NationStates Jolt Archive

Been out for a bit now and no threads on it? For shame!

I have to say I'm not all that impressed, pretty mediocre game for the wait. The little cellular stage is pretty fun. The actual critter stage not so much. I made a voracious little carnivore that ran everything nearby extinct. City stage went just as quickly, turns out if you build your little vehicles bristling with guns called "War Crime" you wipe out your opponents very rapidly. Then there's the space stage, and all my explosions and predation ends.

Meh. I think I'll start anew as an herbivore. Violence is pretty castrated once you get into space.

Three cheers for Australia getting it first.

I have yet to play it but a friend of mine has been raving on about it for about a week though, I should try it

I haven't played it but I've heard it's one of the biggest disappointments in gaming history.

I wasn't particularly enthused about it and the DRM crap convinced me not to buy it.

Im at Civilization phase and its kinda getting less fun as i go along.

I haven't played it but I've heard it's one of the biggest disappointments in gaming history.

I look forward to Yahtzee eviscerating it.

Holy shit I have 10,000 posts! I didn't even realise! I wonder what my 10,000th was!?

Im at Civilization phase and its kinda getting less fun as i go along.

Civilization is when it went from playing with your creature and enhancing him to screwing with stupid building designs.

The disappointment doesn't surprise me the least. It was the same with the Black and White rave, or Fable, or any other project that promised much more than the games before it.

Stick to Pong; it delivers.

I delighted in reading about the epidemic of creatures shaped so as to be sexually explicit. :)

What are the minimum system requirements?

I'm kind of bummed, over all, because the hype built it up way too much.

On its own, I have found it to be fun and entertaining enough, but it was built up to be this TOTALLY EPIC GAME and...well, it's not. It's fun, but it's not the awesomest most wonderfulest game evar.

Still, I am very happy with my race of carnivorous penguins. They're adorable and eat your face. Win.

I'm planning to buy Spore ... when I can get down to my local Macintosh retailer and see if they have it in stock. I'm expecting it to be fun, but I've not really been caught up in all the hype. And the last time I bought a computer game was in 2002, so my expectations are somewhat behind the curve.

The Amazon comments section is certainly amusing:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Electronic-Arts-Spore-Mac-DVD/dp/B000FN7K2S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1221149988&sr=8-1

I'm rather opposed to EA and their DRM policies, so I doubt I'll buy it.

Been out for a bit now and no threads on it? For shame!

I have to say I'm not all that impressed, pretty mediocre game for the wait. The little cellular stage is pretty fun. The actual critter stage not so much. I made a voracious little carnivore that ran everything nearby extinct. City stage went just as quickly, turns out if you build your little vehicles bristling with guns called "War Crime" you wipe out your opponents very rapidly. Then there's the space stage, and all my explosions and predation ends.

Meh. I think I'll start anew as an herbivore. Violence is pretty castrated once you get into space.

Being an herbivore is pretty much the same thing, except with singing and dancing instead of biting and clawing.

My criticism of spore is that the funnest part of the game is the creature creation part: but cell stage is pitifully limited, and the creature stage is pitifully short.

And anyways, I was hoping for photosynthesizing cells. That would be...interesting...

Gah! I can't get it, because I need to get a new computer... Curse all of you who have it! *Cries in a corner*

Anyway, I played it on my friend's computer, and I personally think that it does live up to the hype... For the most part.

I do like the space stage a lot. I mean, it's REALLY open-ended...

After about 4 months or so ago, I realised it wouldn't be that great.

It's pretty much delivered what I expected. And - to be honest - each time I've run into a 'limitation', a little thought has explained to me why it's there. (Example - why so much pressure to push you through the 'creature' stage? To try to press for variety - if there are a few piece that are 'best', and you have infinite time and no pressure, you'll finesse and finesse until you've got the 'top of the range' build.. much like everyone else).

What I do like about it - is watching how different people play, and seeing how it responds to them, and how the interface makes them respond.

My race (currently in civilisation stage) jump around and run into stuff, and their cities look something like Saruman's tower and immediate domain. My wife's race looks entirely different (though we both started with the same cell) and her cities look like someone crossed the Middle Ages with the (American) Civil War. I ended up with stormtroopers, and she ended up with snipers.

