Aaron Edelweiss

uh... I'm not sure how you and people reporting bad graphics are measuring. It's beautiful here. I did notice that the graphics settings do not auto detect at all, so they are by default all as low as they go. I only notice that because I'm a "hardcore gamer" and I go in and change everything before I even play the game (controls, graphics, everything). I think it does cartoon charm pretty well, but maybe I'm just easily amused .

The tribal and creature phases are just stepping stones between the cell stage (which I thought was a lot of fun), and the space phase. Although, if you set the difficulty to hard, it is a bit more challenging. Still can't permanently die, but you can make no progress and have to think about who you ally with, who you attack, and what you equip when you head out. You also have to eat more. I didn't have much fun under normal, but I kind of like it under hard.

Richie Waves

Game was great fun until I got to the Tribal bit... then it just turns annoying..

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Siyu Suen

Go in and poke around, up the resolution and turn everything up as high as you can before seeing a drop in your fps. I had a sinking feeling the first time I went up on land too, but after poking around in my settings I really enjoyed a lot of eye candy and lovely effects.

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"Your reality, sir, is lies and balderdash and I'm delighted to say that I have no grasp of it whatsoever" -Baron Munchausen

I'm attempting to bring about the end of the world to usher in a new era of mask wielding overlords. This is how!

Mukatsuku

I only have a problem with the graphics in civ mode and space mode, because all those creatures I spent years making are now tiny specs. I want to get out and still run around on planets. Why can't I? Surely since creature and tribal mode are in the game, it wouldn't need much in the way of programming to jump out of your ship and stroll about, seeing everyone really close up and personal.

As for the space scenes itself - well, let's face it, Eve Online exists and that has spoilt us all for real eye-candy.

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Wildefire Walcott

I'm more annoyed by the "three installs" rule. If your hard drive crashes and you put a new drive in your computer, that's two installs. If you get a new computer and install the game, that's three installs. You can never install the game again without buying it again. Uninstalling doesn't credit you with another install.

You're basically renting the game.

I can think of three or four games that I've installed more than 3 times because they were good enough I kept coming back to them. I'd really hate it if I could never play Grim Fandango or Arx Fatalis or Gothic II again.

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Morrigan hyun

Been playing it off and on (yeah ok more on than off lol) since i got it on friday and although im loving the space stage i was disapointed with how fast i got there. I think i got to the space stage on the first day i got it when i was expecting it to take a pretty long time.

Space stage is definately my favourite and im currently hooked on it. I didnt enjoy the civ stage at all and was disapointed with how small the world was.

Got to agree the constant pirate attacks are pretty annoying but i got those missile things installed on each planet i get, so then i dont need to worry about pirates as it destroys them for me so i dont need to head to whatever planet it is each time they try to take it. But before i descovered them it was incredibly irritating and made me want to stop playing.

Overall its a pretty good game but yeah i was expecting more from it.

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Sobriquet Kryakutnoy

Are you certain? When I started out with my GeForce 8600m GT it defaulted everything to medium, with a low depth of field (though I of course cranked it all the way up to high.) Perhaps the team that did the Cider 'port' just included a different setting template, though.

Aaron Edelweiss

Ya, that's very possible.

Beau Perkins

Ok. Day 2.

Ehh.

Civilization Stage was very weak. That should have had way more depth. I beat it in less than an hour and a half. I made it to Space but I had to get some sleep so I will play around with it tonight.

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Richie Waves

yea, space is a lot of fun, I was glad of the "icbm" (i think) where I could Cheney the map and just go to the ufo part, its fun now!

Mukatsuku

Getting closer to the first part of your Spore coaster set

Cindy Claveau

This is EA's standard approach, and it's one reason I usually avoid EA games. Hey, guys, SPORE IS ALREADY PIRATED on Torrents, WTF did you accomplish?

Oh, I know: You got your game 1-starred on Amazon, that's what.

Fred Benenson’s Blog » Blog Archive » Spore losing the DRM Fight

Dumbasses.

When are these assholes going to learn that there's nothing you can do to stop pirating, and crap like SecurROM only inhibit your sales and encourage pirating?

Fuck EA. Fuck SecurROM. Bastards.

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Kira Zobel

No pleasing everyone. o_o

I'm in space stage, and I've enjoyed every stage thus far.

Aimee Weber

I liked Spore a lot when I first started, but that started to slide as I continued to play.

I expected that my design of my critter would have an impact on how it performed, but that's not true. If you buy a certain kind of claw, you get claw damage regardless if you stick it on his head or arm or tail. The game doesn't feature any sort of design strategy and that was a big let down for me.

But it is beautiful, and I like how it features an actual round planet.

Eirik

Ok, I know I'm being a bit conspiracy theorist with this - but my belief is that they are trying to give the killing blow to PC gaming. It's no big secret that most game developers rather work for consoles than for PCs. It's easier programming, it takes about 5 years before there's any change in the OS (next-gen consoles), and everyone has the same or nearly the same hardware. Much less bugs, much less QA, etc.

Last time I checked figures, and I'm very sorry that I can't find the source anymore, I read that 85% of the PC videogames played in Europe were pirated copies (though I'm quite sure the numbers came from the industry itself, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was propaganda bullshit).

