Supposed I'm over at your house, grab your key and call them...

My mom read this over my shoulder and says you're not allowed over any more.

[Critch]

Why can't EA just cancel your original (stolen) key, gen you a new one, and give it to you over the phone? Problem solved, zero cost to anyone, right?

That's kind of what I expected them to do, I even sent them a handy photo of my reg code on the back of the manual so they knew I really have it.

Seems now that I have to return it to the store that I bought it from and they "should" be able to exchange it for me. We'll see if that works.

I also plan on signing up the email address that registered my code for lots of spam and gay porn. I know it's probably a free email address that nobody uses, but it will make me feel better.

[Fidatelo]

I'm not sure how sifting through gay porn sites in order to spite someone using a phantom email account is going to make you feel better, but whatever floats your boat! :P

[spleen1015]

This is pretty damn cool.

hxxp://kotaku.com/5055113/holy-crap-spore-created-starcraft-amazes-us

[sachmo71]

who's still playing? im hoping to get my replacement hard drive this week and get back to the game. the kids and i really miss it.

[Marc Vaughan]

My kids are playing and loving it ...

I'm unfortunately busy working on FMH PSP so haven't allowed myself near it :(

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Good Lord, they're already bringing out a $20 expansion pack in November?

Hooked on Spore - Ultimate Spore Fansite (http://www.hookedonspore.com/index.php/2008/10/03/first-addon-sneaks-up-at-online-game-shops.html)

[sachmo71]

Good Lord, they're already bringing out a $20 expansion pack in November?

Hooked on Spore - Ultimate Spore Fansite (http://www.hookedonspore.com/index.php/2008/10/03/first-addon-sneaks-up-at-online-game-shops.html)

yeah, hoping it's more than a few new parts.

[RendeR]

I'm still playing off and on. Been playing some FOF again too so my time has been split between that and woking on my hobbies as well.

[RendeR]

And yeah, if its just a pile of parts there had better be about a thousand of them for 20 bucks.

This was my one fear, that they really dumbed the game itself down because they realized about 1/3 of the way through development that this was the single biggest cash cow they'd ever created when it comes to expansions and add ons.

great game, god awful company.

[Anthony]

if i had Spore i wouldn't buy that expansion. its so close to the release of the original that they could've easily have included it with the vanilla version. someone at some point made a conscious decision to not include whatever is in that expansion. we're not even talking 6-8 months after the initial release. don't feed the animals.

[Coffee Warlord]

And yeah, if its just a pile of parts there had better be about a thousand of them for 20 bucks.

This was my one fear, that they really dumbed the game itself down because they realized about 1/3 of the way through development that this was the single biggest cash cow they'd ever created when it comes to expansions and add ons.

great game, god awful company.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[RendeR]

if i had Spore i wouldn't buy that expansion. its so close to the release of the original that they could've easily have included it with the vanilla version. someone at some point made a conscious decision to not include whatever is in that expansion. we're not even talking 6-8 months after the initial release. don't feed the animals.



Shockingly, for once I agree with you completely.:devil:

[Coffee Warlord]

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2008/10/13/spore-expansion-confirmed-detailed

Parts and pieces only, they're saying about 100ish.

And a SECOND expansion in 2009, which updates gameplay.

Fuck EA.

[Groundhog]

UPDATES gameplay, or ADDS gameplay?

[TimGuru]

:+1:

I don't consciously not buy their games, but they really do have a rapacious business model between the Sims treadmill, Madden and now this.

[sabotai]

Good Lord, they're already bringing out a $20 expansion pack in November?

Hooked on Spore - Ultimate Spore Fansite (http://www.hookedonspore.com/index.php/2008/10/03/first-addon-sneaks-up-at-online-game-shops.html)

Fuck that, I'll be playing Fallout 3 in November.

Same answer goes for the 2009 expansion as well (hopefully).

[Schmidty]

I'm not going to read 10 pages.

I just bought it, but haven't opened it yet. Should I? Is it good and if so, for how long?

[RendeR]

Yes

it is

For at least a dozen plays through start to space age.

Your mielage may vary on that.

