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My thoughts on Spore
17 years ago
General
SO HEY! I picked up Spore on Monday, and have been playing it every chance I have. I've also read a lot of casual reviews, and I notice a lot of people griping on it for the same reasons: Creature stage is boring, Tribal stage is too hard, they all hate my guts, I'm getting my ass kicked in space mode, etc ... and actually, at first, I agreed with them! Tribal and civilization mode was tedious because I was just mindlessly killing things, and space mode was an utter chore. I was expecting an open sandbox, and instead I was answering constant distress calls from my allies, being extorted by neutral species, and being utterly wiped out by anything hostile. My ship seemed to be evenly matched with enemy craft, which seems fair until you realize I'm usually outnumbered 5 to 1. So in short, it was a frustrating, painful experience.
HOWEVER!
I soon realized my problem. I, like so many others before me, had started out as a carnivore on Medium difficulty. Your diet in the cell stage has a MASSIVE impact on the rest of the game. I had probably befriended more species than I extincted in creature mode, but that didn't change the fact that I went into tribal mode as a predator, causing every other tribe to view me with hostility. i had just assumed that angry tribes couldn't be appeased, and so i went through the tedious process of wiping them off the face of the planet. Same with the civ stage. I was a military force, and everyone else hated me as a result. There was nothing I COULD do except go to war.
So I just started over.
This time, I was a herbivore playing on Easy mode. By the time I made it back to tribal stage, I realized I could appease angry tribes by giving food to them. Instead of just killing everyone, it turned into a fairly interesting game of time and resource management. I went into civ mode as a religious power. I formed an alliance with another group of cities, and together we slowly took over the planet, converting cities and inciting wars through diplomacy.
Finally, I made it once more into the space stage, and found a much more relaxed atmosphere. Aliens weren't as hostile, alliances were easier to form, and disasters happened much less frequently. I was suddenly powerful enough to take down space pirates without them running away and healing. I can actually hold my own against hostile factions, if i feel like going to war with them. I'm finally far enough into it to do what I wanted to do in the first place, play around in a huge universe. Sculpting and terraforming planets, meddling in the affairs of primitive tribes, creating planetary zoos, and just exploring the universe. It's always a treat to explore a planet, and discover a creature that you or a friend made.
So yeah! All in all, a wonderful game. Just remember to start playing on EASY. It can kick your ass if you're not prepared.
My only real complaint, other than the unexpected difficulty, is how obscure some of the functions and controls are. For instance, I was looking in vain for some kind of eyedropper tool in the building and vehicle creators, until I stumbled across a tutorial video on spore.com. You have to hold down Alt to get the eyedropper tool? And pressing 3, 4 and 5 switches between its different modes? That's not intuitive at all! Why not just add a couple of more buttons?
But anyway. Yeah. I like it. A lot. I'm also on the Sporapedia as ZombieCat2001, if anyone wants to see my sad little creations. No sporn ... well, except for the raptordeer I just bioengineered in space mode ... see how long until that gets banned ... *cough*
HOWEVER!
I soon realized my problem. I, like so many others before me, had started out as a carnivore on Medium difficulty. Your diet in the cell stage has a MASSIVE impact on the rest of the game. I had probably befriended more species than I extincted in creature mode, but that didn't change the fact that I went into tribal mode as a predator, causing every other tribe to view me with hostility. i had just assumed that angry tribes couldn't be appeased, and so i went through the tedious process of wiping them off the face of the planet. Same with the civ stage. I was a military force, and everyone else hated me as a result. There was nothing I COULD do except go to war.
So I just started over.
This time, I was a herbivore playing on Easy mode. By the time I made it back to tribal stage, I realized I could appease angry tribes by giving food to them. Instead of just killing everyone, it turned into a fairly interesting game of time and resource management. I went into civ mode as a religious power. I formed an alliance with another group of cities, and together we slowly took over the planet, converting cities and inciting wars through diplomacy.
