Spore (all sorts of awesome)

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 3, 2008, 5:04 am

Grabbed Spore tonight and played a few hours.

This one lives up to the hype. Fun and well polished is a good way to describe it. Anyone into Civ type sims will love this.

I made it through the amoeba stage and went a little ways into the creature stage.

While you may or may not want to repeat the amoeba stage, I thought it was a blast.

It's not really a spoiler but to keep the thread clean, below are some cropped screens of my Amoeba stage:

[Show]: Here's a relatively early shot of my new creation:

Everything matters. I found that giving it two mouths made it easier for me to eat food to grow. You need at least one eye if you want to see and a mouth minimum.

This is some critter in hot pursuit of me. I need some defense!

So I add these poison ink spewing thingies which allow me to keep stuff off my tail like so:

Locked in combat with another Amoeba! Actually that's my ass it's fighting but I added two spikes back there, having replaced the poison ink at a later stage in development!

----

This shows the development history during my Amoeba stage. It's hard to read, reduced from 1920 to 1000, but you can see I chose the Carnivore path (on the far right of the image if you widen your browser window) as opposed to omnivore or herbivore.

The pictures don't do the game justice. So far it's been lots of fun through the Amoeba and part of the creature stage. The amount of customization is amazing so it's up to you how much time you want to spend messing with your critter.

Some thoughts:

The user interface is outstanding as well as the audio. It's easy to pick up and start playing. The tutorial/intro is well done. There's also an extensive Sporepedia and help files.

What I found amazing is the number of unique items in the game. There's 1,631 and that's without going online (which I can't until I buy the game)

Here's a full size shot 1920x1080 of the very first part of the huge list of creatures, structures, etc:

You'll see my SunDevil Creation as the very first card in the upper left corner.

Sporpedia

No clue yet about replayability but I think you'll get your money's worth even with one go through.

Civ Sim lovers will pee their pants with joy playing this while I think even some of the people that don't normally like sims type games might like this one.

Kwonryu DragonFist · September 3, 2008, 10:57 am

Seems fun! (and awesome)

Deward · Post by **Deward** » September 3, 2008, 11:31 am

I actually pre-ordered this one. I hope it lives up to the hype.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 3, 2008, 12:03 pm

I have been looking forward to it for a while, but I'm starting to realize that this game (for me) will be just like any other game of similar genre's. I will get bored of it after a week of playing it and won't pick it up anymore after that. I really wish they would have worked some kind of multiplayer into the game, I think it would have been perfect for this game.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » September 3, 2008, 3:35 pm

There's been a Spore thread around here for over 3 years now...

Noel please abuse your moderator powers once again!

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 3, 2008, 4:04 pm

Aslanna wrote:There's been a Spore thread around here for over 3 years now...

Noel please abuse your moderator powers once again!

Who cares?

Sabek · Post by **Sabek** » September 3, 2008, 4:39 pm

Spore needs its' own forum.

Truant · Post by **Truant** » September 3, 2008, 4:53 pm

Funkmasterr wrote:I have been looking forward to it for a while, but I'm starting to realize that this game (for me) will be just like any other game of similar genre's. I will get bored of it after a week of playing it and won't pick it up anymore after that. I really wish they would have worked some kind of multiplayer into the game, I think it would have been perfect for this game.

This game would be terrible for multiplayer. It would turn into who can make the most aggressive predator fastest. That's all it would be. And that seems to be such a small facet of the overall gameplay.
I'd like to think it'd be fun to work with someone else on making a cohesive ecosystem where your two creatures exist harmoniously...but that's not the nature of online multiplayer gaming. It would turn into another epeen contest where everyone has to have the baddest creature.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 3, 2008, 5:21 pm

Truant wrote:
Funkmasterr wrote:I have been looking forward to it for a while, but I'm starting to realize that this game (for me) will be just like any other game of similar genre's. I will get bored of it after a week of playing it and won't pick it up anymore after that. I really wish they would have worked some kind of multiplayer into the game, I think it would have been perfect for this game.
This game would be terrible for multiplayer. It would turn into who can make the most aggressive predator fastest. That's all it would be. And that seems to be such a small facet of the overall gameplay.
I'd like to think it'd be fun to work with someone else on making a cohesive ecosystem where your two creatures exist harmoniously...but that's not the nature of online multiplayer gaming. It would turn into another epeen contest where everyone has to have the baddest creature.

