Electronic Arts/Maxis Spore
Gamers play God
Electronic Arts/Maxis Spore main
Spore gives players a new thrill: They can create and share nearly every object in the computer game, from beasts to flying saucers. To make that possible, engineers had to give people the tools to not just play the game, but design it as well.
The development team built a simple drag-and-drop interface, so amateurs can construct characters by picking ears, arms and other limbs and stretching them into different shapes. To ensure that each hodgepodge looks professional, artists drew the initial body-part choices, and an algorithm blends irregular areas together to form a smooth skin.
Once you have a critter, Spore automatically animates it. Most games replay premade clips when, say, a creature grabs something. Because Spore doesn’t know ahead of time what characters look like, it associates capabilities with each body part (hands can grasp, feet can’t) and then decides how to move.
You’re not the only creator in Spore. The game uploads other players’ designs to an online database, drawing from these options every time you encounter another creature or vehicle. Programmers made this transfer speedy by boiling down the info needed to re-create a character, such as its personality, into a DNA-like text code. With more than 30 million player-made creatures at press time, Spore is the first of a new breed—a game that gets even more interesting after you buy it. $50; www.spore.com
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This game deserves no awards!
-It was crippled by copyright protection when it shipped that turned many against it before they even bought it
-the story fizzles out to no real ending and you are left wondering around doing the SAME BASIC MISSIONS for everything in the space age. You can start multiple planets but it's all the same game.
-who cares if there are 30 million species or that they calculate animations on the fly if the game's story and game play has been neglected
This game was a disappointment especially coming form the makers of the Sims. Don't waste your money on this game.
spore is awsome! I have it and at the end of space stage you are not just left wandering around!
spore is worth it, trust me!
also, after space you can also start in any of the stages and can make different choices that will make space different! it is not a dissapointment!
spore is awsome! I have it and at the end of space stage you are not just left wandering around!
spore is worth it, trust me!
also, after space you can also start in any of the stages and can make different choices that will make space different! it is not a dissapointment!
sorry i posted twice
from irvine, ca
Spore was downloaded into all the computers of my school's lab so everyone could play it and learn graphic and animation. I had a pretty fun time except the game got messed up and couldn't get connection and no one could play anymore. Can anyone help me?
I downloaded the trial version of Spore for my daughter, got the full version and now added the Cute & Creepy expansion pack and I can say that she's enjoyed every minute of it. She's an artist, and loves the aspect of being able to pick and choose creature, building and vehicle parts from an extensive toolbox, and painting the result. The game can be approached in a lot of ways; sometimes you can prefer to negotiate and trade, or sometimes just attack and destroy, and you have to live with the choices you make. As I am an industrial designer, I have great fun constructing a wide variety of air, land, sea and space vehicles, plus a variety of buildings as well. The game never gets boring as something happens all the time, depending on one's choices, one is frequesntly forced to multi-task and take care of a variety of crisis situations, which is a great skill to have in real life. You also learn to watch your back! I like the other dual nature of the game: you can dive into the various scenarios or take a break and go on a creative binge at your liesure. The visuals and sounds (by Brian Enno) are just awesome and I have had no problems with the game whatsoever. Some cons? Vehicles have to be constructed in a symmetrical manner (unless you employ a cheat code) and vehicles don't "test drive" but creatures do. Otherwise, it's a very intelligent and challenging game and I would highly recommend it for all ages.
After all of the paid hype (including this article from PopSci) I was pretty disappointed with the game. I love the concept of the game for sure but after a few days of game play the game just does not cut it.
Very nice game, one thing i would change about the game is that i would like to create plants. I have not every had any problems with the game instead it would not let me on because i had not enough space on my coumptor. I would really get this game if i where you.
It's a shallow game that does nothing apart from building the creatures particularly well. Most people who loved it are casual gamers who bought the hype and don't have much experience with the better games out there.