Finally, I made it once more into the space stage, and found a much more relaxed atmosphere. Aliens weren't as hostile, alliances were easier to form, and disasters happened much less frequently. I was suddenly powerful enough to take down space pirates without them running away and healing. I can actually hold my own against hostile factions, if i feel like going to war with them. I'm finally far enough into it to do what I wanted to do in the first place, play around in a huge universe. Sculpting and terraforming planets, meddling in the affairs of primitive tribes, creating planetary zoos, and just exploring the universe. It's always a treat to explore a planet, and discover a creature that you or a friend made.
So yeah! All in all, a wonderful game. Just remember to start playing on EASY. It can kick your ass if you're not prepared.
My only real complaint, other than the unexpected difficulty, is how obscure some of the functions and controls are. For instance, I was looking in vain for some kind of eyedropper tool in the building and vehicle creators, until I stumbled across a tutorial video on spore.com. You have to hold down Alt to get the eyedropper tool? And pressing 3, 4 and 5 switches between its different modes? That's not intuitive at all! Why not just add a couple of more buttons?
But anyway. Yeah. I like it. A lot. I'm also on the Sporapedia as ZombieCat2001, if anyone wants to see my sad little creations. No sporn ... well, except for the raptordeer I just bioengineered in space mode ... see how long until that gets banned ... *cough*
I also had a big problem with the creature stage, in that I kept getting weapons when I was almost entirely diplomatic(I had, I think, one species I declared war on because I was omnivorous and they were delicious.)
...I just checked it out ahahaha.
I had fun so far, and while I had some difficulty in space phase I just kept going and it wasn't really that hard as soon I got hang of it. I been playing a omnivore (started as carnivore in cell phase), and the game is a bit mixed between aggression and peaceful diplomacy for my part.
...it's possible to meet yourself, I went to where my other planet was and explored for fun. And while exploring I also found out that my second save is very close to a certain solar system called Sol. ;)
Oh, also, your race which I evolved is thriving, heh. They managed to conquer several systems, and have spread out to at least five stars now.
I notice that each civilization I meet uses a different language but both in mine and Zombiecat's game our own civilizations talks Simlish.
(mine is the same here)
Herbivore on Hard mode = constant calls for help in space. I went through the stages almost completely pacifist and I think it has helped in keeping everyone but the Grox from instantly hating me, but that doesn't stop the Grox or pirates from hating me. I do recommend Shaman aspect only so you can explore and get back to babysit your system and allies in 10 seconds or less.
I'll stop rambling aimlessly now.
random thoughts: I think I've gone through the first four stages killing everyone and befriending everyone. I have not hit the middle ground yet. I don't like how the shield only works planetside. + and - keys are the only way to get on or off a planet in a hurry. The mouse wheel just isn't fast enough. Do not fight Grox on a planet they own. Fighting is easier if you turn towards your enemy and tap on the S key. It seems they will follow some type of collision detection protocol and get stuck trying to follow you before engaging weapons. You can then torpedo them to death.
I got this about 2 days before it hit the shelves, got to space.. done both carn/pred and veg/passive and it does get a bit.. well.., it feels like it is lacking. Primal feels like it is made for 8yr olds, and the civ/space feels like a slow paced RTS that doesn't really require much to it.
But its different, I give it that. Tho it does feel a bit rushed specially with a few bugs. One instance, loading a save game, to find my entire tribe is under water.. :S
It needed more depth :(
I say we do the right thing, and just blame EA lol. Damn you EA! You ruined it in some indirect way!
Even if it's blatantly milking the cow, I don't mind the expansions as they did expand the The sims 2 universe nicely and all of the expansions pack I bought felt like I got value for the money. I don't play The sims as much I used to though, so I dunno about expansions newer than Seasons.
However some expansions for orginal The sims were kinda weak. House party specifically come to mind.