These huge invasive DRMs aren't going to change that percentage, not at all. But with some luck they'll change the amount of people who play PC games and drive more people to play console games. Ever since consoles have gone online, it's become a pain in the arse to play pirated videogames. You need to mod your console, and by doing that you lock yourself out of any online interaction. -> More profits for the gaming studios if people switch to consoles, and they're getting close to the point where they can drop PC support completely and thus improve their profits yet again.

EA hates PC gamers. They've made that clear more than enough times.

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Lourdes

right now it has 1,886 1 star reviews. I feel kinda bad for Will Wright.. he's been screwed since he sold his soul to EA.

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Candide LeMay

Another complaint about Spore EA under pro-creationism attack | Gaming Industry | News by MCV

Heh

Cindy Claveau

Which is another reason I love companies like Paradox. I've had HOI and HOI2 for ages, installed on multiple PCs, and never had a single issue.

For more info on actual impact of pirating, see also the music industry. It's a major mistake to count all those pirated copies as "lost sales". That's assuming everyone who pirates would have bought a copy if they couldn't pirate.

Logic 101. No.

Cindy Claveau

Securom Removal - TweakGuides Forums

I just realized I can't remove the SecurRom that was installed with the Creature Creator because I also have Mass Effect on my PC.

I should just buckle up and delete all of it. Goddam viruses in disguise.

Aimee Weber

HA! Kind of interesting, but to me it seems Spore promotes the compromise view that life was created by God ... using evolution.

If kids believed everything they play in games, Spore would teach them that God slaps claws and eyeballs, and flagellum onto critters at his whimsy as he tinkers life into advanced stages.

They would also believe you can withstand 100 machine gun rounds and heal yourself up in seconds by eating a sanvitch.

Without suspension of disbelief, very little in entertainment is actually entertaining.

Mukatsuku

Ok, this is me talking as a software developer who worked for EA (and yes, I was and I did).
When you are a developer working for EA, you have a representative from EA coming into the office regularly, and I mean REALLY regularly (when we were developing for Eidos, they requested updates sent to their servers and CDs posted to them, EA came around and stomped around the offices in person).

Now, this is all well and good, except they were in the office to intimidate and intimidate they did. They would stand behind people working on a car design and just watch and stare and then ask stupid questions like "Why do you think that style of wheel is ok?"

In the meetings, they would demand really stupid crap put into games and really good ideas taken out - the representative I worked directly with was called Tony and I shall not name his surname because his lawyers are more expensive than mine (anyone who knows anything about me can find it out anyway).
This guy admitted to not liking games and yet he was sent to us to tell us how to make the game we were making. When I stood up in a meeting and told him that his idea was insane, he banned me from future meetings (and, I love to gloatingly say, the idea he introduced that I hated was slagged off in every review of our game).

When it comes down to it, EA are run by accountants and people who want money and who don't play games and they send representatives to companies who stifle creativity and stop developers working to their potential.

Will Wright showed underwater civilisations, creatures being ripped apart, creatures exploding in a mass of guts in space.... but none of that ended up in the game. Why? EA.... no blood, no guts due to their "aim at kids" view.... no underwater civilisations due to their "make them pay for expansions" policy.

EA banned us from installing easter eggs too - yet, at least that was one act of defiance we managed, even if it was a crappy one - if you enter your high score as the surname of the tall, skinny canadian from EA who watched what we were doing, all the characters in our game became 9 foot tall and made from matchsticks

I have worked for Infogrames, Eidos, EA and various companies (one title getting tossed between numerous publishers) and none dictated what the game would be and contain more than EA did. They removed all creativity and added shit nobody liked.

I apologise to anyone who paid money for 007 Racing - it was NOT my fault! I was banned from the meetings for trying to stop EA creating the shit that it was.

io Kukulcan

that sucks Muka.
i've had the exact opposite experience working for EA.
they allow us considerable design freedom.
of course, we're way out here in the middle of the Utah desert.

Cindy Claveau

Oh for fucks sake. That dweeb is actually an argument against Intelligent Design.



U mean there R homos in thiz GAME?

Eirik

Well, all the creatures DO look the same. It's not allowed to make two different genders.

So yes - I assume that means all the creatures are homos.

Aaron Edelweiss

You know, that A) the religion is supposed to limit what an individual is capable of, and B) that's apparently not only expected, but preferred, pretty much nails down my aversion to religion's in general, and Christianity specifically.

I'm sorry Cris, I know, this guy is not the majority. 90% of the world claims a religion, and I would guess that 75% of those are completely reasonable people who would not agree with the above quote.

The reason my aversion is not limited to that ~22% of the world that would agree with that quote, is because it seems to me that 22% have actually given themselves completely to their religions as most religions ostensibly require, and the reasonable portion are the holdouts, the people who choose not to examine or adhere to their religion that closely. To be one of the majority of reasonable religious people then requires a solid moral foundation outside your religion, as you in effect are following an internal definition of the "spirit" of your religion rather than the "letter". That leads me to think that religion is not spiritually helpful at all, and in fact may be exactly the opposite, a hindrance, or if you want to be nice, a test of your spiritual strength.

I am not arguing the existence of God, Jesus, or the validity of a belief in either. I'm actually trying to point out that those of you with a belief in a higher power may be better off spiritually, emotionally, and mentally, not associating with a religion at all.

Failing that, some of you should really start an initiative within your religions to help that fanatical minority.