I'm having more than enough fun, right now... and I think it really is pretty spectacular. I'm not disappointed. And, maybe - it's real contribution to the game industry will be felt a few years down the line

I'm planning to buy Spore ... when I can get down to my local Macintosh retailer and see if they have it in stock. I'm expecting it to be fun, but I've not really been caught up in all the hype. And the last time I bought a computer game was in 2002, so my expectations are somewhat behind the curve.

A mac, eh? This explains much.

I'll wait several months. It's usually cheaper, and sometimes the worse bugs have been fixed by then. What would you say is a fair price for the game?

I didn't get Spore, and I'm not going to. Not even if it craps diamonds and hands out orgasms like candy. The DRM is ridiculous, you basically pay $50-60 to RENT a game, and I like owning what I spend that much on, thank you very much.

Rolling squid;14004243']I didn't get Spore, and I'm not going to. Not even if it craps diamonds and hands out orgasms like candy. The DRM is ridiculous, you basically pay $50-60 to RENT a game, and I like owning what I spend that much on, thank you very much.

How is it renting?

They dropped the 'every ten days' authentication thing, and they added a custoemr service option to authenticate more than the (soft) limit of three times.

I agree it's a pain in the ass package, but - to be honest - the way to fight stupid DRMs is to make them a nightmare for the supplier to manage. Buy spore, authenticate it three times. Try to authenticate it a fourth, call the customer support, get it re-authenticated. DO the same thing the next day. And the next day. And the next. And get all your mates to do it.

I look forward to Yahtzee eviscerating it.
I can't, for some reason I always get a blank grey spot (where the video should be) now when I try Escapist videos :'(.

EDIT: I found a download of them! Life is slightly better now.

How is it renting?

They dropped the 'every ten days' authentication thing, and they added a custoemr service option to authenticate more than the (soft) limit of three times.

I agree it's a pain in the ass package, but - to be honest - the way to fight stupid DRMs is to make them a nightmare for the supplier to manage. Buy spore, authenticate it three times. Try to authenticate it a fourth, call the customer support, get it re-authenticated. DO the same thing the next day. And the next day. And the next. And get all your mates to do it.


Still doesn't matter. The three install thing isn't as hassle free as you claim, it's a pain in the butt, and if they made it that easy, why did they have it in the first place?

The game also installs a bunch of crap on your system without you knowing, and there isn't a way to get rid of it, even if you uninstall the game.

my pc can't even handle the creature creator.

Rolling squid;14004274']Still doesn't matter. The three install thing isn't as hassle free as you claim, it's a pain in the butt, and if they made it that easy, why did they have it in the first place?


I didn't say it was hassle free. I said they've enabled a mechanism through customer service by which you can get round the three authentications.

If they made it easy, why did they have it in the first place? Because they wanted to manage digital rights - hence the name. Why did they change it? Because they got a LOT of pressure.

How can they be made to patch the whole thing? We've already seen pressure works...

Rolling squid;14004274']
The game also installs a bunch of crap on your system without you knowing, and there isn't a way to get rid of it, even if you uninstall the game.

Does it? I'm not saying it doesn't - but apart from the digital copy installing the DRM without telling you (or mentioning it in the TOS), I'm not sure what else it might install.

Been out for a bit now and no threads on it? For shame!
We're all too busy playing!

Well, I am at least. Tis awesome. Space stage (once you get there; I spent about 3 hours in the building editor tweaking my town hall) is massive, detailed yet uncomplicated and very, very, purty. The whole game's mechanic works very well, all the editors are just pure fun to play with, its got a good sense of humour, and generally it delivers.

The DRM nonsense is, for sure, a fucking pisser.But it's a shame too miss out on a game because of it. As GnI says, it's not set in stone, and its a compromise I can deal with... while I bleat to EA.

*adds an extra pair of arms*

How is it renting?


3 install limit. And once they drop support for Spore, which it eventually will like every other piece of software (how long varies), you're screwed once you exceed the limit.

