Spore!

[Maxios]

I recently started playing Spore and Galactic Adventures again. At the moment, I'm near the end of the creature stage. I completed the cell stage the Warrior way; and that's how I plan to finish the Creature Stage. Then in the Tribal and City stages, I plan to go the Friendly route so that way in the Space stage, I'm a Zealot.
So, does anybody else in the playground play Spore?

[Sipex]

I played through it once until I hit the space stage and I really really wanted to enjoy the space stage but I couldn't. It seemed to me that I was the only competent fighter in the galaxy and getting called away every five minutes to fight another battle (instead of doing my own thing) got old pretty fast.

Is there a way to fix this? I really enjoyed messing with the game but having to play errand boy all the time was annoying.

Also, I didn't know there were more than 3 'specie types', I just thought there was Religion, Warrior and Economy.

[Eakin]

Spore is the Daikatana of sim games.

It should have been awesome. But I bought it day one, played up to the space stage, goofed around there for an hour or two, then put it away and have never wanted to play through it again

[Xefas]

I played through it once until I hit the space stage and I really really wanted to enjoy the space stage but I couldn't. It seemed to me that I was the only competent fighter in the galaxy and getting called away every five minutes to fight another battle (instead of doing my own thing) got old pretty fast.

Pretty much this exactly for me, too. The whole lead up to the space stage was fairly enjoyable. I liked the actual collection of parts and molding of beasties, as well as customizing buildings and so on, but I felt like the game was using it all as a lead-up to the space stage as the main focal point. Which is a fine idea.

Except that the space stage wasn't very fun at all.

[ninja_penguin]

Spore is the Daikatana of sim games.

It should have been awesome.

Very much this. I don't know what happened. I played through it a couple of times from cell to space. It's very easy, there's no real rhyme or reason beyond anything after the cell stage, and then space stage is an incredible let down. You are the lone competent sentient in the entire galaxy. Even your allies are incapable of fixing their own problems or even being able to help; It'd be nice if you could create or produce your own fleets, co-ordinate things with your opponents, etc.

It'd be nice if terraforming and ecosystems were more than just the silly little things that they end up having.

The real slap in the face is comparing the end product to how some of the earlier game previews looked.

[Avilan the Grey]

Very much this. I don't know what happened. I played through it a couple of times from cell to space.

...

The real slap in the face is comparing the end product to how some of the earlier game previews looked.

Two words that I usually NEVER use when it comes to design decisions:

Dumbed. Down.

This is literary what happened; the early concepts and demos were VERY advanced, and every time they made a design decision they dumbed it down.

Just the changes from the standalone creature editor and the actual game are very bad, and from earlier demos (like the cells developing actual skeletons, cells being blind (apparently the decision to have eyes on the cells was because of the feedback from one of the wifes (probably Will's) that they needed to be "cute", underwater gameplay including actually building your cities under water (they never removed the fins from the game, which was weird), more spontaneous animations (like predators pulling their fallen prey under bushes to eat while hidden)...

[Maxios]

Two words that I usually NEVER use when it comes to design decisions:

Dumbed. Down.

This is literary what happened; the early concepts and demos were VERY advanced, and every time they made a design decision they dumbed it down.

Just the changes from the standalone creature editor and the actual game are very bad, and from earlier demos (like the cells developing actual skeletons, cells being blind (apparently the decision to have eyes on the cells was because of the feedback from one of the wifes (probably Will's) that they needed to be "cute", underwater gameplay including actually building your cities under water (they never removed the fins from the game, which was weird), more spontaneous animations (like predators pulling their fallen prey under bushes to eat while hidden)...

I don't think it was dumbed down as much as it was changed so it could run on a computer that didn't belong to NASA at the time :smalleek:. If Spore 2 ever comes out (and I really, really, hope it does because Spore 1 is one of my favorite games), I think that stuff will be in it because now computers are more advanced.

[JadedDM]

But I bought it day one, played up to the space stage, goofed around there for an hour or two, then put it away and have never wanted to play through it again

This was my exact experience. It's been collecting dust ever since then.

[psilontech]

This was my exact experience. It's been collecting dust ever since then.

Same.

@Maxios: I don't believe it was a matter of managing the program down to a level that could run on a common computer, but more of either a "Oh sh!t, we're running out of time and a deadline is coming up!" or just a case of bad game design. Probably a little of both. Will Wright honestly hasn't made a game I would care to play since Simcity 2000.

[Starwulf]

I don't think it was dumbed down as much as it was changed so it could run on a computer that didn't belong to NASA at the time :smalleek:. If Spore 2 ever comes out (and I really, really, hope it does because Spore 1 is one of my favorite games), I think that stuff will be in it because now computers are more advanced.