I don't usually mind expansion packs as long they provide new aspects of the gameplay. However, I hate expansion packs that adds tools that should been there from the start. That was the case with the Simcity 4 expansion pack Rush hour. The traffic query tool is very useful to determine the flow of traffic in your city, but it also should been there from the start. :/
Oh, yeah, and I hate how artifacts sometimes spawn in the middle of rock formations. Have to sweep your abduction ray around blindly, groping for it. An autosave would be nice, too. PATCH TIEM.
Due to the hype in the gaming community, EA probably didn't want to get the Wii syndrome (aka when the demand is way way higher than supply). Infact, I recall that Nintendo stopped Wii-related ads in the country because they had problems filling the demand.
I was a carnivore throughout most of my first game, that really did just be diplomatic at the end of each stage since I was so far down in the red converting a planet via religion didn't change a thing. I'm more impressed that the galaxy feels much more like a galaxy then an elongated map, and that I can't want to see what lies in the dense core of the galaxy, or if it's possible to go to others.
Still, though.
I get the impression that if you're a carnivore or aggresive you're at a massive disadvantage than someone who eats greens and loves everyone... which for a game thats supposed to be a sandbox, feels too preachy.
I'd expect different play styles to have different consequences but simmilar degrees in difficulty in playing them through. Excluding sheer idiocy ofcourse.
But on the other hand, playing peacefully makes the game EASY (as it must be, since little kids play Spore) and probably less fun than eating/extincting/being a dick to everything you meet, so.. it's a fair trade off that leaves something for everyone, I'd say.
Kids and casual players looking for a creative outlet and place to relax: be a happy peaceful friendly herbivore.
Hardcore gamers looking for more of an actual game: Be a carnivorous dick. But not literally, because that would get banned.
The way I'm playing it is he absolutely LOVES to sing (he's a whole choir to himself) and will always attempt to sing at creatures that he meets. However, he's got a terrible temper so if they don't enjoy the singing... chomp chomp chomp!
No way actually seemed easier than others, changing ways might be.
Also I found combat easier in space mode than I thought initially it was. I should had realized earlier that attack is really the best defence against a stubborn civilization. Most problems I hear are from people who like to turtle themselves in space phase.
And infact, I think aggressive civilizations is the easiest to play in Civilization mode as well.
Currently my lovable green guys, the Unyoni species, are in civilization mode with them and two other factions of the same species (Guess I should have left it set at "no theme" so I'd get more random critters going against me) left to conquer. Pretty sure I won't have too much trouble winning, but I can't decide which of them to betray (at the moment they're both my friends) first or how to go about it. Do I ally with the weaker of the two against the stronger, then betray the weaker one afterwards, or do I convince them both to kick each others' butts and pick up the rubble afterwards? Hmm..
SUPER AWESOME PROTIP FOR RELIGIOUS CIVILIZATIONS: Epic critters dig the music. Seriously. If you have religious vehicles, get three or more of them at a time and go blast the epic creatures until you have them charmed. Then promptly lead your new pet near something you don't want living any more, and watch in delight as your enemies die and you DON'T get blamed for it. This is important, because by themselves religious vehicles can only DISABLE buildings, including turrets, and they are poorly matched in combat against, uhh.. combat vehicles.
Beware, however, as the charming will eventually wear off and your "pet" will turn around and start destroying your units again. Needless to say... never lead them near your OWN cities.
P.S. Feel free to check out some of my creations. I've got a couple neat things so far. Same username as on here.
Religious power is extremely weak against other vehicles (I won't even attack a single combat vehicle unless I have at least 3 religious vehicles) but as I mentioned before... you can dominate wild animals. Dominating the small ones is pretty pointless, but those epic critters will kill just about any vehicle or turret in two shots.
I don't know what taking a city over via combat or economy works like, but when you do it religiously... you blast music at their turrets and entertainment buildings to shut those down, then if you have attackers to spare they will begin bombarding the city with "religious propaganda" ... IE, more music. A progress bar begins to fill, and when it reaches max the entire city and every building in it becomes yours. Oh, and while you're doing that, a city-sized hologram of your critter appears and begins yelling at the city in Simlish, which is just awesome.