*raises hand of ignorance*

This 3 install limit is this how many times you can install it on a computer? Or what?

I'll run out and get it tomorrow. I was going to early but I was a bit too busy. Anyway, it looks awesome and I'm really excited for the space age.

What is up the 3 limit install? What does that mean?

And what exactly is the DRM?

*raises hand of ignorance*

This 3 install limit is this how many times you can install it on a computer? Or what?

3 times you can install on a computer, but there's more conditions. If you change the CPU or motherboard, or even the OS, it counts as one install.

Once you use up all three, Spore locks up and won't play unless you call EA tech support to give you another install. Of course this is only so long as they have support for Spore.

As for TAI's question, DRM is digital rights management, legal speak for saying "we'll be doing things to your computer that we won't be telling you about because we're sure you're a dirty thief."

Spore installs SecuROM on your computer, with several entries in the registry that look a lot like rootkits. Rootkits are essentially the equivalent of trojans. They take control of certain functions without user or admin permission in order to perform their function. They have legitimate uses, but are often used by hackers to create vulnerabilities in a computer to hijack or otherwise.

I ordered it from Amazon so hopefully I'll have it in a few days. I don't really have such high expectations, so I should be fine with it.

I'll wait several months. It's usually cheaper, and sometimes the worse bugs have been fixed by then. What would you say is a fair price for the game?
This. 6 months can take the price of a game down by half, plus, maybe they'll have been beaten into submission on the DRM thing by then.

3 times you can install on a computer, but there's more conditions. If you change the CPU or motherboard, or even the OS, it counts as one install.

Once you use up all three, Spore locks up and won't play unless you call EA tech support to give you another install. Of course this is only so long as they have support for Spore.
Sounds highly inconvienent.

As for TAI's question, DRM is digital rights management, legal speak for saying "we'll be doing things to your computer that we won't be telling you about because we're sure you're a dirty thief."

Spore installs SecuROM on your computer, with several entries in the registry that look a lot like rootkits. Rootkits are essentially the equivalent of trojans. They take control of certain functions without user or admin permission in order to perform their function. They have legitimate uses, but are often used by hackers to create vulnerabilities in a computer to hijack or otherwise.
Is this something to actually worry about, in your opinion, or will only extreme privacy advocates be up in arms about it?

Sounds highly inconvienent.

Very inconvenient. More so if they intend on releasing expansions that need the original installed to extend the lifespan. That means higher likelihood of all limits used up


Is this something to actually worry about, in your opinion, or will only extreme privacy advocates be up in arms about it?

As a rule of thumb, intrusive, subverting software is always bad. Especially when they install potential back doors. Data theft can be very easy if someone knows what to look for and there's already a vulnerability. Data theft however, or even hijacks, isn't the only worry.

Starforce was the worst case example, with actual damage done to computer hardware. Part of the security measures in it resulted in the firmware of several DVD-writers being altered so as to continually run at worse performance rates until it locked up and they stopped working altogether, making them scrap.

The company responded to the threat of lawsuits by claiming everyone suffering problems were pirates, regardless of proof of receipts and damage done.

SecuROM is supposedly better, but there are some gripes filtering down of DVD writers locking up, though it can't be proven to be caused by SecuROM yet. As time goes by, we'll have a more concrete picture.

Sounds highly inconvienent.


Is this something to actually worry about, in your opinion, or will only extreme privacy advocates be up in arms about it?
Something to worry about quite a lot. Already some DRM programs, such as Starforce, can damage your computer. This is especially frustrating when you're trying to play a legally purchased video game, ESPECIALLY when often the pirated copies not only have the Starforce removed, but they're easier to get working.

Okay, so let's say that, somehow, EA was pressured into relaxing its DRM program and all new copies of the game came without DRM. Also, let's say hell froze over and pigs flew.

Anywho, if that happened, how would you rate the game? I figure that it's much like The Sims - the same things that make the game great make it repetitive and boring after a while - but I'd rather ask those that have already played it instead of assuming.

Because... well, you know what happens when you assume.

Anywho, if that happened, how would you rate the game? I figure that it's much like The Sims - the same things that make the game great make it repetitive and boring after a while - but I'd rather ask those that have already played it instead of assuming.

Because... well, you know what happens when you assume.

Still needs a couple of fixes. There's a memory leak somewhere that causes random crashes, notably at the space level. Loading large amounts of new user created/downloaded files into the spore folders makes defragging C: drive mandatory unless you enjoy a tour of lag city.

Technical downsides aside, it's not a bad game. It's not an eye popper like say, Crysis, nor is it as involved as say, Civilization III, but it's good. What Spore has that the other games don't is the fact that it combines the major genres of gaming into one platform, while rewarding fertile imaginations.

It's like digital playdoh/lego. Massive fun if you're the type who likes to just let your imagination run wild and actualize them. Not so much if you're a powergamer who's into rigid structures of goals and rewards.

I should ask; is it possible to play it off-line? I've been meaning to do that, you see, to avoid downloading things off the Internet all the time, and to avoid every Tom, Dick and Harry and their wang-monsters.

I should ask; is it possible to play it off-line? I've been meaning to do that, you see, to avoid downloading things off the Internet all the time, and to avoid every Tom, Dick and Harry and their wang-monsters.

I would think so, but that kind of limits the true intention of the game - to get you to pay $400 for EVERY SINGLE expansion pack released hereafter.


...

I mean, to get you to interact with the other Internet-accessable, Spore-playing peoples of the world. :p

Meh. All you have to do is look at YouTube comments to see the collective intellect of the Internet. I'll pass, thanks. There may be some merit to filling out your world with a range of other peoples' creations, but I'd rather avoid the hassle.

I should ask; is it possible to play it off-line? I've been meaning to do that, you see, to avoid downloading things off the Internet all the time, and to avoid every Tom, Dick and Harry and their wang-monsters.

The game is designed to be played offline. You only connect when you want to download content off the servers. Heck, you don't even need to connect using the in-game browser. You can visit sporepedia, use a firefox plugin like downloadthemall and grab all the png files. There are a few download links out there with content packs like this one.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZQJTJZMV

That being said, penis monsters are surprisingly rare. Players usually report them while browsing on the EA servers, which gets it deleted fairly quickly.

On the other side of things though, you can get some very amazing designs out on the interwebs like this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUISFFaHbhM

Incidentally, at the creature stage onwards, some creatures will be selected at random and converted to epics. Massive creatures that don't so much as attack as project an aura of squish. Like these.

A Warlord Epic
01 (http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll269/Mashadarof402/Spore_2008-09-07_01-55-22.png)
02 (http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll269/Mashadarof402/Spore_2008-09-07_01-57-02.png)

A Carnifex Epic
01 (http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll269/Mashadarof402/Spore_2008-09-07_17-59-56.png)
02 (http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll269/Mashadarof402/Spore_2008-09-07_18-01-44.png)

And lastly, well, you can guess. The Tachikoma (http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll269/Mashadarof402/Spore_2008-09-07_18-23-44.png)

Okay, that's awesome then. And whoa! Those are some pretty awesome critters.

The Warlord's one of mine, built way back when the creature creator was released. Was kind of a shock to run into it when I was running around in an early stage creation.

I'd been looking forward to Spore for years, but the DRM packaged with it mean that just won't be worth me getting it, for the moment. Non Aligned States has described it pretty accurately and it's not the sort of thing that will necessarily have any noticeable impact on most people, but it would certainly inconvenience me.

The hardware that is in use in my main PC gets swapped around constantly (the CPU that I'm using just now isn't the same unit as was in this machine this time last month, for instance) since I use this PC for all sorts of configuration testing whenever I happen to be building a PC for someone or, from time to time, just for the hell of it (I'm a compulsive tinkerer). This means that I'd likely use up any given 3-install limit in a matter of weeks. In addition, I've been burned by DRM hassles before (StarForce, which came packaged with Silent Hunter 3 a while back and which screwed up the DVD drive on an old PC of mine), so I'll not be inviting the same hassle with Spore.