I think it would be fun... Otherwise it's just another sims type game, I can almost guarantee you that a good majority of people will play it through to the space stage of things, maybe go find one or two more planets to mess with, and be done with the game.

I think having multiplayer and invading other peoples planets and having planetary or even galactic scale wars with your creatures of your own design would be cool.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » September 3, 2008, 5:47 pm

Funkmasterr wrote:
Aslanna wrote:There's been a Spore thread around here for over 3 years now...

Noel please abuse your moderator powers once again!
Who cares?

Well considering I posted on it.. I wonder? Wow you're dumb.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 3, 2008, 6:17 pm

Aslanna wrote:
Funkmasterr wrote:
Aslanna wrote:There's been a Spore thread around here for over 3 years now...

Noel please abuse your moderator powers once again!
Who cares?
Well considering I posted on it.. I wonder? Wow you're dumb.

If you really care whether there are two threads about one game you have mental issues.

If you were doing it just to be annoying, fuck off.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 3, 2008, 6:30 pm

I'm all for a merge but I like my title better!

Syenye · Post by **Syenye** » September 3, 2008, 6:35 pm

This is pretty fun. I plan on buying it with the money I saved by not purchasing Tales of Vesperia (thanks Winnow!). It's a really cute game, but maybe that's because my creatures are pink.

[Show]: My favorite part is that you can mate to avoid being eaten.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » September 3, 2008, 6:39 pm

Funkmasterr wrote:
Aslanna wrote: Well considering I posted on it.. I wonder? Wow you're dumb.
If you really care whether there are two threads about one game you have mental issues.

If you were doing it just to be annoying, fuck off.

Ooo my isn't that a quandry.. I WONDER WHICH ONE I WILL PICK??

Oh yeah.. And you're still dumb! teehee!

Truant · Post by **Truant** » September 3, 2008, 8:28 pm

Funkmasterr wrote:
Truant wrote:
Funkmasterr wrote:I have been looking forward to it for a while, but I'm starting to realize that this game (for me) will be just like any other game of similar genre's. I will get bored of it after a week of playing it and won't pick it up anymore after that. I really wish they would have worked some kind of multiplayer into the game, I think it would have been perfect for this game.
This game would be terrible for multiplayer. It would turn into who can make the most aggressive predator fastest. That's all it would be. And that seems to be such a small facet of the overall gameplay.
I'd like to think it'd be fun to work with someone else on making a cohesive ecosystem where your two creatures exist harmoniously...but that's not the nature of online multiplayer gaming. It would turn into another epeen contest where everyone has to have the baddest creature.
I think it would be fun... Otherwise it's just another sims type game, I can almost guarantee you that a good majority of people will play it through to the space stage of things, maybe go find one or two more planets to mess with, and be done with the game.

I think having multiplayer and invading other peoples planets and having planetary or even galactic scale wars with your creatures of your own design would be cool.

And that sounds very much unfun to me. I enjoy sim type games. I get LOTS of replay out of them. I try new things and take new paths to see if I get the same end result. Or sometimes I replay the exact same way, but just try to be more efficient (depending on the game). I love coop multiplayer, but I don't really enjoy playing against other people in anything. It's just not fun for me.

edit. I can handle playing against other people if it's a team situation and I actually know the people i'm teamed with.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 4, 2008, 5:45 am

Still in creature mode (2nd stage of five).

After you move your nest a couple times, you start running into some mean mobs. Huge compared to yourself.

The customization is non stop and plentiful. Anytime you return to your nest for some nookie, you can upgrade or change your critter. The parts you find have a cost. You can sell back items for the same "price" you paid. You can completely change your creature at any point you want. Every little thing is sizable and can be reshaped.

You never feel like you're stuck with the wrong choice, making you feel like restarting because you can completely reequip your creature with no penalty (at least so far in the creature stage). This allows you to be creative without worrying about blowing points to change your creature often.

You do get attached to the way your creature looks. It also feels kinda bad eating babies of other races sometimes.

Here's a mini full screenshot of team Sundevil eating an easy snack:

New creature parts are constantly being found (that shiny stack of bones will be a new item)

I gave my creature a huge mouth but the size is just for looks. I could make it a little mini beak and it would still do the same damage.

