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Forget Civilization 7, I want a new Spore game alreadyDec 23, 2023 - PCGamesNSpore is unequivocally the greatest god game I've ever played, and I'll say it with my whole simulation-loving heart. Maxis, the genius developer behind The Sims, created its unique real-time strategy game back in 2008 when I was practically still an evolving little microscopic organism myself. As a child obsessed with The Sims and Zoo Tycoon, it wasn't long before I lost hundreds of hours to Spore that could've been spent playing outside. I'm now ready to lose even more, over a decade later. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: This Spore dragon a player created was so complex it couldn't be saved Spore + DLC saleApr 12, 2021 - Community AnnouncementsSave on DLC and the base game until April 19th. SALE PAGE {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/3952949/e6d378d3d506c8a7f4cf31f12f19c9ff91f0753b.jpgHave You Played… Spore?Jan 18, 2021 - Rock, Paper, Shotgun Have You Played? is an endless stream of game retrospectives. One a day, every day, perhaps for all time. Spore is several games in one, none of which are particularly impressive on their own. It’s life sim meets strategy, where you grow a tiny organism with a little snappy mouth into a horrible monstrosity you made look like a penis because you’re hilarious. Eventually that penis will become a spacefaring species trying to traverse and spread throughout the galaxy. (more…) Five of the Best: Character CreatorsJan 24, 2020 - EurogamerFive of the Best is a weekly series about the parts of games we overlook. We've discussed a diverse bunch: crowds, hubs, potions, mountains, hands... They're the things we take for granted while we play but then, years later, find lodged in our brains. It's only then we begin to appreciate how important they were. So let's celebrate them. Today... Character creators! How long do you spend in them? Do you pick a premade face and just breeze through? Do you pick a template, tinker a bit and then settle? Or do you adjust absolutely everything, take all evening and it still doesn't look right? I feel your pain. Read more I still wish Spore was good, but a decade later it's a slogNov 1, 2018 - PC GamerIn Reinstall, we revisit a game from the past and see what kind of experience it gives us now. It's not a re-review, more just a snapshot of what it's like to play this game now. Back in 2008, Spore was a source of daft community character creation joy, incredibly uneven ambition and a massive row about the digital rights management software EA insisted on using at launch. In many ways, Spore was No Man’s Sky before No Man’s Sky. There are two Spore experiences I remember clearly from 2008. One was waddling around on land for the first time after graduating from the Cell stage to the Creature stage, and the other was the row about DRM. But the experience of actually playing any of it has faded and been replaced by the sense that it was one of those games that just didn’t really seem to go anywhere. Booting it up a decade later (or rather, booting it up on Steam, trying to coax it into recognising my EA login so I can access other people’s creations, then realising that system seems hideously broken on Steam so booting it up on Origin instead) that feeling of aimlessness returned, as well as a new awareness of the jarring switches between game stages, and how the space segment at the end dwarfs the other modes. Life itself I should clarify that aimlessness: the game itself gives you tasks—go here, eat this, conquer that. But in three of the first four stages Spore struggles to cede control to the player and let them make meaningful decisions. You begin in the Cell stage which is the most enjoyable phase of the game. As a single-celled organism, you propel yourself around with your flagellum, using your mouth to chow down meaty nuggets or green snacks according to your preselected diet. As you bob along, you can pick up different upgrades which you can affix to your wobbly bod by spending the DNA you’ve accumulated through surviving. Spikes are useful for attack or defence, extra flagella give you speed, electric nodes let you zap other creatures and so on. It’s essentially a browser or mobile phone game with an element of strategic avatar building. As you eat more, your avatar grows. The bullies of the tidal pool fill the screen at first, but after a few snacks you’re the one bullying them. Chomp several more meals