Spore - PC Game

All topics, except for ones related to water fights. Posts made here do not count towards your post count.
User avatar
ZOCCOZ
Posts: 332
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2005 8:26 am

Spore - PC Game

Post by ZOCCOZ » Tue May 16, 2006 4:51 am

Well, its not realy new news, but if some don't know about it yet, then you are in for a treat. It was one of this years E3s most anticipated PC game. Personaly, its my most anticipated game this year. The gameplay seems freaken sweet.
Spore Demo Presentation :cool:

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Tue May 16, 2006 10:15 pm

Hmm, this should be under the gaming sub-subforum, shouldn't it? Oh well...

Yes, I remember reading about a game in which you create your own creatures and all...it seems unique, but there doesn't seem to be too much of a challenge. I probably won't get the game, but I'll definitely read the GameSpot review when it comes out.

EDIT: I checked out the link, and while the editor seems to be quite powerful, the actual game seems boring. Maybe a summary of your own would help...

It's funny...they must have planned out everything and rehearsed the cursor movements a hundred times in the clip, seeing as the creator knew what he was doing the whole time and didn't even pause to think...
Last edited by Silence on Tue May 16, 2006 10:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
m15399
Posts: 224
Joined: Sat Oct 15, 2005 1:54 am

Post by m15399 » Tue May 16, 2006 11:21 pm

Well you only have to play a game say... 200 times to get all the bugs out. :p

Wouldn't you know how to play your own game?

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Tue May 16, 2006 11:40 pm

I'm not talking about some random filmed guy just knowing how to use the game...I'm talking about what he actually did.

Did you actually take a look at the video clip (sure, I only saw about half of it, but that's enough)? The guy, when creating the creature, clicks on one option, then immediately drags this thing into the perfect shape, goes directly to the sidebar and chooses exactly the legs and arms that he wants (no thinking about what to do, and everything matched--so it isn't random), etc. It's like he rehearsed exactly what he's going to add and all many, many times, and you'll get that impression too.

User avatar
ZOCCOZ
Posts: 332
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2005 8:26 am

Post by ZOCCOZ » Wed May 17, 2006 12:17 am

That guy was Will Wright, the creator of SimCity and Sims. It was fairly rehersed, since the presentation had a time limit. From what i see, compared to an earlier demo, the game on the link was a demo version of the game, which is why they could move around without beating the previous levels. Certain body parts have an evolutional element for upgrade. Which means that they unlock in time. You start out as a micro organism, so your choice of how you wnat your creature to evolve will only relate to the micro organism. So no legs and arms yet. As for the controll of what to choose, thats what I consider the great thing about it. I would not like it, if the computer calls the shots of how my creature evolves. Thats whould actualy ruin the whole game premis, since the creature you actualy want won't turn up.
Did you actually take a look at the video clip (sure, I only saw about half of it, but that's enough)?
I think you missed then the Galaxy mode(and probbaly also City Mode), which shows that its always best to watch a video clip to the end. ;) Well, in this case it is. An NHL game clip on the other hand would be predictable.
After your creatures have build their own vehicles, architecture, cities...which are also designed by you, you start to conquer other species, planets and solar systems. There are millions of planets there which you can collonize also. I might be the only one, but it is far from boring in my taste. At least to me its abit more vararity than another FPS game shooting at Mutants/Terrorists/Zombies/Nazis/Aliens...in semi-eluminated corridors. I already have a few creatures in mind I want to make in Spore. Now having said that, if people are not that much into unique simulation games like SimCity or Sims, then this game might not be for them either.

http://www.spore.com/
That one should have several more pictures and info on it.
Last edited by ZOCCOZ on Wed May 17, 2006 12:29 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Wed May 17, 2006 12:48 am

Hmm...nice, brief review. It sounds much like a few RTS games that I know, but this new style of gameplay could add a new spark. However, I still have one major question: how much does each different type of body part that you add affect the creature's performance and such? For example, are some feet better for kicking, others for swimming, and others for long-distance running? Those types of choices (in other words, beyond the looks), especially if various parts are designed to be used in combinations, would actually make for somewhat exciting gameplay.

While I did like the designer and all, especially the selection methods and the graphics, I wasn't too impressed with the actual graphics and gameplay in the "play" mode. It seems like a poor execution of some pointless thing where you walk around and run away from predators aimlessly, but I will watch the rest of the clip if you want me to. I will certainly give this a fair chance when the GameSpot review is completed, and I'll report back after that.

User avatar
ZOCCOZ
Posts: 332
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2005 8:26 am

Post by ZOCCOZ » Wed May 17, 2006 1:08 am

Yes. Bodyparts affect the creature's ability. The body parts and also the spine and shape will determine speed, strength, stealth and what it will eat. Also how it will walk or sound. Its weapon can be its hand, mouth, tail...tepending how you shape your creature. So there is alot of freedoom how you want your creature to look, and behave.

I would recomend watching the clip to the end, since the relations with other species once you fly around in your UFO is fairly interesting.There are certain things that go far beyond other RTS games(including building your weapons, houses and tools according what you want it to look like). In many ways literaly, since you explore galaxies and create charts of all the species you encountered. The gameplay is very diverse.