Kwonryu DragonFist · September 5, 2008, 8:44 am

So let's say you have developed a critter with lots of spikes on it's hide that are poisonous, could i (after some nookie), totally change the setup of the critter so that it emanates toxic fumes instead by selling the spikes? Or are Disease-Auras more expensive?

Can you make a Huge Sludge.type of critter with near impregnable skin and huge regen-rate? (similar to The Blob)

Are there any ranged attacks, like toads/snakes that spit venom (Spitting Cobra) or fish that can projectile water? Or maybe creating a beetle that can bombard the enemy from the rear? (like the bombardier beetle)

Quite the chemical butt-mix!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_beetle

-
Are all the critters melee-based? or can you develop psychic powers?

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 5, 2008, 11:13 am

Kwonryu DragonFist wrote:So let's say you have developed a critter with lots of spikes on it's hide that are poisonous, could i (after some nookie), totally change the setup of the critter so that it emanates toxic fumes instead by selling the spikes? Or are Disease-Auras more expensive?

Can you make a Huge Sludge.type of critter with near impregnable skin and huge regen-rate? (similar to The Blob)

Are there any ranged attacks, like toads/snakes that spit venom (Spitting Cobra) or fish that can projectile water? Or maybe creating a beetle that can bombard the enemy from the rear? (like the bombardier beetle)

Quite the chemical butt-mix!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardier_beetle

-
Are all the critters melee-based? or can you develop psychic powers?

In the creature stage the ranged attack is "spit". Various body additions allow you to spit something at your opponent.

Not everything is melee based. You can take the totally opposite route and sing/dance/charm your way to make allies. If you take the herbivore route, you're not going to be able to eat meat anyway.

As a carnivore, you need to eat often or die of starvation. At one point, there were no creatures around for me to kill so I ate some fruit off a tree. My creature threw it up right afterwards.

Spang · Post by **Spang** » September 8, 2008, 12:44 am

This game is fun thus far.

I started a carnivorous species.

It lays eggs.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 8, 2008, 12:08 pm

I'm having fun so far too, I'll go into more detail later but I'm a omnivore - I let my girlfriend play first and after seeing her get frustrated cause she had to eat other tribes constantly I figured I'd go the middle path. Haven't had any issues finding food so far, that's for sure!

It's interesting reading how in the manual all the different abilities you get at different stages depending on how you acted in previous stages of the game.

Post by **Sylvus** » September 8, 2008, 12:23 pm

Is this game in stores now? How big is it?

If I want to play it tonight, should I spend 30 minutes driving to the store and back, or should I just buy it online and download it? Or should I just pilfer it from the intronetz?

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 8, 2008, 12:28 pm

Sylvus wrote:Is this game in stores now? How big is it?

If I want to play it tonight, should I spend 30 minutes driving to the store and back, or should I just buy it online and download it? Or should I just pilfer it from the intronetz?

It's about 3.76GB on disk. Yes, it is in stores now. I kinda like to have the manual for games (there is a ton of info in the manual for this), so I'd say to get it at the store, but only for that reason - well, that and a 4GB download will probably take longer than running to the store to get it

I wouldn't just steal it like winnow

The one reason I say this is because you can't access any of the online content, which is actually pretty cool IMO.

Peole should all start listing their EA account things here so we can add each others stuff! I have been having trouble finding a friend of mine who is playing it too, so I don't know if I'm doing something wrong, but anyhow - my ea account name is galacticpimp

Spang · Post by **Spang** » September 8, 2008, 12:41 pm

I'm Spangaloid.

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » September 8, 2008, 12:57 pm

I've tried it and it's a whole lot of meh in my books.
Just feels like a whole strong of varying minigames put together in one semi-cohesive package.
Oh and having to learn a whole new set of different gameplay mechanics for each section of the game really really irked me.

I'm probably going to be alone with these opinions again however there's my take on it.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 8, 2008, 1:14 pm

Animalor wrote:I've tried it and it's a whole lot of meh in my books.
Just feels like a whole strong of varying minigames put together in one semi-cohesive package.
Oh and having to learn a whole new set of different gameplay mechanics for each section of the game really really irked me.

I'm probably going to be alone with these opinions again however there's my take on it.

Really? I guess I can maybe see that. I think the most fun part for me is customizing my creature, and I'm sure that will be a continued trend throughout the whole thing. I'm only in the creature phase though, so I can't comment on the game as a whole yet.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 8, 2008, 1:33 pm

Animalor wrote: I'm probably going to be alone with these opinions again however there's my take on it.

Well I can agree on the different play styles sometimes being bothersome. The tribal stage plays like an RTS which I don't like.

And Funk is right. This isn't one to pilfer with the nice online features if you're into Civilization type games. You might want to try before you buy through if you have doubts.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 8, 2008, 1:37 pm

Winnow wrote:
Animalor wrote: I'm probably going to be alone with these opinions again however there's my take on it.
Well I can agree on the different play styles sometimes being bothersome. The tribal stage plays like an RTS which I don't like.

And Funk is right. This isn't one to pilfer with the nice online features if you're into Civilization type games. You might want to try before you buy through if you have doubts.

True! I tried to do that too, actually. The download took a while though and once it was done one of the .rar files was corrupt, so I just went and bought it

Animalor · Post by **Animalor** » September 8, 2008, 3:30 pm

I've tired it up until the Tribal Age and it definately isn't my cup of tea. I'm going to uninstall and delete the files when I get home.

*~*stragi*~* · Post by ***~*stragi*~*** » September 8, 2008, 3:37 pm

is this pc only? if not what is the best platform to get it on?

Syenye · Post by **Syenye** » September 8, 2008, 3:43 pm

I got really bored during the Tribal stage. It's kind of fun, and then it's over and becomes a new game, except that game isn't really fun either.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 8, 2008, 4:25 pm

Syenye wrote:I got really bored during the Tribal stage. It's kind of fun, and then it's over and becomes a new game, except that game isn't really fun either.

uh oh, that's not good news!

Ah well, not being an RTS fan or Civilization fan, I still had fun for the first two stages.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 8, 2008, 4:29 pm

I like RTS games.. I hope I like it more than it seems others do... I need it to occupy me at least till next tuesday when Rock Band 2 comes out

Either way my girlfriend will probably have a lot of fun playing the first two stages of it, so we got our money worth.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » September 8, 2008, 4:55 pm

I bought this on lunch today while I was at Gamestop deciding whether or not to get the Rockband 2 bundle pre-order. I chose not to.

Aardor · Post by **Aardor** » September 8, 2008, 4:59 pm

Fash wrote:I bought this on lunch today while I was at Gamestop deciding whether or not to get the Rockband 2 bundle pre-order. I chose not to.

Sorry for going offtopic, but any reason you decided not to get the bundle? I was going to get it (i do not own any previous versions of rockband or GH)

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 8, 2008, 5:02 pm

Aardor wrote:
Fash wrote:I bought this on lunch today while I was at Gamestop deciding whether or not to get the Rockband 2 bundle pre-order. I chose not to.
Sorry for going offtopic, but any reason you decided not to get the bundle? I was going to get it (i do not own any previous versions of rockband or GH)

I'm pretty pissed off that the game only and instruments sold separately come out for the 360 next week, but the bundle doesn't come out til' next month, it should all be out next week or none at all.

I have decided that the features on the Guitar Hero instruments look better than the Rock Band 2 instruments, so I am going to buy the game only and one guitar for Rock Band 2 next week, and the Guitar Hero World Tour bundle next month.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » September 8, 2008, 5:34 pm

Aardor wrote:
Fash wrote:I bought this on lunch today while I was at Gamestop deciding whether or not to get the Rockband 2 bundle pre-order. I chose not to.
Sorry for going offtopic, but any reason you decided not to get the bundle? I was going to get it (i do not own any previous versions of rockband or GH)

Well I have RB1, and a pre-order on the GHWT bundle. The bundles come out only 9 days apart, but the RB2 game comes out sooner. I may be screwing myself with instruments but whatever...

Spang · Post by **Spang** » September 8, 2008, 6:12 pm

It gets a lot better after tribal.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » September 8, 2008, 6:39 pm

Spang wrote:It gets a lot better after tribal.

I'll try to get through Tribal tonight to have a look.

It was cool to see my little creatures flying around in Tribal. Right before leaving the creature stage, I have them +5 glide wings. I didn't like the look of wings so I made them super small.

Fly! Be Free!

I didn't have time to work on my critter's twig legs to bulk them up before the tribal stage!

Truant · Post by **Truant** » September 8, 2008, 11:11 pm

Think I'm going to pick this up tonight after work

Hesten · Post by **Hesten** » September 9, 2008, 8:56 am

Still only on the first land stage here, and fairly bored already, im happy i DLed it instead of buying it, doubt ill use much more time on it.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 9, 2008, 11:09 am

I'm still in the creature stage, and I'm still having lots of fun playing it. I want to find all the parts and have my guys looking exactly how I want before I move on, and I think I'll be able to finish that up tonight.

I tried fighting Epic One Eyed Bob last night and I lasted a good 15 seconds before I dropped.. (that was only cause he killed my buddies first!)

Post by **Sylvus** » September 9, 2008, 11:37 am

I burned through the first 4 stages and into the very beginning of Space last night. Interesting how each stage is kind of a different game. It's a fun, cute little game. I don't think it'll hold tons of replay value for me, but I'm not unhappy that I paid for it.

Don't know if the following spoils anything...

[Show]: Looking through the Sporeopedia, it looks like there are tons of customizations you can do to buildings, vehicles, clothing, etc. Unfortunately that's not at all appealing to me. I liked choosing the appendages on my creature, but beyond that it's too much micromanagement. I do like how I didn't have to design my own shit, just could load up a building or a vehicle made by Maxis. Saved me a bunch of time.

I went mostly green with my initial play-through, I'll probably go back and play again going mostly red.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 9, 2008, 11:42 am

I'm just the opposite on the customization. That has been what I've had the most fun doing, and I think it will stay that way going forward. I've spent a TON of time customizing my creature so far - which is largely why I'm still in the creature phase.

I can't wait to create a bunch of other creatures.. I want to try and make a dragon, for one.

Post by **Sylvus** » September 9, 2008, 12:15 pm

I'm with you on the actual customization of the creature. It's the creature's accessories that I don't really care about.

I would have spent a lot more time on the first phase had I realized that I'd be permanently leaving it when I did.

I never even found an omnivore jaw.

Syenye · Post by **Syenye** » September 9, 2008, 12:21 pm

Sylvus wrote:I never even found an omnivore jaw.

I think you have to get it before you leave the tidepool stage or as you leave it and enter creature phase. I didn't always get the option though.

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 9, 2008, 12:24 pm

Sylvus wrote:I'm with you on the actual customization of the creature. It's the creature's accessories that I don't really care about.

I would have spent a lot more time on the first phase had I realized that I'd be permanently leaving it when I did.

I never even found an omnivore jaw.

Yeah. I made a point to make myself a omnivore at the last chance to change yourself between the cell stage and the creature stage. Once you've gone to the creature stage, I don't think you can change your diet, but I may be wrong?

I have found about 3 rows of the jaws, but most of the other parts. I think you only get jaws/mouths by killing/allying other tribes, I don't think they are the parts you find laying around.

I tried wandering out into the ocean at one point last night and a big ass fish jumped out of the water and ate me! Someone told me that you can choose at some point to go back to being a water creature, anyone know if that's true? I know in early stages of development they talked about giving you that choice, like you could make cities underwater - but I kinda thought that got axed early on.

I'm with you kind of on the accessories, too (well like weapons, etc). But I think it will be fun to spend some time on customizing vehicles/buildings, too. I've been looking through the stuff on the spore website and there are some pretty crazy things people have made so far.

Fash · Post by **Fash** » September 9, 2008, 1:04 pm

I'm playing it on Hard difficulty... I didn't want the possibility of just burning through to the space stage. I think it's a lot more fun this way, even though I'm dying...

Funkmasterr · Post by **Funkmasterr** » September 9, 2008, 1:07 pm

Fash wrote:I'm playing it on Hard difficulty... I didn't want the possibility of just burning through to the space stage. I think it's a lot more fun this way, even though I'm dying...

I'm playing it on normal, and I have died a fair amount in the creature stage.

Post by **Sylvus** » September 9, 2008, 1:07 pm

I played on normal, and died a number of times but it was still pretty easy. I'll probably try hard on my next iteration.

Spang · Post by **Spang** » September 9, 2008, 1:40 pm

I've been playing on easy mode. It really is easy. I was in space after my second sitting, and I never died.

I'll try hard mode on a new planet when I get home after my final class of the day.