[sachmo71]

New Spore patch 1.2 out


Spore Patch 2

The focus of this patch is to fix bugs that have been reported via our customer service department and directly from the Spore Community.

In addition, we've modified some gameplay tuning, added a way for you to select multiple items for deleting or banning while in Sporepedia and included a cool new planet style.

To get the patch, launch the EA Download Manager to download and install it. If you didn't install the EADM when you installed Spore, you can get it from

http://files.ea.com/downloads/eacore/eadm-installer.exe

This is a PC only patch. Mac users should check back soon.

Note: Please be patient as the patch installs. Depending on your system configuration, the patch install speed may vary.

Features

* Hold down the Control key in Sporepedia to select multiple creations for deleting or banning.
* Hold down the Shift key in Sporepedia to select a range of creations for deleting or banning.
* New planet style: Cubes.

Graphics/Aesthetics

* Fix for game entry screen turning black when banning a creature in a Saved game.
* Fixed issue with flora card in Sporepedia.
* Space phase: Fixed graphic issue with water levels not updating properly with terraform tools so that visible water and atmosphere levels will now correspond in the Atmosphere monitor.
* Fixed problems introduced via atmospheric and drought terraforming tools.
* Improved gaits for multi-legged creatures.
* Improved gaits for creatures with 2 limbs, but without any feet.

Audio

* Space phase: Fixed missing VOX in some animations in Comm Screen.
* Fixed audio issue with switching mode to 5.1 breaking music and VOX.
* Fixed audio syncing issue when minimizing and/or maximizing Spore before opening video.
* Fixed crash with city music player when Save and Load dialogs are present.
* Fix for audio lag and missing models due background loading slow-down on certain single-processor machine configurations. This fix improved overall stability on this machine configuration.

Tuning

* Space phase: Tuned relationship status to update in communication window after completing a mission.
* Tribe phase: Tuned Normal difficulty mode to make social game easier.

Miscellaneous

* Fixed the ESC key to consistently skip the Spore introduction movie.
* Creators: YouTube video uploads are set to private. Go to YouTube.com and log in. Then go to Account >> My Videos to set them to Public if you want to share your videos with the world.
* Creators: Fixed limb joints not being selectable behind other limbs.
* Tribe phase: Fixed crash while harvesting fruit and fish.
* Space phase: Fixed timing bug using Planet Buster during Grox invasion.
* Space phase: Fixed destroyed turrets mission.
* Space phase: Fixed crash when zooming out to full galactic view from the center of the galaxy.
* Fixed for game entry screen staying zoomed in after deleting a game and entering/exiting Sporepedia.
* Space phase: Fixed City Hall updating bug. City Hall will now update to correct version if player has chosen a new City Hall during the transition from Civilization phase to Space phase.
* Space phase: Fixed Vehicles updating bug. Vehicles chosen in the Colony planner will now update without requiring the player to leave and re-enter a planet's atmosphere.
* Fixed crash when transitioning from Tribe phase to Civilization phase
* Discontinued the Bad Baby Achievement.

[sachmo71]

Interesting article on the dumbing down of Spore:

The Escapist : News : The Man Who Made Spore Suckier (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/87123-The-Man-Who-Made-Spore-Suckier)

[sabotai]

Interesting article on the dumbing down of Spore:

The Escapist : News : The Man Who Made Spore Suckier (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/87123-The-Man-Who-Made-Spore-Suckier)

"In the extremely early versions that I toyed around with, I was able to make creatures that shifted under their own weight," explained mflux. "Creatures that exploited the length of their arms or legs for greater reach. Creatures that behave and move true to how they were built. A short bunny-creature would definitely be out-run by the long-legged dragon-giraffe. That was very neat, and it implied several exciting possibilities in gameplay...The strategy that earlier prototypes implied went beyond placement of parts. The length of limbs or spine felt like it mattered. If you had a forward-heavy animal with legs placed in the back, it would run poorly as it tries (and fails) to counteract its own weight."


That sounds like fun. Sucks we didn't get that game.

[Galaril]

I have a new copy of spore opened but played only twice by my daughter. I selling it for $20 plus afew dollars for shipping. If anyone is interested pm me.