I hope they do make a Spore 2 and it's as good as the first one was supposed to be. I remember keeping tabs on it when I first became aware of it, and it seemed totally awesome, albeit a bit impossible to believe how involved it was going to be. the final product was...well, nothing like it was originally portrayed. I've never even bothered to pick it up, felt like it would be a waste of money.

[Draconi Redfir]

Same.

@Maxios: I don't believe it was a matter of managing the program down to a level that could run on a common computer, but more of either a "Oh sh!t, we're running out of time and a deadline is coming up!" or just a case of bad game design. Probably a little of both. Will Wright honestly hasn't made a game I would care to play since Simcity 2000.

They literally had all of my highschool lifetime between announcing it and releasing it, and from what i saw they removed a lot of the stuff that they had already worked so hard to get in there.


While i agree it sucks that everyone thinks you their intergalactic chore boy, my biggest beef with the space stage is that there is no way to change between "only things i and Maxis made" and "everything everyone made" mid-game. i realized far too late that my savage kill-everything species was a lot less fun to play once they started encountering the same sentient species that i created on three different planets with no relation to one another.

[A Rainy Knight]

Like everyone else said, yes, I quickly got tired of the main game after a few playthroughs with some different archetypes. Galactic Adventures, on the other hand... well, let's just say that once you start making militaries out of the races you've built and equipping them for different jobs (for instance, basic infantry with blasters, jump troopers with jetpacks and energy swords, heavy troops with shield generators and missile launchers, planes, ships, tanks, et cetera), you can have a whole lot of fun using the scenario editor to set up different terrains and bases and fortifications and have your races wage war on each other in style. :smallbiggrin:

Probably one of my most memorable experiences with the editor was using an airship-shaped building as a terrain prop placed above an ocean, slapping some launcher-pad-thingies and infinitely respawning winged enemies with guns on it, and holding a sandbagged peninsula with my loyal soldiers against an endless tide of drop troopers from the sky while playing as a monocled, energy-sword-wielding commander. Heck yeah. :smalltongue:

[Howler Dagger]

Like everyone else said, yes, I quickly got tired of the main game after a few playthroughs with some different archetypes. Galactic Adventures, on the other hand... well, let's just say that once you start making militaries out of the races you've built and equipping them for different jobs (for instance, basic infantry with blasters, jump troopers with jetpacks and energy swords, heavy troops with shield generators and missile launchers, planes, ships, tanks, et cetera), you can have a whole lot of fun using the scenario editor to set up different terrains and bases and fortifications and have your races wage war on each other in style. :smallbiggrin:


Same here. Loved GA, I make alot of things. Barely use spore for anything else. I made s sor of story of sorts with some of my adventures. I believe i have mastered the art of creating adventures, particularly when compared with someof the crap I see online. Sadly, their is some sort of bug that prevents me from sharing my stuff online.

Though I will admit I actually preferred Space Stage over the other stages (particularly creature), becaused I liked hte open-ended sandbox.

[Darklord Bright]

I really need to grab galactic adventures, if only so I can play something beyond space stage. That stage is a terrible incentive to keep playing.

That said, I love making complicated creatures using multiple limbs and joints as bodies. That's a lot of fun, even if the rest is just okay.

[Draconi Redfir]

Like everyone else said, yes, I quickly got tired of the main game after a few playthroughs with some different archetypes. Galactic Adventures, on the other hand... well, let's just say that once you start making militaries out of the races you've built and equipping them for different jobs (for instance, basic infantry with blasters, jump troopers with jetpacks and energy swords, heavy troops with shield generators and missile launchers, planes, ships, tanks, et cetera), you can have a whole lot of fun using the scenario editor to set up different terrains and bases and fortifications and have your races wage war on each other in style. :smallbiggrin:

Probably one of my most memorable experiences with the editor was using an airship-shaped building as a terrain prop placed above an ocean, slapping some launcher-pad-thingies and infinitely respawning winged enemies with guns on it, and holding a sandbagged peninsula with my loyal soldiers against an endless tide of drop troopers from the sky while playing as a monocled, energy-sword-wielding commander. Heck yeah. :smalltongue:



what is this and how do i get it? :P

[Howler Dagger]

what is this and how do i get it? :P

Galactic Adventures is an expansion to Spore, i believe you can buy it off steam. Should be sold by whoever you got spore from.

It allows you to go in-person in adventures, and make your own. I wouldnt say it is"beyond" space stage. In-Game you can only play Adventures in space stage (which you do by getting a mission). There are 12 Maxis-made ones. You can play quick play mode though.

[Trazoi]

Spore is a bunch of mini-games that do not properly mesh together to make something greater than its parts. Every part feels underbaked. If they made a way to make the path from cell to spacefarer feel more natural and the decisions actually mean something rather than toggling a handful of switches it might of been great, but as it is it feels like a demo for their nifty creature animation algorithm.

Galactic Adventures was interesting but I didn't get that far into it. The custom missions made by other people I played were nine times out of ten little demo things made when trying out the editor that shouldn't have been uploaded in the first place. And that tenth decent one was in French.