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Wed May 17, 2006 1:14 am

ZOCCOZ wrote:Yes. Bodyparts affect the creature's ability. The body parts and also the spine and shape will determine speed, strength, stealth and what it will eat. Also how it will walk or sound. Its weapon can be its hand, mouth, tail...tepending how you shape your creature. So there is alot of freedoom how you want your creature to look, and behave.
Wow, that's much more than I had imagined...I'll definitely give it a good look, if not take the demo or a full copy on a whirl (I can return the copy after I'm done if I still have the receipt).

I guess, upon further thought, the game is also somewhat advanced in terms of technologies that you can research and all...at least, you can progress much more than you could in Age of Empires (from scratch, basically). It's just that...this isn't exactly how evolution through natural selection occurs :p . Thanks for the information, though...

User avatar
ZOCCOZ
Posts: 332
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2005 8:26 am

Post by ZOCCOZ » Wed May 17, 2006 1:25 am

Well, they won't adapt to their environment. But then again, once they would do that you loose controll over your creature's evolution.

I also forgot to mention that some planets don't have oxygen, so you would need to upgrade your UFO for the terraforming ability. In another demo clip they just obducted another creature and let it loose on a moon, so its exloded in the vacum.

As for conquering gameplay I should also add that some species have allies, even on other planets. So if you whipe out/attack 1 species you have to fight wars with their ally species. Its one thing to ponder about if you want to choose deplomacy or conquering when expanding your empire over the galaxy. So yeah, gameplay is fairly deep, regardless which game mode in Spore.

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Wed May 17, 2006 1:29 am

The closest game I can think of is the recently-released RTS title, Galactic Civilizations II (or some other name like that). Basically, your civilization builds itself in crazy universes, but the first part, where you create a powerful species, isn't there. Check out the GameSpot review for more details if you're interested.

User avatar
ZOCCOZ
Posts: 332
Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2005 8:26 am

Post by ZOCCOZ » Wed May 17, 2006 1:48 am

Do you mean Apha Centauri? I think its from the maker of Civilisation. I actualy bought Alpha Centauri becasue of that Alien Empire building, but like all Civ. games, its to macro cosmic and not intercative enough. Its not real time anyways. And everyone is just Humanoid. So it was somewhat of a disapointment. The only RTS/Simulation game franchise I know which has that elaborate interacting with its citizens is Black and White. My problem with usual RTS games is, that they have no elaborate citizen AI. They are just mainly tools, who just stand around when not collecting fruits or mining ore.

There is another RTS game which is about combining creatures, but the controll of what they look like is severly limited with almost every creature being a Lion-Scoprion Hybred.

At this point, Spore seems to show elements of other games at a more advanced and elaborate quality with a "Sim" flavor to make it unique. Will Wright might not design alot of games like others, but almost every of his games revolutionized a genre. I wonder if there will be some expansion packs planned after the game is released.

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Wed May 17, 2006 2:01 am

No, I don't mean Alpha Centauri--like the Civilization games, it's pretty boring. It's Turn-Based Strategy (TBS), which means everything is even more boring and quite repetitive--overall, TBS is just too repetitive and basically lacks any AI whatsoever--it just decides what the best decisions are, especially at the moment.

I meant Galactic Civilizations II--it's very recent, and while it doesn't involve much character interaction, the AI is very good and the game is challenging and fun. Basically, it requires you to balance (or imbalance) diplomacy and, if required, war, as you expand the borders of your empire.

However, you are quite right--Black & White is just about the closest game, not Galactic Civilizations II. However, it doesn't seem to have the mass amount of RTS, like what you've described. The more I think about it, the deeper Spores seems to be. They basically covered both creation/simulation and RTS in the same title, which I suppose can be hard to do. However, with Will Wright in the background, what did you expect :rolleyes: ?

User avatar
Scavenger
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 6:53 am

Post by Scavenger » Sat May 20, 2006 5:18 pm

I don't think there will be an expansion pack for Spore. In one of the demo videos, he talked about how you could purchase pre-made designs for your creatures' buildings. Those designs came from other players, and then are sorted out to find the ones that would best-fit your creatures' style. So the content will always be expanding, with little work on the developers' part.

User avatar
Silence
Posts: 3825
Joined: Sun Apr 09, 2006 9:01 pm

Post by Silence » Sat May 20, 2006 8:12 pm

That sounds interesting, but I'd rather buy stuff from the actual developers if I had a choice. People should also sell designs for other things--that's happened in several other games. However, I wouldn't pay too much for a single building--but for an expansion pack, yes.

User avatar
joannaardway
Posts: 855
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:04 pm

Post by joannaardway » Sat May 20, 2006 9:23 pm

Perhaps this should have been located in the "gaming" sub-forum?

Meh - people don't seem to bother with subforums any more. I have seen some stuff about this game, but I'm not sure that it's going to grab me...

I was very interested by a trailer for another game though... Mark of Chaos. Totally awesome...
"Over the hills and far away, she prays he will return one day. As sure as the rivers reach the seas, back in his arms again she'll be." - Over the Hills and far away, Gary Moore

"So many people have come and gone, their faces fade as the years go by. Yet I still recall as I wander on, as clear as the sun in the summer sky" - More than a feeling, Boston

Locked