Skip to main content

Spore Creature Creator: Can I have my computer back now please.

Spore is going to be huge. How do I know? Well for one thing I know because my computer game phobic wife actually went into a game shop and bought the creature creator. For another I know that I haven't been let near my gaming computer since she installed it.

I would like to give you my own first impressions of the creator but I can't. I haven't got near the game while my wife and two daughters create an endless succession of cute creatures. What I can say is that the user interface is a stunning triumph. My wife is someone who normally refuses to play any computer game without me at her side to tell her what buttons to press buut within 1 minute of sitting in front of spore she was already creating her first creature.

I really think this game may hit that niche that made the Sims such a phenomenon. I have one fear though. From what I understand the full game will throw your beloved creations into a survival of the fittest fight for existence. Judging from the specifations on many of the body parts combat seems to feature strongly. I suspect that there are a lot of folk out there who just want to make cute cuddly creatures and these folks may be severely dissapointed if they have to go out and fight with them.

Comments

Anonymous said…
oh oh oh...spore creature google, go...go...lol

sorry, I do have to check this out though...also, how have you been, I haven't been around much at all due to that nasty thing they call RL...but I hope all is well with you and yours! take care!
Anonymous said…
Am getting that sinking feeling that SPORE will be far too casual than it had started out to be when first planned.

I hope I'm wrong but it's taken so long in development...
mbp said…
Hi Sean Hi DM,

I won't blame them for making it casual DM, that does seem to be where the money is in gaming nowadays. In fact I think a new SIMs like game - casual on the surface but with huge depth underneath could be just what PC gaming needs right now to save it from extinction. I know that SPORE will inevitably be released on consoles but there are many many folks out there who would never dream of buying a gaming console but who just might be wooed into gaming by Spore's cute creatures.
Loredena said…
It's intended to have depth for those who want that, while permitting more surface (or specialized) play for those who prefer that, based on what I'm reading. You can take a single game from amoeba to space (god game, city builder, strategy, 4x etc) or you can sandbox in your preferred area. Apparently while combat is likely to be the easiest method, you can also use culture or religion in your city builder/civ stages.
mbp said…
Hi Loredana. Thanks for pointing that out. Even though I never really got into God Games I find myself hoping that Spore does turn out to be a smash hit both for the boldness of the concept and the excellence of execution.

Popular posts from this blog

Android Tip 3: Sharing a Folder between multiple users of an Android device

Android has allowed multiple user logins for quite a while now. This is can be very useful for tablets which are shared by family members. Normally Android erects strict Chinese walls between users preventing them from using each others apps and viewing each others files. This is a useful security feature and ensures your kids don't mess up your work spreadsheets when screwing around on the tablet and should also prevent them from buying €1,000 worth of Clash of Candy coins on your account. Sometimes however you really do want to share stuff with other users and this can prove surprisingly difficult. For example on a recent holiday I realised that I wanted to share a folder full of travel documents with my wife. Here are some ways to achieve this. 1. If you have guaranteed internet access  then you can create a shared folder on either Dropbox or Google drive. Either of these has the great advantage of being able to access the files on any device and the great disadvantage of bein...

Portal 2 two screen coop on one PC.

I mentioned before that I intended to try Portal 2 in "unofficial split screen co-op mode. Well split screen on a small computer monitor is a recipe for a headache especially when the game defies gravity as much as portal. However a minor bit of extra fiddling allowed us to drive two seperate screens from one PC. The Steam forums describes a complicated method of doing this that I couldn't get working so this simpler method which worked for me might be of use to someone. 1. First I followed the instructions in this post to get split screen multi-player working: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1847904 A minor issue not mentioned is that you need to enable the console from the keyboard/mouse options menu I am using keyboard and one wired Xbox360 controller as suggested. Getting the controller to switch to channel 2 was tricky at first but as Chameleon8 mentions plugging it out and in again during loading works. The trick for me was to do the plug / p...

Lotro: The Forgotten Treasury

Throg joined a Kinship group for the Forgotten Treasury instance last night. It was an enjoyable change from the solo questing that the now level 55 dwarf champion has been mostly doing so far in Moria. Some members of the group had tried and failed to clear the Treasury before so we knew it would be challenging but we were lucky enough to have a well balanced group with Guardian, Minstrel, Lore Master, Hunter, Burglar and Champion (Throg). Throg (level 55) and the minstrel (53) were both below the 56ish level of the instance but the others were all higher so it more or less balanced out. [SPOILERs ahead] It is a well designed enjoyable instance set in a circular chamber with balcony around. As you enter, a boss absconds to a locked side chamber with his treasure leaving the fellowship to clear trash ringed around the balcony. Once the trash are cleared you have access to a puzzle which must be solved in order to open the locked door. Clearing the (including six mini bosses) also get...