I’m getting it and I’m sure I’ll be bored of it in a month. How many times can you fly to a new planet and zap some 12 year olds Pikachu, Hypno Toad or Retardasaurus with a death ray? The Civilization phase looks woefully simplistic.
I guess I’ll find out in a few days.
You know that filtering content is a snap, right?
And that you can create a buddy list with only people who make plausible creatures?
(See here and here.)
Apparently the only thing you cannot filter is Maxis-created content. Luckily their designers have done a pretty good job.
I won’t buy the game until at least 6 months after the initial excitement has rubbed off and people can review it without the initial release shock. I absolutely will not buy this game if there is even a hint of mediocrity, and I expect it to be an epic example of excessive hype.
'tis of excellence. I’ve run two species up to tribalhood, a long aerodynamic herbivore and a chimp-type thing with a scorpion tail with a mouth on.
Epic creatures do give you a sufficiently “run for the hills” feeling. Considering the face placement is pretty much entirely nonstandard you still get a lot of emotional connection with your wee little guys. And seeing the enormous, multi-tentacled, multi-eyed behemoths in the background when you’re a wee cell is profoundly worrisome.
Bolding mine.
About a billion.
You dick. I’m jealous.
Er - nevermind. Sorry!
One thing that I am not clear on. will there be a monthly subscription needed?
It’s Maxis & EA; they’ll likely be using the Sims 2 model.
To clarify Lute Skywatcher’s comment for those who haven’t played those games- no, there is no monthly payment. It’s not even really an online multiplayer game, as such- yes, you see other player’s critters, but you’re the only player in your game. The game just downloads creatures that other players have made, and they’re AI-controlled from that point on.
There is no “multiplayer” in the sense of the word. However a major selling point is Spore’s ability to head online and download other players’ creations, so your world - on each scale - is uniquely crafted depending on which species are attained.
This is also the main anti-piracy measure, as your authenticity will be verified continuously in order to maintain online resources.
I managed to get a, uh, sneak peek of the game. I would suggest most of you try it before dropping $60 on it.
-IST who faithfully and dutifully upholds domestic and international copyright law.
I’m reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally wary of this game having read some reviews and also because my eyebrows automatically default to :dubious: when there is anything remotely approaching the level of hype surrounding a game that there has been associated with Spore.
I agree that I’ll wait a few months and see what the consensus is then - probably via the Dope.
I’ve already had quite of lot of other player’s content in my game, though at the moment about half of it is still “Maxis”. Hopefully this means someone out there has my current space race, which I only recently noticed looks remarkably like Sam the Eagle.
Too bad-we could have had the Doperverse! Every poster his own planet…
I will buy it, as soon as I get the small issue of picking the lock on my computer, puzzling out which is the graphics card, and somehow fitting a new one into that slot without breaking it.
I’ll meet you half way and post a review after I get my first creature or two to the final main objective (check Wikipedia, you CAN effectively win Spore in a main storyline sense).
Anyway, the reviews are already coming in and it DOES have a hint of mediocrity. Every review I’ve read so far said "the editors are great, and it’s fun, but the gameplay is very simplistic and if you’re used to normal [Hack ‘n’ Slash | RTS | 4x] you may be disappointed with the simplicity and forgiving nature of the non-sandbox content.
That’s exactly what’s bothering me too. And this from a guy who has never really dug anything Maxis has produced in the past.
That’s actually what I’m looking forward to. I’m so incredibly tired of the same ol’ game rehash over and over and over again that I’m really hoping that Spore brings us something different, even if it is easy & forgiving. The world has enough RTS/FPS/whatever games. I want something NEW.
I miss the days before there were game genres, where every game that came out didn’t follow a formula or recipe or have to fit into some certain slot or appeal to a certain demographic. Now get off my lawn, you youngsters!
Spore will appeal to people most who like massive customization: it editors are jaw-droppingly versatile, and well integrated into the game play. The open-endedness is also a huge part of the game’s appeal. It’s the ultimate sandbox game.
If you’re looking for a hardcore RTS, look elsewhere. I doubt Spore will ever have the kind of hardcore AI people expect from pure-RTS games. Those people can wait for Starcraft II.
SecuROM - No problems at all, on either hubby’s computer or mine. He’s running XP, I’m running Vista. Discs went in, CD keys went on, game installed then loaded first time. Whatever authentication it does is background and pretty non-intrusive IMHO.
Gameplay - If you love customising your creatures, your vehicles, your nation’s national anthem, you’ll love it. There’s options on top of options on top of options. Hubby spent over an hour just trying to build a vehicle for his civ stage.
The game as I’ve played so far is not complex at all. There’s a series of actions that step you along the evolutionary ladder. You perform those actions a number of times then bling you’re at the next level. But for all that it’s simple and repetitive, it is strangely addictive and time-eating. Hubby and I have sat down to play on a couple of occasions and then looked up seeing that it’s nearly 9pm and I haven’t made dinner yet.
Penis Monsters - I have my game set to accept creatures from all sources. So far I haven’t seen one penis monster. I’ve seen a bunch of maxis creations, but also a bunch of user-uploaded content. Some really imaginative creatures. But as mentioned up thread, you can set it to only download from your buddies. So if you really don’t want to see any hint of penis monster, set it to buddies. You’ll still get the maxis creatures uploaded.
All in all, I really do like it. I hesitate to call it a “casual” game, but it’s a good game to just pick up when you’ve got a bit of time to kill and don’t feel like getting into anything really complex.
But the thing is, it DOESN’T seem to bring much different other than the (admittedly awesome) editors. Take Diablo, replace “items” with “parts” and then dumb it down* and you have (effectively) the creature portion. Take, say, Warcraft, remove most of the units and allow for players to choose a repetitive music minigame instead of killing things, tribal stage. I could go on.
Anyway on another board I’m on with a lot of UK and Aussie posters there have posted a few reviews, it looks okay, it seems agreed that the cell stage is fun but short, the creature stage is debatable, and then it kinda falls off after there. Here’s the short thread in case anyone wants to read it, TheKaiser’s rundown of Space mode (and remember he’s had this game for about one day and fully advanced) is especially of interest:
http://community.lionhead.com/forums/thread/3051641.aspx
*Note that I’m not using this term to knock it, I’m just using it because no better term sprang to mind.