DailyTech - The Evolution of Spore

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Blog: Software The Evolution of Spore
Michael Hoffman (Blog) - February 27, 2007 11:13 PM

8 comment(s) - last by Operandi.. on Mar 1 at 1:51 AM

Will Wright

Don't we all love video games that appear to be kind of neat?

Electronic Arts recently confirmed that gamers will be able to play Spore on both the PC and Nintendo DS handheld console. There were many rumors circulating on the Internet that developers would bring Spore over to the DS, especially as Spore began grabbing more headlines. Keith Stuart, in a blog for the Guardian Unlimited, mentions that EA formally put lots of effort into supporting the Sony PlayStation Portable handheld console. It looks like the Will Wright creation will be available to even more gamers!

If you're not familiar with who exactly Will Wright is, he is the original creator of SimCity and The Sims, with Spore being his latest adventure. We all know how popular The Sims became -- easily selling more than 50 million copies, now having multiple expansion packs and a sequel.

During a presentation at the Game Developers Conference in 2005, he officially announced Spore. The game is being designed by Will Wright, and is under development by Maxis. Spore is an evolution type game that will have players go "from the origin and evolution of life through the development of civilization and technology and eventually all the way into the deepest reaches of outer space." Wright's concept of the game is one of the key reasons it is so anticipated.

E3 2006 allowed thousands of people, myself included, to see the creature editor which allows players to create our own characters. The game is flexible by allowing users to include sensory organs and other body parts that can affect speed, strength, stamina, etc. of the creature.

Spore is supposed to be released sometime late in 2007, with no official release date set in stone. While it will be a while before the game is released, it it definitely one of the games I am most anticipating. To get to the game's official web site, click here.

There is a wide number of published game previews -- GameSpy, IGN, 1up, GameSpot.

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A New Day Dawns

By Tyler 86 on 2/28/2007 6:22:04 AM , Rating: 2

Now that is one heck of a game.

I wonder, in Spore II, will the resident life forms be able to achieve the technical capability to play Spore, and Spore II?

... or will procedural content generation and AI be so advanced by then that we end up with Spore III evolving inside Spore II?

Just the kind of thinking I need to start a bright new day, a refresher course on the brighter side of chaos and possibility.

Thank you, Will.

RE: A New Day Dawns

By hellokeith on 2/28/2007 11:45:07 AM , Rating: 2

Good post.

(You're still wrong on the Blu-ray thing, but I've forgiven you.)

I recall an article about during the testing of the Oblivion NPC AI, that all kinds of interesting unprogrammed behavior was observed. Like a guard NPC got hungry, abandoned his post to go hunting, and got arrested for killing an endangered animal. Another NPC went into a store and bought *all* of the store's stock, so that when a human player went in to get something, there was nothing left.

Games like Black & White and Spore don't really interest me in terms of gameplay, but the AI is fascinating. I've long wondered if we have the technology yet to get a robot to physically, using mouse/keyboard/joystick, play a video game. And could it learn and get better? And if it could, what would be the implication for multiplayer games? "Hey, that dude is a bot!" "Yes, I am."

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RE: A New Day Dawns

By SUNSfan on 2/28/2007 3:03:37 PM , Rating: 2

This game looks like it will be revolutionary, but in the same way Black and White was. I was really excited for B&W, and was ultimately disappointed by the lack of depth in the actual gameplay. I think the same will result from this game. It looks great, but I think it will ultimately be seen as a failure.

I do hope I'm wrong though, b/c if they get it right, this will be one sick game.

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RE: A New Day Dawns

By Operandi on 3/1/2007 1:51:01 AM , Rating: 2

Spore is nothing like Black & Whiite, and yes Black & White was a disappointment.

I hardly remember it but everything in B&W was created from pre-defined content; pretty much how every game is developed in recent history.

Spore is different in that aside from the basic tools they presented to the player nothing is pre-defined. From what I've seen of the game it looks like it's almost impossible for two players to create two identical creations.

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New ESRB Rating proposed by Creationists

By ninjit on 2/28/2007 3:14:13 PM , Rating: 1

I wonder if Intelligent Design supporters will lobby to have a sticker put on this game saying "Evolution is NOT a fact"

RE: New ESRB Rating proposed by Creationists

By Tyler 86 on 2/28/2007 3:22:46 PM , Rating: 2

Probably, but does it really matter?

Oh sure, some people get their panties in a wad over anything, but this is just a really cool video game, not "The Definitive Guide to The Existance Of Life".

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RE: New ESRB Rating proposed by Creationists

By fk49 on 2/28/2007 6:12:29 PM , Rating: 2

Actually, they might even SUPPORT this game because the player, acting as a sort of omnipresent, omnipotent deity, turns the game into more of a story of intelligent design rather than natural, adaptive evolution.

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Can't wait... Need Spore...

By Vereor on 2/28/2007 8:31:11 AM , Rating: 2

Do you really think it will be a while before the game comes
out? Rumors are showing that October of 2007 is a possibility. EBgames currently lists the release date as October 2007... and Play.com lists the release date specifically October 1st.

"If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it." -- SCEA President Jack Tretton