Economy takes way more patience, but is the best way to absorb yourself into allies peacefully. Start a trade route with a city, and after awhile the civilization owning the city offers you to buy the city.
And for the economy, so.. wait.. they're like, so impressed and grateful for your suave business skillz that they just decide you'd probably make a better leader than them? Haha.. neat.
There was only one economic faction in my civilization stage... unless there were others that got wiped out before I met them. The one I knew only owned a single city, and it got destroyed before I realized they were under attack. Shame, too, I probably would rushed to help 'em. I mean, they wouldn't have eventually bought ME out by trading with me... would they?
I'm pretty fond of the economic way of doing things. Money talks, fo serious. And with the economic alignment it seems easier to make the money too.
But the religious way sounds amusing. xD I may have to be religious on one of my other planets.
SPORE IS BETTER THAN GOD!
Day 1 Sept 7:
Created Ninjaaaaa easy mode.
Ninjaaaa -> "Warrior"
Ninjaaaa ends up getting boring because I literally 1 shot peoples capitol cities with my bombs
Day 2+3 didn't really play much, mostly Too human and Mercs 2.
Day 4:
Created Omni and some other name that escapes me. Both hard mode.
Omni becomes "Trader"
Other name I can't remember becomes "Shaman"
Omni is currently stable with 4 alliances 5 million sporebucks but only one colony
Other name is stable with 15 colonies 8 of them are T3 with 3 cities and 9 alliances (My allies get mad at me for not killing my other allies sometimes until I throw money @ them lol)
Both Omni and my other have NEVER made a hostile action past the tribal stage. (Omni needed Omnivore Adaptive and Versatile to get "Trader")
Not even vs pirates, I make turrets and kite my foes into them while my allies mow them down.
Honestly I think that the learning curve for the difficulties is more than most people expect and a lot will drop the game because of it.
Happy Sporing!
I mean honestly, wtf? I can kill 50 tribe member like they are cattle, and I dont go down? But i accidently hit one button and it spikes upwards?
Same crap happened to me in the first run through the game in the cell and creature phases. Started off as carnivore and didnt get the option to get a omnivore mouth until the last part of the cell phase.. Tried to manuiver towards omnivore but couldnt get jack. Creature phase was the same. I made 20 allies and killed off 20 creatures but I ended up in the red even tho i had made the 20 allies AFTER the extinctions. Its like.. no matter how hard i try, I cant make them go where i want them to go. Certain stuff is weighed a lot heavier than others.
And lord the space stage.. so frikken anticlimactic when you realize that your going to be baby sitting for the most part, that the planetbuster that they showed off as one of the first portions of space is a 4 million buck investment PER BOMB, and that you have to grind up the more annoying badges to get it. Oh and of course it pissess off everyone in the galaxy even if you havnt met them or use literaly half the galaxy away. \o/
Its just kinda meh. As long as the game took you would expect a little more meat. But it seems like stuff they showed isnt in anymore and whats left seems like most that dev time was making the base catalog.
And yeah, it seems like a lot of the features Wright demoed at gaming expos for the past few years either aren't as cool as we thought, or are missing altogether ... whatever happened to being able to evolve an aquatic species? Why can't we build our own foliage? Why do all the fun tools in space mode take so long to acquire?
I've really been wanting to get it, but forget spending fifty bucks if I can't get the thing to work.
I'm now doing hard, I lurve Spore. =U
It lets Space Churchill journey through the stars in a Dussenberg.
You can lower the rate of pirate raids and eco disasters by adding following lines to the end of file preferences.prop located in "User name"/Application Data/Spore/Preferences directory. Just open it with notepad.
universeSimulatorPirateRaidFrequency 100
universeSimulatorPirateRaidAllyFrequency 100
universeSimulatorPirateRaidPlunderFrequency 100
universeSimulatorHappinessDisasterFrequency 100
universeSimulatorBiosphereCollapseFrequency 100
This should lower the rates and if you input 0 instead of 100 it should disable them.
You should also be able to input those lines like cheats inside the game, but you will have to do it each time you start Spore.
