Spore out soon

[Fez]

Got the Galactic Edition here but can't register (due to un "unknown error") unlike most other people. Tried the offline part until the Civilization stage and it certainly is a lightweight mix of genres but it feels coherent in the end. For what Maxis tried to do with it it's more than okay so far.

But don't expect 5 stages of AoE, StarCraft or Civ complexity or anything like that. Cell stage is more like a slower, 10-minute version of flOw but with the option to outfit your cell in a nice way (spikes, speed, poison, turn rate, nice touches). Creature stage is like WoW (with a small AI warband if you like) but with social options and random stuff (UFO's, giant beasts, random conflicts, meteor showers, etc.). Tribal Stage is RTS redux with two ways of getting forward: allying other tribes or beating the shit out of them. The least impressive stage so far in terms of what you can create actually. Just got to Civilization stage and that's really abundant in terms of what you can visually tweak, maybe a bit too much.

Can't wait to play a proper 'connected' game with it though.

Sounds okay, much like I was expecting. Thanks for the info.

This game is going to retrace the exact steps of Black & White.

The sales will soar until people run out of content created for them by the graphics and gameplay team, and realize that all the groundbreaking promises were Molyneux-scale hype. Procedural ? Animations, maybe. Sounds, maybe. But gameplay ?

In B&W terms, it will take the same amount of time for which people were exchanging exciting forum comments connecting random flinging of monkey poo to an action they just performed. During that time period, Spore will have made enough sales. Mission accomplished.

There already seems to be a contingent of bitter posters at the Spore forum. As for the shine wearing off of this eventually, I won't be too bothered by that as I'm expecting light entertainment wrapped up in a fancy coat. Will Wright has also managed to deliver while Molyneux has been a comparative failure in recent years. It will have to be a spectacular failure to top B&W in terms of disappointments.

It'll be interesting hearing the complaints and issues that crop up once people do get bored with it or the problems start to wear on them. All that tends to take a while to come out into the open with these AAA titles.

 

[VonVentrue]

Judging from the reviews that have appeared, the game's simplistic nature and "accessibility" drags the potentially engaging gameplay experience down.
I'm wondering what everyone's impressions shall be after they've put more than a couple of hours into the game.

 

[Fez]

I'd imagine the "10/10" average opinion from players will sink down somewhat. Apparently the Spore servers have been faltering under the onslaught of new players.

Maxis have a new goldmine.

The game did seem to take a change in direction at some point from a more "realistic" look and less cartoony and "accessible" form to what we have now. Of course there's no way to know for sure what may have been.

 

[Carrie Underwood]

I was excited about this game originally, but when it moved towards that cartoony and "accessible" form I started losing interest. Now that it's out, I don't even feel like bothering with the reviews. I can't help but feeling that the concept was a lot more coherent in the beginning when Wright announced it than it is now. It didn't seem to be a genre mixer - but an evolution sim.

Then:
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/595/595975p1.html
http://pc.gamespy.com/dor/objects/73534 ... 51806.html

Now:
http://pc.gamespy.com/dor/objects/73534 ... 53008.html

It seemed more... organic.

 

[Fez]

Was the game that different or was it purely cosmetic changes though?

They cut out the underwater creatures and cities (which seemed perfectly functional and will probably be sold to us in an expansion soon), along with the flying creatures.

 

[kingcomrade]

I'm not removing Spore from an inventory right now, it's going really slow despite having a hundred billion seeds with it already not removed. I don't think the game will stay on my hard drive for long, though. They had the Galaxy Edition for like $80 on GoGamer, yeah okay, please I'll give you my address you can come piss down my throat in person.

 

[SuicideBunny]

spore is not an evolution sim, or some genre mixer. it's an enhanced but less funny star control 2 clone with extended race customization (everything prior to space age), even less story, and tremendously annoying design fuckups (micromanagement, inability to delegate or pay off missions, and a great lot of other things).

 

[Carrie Underwood]

I don't recall there being psuedo RTS gameplay and all these minigames. It was more like the beginning was a sort of action/arcade game (bacterial life and first evolutions), then you kind of watched over the world as it grew, changing your creatures bit by bit to improve their survival in the current environment.

It reminded me of the first Sims. Now, it seems like GTA, where you have to play pool and go dancing every hour or so to make "progress".

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

 

[sportforredneck]

Heavan

 

[Kingston]

Is there supposed to be gameplay in Spore because I appear to be unable to find any?