[Crossblade]

Dumbed. Down.

This is literary what happened; the early concepts and demos were VERY advanced, and every time they made a design decision they dumbed it down.

Agreed. Examples of awesome things they took out were how the Creature Creator worked.. like when Robin Williams used the Creator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5TXEUiR1Xk). Or, in early gameplay of Creature Phase demos, you played as the baby creature... and you chose where your nest was placed, and there were roaming creatures, instead of all creatures being locked to their nest. (Unless they hated you and wondered over from the next nest over to attack another nest to eat them)

Edit: And look what I found, someone tried to replicate William's creature using the finished product's creature creator:
Link (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv-mCoTDaek&feature=related)

[faceroll]

I don't think it was dumbed down as much as it was changed so it could run on a computer that didn't belong to NASA at the time :smalleek:. If Spore 2 ever comes out (and I really, really, hope it does because Spore 1 is one of my favorite games), I think that stuff will be in it because now computers are more advanced.

That's bull.
Play a game like sim city or sim life. Extremely complex games. They just didn't invest all their resources in shiny graphics.

[Avilan the Grey]

Agreed. Examples of awesome things they took out were how the Creature Creator worked.. like when Robin Williams used the Creator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5TXEUiR1Xk). Or, in early gameplay of Creature Phase demos, you played as the baby creature... and you chose where your nest was placed, and there were roaming creatures, instead of all creatures being locked to their nest. (Unless they hated you and wondered over from the next nest over to attack another nest to eat them)

I remember that... and simple things too! Examples of things removed FOR NO GOOD REASON, and two of them after the official creature creator had been released to the public:

1. The ability to put hands on tails (like Wills own creature!)

2. The running animation. A big deal was made in the demos that the program figured out how the creature would look when galloping, and it looked REALLY good. Then they removed that animation altogether.

3. The point system in the creator (aka instead of one pair of expensive wings, you could buy four pairs of the cheapest wings and get the same flying ability). This also meant that a creature with six arms with claws were far deadlier than a creature with only one set of arms with claws.

[Howler Dagger]

Does anybody know of where the GA files for your adventures are? I'd Like to upload them to a file hosting site, since I cant share them any other way.

[Maxios]

That's bull.
Play a game like sim city or sim life. Extremely complex games. They just didn't invest all their resources in shiny graphics.

Shiny graphics? Compared to some other games that came out before Spore? Oblivion, for instance, came out a couple years before Spore and has amazing graphics.
I like Spore, but not for the graphics.

[faceroll]

Shiny graphics? Compared to some other games that came out before Spore? Oblivion, for instance, came out a couple years before Spore and has amazing graphics.
I like Spore, but not for the graphics.


http://www.myabandonware.com/media/captures/S/simlife/simlife_5.gif

[Maxios]

http://www.myabandonware.com/media/captures/S/simlife/simlife_5.gif


Not to be rude, but what does that have to do with me saying Spore doesn't have amazing graphics?

[faceroll]

Not to be rude, but what does that have to do with me saying Spore doesn't have amazing graphics?

You can sacrifice graphics for more computational power. All that wiggling crap with the creature creator? I would have gladly given that up if it meant it didn't feel like I was playing something with the depth of a facebook game.

[nyarlathotep]

Not to be rude, but what does that have to do with me saying Spore doesn't have amazing graphics?

Simlife was the spiritual predecessor to spore and had a huge amount more complexity, but very little in the way of graphics and was made in 1992.

[faceroll]

Simlife was the spiritual predecessor to spore and had a huge amount more complexity, but very little in the way of graphics and was made in 1992.

Thanks. I guess I wasn't saying that very well.

[Spartacus]

Shiny graphics? Compared to some other games that came out before Spore? Oblivion, for instance, came out a couple years before Spore and has amazing graphics.
I like Spore, but not for the graphics.

faceroll was saying that other older games made gameplay instead of graphics, and by saying games that came out years before and had far better graphics, well, it's effectively saying that Spore did nothing well, neither gameplay nor graphics.

For what it's worth, it's a sentiment I agree with.

[super dark33]

Ahhhh yessss. spore....

search for Daeero's monsters.
its the account of my brothers and i.
you can figure out what creatures are mine:smallbiggrin:

[Balain]

When Spore came out I enjoyed it. I never really saw anything about it until it was released. The Space stage could get tedious if you listened to all your neighbors and run off and save them from eco disasters or pirate attacks. I how ever normally just ignored them and went on my way and did my own thing. Nothing says you had to go back home every time some neighbor or ally got in trouble.

After awhile I played it less, then GA came out it made the game more enjoyable to me.

I don't play it as much now, every once in awhile i play it, I currently have 2 planets, one I'm trying to befriend the grox and the other is trying to destroy every planet the grox land on.