There is no "End game", there are millions of planets to go explore and take over. And since you will be pretty much competing against the creatures and civilizations made by other players, some of them could be quite difficult(It's not MMO style, meaning what you do to their planet doesn't actually effect the way they see it, but when on your copt you travel to their area, it downloads what they currently had, or Im pretty sure that's how it works). And Im pretty sure taking over thousands of planets will take a very very long time. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's what I mean, the end game seems like it's just a tacked on sandbox with no real gameplay to be had (after a short while). Once you've got a super-powerful UFO you could probably just go around blowing up 1,000s upon 1,000s of planets, buy why? In all of these videos Wright always talks about how you can colonize planets, deposit new critters and start ecosystems, that's all well and good for a bit, but why? If I've got my species populating hundreds of worlds and it means absolutely nothing, what's the point? There could be a very cool 'federation system' in place (he briefly mentions it during one video (...the one where he accidently starts an interstellar war, apparently)). Do I get to manage this empire? Will it be tediously boring to visit all of my old worlds? Can I use my planets for something? Wright always talks about how you can visit 1000s of star systems, but he never really talks about what you can do with the planets (...although what you can do <i>to</i> the planets seems very cool). Like I said, there's only so many ways you can destroy a planet before it just becomes boring or monotonous.
(I'm fairly sure it just picks, creatures to seed onto the worlds you visit, not necessarily downloading the exact planet that someone else had, but possibly generating a new planet and then searching a database for creatures that could create a viable ecosystem on that planet).
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> Also, you evolve by using DNA points to upgrade certain parts of you. The next generation of you will then have that mutation(I think you make the next generation by either splitting bacteria style, or breeding). I would assume that better mutations cost more points, and getting points would take awhile, so that becoming a 8 foot tall monster would take quite some time. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is also what I mean, Wright never talks about the point-to-point process involved with your creature (there's the short video of gameplay, where his spider guy eats an egg for points), but whenever he goes to the creature editor he never shows how the game will actually function (unless someone has a video of how the gameplay there will actually be, I haven't seen one). He always 'cheats' and supermorphs his creature to something completely bizarre to show off the creature editor, or he just warps to another part of the game. That's all nice speculation (and how I tend to think it will work as well, based on what I've heard, but he never shows it).
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> For city building, I think you don't decide what structures "do" but more just what they look like. So there are a bunch of types of buildings, each with their own purpose. Im guessing that you will need certain buildings to be able to use pieces for certain vehicles and stuff.
Though Im just guessing all of this based on the limited footage they showed, and partially on what I'd want it to be. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Tribal and civilization stages don't ever seem fleshed out in the videos I've seen (he just likes fiddling with the editors a lot). What's the point of buidling creatively designed structures if they serve no purpose or their purpose is random? Now, I'm not saying the editors are bad or anything, they look fun and all (the house building tools in the Sims are also fun), but I need more information than 'you can build a sweet creature'. I can draw creatures if I want. I need important game details and mechanics. Procedural generation is cool, the creature editor is cool, the idea of going through the lifespan of a created species is cool, but is the indivudal gameplay cool? (Personally, running around looking for food and then mating looks kind of bland to me, and there just has to be more to it than we always see; same with the Civilization and Galactic diplomacy/empire building/etc.)
This is like hearing about the Sims and only hearing about the house editor; or hearing about Sim City and only hearing about how you can lay streets. That's all well and good, but show me the meat!
...sorry to disrupt the engaging banter about 'which Sci-fi creature would you create?' (How about a civilization of Howard the Ducks? Or TMNT society? ...personally I want a nebulous death cloud, but I don't think that'll be an option in the game).
Im pretty sure "Endgame" will ultimately be the same as all the Sim games. There aren't any "bosses" or any credits. It's just whatever you aim to do will be the endgame I guess.
Though Im hoping there is some sort of multiplayer that will be available, I really dislike single player only games.
LikuI, am the Somberlain.Join Date: 2003-01-10Member: 12128Members
<!--quoteo(post=1615236:date=Mar 17 2007, 09:29 PM:name=UltimaGecko)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(UltimaGecko @ Mar 17 2007, 09:29 PM) [snapback]1615236[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> ...buy why? ...but why? ...what's the point? Like I said, there's only so many ways you can destroy a planet before it just becomes boring or monotonous. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why? Because it's fun. Wright has always made monotony enjoyable, you could play The Sims for hours on end but you're just doing the same thing over and over.
You probably listen to a selection of songs over and over even though they never change.
Indeed. Endgame Spore will probably be just like playing The Sims or Sim City or Sim Anything. You do what you want, try to see if this works, make up challenges for yourself... this has huge appeal to a lot of people, but as with all games and play styles, some just won't like it.