 

[shihonage]

There already seems to be a contingent of bitter posters at the Spore forum. As for the shine wearing off of this eventually, I won't be too bothered by that as I'm expecting light entertainment wrapped up in a fancy coat. Will Wright has also managed to deliver while Molyneux has been a comparative failure in recent years. It will have to be a spectacular failure to top B&W in terms of disappointments.

It'll be interesting hearing the complaints and issues that crop up once people do get bored with it or the problems start to wear on them. All that tends to take a while to come out into the open with these AAA titles.

Actually I don't regret the $50 I spent on Black & White. The game may have been an illusion, but as years pass its very rare for a game to involve the same sense of wander as B&W did in me. It was definitely off the beaten path.

However it still had a better gameplay center than Spore. Spore seems to contain several independent game stages, which will likely indicate that they're all individually worse than a game based solely on a genre that each of them represents. More of a gimmick as a whole.

Wright is clearly a salesman. From that first "awe-inspiring" video where he showed all the stages and zoomed out from the planet, it was obvious that he was intent to misrepresent what this game actually does. He pushed terms like "procedural", implying that they apply to more than animation routines. He gave people this idea that Spore is a living world, some sort of simulation they've never experienced before.

To me, this outclassed Molyneux in levels of deceit.Molyneux just went forward and made all kinds of extraordinary and untrue claims. Wright went forward and made all kinds of extraordinary and untrue implied claims without making them directly quotable so that he can't get called on them later. He let the player's desires and imaginations fill in the blanks.

 

[thesheeep]

Is there supposed to be gameplay in Spore because I appear to be unable to find any?

This seems to be exactly the contra in any review I could find. It's fun to look at, fascinating for hours, but after that, the depth is missing. Nah.. won't buy it, not even sure I will get it the other way. I mean... it seems like a really short fun for anyone interested strategy...

 

[sportforredneck]

The Sims 1 and 2 don't have much depth, yet I enjoyed them incredibly. Though sometimes I end up taking breaks for months since it gets a little boring.

 

[Texas Red]

The Sims 1 and 2 don't have much depth, yet I enjoyed them incredibly.

Decline of the Codex.

 

[sportforredneck]

The Sims 1 and 2 don't have much depth, yet I enjoyed them incredibly.

Decline of the Codex.

What? I'm one of those fags that makes things up in their head, plus I enjoy seeing what the children end up looking like depending on the parents. Had they made sim lives like 5 minutes long, that would've been fine with me. Or at least cut out teenager, that shit takes too long and it's worthless.

 

[aleph]

Or at least cut out teenager, that shit takes too long and it's worthless.

just like in real life

 

[Fez]

I take it you've got the game then? Have you really made a race of multi-headed dicks to rue the galaxy? Well done. Let no ass or leg escape your domination.

A lot of disappointment with the game and possibly a shitstorm brewing on the EA forum. Partly due to EA's lack of care for their customers, the DRM and how many feel the content or gameplay was misrepresented. Oh dear.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

Well, it's not even out over here yet, so I've just not stolen it from an inventory until then. Still not sure whether it's worth buying or not, it really doesn't have any depth to it at all so far... but supposedly the space stage does, and it does sound promising so I'll reserve judgement until then.
Just starting the tribal phase, which is supposedly the worst. It's not very promising so far.

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

Hurhurhurhur.

Yeah, the game's pretty "meh". I take amusement where I can get it.

 

[lefthandblack]

Well, I'm actually kind of happy that this game is looking like a turd. At least I'm not missing anything by boycotting it. I hear it's being not removed from inventory to hell and back. I hope it sets some kind of record, the fuckers deserve it for trying to shove their bullshit drm down peoples throats.

 

[Fat Dragon]

Goddammit, Jimbob. Those aren't multi-headed dicks. They're just giant dick shafts with four other giant dicks sticking out of them but none of are multi-headed.

 

[sportforredneck]

Not taking from inventory as we speak. About to install. I won't be making multiheaded dicks, I'm sorry to disappoint. Though there's a lot of "meh" according to people, I think this game may have been made directly for the "customization" side of me. Now if only there was a game for the RPG side with the customization nonsense I like too.

 

[Lord Chambers]

Am I wrong or are the Epic Creatures in the Creature Stage impossible to kill unless you're willing to spend 2+ hours shooting it and running away? The game says they're not to be taken on without a pack of serious motherfuckers, but even the special rogue creatures die in two in two hits. I've also tried with a pack of my own species which have level 5 of every attack, ability, health, speed, and 4+ diplomacy, but even the alphas die in one hit and can't drop it more than 100 health before all dying.

 

[Nicolai]

So is the game terrible or what? I'm downloading it now and it's at 90% or so, should I keep going? :aiee: