Spore

[Shabbaman]

I was just reading this preview (http://pc.ign.com/articles/617/617441p1.html). It looks like a very fun game: evolving a creature (from the beginning of time, mind you) into anything you want, and then form a civ with them and bash head!

[Shabbaman]

Apparently I'm the only one here who sees something in this game, but I won't stop shamelessly plugging this game. There's another preview here (http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3150390).

What appeals to me in this game is that while you control your creature/civilization, the development of creatures/civilizations around you is driven by other players. Whatever you do is seeded into a central database (a.k.a. the internerd), and when any player has the need for data it's downloaded to their computer. The other creatures aren't controlled by other players though, but by the AI. Much about the actual interaction remains foggy.

New things in this preview: placing monoliths to "create" intelligence on other planets. Heh.

[Pastorius]

I ve seen some videos about it. While I think it is original and cool, I dont think it is my kind of game.

[DrAlimentado]

thanks for the heads-up shabba :) looks freaking amazing... lets hope they live up to the hype.

[Rik Meleet]

Looks very good. I might buy this game.

[grahamiam]

I've seen the video from E3 at gamespot and I already read a preview in CGW. This game, along with Hellgate, is definitely on my radar :D

[Shabbaman]

Apparently it's going to take a long, long time before the game is released. Somewhere in 2007, actually...

quote:Originally posted by Paalikles

I ve seen some videos about it. While I think it is original and cool, I dont think it is my kind of game.


It's from the creator of the sims and sim city, this guy knows how to make addictive games. While the sims may look boring at first, it's sure addictive. In fact, it's only later on in the game that it becomes really tedious (read: boring). But, like sim city, the game has a lot of depth.

[Rik Meleet]

After reading on "Spore" more; I have decided that this can (and hopefully will) be a very cool game that I will certainly buy. Just hoping for a multiplayer variant.

[Shabbaman]

I'd very much like to blast your puny lifeform with my UFO, indeed [worship]

[Darkness]

It certainly seems interesting. I'll definately keep an eye on this. Too bad about the long wait though...

[Rik Meleet]

No more Spore in '07

Will Wright's ambitious evolution/civilization/creature creation title is now being targeted for spring 2008.

:(

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/spore/news.html?sid=6170303

[grahamiam]

Well, I guess Soren's got a little more time to clean up that AI :)

[Shabbaman]

It's rumoured to get bundled with Duke Nukem Forever.

[Beorn]

quote:Originally posted by Shabbaman

It's rumoured to get bundled with Duke Nukem Forever.


[lol] !

[grahamiam]

Sept 5th for the Euro's, Sept 7th for NA

http://www.spore.com/press_021208.php

[Samson]

Spore creature creator is out. Officially tommmorrow, but it seems to have escaped a day early:

http://eu.llnet.cdn.ea.com/u/f/eagames/spore/scc/spore_scc_trial_na.exe

[Rik Meleet]

Let's try that :)

[Rik Meleet]

I heard it's on sale now. Who has got it ?

[BCLG100]

i saw a review of it in the paper but i didnt think it was out. maybe im wrong :s

[romeothemonk]

It's not out yet in Yankton, but our Wal-mart has it as a "lead" item. They are heavily promoting it, which means that sales should be strong.

[killercane]

quote:Originally posted by romeothemonk

It's not out yet in Yankton, but our Wal-mart has it as a "lead" item. They are heavily promoting it, which means that sales should be strong.

Ha Yankton. Territorial cocksuckers.

With so much lead in to Spore, can it possibly live up to expectations? Watching that video, the designers set the bar pretty darn high.

[Rik Meleet]

I've got it - installing now.

http://img211.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sporeqn3.jpg

[ProPain]

Swingue got it as well, didnt get around to buying it myself. Will do so monday :)

[Robboo]

My wife wants it so.. i get to upgrade the computer, maybe processor and definiatly video card. IT pays to marry an evolutionary biologist...

[ProPain]

Must be good cause Rik is rather emerged in the game. Told him yesterday on MSN his PBEM turn was up but havent seen him or the turn since.

And that was as 22:00 and he told me he had been playing from 16:00 continuously and now needed to cook something for himself [lol]

[ProPain]

bought it and installing now. Will be finishing CDZ earth map 1st though :)

[socralynnek]

BTW, is it true, that you are only allowed for 3 installs. And that you otherwise have to call EA?