Incorporating DRM features in games and other media just seems to me to be a short sighted decision on the part of content providers. It's not even as if it works for its stated purpose (i.e. to prevent piracy of the content). There was a version of Spore available as a torrent a few days before the game itself got officially released - with the DRM removed. The same pattern has been seen with every other piece of software released with DRM 'protection' which sort of begs the question - "why bother?".

It's a pity because, as I mentioned, I'd been looking forward to this game for a while. I'll maybe end up cobbling together a machine out of old parts just so I can play it for a while :)

...at the creature stage onwards, some creatures will be selected at random and converted to epics. Massive creatures that don't so much as attack as project an aura of squish...
Allow me to congratulate you... "aura of squish" may well be the greatest descriptive phrase (pertaining to gaming) that I've heard this year, and I look forward to using it as soon as the opportunity presents :D

EA is the tool of ultimate evil. The CD appears blank on this PC, it installs on the other PC (but refuses to run "because specs are too low", and my email to EA was delayed three days and got a totally irrelevant response.

I was so angry I added a page (http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts) on uncyclopedia about EA. :(

Allow me to congratulate you... "aura of squish" may well be the greatest descriptive phrase (pertaining to gaming) that I've heard this year, and I look forward to using it as soon as the opportunity presents :D

I aim to please. :p

That being said, I may not have an aura of squish on my own controlled units in the tribal stage, but at least I do have my own dragonflight. (http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll269/Mashadarof402/Spore_2008-09-11_22-33-27.png)

Found a fun little trick during the space age to deal with hostile aliens. I wasn't sure it'd work, but the result was awesome.

Enemy planet with 7 cities, lots of defenses, and a lot of ships. So I flew around with their little bastards chasing me around and sucked all the air off their world. Worked beautifully, trashed all but one of their cities in the process.

I wanted to buy Spore. I loved the Creature Creator. Sadly, I will not purchase games with that kind of DRM. And finding out me and the girlfriend would BOTH have to buy copies to each have our own accounts? Just kind of sad.

Maybe they'll drop the DRM in a year or two and I can justify it.

I Haven't played it. I Doubt I ever will but just for this (http://antispore.com/2008/09/11/understand-my-beliefs-please/) it's quite possibly the most awesome thing ever!

I Haven't played it. I Doubt I ever will but just for this (http://antispore.com/2008/09/11/understand-my-beliefs-please/) it's quite possibly the most awesome thing ever!

OMG....Have those people no life!?

I mean come the fuck on!

They could be doing something practical with their time, instead!

(Like coming to NSG to argue and complain about it instead)

OMG....Have those people no life!?

I mean come the fuck on!

They could be doing something practical with their time, instead!

(Like coming to NSG to argue and complain about it instead)

Have you actually read it then?

Have you actually read it then?
Yeah I did. It's ridiculous.

Yeah I did. It's ridiculous.

Why?

Why?
Because these backwards people are up in arms crusading against this game because of it's opposition to the word of God and the true creation of the earth.

But I believe the "about us" said it best.

I created this blog to find support for and follow my progress in letting Electronic Arts know that their biggest attack on Christian values to date will not be tolerated.

We can not allow the gaming industry to invade our homes and poison the minds of our children.

After all, their billions in revenue and all the advertising in the world are no match for the power of God.
:rolleyes: Like I said. Ridiculous.

Because these backwards people are up in arms crusading against this game because of it's opposition to the word of God and the true creation of the earth.

But I believe the "about us" said it best.


:rolleyes: Like I said. Ridiculous.

Yeah.. read the blog post again only this time pay a bit more attention..

Yeah.. read the blog post again only this time pay a bit more attention..

That's just awesome. The number of people who don't even read it before ranting. Good grief.

Because these backwards people are up in arms crusading against this game because of it's opposition to the word of God and the true creation of the earth.

But I believe the "about us" said it best.


:rolleyes: Like I said. Ridiculous.

You obviously haven't read the post linked very carefully. Try again before shouting at it, else you will just look silly.

That's just awesome. The number of people who don't even read it before ranting. Good grief.



You obviously haven't read the post linked very carefully. Try again before shouting at it, else you will just look silly.

