Spore

Partha · Post by **Partha** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:58 am

Got it yesterday ayem. Making it short and sweet - I lost 5 hours somewhere in an easy game getting my creature from single cell to the end of tribal development. Game plays very fluidly, if a bit confusingly at first if you're new to the creature creator.

So far, I'd give it 9/10. Will post more after some more playtime and digestion.

Flunkie · Post by **Flunkie** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:02 pm

Spore has been flat out hammered in the reviews over the DRM. I've added to the chorus on Amazon and other sites. At this time Amazon has over 700 posted reviews and is at 1 star. I of course won't buy it as I have game that go back to the '80s. If I had to call EA tech support to install Starflight, I probably would have thrown it out long ago. I guess that's what EA is hoping people will do, buy it, toss it, buy it again.

Also many of the reviews where people have played it still hammer it as being "a mile wide and an inch deep", or "Mr. Potatohead on steroids". I was eager to buy this game a year ago, but after they announced the DRM, I decided to hope they change their minds or pick it up in the bargan bin in a few years.

Embar Angylwrath · Post by **Embar Angylwrath** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 2:55 pm

Looking forward to hearing what you have to say about it Partha. This is a game I've been interested in.

Fallakin Kuvari · Post by **Fallakin Kuvari** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:55 pm

I picked it up on lunch. I've already lost a couple hours going from cell to tribal. I'd give it a solid 9/10 so far.

Post by **Ddrak** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:43 pm

Wow - almost 1000 anti-DRM posts on Amazon. That's going to seriously raise some red flags at EA.

Having said that, I'll probably pick it up anyway (yeah, I know, I'm a sellout) over lunch today despite the $100 price tag locally.

Dd

Post by **Ddrak** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:24 pm

Amazon.co.uk wiped all the user reviews for Spore from their site. Guess they didn't appreciate the DRM protest. Funny thing is it makes it even more evident that there's something funny going on as the whole "suppressing bad press" now becomes even more interesting news.

The facts on the DRM itself are as follows (for those who don't already know):

- 3 installations (ie format your machine twice, or upgrade twice), then you have to call EA to ask them to let you have another one. Rumor is they're a little draconian on the phone about doing it.
- It checks every time it goes online that you have an activated version.

The "check every 10 days or get locked out" thing got removed when the initial outcry happened.

Dd

Flunkie · Post by **Flunkie** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:23 pm

From what I've heard (I don't have first hand knowledge), a few people have had problems with the installation and tried reinstalling it using up activations. Also someone claimed that they did a driver upgrade for their video card and had to burn an activation on it. One guy claimed he installed it and uninstalled it on three machines because he thought that he got the activations back, only to get locked out. Supposedly he was testing it on a few different machines he owns to see if it ran better on a Mac or on a Windows emulator on a Mac.

Quite a few people are anticipating Amazon wiping the reviews, but I think that might hurt them if they do. There will be a backlash if Amazon wipes out a thousand customers.

A new colloquialism has been born. You've heard of getting Borked? How about getting Spored?

Taxious · Post by **Taxious** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 8:34 am

A couple friends and I were going to get Spore and start playing together, but after hearing about the DRM, I've changed my mind. I can't stand stuff like that, I'd much rather support an open game than give these people my money - no matter how good the game is.

Flunkie · Post by **Flunkie** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 11:08 am

Besides Starforce, SecuROM is and the activation limit is the only DRM I've encountered that I refuse pay for. SecuROM makes Steam look very appealing in comparison.

Post by **Ddrak** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:03 am

Steam as it currently stands is a pretty good model. You activate online once, then can play in offline mode as much as you want. They also price things low enough to make piracy not worth the hassle in the general case (the entire XCom series for $10 is insanely good, for example).

I picked up Spore - half way through stage 2 at the moment as an aggressive carnivore. I think it will be interesting to replay as a herbivore - probably a lot more dangerous to live in the world like that. Replayability seems pretty decent. It's certainly not hardcore, but good light entertainment.

Dd

Partha · Post by **Partha** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:10 pm

Ok, I've played to the beginning of the space exploration phase with carnivores and omnivores on both easy and normal. (Since I didn't have the creature creator before this, took me a bit to figure out how to make an omnivore without getting the Proboscis.)

it's been described to me negatively as a bunch of mini-games, but it doesn't feel that way - one stage goes right to the next pretty seamlessly.