<!--quoteo(post=1615333:date=Mar 18 2007, 09:48 AM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Align @ Mar 18 2007, 09:48 AM) [snapback]1615333[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> Not really, what's the point? It's not like you can genocide the entire galaxy of them. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
X_StickmanNot good enough for a custom title.Join Date: 2003-04-15Member: 15533Members, Constellation
<!--quoteo(post=1615319:date=Mar 18 2007, 01:30 PM:name=Liku)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Liku @ Mar 18 2007, 01:30 PM) [snapback]1615319[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> Why? Because it's fun. Wright has always made monotony enjoyable, you could play The Sims for hours on end but you're just doing the same thing over and over.
You probably listen to a selection of songs over and over even though they never change. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I just burned them all to death and uninstalled the game.
Of course, by then I'd already given them my money for the game, so I doubt they cared.
Kouji_SanSr. Hινε UÏкεεÏεг - EUPT DeputyThe NetherlandsJoin Date: 2003-05-13Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
Hope it wont be a centipede kind of creature then <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
<!--quoteo(post=1615236:date=Mar 17 2007, 07:29 PM:name=UltimaGecko)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(UltimaGecko @ Mar 17 2007, 07:29 PM) [snapback]1615236[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> Once you've got a super-powerful UFO you could probably just go around blowing up 1,000s upon 1,000s of planets, buy why? <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
every time I read an interview about this game, I get more and more worried it's going to be overproduced until there's nothing left. If you keep trying to whittle down a sculpture, smoothing out the edges, trying to make it perfect, eventually you'll whittle it to nothing. It sounds like they're over-thinking the game, and every little gameplay decision is going through a committee. I'm scared they're going to chisel away all the quirky, unique gameplay elements until the game is completely smooth and bland...
<!--quoteo(post=1615793:date=Mar 20 2007, 06:41 AM:name=DiscoZombie)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DiscoZombie @ Mar 20 2007, 06:41 AM) [snapback]1615793[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> every time I read an interview about this game, I get more and more worried it's going to be overproduced until there's nothing left. If you keep trying to whittle down a sculpture, smoothing out the edges, trying to make it perfect, eventually you'll whittle it to nothing. It sounds like they're over-thinking the game, and every little gameplay decision is going through a committee. I'm scared they're going to chisel away all the quirky, unique gameplay elements until the game is completely smooth and bland... <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Huh, because it sounds to me like Will Wright is basically just doing his dream game, and everything he says they do. Can you give me an example of something that you're talking about?
<!--quoteo(post=1615804:date=Mar 20 2007, 10:55 AM:name=TychoCelchuuu)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TychoCelchuuu @ Mar 20 2007, 10:55 AM) [snapback]1615804[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> Huh, because it sounds to me like Will Wright is basically just doing his dream game, and everything he says they do. Can you give me an example of something that you're talking about? <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> I dunno, it's more a fear/feeling than something based on hard evidence.
that article kinda brought out the feeling. It just seems like they might be over-thinking and over-simplifying the game. Hopefully they're making it as robust as possible and not dumbing it down too much. Sim Earth was one of my favorite sims, and also one of the most complicated =p
I couldn't help but notice the ability to re-shape your planet itself once you get the nifty UFO landscaping tool. What i'd like to know is how far exactly can you dig with that thing? Could you dig a straight line to the planet's core, causing an uber volcano? Can I shape my own Discworld? Does this mean that with other people's content being downloaded that I'm going to find vast fields of [male-specific body part] shaped asteroids?
<!--quoteo(post=1616310:date=Mar 22 2007, 01:56 PM:name=Align)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Align @ Mar 22 2007, 01:56 PM) [snapback]1616310[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> I doubt you can dig below the crust of the planet. Make some nice <b>procedural</b> lava oceans though. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It probably works like the landscaping tools in Sim City, only not grid-based any more. There's probably a minimum and a maximum depth to which you can raise/dig the land.
Well, in one of those videos he does visit a planetary accretion disc or something like that (...or maybe it was just a planet he blew up), but I swear he mentioned at somepoint that destroyed planets could come back and reform or something, which would lead me to believe it may be possible to crack a planet in half (which would be cool, just to see). I'm just hoping that the space-game has a decent diplomacy/empire-building framework and useful UI (...as in, hopefully 1000s of creature/planet/building/vehicle cards don't clutter too much).
I'm also kind of hoping that there's the option to have you creature breathe fire. I mean, there's a 'spit' ability, why not let me make a race of evil dragons?