and your perspective has expanded so far you can’t even see them. But lest you get too confident, the backdrop offers a glimpse of truly monstrous creatures which await you at the next level. Next are the Creature and Tribal stages. The Creature stage is where you jam legs on your pondlife and push it out onto solid ground. The Tribal stage is just the Creature stage with tools and clothes. I’m fond of the Creature stage, but only because I like putting insect legs and growths on my creation. This is the part where you get to sculpt your lifeform. I had one species which was just a...Spore and Sims creator Will Wright unveils ProxiMar 20, 2018 - EurogamerWill Wright led creation of SimCity and later The Sims, then he made the very ambitious evolution-themed simulation Spore. He's someone who thinks rather big. And he's unveiled a new game called Proxi, the mobile version of which is due late 2018 (no other platforms are named). It's a simulation based around creating an artificial intelligence from your memories and then building a world out of them. Here's Wright's lofty pitch: Read more… Midweek Madness - SPORE , 75% OffMar 21, 2017 - AnnouncementSave 75% on the SPORE series during this week's Midweek Madness*! *Offer ends Friday at 10AM Pacific Time It s Time For Spore 2Oct 19, 2016 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunTrees that grow from seeds you plant? Easy. 18 quintillion planets? Whatever. If you want to talk about videogames’ most ambitious endeavors, there’s only one contender for the top spot. Spore, released in 2008, let players control a species they created from single cell organism all the way through to becoming space explorers. That included designing everything from the huts you lived in during the tribe stage, to the spaceships you used to careen around the galaxy near the game’s conclusion. Most importantly, it let you craft exactly what kind of weirdo you’d be taking to the stars, whether six-limbed, beady-eyed monstrosities or fleshky daleks or Homer Simpson, and then it populated your world with everyone else’s creations automatically, so that each planet was filled with delightful, handmade surprises. Spore was a marvel. It’s crying out for a sequel. … Mirror's Edge, Spore, and The Saboteur are now on GOGSep 22, 2016 - PC GamerMirror's Edge Catalyst was good, but not quite as good as we all hoped it would be: As close to a definitive version of a Mirror's Edge game as we're likely to get, Samuel wrote in his review, despite retaining some of the first game's issues. If you don't happen to be familiar with those issues, you might want to point yourself at GOG, which now has Mirror's Edge and two other not-exactly-recent EA releases, all of them currently on sale. That means the original Mirror's Edge for $10, the Spore Collection for $12, and The Saboteur for $10. Mirror's Edge is probably the marquee game in the list, but Spore is the real deal: The regular price of Mirror's Edge and The Saboteur is the same on GOG as it is on Origin, but GOG's Spore Collection normally lists for $30, while the combined cost of the Spore titles on Origin (which doesn't offer them in a bundle) is a whopping $70. GOG's listing may be a sign that EA's prices are about to change, but unless and until that happens, if you want to buy Spore, you'll probably want to do it on GOG. The only downside, at least when compared to classic GOG releases, is that the bundled extras are very spare. Mirror's Edge includes two wallpapers and two avatars, while Spore and Saboteur have nothing. (The manuals are listed as included goodies but I tend to view them as something that's included because they're part of the game. Call me old-fashioned, I guess.) Still, sale prices and DRM-free are nothing to sneeze at. All three games are available now, and will remain on sale until September 29. Midweek Madness - SPORE , 75% OffSep 6, 2016 - AnnouncementSave 75% on SPORE™ during this week's Midweek Madness*! From Single Cell to Galactic God, evolve your creature in a universe of your own creations. Play through Spore's five evolutionary stages: Cell, Creature, Tribe, Civilization, and Space. Each stage has its own unique style, challenges, and goals. *Offer ends Friday at 10AM Pacific Time The most ambitious PC gamesJul 13, 2016 - PC GamerEvery game is ambitious. It s not easy to turn a beautiful idea into a finished, playable game as developers have said time and again, sometimes it feels almost impossible. As miraculous as finishing any game might