I'll stick with my score, but I've got several issues with the game. The DRM is NOT one of them.

First, it's neat that your creation shows up in Cell mode as one of the inhabitants as you go along. It's pretty simple - eat bits of food, mate, and dodge really nasty and big things that kill you. The more you eat, the bigger you get, until you get to the point where you grow a brain and get on land.

Get on land, and things change a bit. Now you can either hunt other races to extinction or socialize with them. As you go, you'll wander the landscape munching plants, bones which offer new DNA, and maybe other creatures. This is the first genius part for me - although you can't play together on the same world, if you're logged in, the game will grab models from Sporepedia, resulting in a mix of Maxis stuff and then player created models. it's cool to think that at this moment, someone might be playing against one of my creations, bad as they are. Of course, my biggest peeve with this mode is the same as any other mode; you can't die or extinct your species, no matter how many times you or your pack mates get slaughtered.

Anyways, after a bit of that, you move on to the Tribal stage, which is the weakest part of the game for me. You battle to either make friends of other tribes or make them extinct, and the choices are all really simple and very shallow. You can domesticate creatures who will defend your town; that's pretty cool. Making alliances with other tribes is boring; you make musical instruments and go play concerts for them, or you bribe them until you can go play a concert for them. Conquest or alliance is the ONLY way to get new technology, either, which is HIGHLY annoying. This treatment continues on into the Civilization stage. Think Age of Empires with fewer units, no Wonders, and less excitement as you find that conquering a second city makes you damn near invincible. Building your own vehicles is kind of aggravating, as well, because you SHOULD be able to put protuberances on just about any flat surface you want, but in practice it's near impossible, and since it's the same engine used to create the animals, it really fails for me when I try to add things to my units like guns.

Anyways, I'm sure someone is considering a 2.0, and in the meantime, 1.0 is still hella fun to monkey with. I wish my grasp of nonhuman anatomy was better.

Ariannda Kusanagi · Post by **Ariannda Kusanagi** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:33 pm

We loaded the creature creator for the kids, and I will be picking it up for Christmas. I can't justify the 50 bucks for the game right now when I won't even buy a 50.00 for myself. I'd love to read more about your explorations as you progress through the game though !

Fallakin Kuvari · Post by **Fallakin Kuvari** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:45 pm

Having gotten a fair way into space age I'm sticking with my rating of 9/10, too.

Also, No problems with the DRM thus far on my end.

Post by **Ddrak** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:47 am

I wouldn't say I've had "problems" with the DRM, but I'm pretty sure I will eventually - I upgrade and reformat machines all the time. I've had the standard issue of having to close half the system level apps I run at startup because SecureROM gets pissy.

I've just got to space age. Only had minor issues with expanding too fast in Civ age when on normal difficulty (got beaten back to my home cities) but now ready to go off and explore the galaxy in my bulldozer space ship (I literally stuck a rocket cone on the back of my armored vehicle from civ stage - looks whacky awesome imo!)

Pics are demanded of people's creations...

Dd

Rsak · Post by **Rsak** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 6:37 am

So it was your flying bulldozer that scared the shit out of my "Parrots of Doom"...

Post by **Ddrak** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 9:13 am

Hahaha - maybe. I know someone's flying spare tire scared the crap outta me the first time I was in creature phase.

The Horned Space Crawler

Dd

Select · Post by **Select** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:30 am

http://www.spore.com/sporepedia#qry=sas ... -top_rated
Ahahaha.
Most of the models suuuuuck, but the most popular are pretty fantastic

Rsak · Post by **Rsak** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:35 am

An earlier revision of my Parrot O'Doom... It now has a shark mouth, longer legs, and a spikier tail.

Fallakin Kuvari · Post by **Fallakin Kuvari** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:27 pm

I just shared my guys, so they're out there now. (I originally started playing offline).

http://www.spore.com/sporepedia#qry=sast-500051161995
http://www.spore.com/sporepedia#qry=sast-500051166171

Post by **Ddrak** » Fri Sep 12, 2008 5:30 am

Fallakin Kuvari wrote:I just shared my guys, so they're out there now. (I originally started playing offline).

http://www.spore.com/sporepedia#qry=sast-500051161995
http://www.spore.com/sporepedia#qry=sast-500051166171

Serenity is pretty cool.

Dd

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