<!--quoteo(post=1616327:date=Mar 22 2007, 09:02 PM:name=UltimaGecko)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(UltimaGecko @ Mar 22 2007, 09:02 PM) [snapback]1616327[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'm also kind of hoping that there's the option to have you creature breathe fire. I mean, there's a 'spit' ability, why not let me make a race of evil dragons?<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
KungFuSquirrelBasher of MuttonsJoin Date: 2002-01-26Member: 103Members, NS1 Playtester, Contributor
That VGCats back on page 1 is fantastic.
Definitely looking forward to this. Really interested how this will hit the mass market, too - on the one hand, it's more out there than The Sims and SimCity which could alienate a big chunk of the usual Wright audience... on the other, my wife was asking me what I knew about this game. (though she also sent me a portal trailer and was like "oooooh, this looks cool!" so she may not qualify as being as casual a gamer as I initially suspected)
No idea what I'll do for my first species, and the longer that indecisiveness carries on the more likely it'll be a giant walking ######.
<!--quoteo(post=1616401:date=Mar 23 2007, 12:41 AM:name=KungFuSquirrel)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(KungFuSquirrel @ Mar 23 2007, 12:41 AM) [snapback]1616401[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> That VGCats back on page 1 is fantastic.
Definitely looking forward to this. Really interested how this will hit the mass market, too - on the one hand, it's more out there than The Sims and SimCity which could alienate a big chunk of the usual Wright audience... on the other, my wife was asking me what I knew about this game. (though she also sent me a portal trailer and was like "oooooh, this looks cool!" so she may not qualify as being as casual a gamer as I initially suspected)
No idea what I'll do for my first species, and the longer that indecisiveness carries on the more likely it'll be a giant walking ######. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd--> the icing on the cake of that VGCats is that it was done by the Spore dev team. When they saw Scott's comic in the usual cartoon form, they rendered the aliens in the Spore engine and sent it back to him <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
Comments
UltimaGecko:
There is no "End game", there are millions of planets to go explore and take over. And since you will be pretty much competing against the creatures and civilizations made by other players, some of them could be quite difficult(It's not MMO style, meaning what you do to their planet doesn't actually effect the way they see it, but when on your copt you travel to their area, it downloads what they currently had, or Im pretty sure that's how it works). And Im pretty sure taking over thousands of planets will take a very very long time.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
That's what I mean, the end game seems like it's just a tacked on sandbox with no real gameplay to be had (after a short while). Once you've got a super-powerful UFO you could probably just go around blowing up 1,000s upon 1,000s of planets, buy why? In all of these videos Wright always talks about how you can colonize planets, deposit new critters and start ecosystems, that's all well and good for a bit, but why? If I've got my species populating hundreds of worlds and it means absolutely nothing, what's the point? There could be a very cool 'federation system' in place (he briefly mentions it during one video (...the one where he accidently starts an interstellar war, apparently)). Do I get to manage this empire? Will it be tediously boring to visit all of my old worlds? Can I use my planets for something? Wright always talks about how you can visit 1000s of star systems, but he never really talks about what you can do with the planets (...although what you can do <i>to</i> the planets seems very cool). Like I said, there's only so many ways you can destroy a planet before it just becomes boring or monotonous.
(I'm fairly sure it just picks, creatures to seed onto the worlds you visit, not necessarily downloading the exact planet that someone else had, but possibly generating a new planet and then searching a database for creatures that could create a viable ecosystem on that planet).
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
Also, you evolve by using DNA points to upgrade certain parts of you. The next generation of you will then have that mutation(I think you make the next generation by either splitting bacteria style, or breeding). I would assume that better mutations cost more points, and getting points would take awhile, so that becoming a 8 foot tall monster would take quite some time. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
This is also what I mean, Wright never talks about the point-to-point process involved with your creature (there's the short video of gameplay, where his spider guy eats an egg for points), but whenever he goes to the creature editor he never shows how the game will actually function (unless someone has a video of how the gameplay there will actually be, I haven't seen one). He always 'cheats' and supermorphs his creature to something completely bizarre to show off the creature editor, or he just warps to another part of the game. That's all nice speculation (and how I tend to think it will work as well, based on what I've heard, but he never shows it).
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
For city building, I think you don't decide what structures "do" but more just what they look like. So there are a bunch of types of buildings, each with their own purpose. Im guessing that you will need certain buildings to be able to use pieces for certain vehicles and stuff.
Though Im just guessing all of this based on the limited footage they showed, and partially on what I'd want it to be.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Tribal and civilization stages don't ever seem fleshed out in the videos I've seen (he just likes fiddling with the editors a lot). What's the point of buidling creatively designed structures if they serve no purpose or their purpose is random? Now, I'm not saying the editors are bad or anything, they look fun and all (the house building tools in the Sims are also fun), but I need more information than 'you can build a sweet creature'. I can draw creatures if I want. I need important game details and mechanics. Procedural generation is cool, the creature editor is cool, the idea of going through the lifespan of a created species is cool, but is the indivudal gameplay cool? (Personally, running around looking for food and then mating looks kind of bland to me, and there just has to be more to it than we always see; same with the Civilization and Galactic diplomacy/empire building/etc.)