Other few helpful lines you could experiment with
universeSimulatorGrobTeaseAttackFrequency (100 by default)
universeSimulatorGrobWarAttackFreqExtremelyAware (40 by default)
universeSimulatorGrobWarAttackFreqVeryAware (80 by default)
universeSimulatorGrobWarAttackFreqAware (160 by default)
universeSimulatorWarAttackFrequency (300 by default)
Now I am playing the Vultrix though they look like cybernetic bird people and they even have the Stephen Hawking voice for them.
When I first played my cell was carnivorous because I was intending to make a mustelid and they are primarily carnivores too. Though when I got up on creature stage and found out you could make friends with all the species I ended up starving to death all the time because I never wanted to attack anything. So I restarted and this time worked extra in the cell stage to get the proboscis and become a herbivore then I found that made the creature stage a lot more fun I ran around befriending everyone and collecting all the body parts I could find! It's a shame that your mouth pieces are limited by what you eat I understand the reasoning behind it, but if you want a creature to look how you want it and play how you want it to you're gonna have a hard time.
Tribal and Civilization stages were fun.
Space stage is great aside for the baby sitting, but since I completely wiped out the empire that was nearby and aggressive I have been a lot more free to explore. Usually I just let the pirates plunder my spice since it's easy to get it back and those pirates don't generally break your expensive stuff. I do respond to the attacks because colony buildings are ridiculously expensive I think. I like the artifact collecting especially when the artifact is on a friendly's planet you gotta weigh the pros and cons before taking it.
Trying to map my way to the center. Hoping to find Sol (that's where Earth is, right?) and make enough money to buy every tool and try every thing.
Oh yeah, dropped a monolith on a civilization I liked near my home planet. I should go see how that turns out.
A lot however sounds like it will becoming in the inevitable expansions (it's EA Maxis and this could be the new Sims.) Although the economic and cultural paths in Civ stage sound interesting....
now mind you i have NOT played on easy at ALL but on a second "normal" save I have managed to be a very successful space travelling creature this time around!
Also a lot of my complaints about space phase have been eradicated with the recent patch that just came out, reducing the ridiculous demands of money to more manageable sums AND the effects of rejecting it are far less detrimental now thankfully.
Also am I the only one who's noticed that regardless of if you were a carnivore or a herbivore it seems to have no impact on your space life? both of my polar saves seem to have similar results once their space ships were launched. Both making a killing off the pink spice market and having lots of friends you can buy with money or the happy ray.
I had hoped the carnivores got weapons quicker or SOMETHING but can't say I notice a huge difference other than the random areas they are in and the markets they have about them.
Also, if you haven't already... buy a planet buster, save the game and make someone's life unhappy with it. There's "dire" social consequences but BOY is it fun!
Your diet doesn't affect anything in space mode, since you're not actually eating anyone else, I assume. Heh. Your past actions do have an effect, though. I think weapons are supposed to be cheaper if you were aggressive, social tools are cheaper if you're friendly, and colony tools are cheaper if you're industrious.
also, doesn't it feel like your home base is out to extort your poor pioneer self?
Equipment was always more expensive at home than from someone else I almost NEVER bought from home unless I just couldn't find it anywhere. colony incredi-packs were something like 150,000 at home but I could find them as low as 90,000 elsewhere. Hell planet busters were a measly 2.5M at my friendly war-like empire store *giggle*
Admittedly though, those bonuses are relatively minor.
also I just find it flow-breaking to have my war-hungry carnivores suddenly become interesting in contacting other intelligent life for the sure intellectual concept of it. I realize it's the primer mission for space phase but I had hoped the dialog was different. They should have been more concerned with conquering them than starting trade routes with them :S
And well, they probably behave along the lines of what you expect when you let one of your other civilizations visit them. Infact, if you have one of the more aggressive archetypes, might be a better idea to have the aggresive part contacting and not the peaceful part.
And the personality split achievement is bugged. I allied myself, but blah. :/