It's the comments that make it.. I mean there's at least 10 people who don't get it for each person who did. And these people probably consider themselves intelligent.. though admittedly I was fooled..

It's the comments that make it.. I mean there's at least 10 people who don't get it for each person who did. And these people probably consider themselves intelligent.. though admittedly I was fooled..

As someone puts it farther down:


I hate to call people names, but seriously, you reposted the “Biblical” passages to your own blog, responded to them line-by-line, and didn’t realize that they contained RICK ASTLEY LYRICS, or that they mentioned the INTERNET and Poe’s Law?

Fuckwit.

Because these backwards people are up in arms crusading against this game because of it's opposition to the word of God and the true creation of the earth.

But I believe the "about us" said it best.


:rolleyes: Like I said. Ridiculous.
Look at what they had in there:
“21. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never gonna give you up. 22. “Never gonna let you down.” 23.”Never gonna run around and desert you.” 24. “Never gonna make you cry.” 25. “Never gonna say goodbye.” 26. “Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.” 27.”Never truly believe anything you read on the Internet. There will always be cases of Poe’s Law.”

Look at what they had in there:

It must be one of the most epic rick roll ever.. and yet, makes me feel ashamed to be an atheist..

So, did we all get rickrolled, or just TAI cause he didn't notice it?

Someone should create an anthology of comments posted on blogs. A can see a ten-volume set of "Blog Comments of the World" complementing a set of the Western Canon quite nicely, leather-bound and everything.

I really enjoy the cell and creature bits. The tribal bit is OK. The Civilisation bit is absolute wank mainly because it goes between piss easy on Easy and Normal to Horrifically Difficult in Hard mode. Oh and space is either very long, drawn out and somewhat tedious, or bastard-hard.

Still, some of the music is great, the earlier stages are a lot of fun, and the vehicle creator is pretty swish, although its lack of turrets disturbs me.

My account on spore.com is jBrereton, by the way, if anyone wants to look at any of my stuff.

Anywho, if that happened, how would you rate the game? I figure that it's much like The Sims - the same things that make the game great make it repetitive and boring after a while - but I'd rather ask those that have already played it instead of assuming.
Basically right. There are also going to be a trillion addon packs, I reckon. There's a video of Spore in 2005 on Google Videos, can't be arsed to find the link now, but it's there. It looked so much cooler then, even if the graphics were comparably gash :(

Because these backwards people are up in arms crusading against this game because of it's opposition to the word of God and the true creation of the earth.

But I believe the "about us" said it best.


:rolleyes: Like I said. Ridiculous.

On the other hand
But the Bible teaches us that God was not done with man. For we were His creation and He then spoke to Noah in Genesis 8:21-27 after the flood.
“21. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never gonna give you up. 22. “Never gonna let you down.” 23.”Never gonna run around and desert you.” 24. “Never gonna make you cry.” 25. “Never gonna say goodbye.” 26. “Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.” 27.”Never truly believe anything you read on the Internet. There will always be cases of Poe’s Law.”

I am now en-Spore-ified! I've gotten up to the civilisation phase so far, though not past it yet. Largely because the creature phase is so much more fun than the tribal phase.

On the other hand: But the Bible teaches us that God was not done with man. For we were His creation and He then spoke to Noah in Genesis 8:21-27 after the flood.
“21. The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never gonna give you up. 22. “Never gonna let you down.” 23.”Never gonna run around and desert you.” 24. “Never gonna make you cry.” 25. “Never gonna say goodbye.” 26. “Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you.” 27.”Never truly believe anything you read on the Internet. There will always be cases of Poe’s Law.”


Do people read nowadays, or was that supposed to be simplified into inexistence like all that paper we wouldn't have to print out after the advent of the computer?

:rolleyes:

I am now en-Spore-ified! I've gotten up to the civilisation phase so far, though not past it yet. Largely because the creature phase is so much more fun than the tribal phase.
I absolutely agree! I'm on 6 different planets and am always really reluctant to get them to the tribal stage. I really enjoy swooping about in the creature stage (made a zillion times better if your creature has wings, and is on an even remotely green planet), and getting tied down to the earth and a basically isometric viewpoint after all that is a bit sad.

Do people read nowadays, or was that supposed to be simplified into inexistence like all that paper we wouldn't have to print out after the advent of the computer?

:rolleyes:

Reading is for noobs. Just scan the title and make some assumptions.

I absolutely agree! I'm on 6 different planets and am always really reluctant to get them to the tribal stage. I really enjoy swooping about in the creature stage (made a zillion times better if your creature has wings, and is on an even remotely green planet), and getting tied down to the earth and a basically isometric viewpoint after all that is a bit sad.

For extra fun, fly over a spice or volcanic vent for a boost to the stratosphere. It gives you a really impressive view of the world.

I absolutely agree! I'm on 6 different planets and am always really reluctant to get them to the tribal stage. I really enjoy swooping about in the creature stage (made a zillion times better if your creature has wings, and is on an even remotely green planet), and getting tied down to the earth and a basically isometric viewpoint after all that is a bit sad.

I currently have two barely-in-space species, and one creature species. I'm suffering alt-itis.

My wife, on the other hand, has a galaxy-spanning empire of what look like crows on steroids.

I currently have two barely-in-space species, and one creature species. I'm suffering alt-itis.

My wife, on the other hand, has a galaxy-spanning empire of what look like crows on steroids.

It's a shame that my first species couldn't fly. Second one was so much more fun. Plus it makes it much easier to evade the Godzilla bastards roaming around when you can just launch yourself into the sky.

For extra fun, fly over a spice or volcanic vent for a boost to the stratosphere. It gives you a really impressive view of the world.
Or get Jump 5, which is a similar but more convenient way to do it :P

Or get Jump 5, which is a similar but more convenient way to do it :P

I have jump 5. It is nothing, NOTHING, compared to the boost you will get off a volcanic vent (black smoke). With a volcanic vent, you will soar higher than the trees, high enough to see the earth curvature.

i get that half the fun is supposed to be in playing it over and over again with different creatures and styles, etc... and for the most part that works for me and is fun. but its totally spoiled by the space stage. the other stages are simple games that go by very fast indeed (which is a good thing if the intention is to play it repeatedly with different creations), but the space stage seems to drag on forever, and its not that much fun, either. in all the other stages you evolve to have an edge up over the competition - you're faster, better at socialising, have bigger claws, whatever... but in the space stage it takes ages to get any kind of decent weapon, even just to defend yourself. then the pirates and wars just get in the way (it'd be ok if it were more RTS style like, say, Haegemonia).

overall i still like it, but i do hope they readdress a lot of the way the space stage plays in patches or extensions. the allure of the space stage, to me, was always the idea of exploring and experimenting, having a bit of fun. as it is i'm playing through repetitive and tedious missions, for hours, trying to get enough things done to get more interesting tools unlocked.

and the short range of the ship really pisses me off, too. [/rant]

edit: i only have two space-faring species at the mo, largely because i was away on holiday last week :P one of them is an aggressive carnivore species, the other a bunch of religious omnivores. the former get attacked all the fucking time by pirates and rival civilisations, and i've given up on them. the latter i'm playing with now and its a little bit less annoying, if more menial.

It's a shame that my first species couldn't fly. Second one was so much more fun. Plus it makes it much easier to evade the Godzilla bastards roaming around when you can just launch yourself into the sky.

So - there I was playing my new herbivores. I'm just seducing this Rogue-something-or-another to the dark side when... wtf - a ufo comes zipping over and starts sucking all the little sporelets up, sending us all scattering.

Bastard!

A little while later, my religious space-farers (as they are now) are flying a set of eco missions, and have to go collect some samples. The critters I'm stealing look a lot like the creature version of my space-race as they leg it into the trees.

The moral of the story is - who the 'bastards' are, depends a lot on your perspective.

A Carnifex Epic
01 (http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll269/Mashadarof402/Spore_2008-09-07_17-59-56.png)
02 (http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll269/Mashadarof402/Spore_2008-09-07_18-01-44.png)

If only one could buy meltaguns for their spaceship...