This is like hearing about the Sims and only hearing about the house editor; or hearing about Sim City and only hearing about how you can lay streets. That's all well and good, but show me the meat!
...sorry to disrupt the engaging banter about 'which Sci-fi creature would you create?' (How about a civilization of Howard the Ducks? Or TMNT society? ...personally I want a nebulous death cloud, but I don't think that'll be an option in the game).
Though Im hoping there is some sort of multiplayer that will be available, I really dislike single player only games.
...buy why? ...but why? ...what's the point? Like I said, there's only so many ways you can destroy a planet before it just becomes boring or monotonous.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why? Because it's fun. Wright has always made monotony enjoyable, you could play The Sims for hours on end but you're just doing the same thing over and over.
You probably listen to a selection of songs over and over even though they never change.
Not really, what's the point? It's not like you can genocide the entire galaxy of them.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You would think that.
Why? Because it's fun. Wright has always made monotony enjoyable, you could play The Sims for hours on end but you're just doing the same thing over and over.
You probably listen to a selection of songs over and over even though they never change.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I just burned them all to death and uninstalled the game.
Of course, by then I'd already given them my money for the game, so I doubt they cared.
God, I hate furries.
Cyborg furries?<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/confused-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="???" border="0" alt="confused-fix.gif" /> Stop encouraging them >:O
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
heh I didn't mention furries, you did... Who's encouraging now hmm!!! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />
Once you've got a super-powerful UFO you could probably just go around blowing up 1,000s upon 1,000s of planets, buy why?
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why, you do it in the name of Muad'Dib.
every time I read an interview about this game, I get more and more worried it's going to be overproduced until there's nothing left. If you keep trying to whittle down a sculpture, smoothing out the edges, trying to make it perfect, eventually you'll whittle it to nothing. It sounds like they're over-thinking the game, and every little gameplay decision is going through a committee. I'm scared they're going to chisel away all the quirky, unique gameplay elements until the game is completely smooth and bland...
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Huh, because it sounds to me like Will Wright is basically just doing his dream game, and everything he says they do. Can you give me an example of something that you're talking about?
Huh, because it sounds to me like Will Wright is basically just doing his dream game, and everything he says they do. Can you give me an example of something that you're talking about?
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I dunno, it's more a fear/feeling than something based on hard evidence.
<a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/12/spores-power-struggle-freedom-vs-beauty/" target="_blank">http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/12/spores-p...edom-vs-beauty/</a>
that article kinda brought out the feeling. It just seems like they might be over-thinking and over-simplifying the game. Hopefully they're making it as robust as possible and not dumbing it down too much. Sim Earth was one of my favorite sims, and also one of the most complicated =p
If not, I will construct some.
*edit* We can't say pee-pee anymore?
I doubt you can dig below the crust of the planet. Make some nice <b>procedural</b> lava oceans though.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Fixed.
I'm also kind of hoping that there's the option to have you creature breathe fire. I mean, there's a 'spit' ability, why not let me make a race of evil dragons?
<img src="http://www.gamesoc.org/images/trogdor.gif" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />
EDIT- Just noticed that Scythe made the same joke on the first page.
######.
<img src="http://www.gamesoc.org/images/trogdor.gif" border="0" alt="IPB Image" />
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You sir are my hero.
Definitely looking forward to this. Really interested how this will hit the mass market, too - on the one hand, it's more out there than The Sims and SimCity which could alienate a big chunk of the usual Wright audience... on the other, my wife was asking me what I knew about this game. (though she also sent me a portal trailer and was like "oooooh, this looks cool!" so she may not qualify as being as casual a gamer as I initially suspected)
No idea what I'll do for my first species, and the longer that indecisiveness carries on the more likely it'll be a giant walking ######.
That VGCats back on page 1 is fantastic.
Definitely looking forward to this. Really interested how this will hit the mass market, too - on the one hand, it's more out there than The Sims and SimCity which could alienate a big chunk of the usual Wright audience... on the other, my wife was asking me what I knew about this game. (though she also sent me a portal trailer and was like "oooooh, this looks cool!" so she may not qualify as being as casual a gamer as I initially suspected)
No idea what I'll do for my first species, and the longer that indecisiveness carries on the more likely it'll be a giant walking ######.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
the icing on the cake of that VGCats is that it was done by the Spore dev team. When they saw Scott's comic in the usual cartoon form, they rendered the aliens in the Spore engine and sent it back to him <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin-fix.gif" />