The insanity that is Spore

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2006-03-02 06:17am

Looks a bit like Darwin Pond, except times a few billion.

Seriously, this is some crazy shit!

Duckie · Post by **Duckie** » 2006-03-02 06:44am

Old as hell, there were 2 threads on this before [no links, sadly].

Still cool as hell, too, though.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-03-02 07:45am

Woah

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2006-03-02 08:48am

I want that game!

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-03-02 09:18am

Oh..my...god. I thought it was hype.

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-03-02 10:08am

BLOODY HELL!!!

I want, I want NOW!

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-03-02 10:37am

I'm so going to try to rebuild those Carebears

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-03-02 10:47am

It looks very interesting, but I gathered the following caveats from the video:

-Evolution looks like it takes a long time, and can potentially get very repetative in the process.
-Combat in the Civ mode looks more like who can create more units more than anything else, economic model is not well covered other than "Happiness".
-Space mode, while huge, seems a little short on what you can do. While I'm sure what he's given us will contain hours upon hours of content, it seems sort of like just more of the same as the previous levels. I didn't see massive fleets of ships like I had envisioned when he mentioned this game, but rather, just the one UFO.

It does look fun and interesting, but I don't know how entrancing it will be for me.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-03-02 11:45am

There's talk about a handheld version too...
http://ds.ign.com/articles/692/692432p1.html

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-03-02 12:05pm

Re-Watching the demo it does look VERY Interesting.

The scale of it is staggering... When a galaxy full of planets arn't just 'colonies' like in other space games (moo) but where each world is a seperate entity where evolution, civilization etc, can take place, it boggles the mind!

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2006-03-02 12:17pm

Holy fuck, I must have that game!
...I wonder if I can develop Zerg?

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2006-03-02 02:36pm

Spore is quite seriously the biggest thing ever to happen to games.

No, seriously. The fact that everything is procedurally defined and dynamically generated is a real mindfucker, and the fact that it just keeps going, from the lowliest cellular organism to the masters of space.

This is the game that modern PC hardware was designed for, fuck your "Generic FPS 7" and "Humdrum RTS 3".

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-03-02 02:53pm

Anyone think about what sort of beasts they'd make? Considering the customizability of this , the possibilities are endless.

It's night just an Evolution thing, you can customize Tools, Buildings, ships, vehicles, culture, etc etc.

You could pick anything anywhere and perhaps recreate it in this game. Zerg? Vulcans? Dragons? Wookies? Really with this you could do ANYTHING!

What I really want to know is hat the parameters are in terms of setting up the "Big World" ahead of things. Do oyu have to start from single celled and move to planets later? I would LOVE to start off on the galactic scale, seeding many systems with different proto races and seeing what develops over time.

Without a doubt this game is going to change the way we think of games period. This isn't just a game, if you think about it it is combining several games into one and doing it (apparently) seamlessly. From a simply survival game, to a tribal 'Populous' game, to a more advanced 'Civilization' game' and then finally into space.

Imagine a game that had Populous, Age of Empires, Civilization and Master of Orion all rolled up into a single game. Oh yeah, and you can alter any part of it you want!

Lazarus · Post by **Lazarus** » 2006-03-02 02:56pm

The word that comes to mind is ambitious. Can they really make their ideas into a practical reality? If so, then yeah, that will certainly be one of the best games of all time. On the other hand, they might not be able to do quite what they want to, and it ends up being a bit of a dissapointment.
Either way, from what I saw, it looks a bit too 'silly' for my tastes...

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-03-02 02:57pm

Crossroads Inc. wrote:Anyone think about what sort of beasts they'd make? Considering the customizability of this , the possibilities are endless.

It's night just an Evolution thing, you can customize Tools, Buildings, ships, vehicles, culture, etc etc.

You could pick anything anywhere and perhaps recreate it in this game. Zerg? Vulcans? Dragons? Wookies? Really with this you could do ANYTHING!

What I really want to know is hat the parameters are in terms of setting up the "Big World" ahead of things. Do oyu have to start from single celled and move to planets later? I would LOVE to start off on the galactic scale, seeding many systems with different proto races and seeing what develops over time.

Without a doubt this game is going to change the way we think of games period. This isn't just a game, if you think about it it is combining several games into one and doing it (apparently) seamlessly. From a simply survival game, to a tribal 'Populous' game, to a more advanced 'Civilization' game' and then finally into space.

Imagine a game that had Populous, Age of Empires, Civilization and Master of Orion all rolled up into a single game. Oh yeah, and you can alter any part of it you want!

Now don't overreact, it won't be like Darwin pond, with seeding, this is afterall a mass market game aimed at most people.

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-03-02 03:02pm

OK you got a point... I guess I should say that the Potential for this game is staggering. Will has a history of making quantum leaps in game play. Look at the jump from SC2 to SC3 for instance. And the success of SIMS is also worth noting.

He's in interviews talking about something like this for ages, and it seems to always have been a dream of his. And I would imagine he's going to look over every aspect to try and get things working.

On the other hand, something of this scope can easily overwhelm some players.

Watching the demo it took me a while before even I could get past the concept of not having one little race, but many on single planet, then many planets, then solar systems, etc... It can hurt your brain quickly.

It seems he is relying upon the creativity of the populous as a whole though to keep the game interesting. Imagine if each time you played the game "Auto Updated" online and suddenly there where all these new creatures, tools buildings, etc, all at your finger tip.

Amazing... If it works.

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2006-03-02 03:51pm

The fundies aren't going to like this.

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2006-03-02 04:12pm

Spyder wrote:The fundies aren't going to like this.

Why not, it is proof of intelligent design!

But the intelligence of the designer will vary, and there will be so many of them.

Dooey Jo · Post by **Dooey Jo** » 2006-03-02 04:36pm

Spyder wrote:The fundies aren't going to like this.

What? Are you kidding? They'll say "Play Spore, it's the ultimate proof of Intelligent Design". Then they won't bother explaining why...

DesertFly · Post by **DesertFly** » 2006-03-02 04:49pm

Holee crap! That looks like the game I've been waiting to update my computer for. Seriously, though, even if it only turns out to be half of what was in that demo, it will be amazing. In case you couldn't tell, this "fundie" likes it.

Noble Ire · Post by **Noble Ire** » 2006-03-02 04:49pm

If they can pull this off, it could be simply spectacular.
Single-cell to a galaxy of thousands of interactive worlds? Yes.

Of course, implimentation will be tough to get right, and even a minor flaw in the engine could make the whole thing dedious as hell, but still, the potential is breathtaking.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2006-03-02 05:06pm

Crossroads Inc. wrote:Anyone think about what sort of beasts they'd make?

Tentacle Monsters!

Shadowhawk · Post by **Shadowhawk** » 2006-03-02 07:57pm

Immediately after I saw this video after it was posted during E3 2005, I signed up for the newsletter.
It's now nearly a year later, and I've never gotten a newsletter, and the Spore homepage hasn't been updated. It's getting annoying.

Crossroads Inc. · Post by **Crossroads Inc.** » 2006-03-02 08:02pm

Shadowhawk wrote:Immediately after I saw this video after it was posted during E3 2005, I signed up for the newsletter.
It's now nearly a year later, and I've never gotten a newsletter, and the Spore homepage hasn't been updated. It's getting annoying.

Are you serious?

Spyder · Post by **Spyder** » 2006-03-03 02:28am

Faram wrote:
Why not, it is proof of intelligent design!

But the intelligence of the designer will vary, and there will be so many of them.

The non young Earth proponants might do that. The young Earth anti-evolutionists might have a thing or two to say on the matter.