Not that I'd the time to play, so I probably prefer Conolonization over this anyway.
But otheriwse that'd be a reason I'd never buy it.

[BCLG100]

I doubt it, what happens if you need to reinstall the game etc? perhaps only on 3 different comps?

edit- guess you were right ynnek

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7604405.stm

my mistake!

[Shabbaman]

You get 5 reinstalls this time, as opposed to Mass Effect and Bioshock's 3. So that's a huge improvement! In the end 2K dropped the reinstall limit, so EA might do that as well. Or then again, with EA being the latest incarnation of evil, they probably won't.

[socralynnek]

Wow! 5! Unbelievable !!11eleven!!!

I mean, there are a lot of games I have installed, deleted, reinstalled when I wanted to play them again, even after a few years...

But good to know, that I need to look for such obstacles when buying computer games soon.

I hope Colonization or Civ5 won't do such strange things...

[ProPain]

OMFG, that's new for me, what a heap of crap that is!!! Wonder how the fucking DVD knows it has been installed btw, is it writing something on the DVD and if so would installing from a not writable disc station help?

Well, this is for sure the last EA game I'll ever buy untill they lift this idiot restriction.

[Furiey]

Activation over the internet I heard. Yet another game that sends people who have a legitimate copy hunting for deoderant.

[grahamiam]

Why? The biggest draw of this game is that it is connected to the internet all the time so you can have other people's creations populate your world. I believe Will Wright called it Massively Single Player, or some play on MMO. Since you have to be connected to the internet for that, wtf is wrong with having it activated over the internet? It's not the first product to do it (Steam, Impulse, Direct2Drive, Ipod, etc). And the 3 install limit only means that you have to call EA to get it reactivated after the 1st three, kinda like Windows XP OEM.

[ProPain]

it's not so much the internet activation that I care about but the 3/5 limit install. I dont think it will be a problem for me but I still think it's ridiculous.

[grahamiam]

quote:Originally posted by ProPain

it's not so much the internet activation that I care about but the 3/5 limit install. I dont think it will be a problem for me but I still think it's ridiculous.
I agree a limit is ridiculous, but it's not the 1st time it's been done. Unfortunately, with all the pirating going on for PC games, companies have to come up with all sorts of weird DRM to show their shareholders and investors that they are trying to protect the IP.

[socralynnek]

If it is connected to the internet anyway, then it would be enough for EA to check, whether one number is trying to connect twice, which would be enough. Everything else is stupid IMO.
OK, EA is not a small company. But what if you want to install it in ten years once again to show someone which games you played in the good old times and then no one is there to activate your game?

[ProPain]

quote:Originally posted by grahamiam
I agree a limit is ridiculous, but it's not the 1st time it's been done. Unfortunately, with all the pirating going on for PC games, companies have to come up with all sorts of weird DRM to show their shareholders and investors that they are trying to protect the IP.


I understand they wanna battle piracy and I totally agree on that because I feel piracy hurts me as well. After all my games are more expensive because an amount of money is factored in the sales price to compensate lost sales. Otoh I seriously doubt if game companies would lower their prices should they know they'd sell double the amount of games, and they're certainly not prepared to take the first step (lowering prices) here and see what this would lead to, but that's a different discussion.

My problem is that this limited install measure hurts the paying customer over the pirating customer. After all, someone who gets an illegal copy will use some sort of crack to work around the install limit and have no hassle at all. So how this measure will prevent piracy is beyond me.

I do think the online check is fine as long as it's when you log on to an online service and not every ten days. That would be a rather easy and low-intrusive method to check and as long as good online content and patches are available you're rewarding the legal owners because they get a better product then the illegal owners.

Ofc that would mean that companies would have to invest time in decent online services and maybe some are too lazy for that.

[Markstar]

I gave my girlfriend Spore for our 11-year anniversary. Despite that, I installed the pirated version with a crack on my computer because I simply do not appreciate having my data sent over the internet. Plus, in the case of Spore, it allows me to simply copy the install directory to my TabletPC (which has no CD/DVD-drive) and run it from there - no install necessary! ;)

But the game sucks. The stages are not balanced at all and there are just sooo many things that just waste time. My girlfriend is quite disappointed as well, she was looking forward to this game for almost a year (she loved the creator-creator) but the end-product is just not that great. :(

[ProPain]

I agree the stages arent balanced and the game isnt all that it's hyped up to be. Still the whole creating-thing that is has going on is strangely compelling.