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Jun
27
(2008)
I’ve been following Spore since I saw the first demo at TED. I remember playing SimCity back in the day (on my Amiga 1000!), and SimEarth, and the other variants, and have really been looking forward to Spore.
It’s really a universe simulator, where players interact at various scales separated by orders of magnitude. The full game starts at the single cell stage, evolving up through multicellular life, eventually up to group and society, and finally planetary and galactic scales. What a great way to show interconnections between the various disciplines? Biochemistry through cellular biology through zoology through ecology through sociology through planetary biology and astrophysics. In a format that can be jumped into by anyone, including kids. Especially kids. What would happen if kids are able to develop a sense of these interactions and interdependencies at various scales?
I downloaded (and purchased) the full Spore Creature Creator - it’s the demo app to showcase some of the technology that will be in the final game. It lets you create creatures using a set of biological widgets, and the behaviour and charactistics of the creature are developed based on the properties of the components selected.
I put together a quick creature to see what the full demo would do, and it’s really pretty cool just how detailed the creature is. Based on the limbs and body size, the thing as a believable gate and stance. Based on the head, jaw, and body shape, it has a realistic voice - able to call and roar.
I’m REALLY looking forward to the full game.
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5 Responses to “Spore Creature Creator”
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This looks so cool … I have a ten year old who will be all over this (not such a gamer myself, but he really is).
How long did it take you to put the creature together?
Yes, but. EA seems to claim IP for creatures created.
@Fergus it took maybe half an hour, only because I was playing around
@Bryan I’m not sure the IP is a big issue - it’s not like you can use the creatures outside the game. They likely need to clarify that they have permission to transmit the creatures as part of the service - that’s where most of the services-owning-content stuff comes from. They need to be able to store, reproduce, duplicate, and distribute the creatures as part of the service. I’d err on the side of EA-being-non-evil.
Eh, maybe. If you’re talking about transmitting different players’ creatures to other players, for money, as a way to increase Spore’s overall value, then yes.
The Movies is a good example of doing this, sort of.
But I wonder what precedent is being set for how EA will handle the social features of the game, once it finally appears.