be, not all games are created equal. Some stretch the boundaries of technology to their breaking point. Others take a leap into the unknown with new design schools, often so effectively that years later, it s hard to remember them ever having to be invented. Think, for example, of Monkey Island s Three Trials structure, as used by almost every adventure afterwards. Or its sequel s Four Map Pieces , as later picked up by BioWare. And sometimes, both art and science combine to push the envelope and we get something truly, impossibly special. Here are our picks for the top 20 ignoring the very early games that had to prove computers could handle gaming at all. For more on some of the most monumental games ever to grace the PC, check out our feature on the most important PC games. King's Quest (1983) For the longest time, adventure games were where people looked to see the latest innovations. King s Quest set that bar early on, jumping from simple text and pictures to 3D environments, huge worlds, and a fairytale land of mystery to both wander and wonder at. Admittedly, the last part was helped by some dreadful puzzles. King s Quest was originally commissioned by IBM as the showpiece for its long-forgotten PCJr system, but the series would go on to demonstrate just about every major technological advancement for the mainstream: ADLIB sound, VGA graphics, full speech, and high resolution. 3D didn t work out so well, but until that point, King s Quest was where many players went to get their glimpse of the ever-advancing future. Commander Keen (1990) If you want to experience pure hell, try the average 80s PC platform game. Long before making Doom, the team that would be id Software wanted to prove that the PC could handle experiences that played as smoothly as dedicated consoles. Commander Keen wasn t just a fluid experience by the standards of the time, but a fast one, with pogo-jumping, shooting and big levels to explore. Looking back, it s hard to appreciate what a development it was, but we re talking an era where games like the original Duke Nukem (or Nukum either way, the one who wore a pink suit and watched Oprah) were constantly being held up as the PC s answer to Mario. Commander Keen didn t qualify either, but it paved the way for many sequels and the formation of id itself. A bit of bonus ambition: before making Keen, id tried to convince Nintendo to let it port Super Mario Bros. 3 to the PC by building a working demo (in their off hours in a single week, no less). Nintendo said no thanks, but you can see footage of the demo here. Maniac Mansion (1987) If you made a game like Maniac Mansion right now, people would still rightly call it ambitious. A choice of seven characters, each with their own skills. A non-linear adventur...Daily Deal - SPORE , 75% OffDec 13, 2014 - AnnouncementToday's Deal: Save 75% on SPORE™!* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time Daily Deal - SPORE™, 75% OffJun 4, 2014 - AnnouncementToday's Deal: Save 75% on SPORE™!* Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! *Offer ends Friday at 10AM Pacific Time Former Civilization IV Lead On Mars Game, Revitalizing RTSMay 2, 2014 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunMohawk Games is an excellent name for a company. And so it is that former Civilization IV lead designer and Spore man Soren Johnson approaches me sporting the company haircut. It’s a recent trim job for the old headshrub, he tells me, but he wears it well. However, the brain beneath the mohawk – the mind behind some of strategy gaming’s greatest greats – is the real main attraction here. Johnson’s goal is to design “core strategy games” in conjunction with Civ V art director Dorian Newcomb and in partnership with Galactic Civilizations (no relation) developer Stardock. First on the docket? A still unnamed Mars economy RTS with no units and 13 different resource types. Is it madness? Probably, but it’s the good kind, the kind that drives a man to shave off most of his hair before a business conference, the kind that sounds wicked fun when people exchange fireside tales of their favorite matches. Go below for a discussion with both men about how the game works, boardgame influences, how videogames might be able to replicate boardgaming’s face-to-face appeal, designing strategy that’s extremely complex but also accessible, release plans, and heaps more. … The Suite Science: Paul Weir Talks Generative MusicNov 20, 2013 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunThis is the latest in the series of articles about the art technology of games, in collaboration with the particularly handsome Dead End Thrills. When Paul Weir gave a talk at GDC 2011 about GRAMPS, the generative audio system he designed for Eidos Montreal’s Thief, the games press took notice. Not so much of the contents, though, or indeed the subject, just Thief. Here, finally, was a chance to get something on this oh so secretive game. Maybe, while prattling on about ‘sounds’ and stuff, he’d toss them a headline or two, get ‘em some clicks. Suspecting as much, Weir recommended to his audience that anyone just there for Thief nooz should probably leave the room. Some people did. We can often seem deaf to game audio in the same way we’re blind to animation. Maybe it’s because the best examples of both are so natural and chameleonic that they blend into a game’s broader objectives. Maybe it has to be Halo ostentatious or Amon Tobin trendy just to prick up our ears; or make the screen flash pretty colours. Or maybe Brian Eno has to be involved, as we’ll come to in a minute. (more…) Soren Song: Civ IV Designer Founds Mohawk GamesNov 6, 2013 - Rock, Paper, ShotgunSoren Johnson is a clever man. He was a programmer on Civilization 3, the lead designer on Civilization IV, and then he moved over to Maxis to work on Spore. Now he’s building himself a new home by founding Mohawk Games, a studio dedicated to creating “core strategy games”. (more…) Daily Deal - SPORE, 75% OffApr 18, 2013 - AnnouncementToday's Deal: Save 75% on SPORE! Look for the deals each day on the front page of Steam. Or follow us on twitter or Facebook for instant notifications wherever you are! Why Do People Love To Draw Dicks in Games? An Investigative Report.Mar 21, 2013 - Kotaku On November 6, 2012 a profoundly simple game called Curiosity was officially launched on iPhones, inviting people to chisel away at a massive cube composed of millions of blocks. Players from around the world started poking at the cube. There was a stupendous prize inside that would take players, working in unison, ages to unlock. Presumably to alleviate boredom, Curiosity gamers tried to make their mark, by chipping out the shape of some letters or a simple picture. According to an official time stamp on Twitter, in the wee hours of November 5, some players had actually already downloaded into the game. They were cracking blocks. And on day -1, what did they etch into that massive blank block? A penis. Why are people doing this? Oh, this called for investigative report, of course! This article, which is all about the results of that investigation, is, obviously, NSFW... And of course no game is complete without dicks. (22cans' Curiosity, out now for ios!) twitter.com/randyzero/stat… — Randy O'Connor (@randyzero) November 6, 2012 Minecraft (45 blocks long, 27 high, and 13 blocks wide) Call of Duty LittleBigPlanet Trials Evolution ModNation Racers Halo Reach Skyrim (From gamer Papidamelo's "XXL Penis Flaccid Cut and Uncut Nude Male" mod, downloaded about 6,000 times since its creation in February 2012 and the rare example in these mods of a male modder suggesting they're adding a penis to a game because they find them attractive "Not everyone playing skyrim is str8," he's written on mod message board.) Garry's Mod Scribblenauts (Well, ok, not really… but they tried.) Even if you think it's not possible to draw a penis in a game, people have done it. Grand Theft Auto IV? Penis-bike. Battlefield 3? Gamer Oli Gill drew this one with virtual C4. *** Why is this? For the last six months I've not come up with a good answer. I've been asking. I've asked game designers. I've asked gamers. I've asked scientists. I haven't been investigating this constantly. There are, truth be told, better things a reporter can do with their time than to keep asking why people seem to love drawing dicks. Nevertheless, I did inquire. A bunch. Game designer Frank Lantz: "You might as well use the question ‘Why do people draw dongs?' as a proxy for ‘Why are we here?'" "There are many different possible explanatory frameworks for considering this question: Freudian, Marxist, Feminist, Deconstructionist, Evolutionary-Psychologist, Existentialist, etc," game designer and head of New York University's game studies program, Frank Lantz, told me last fall when I began to interrogate the matter. "You might as well use the question ‘Why do people draw dongs?' as a proxy for ‘Why are we here?' 'What is the good life?' ‘Why is there something instead of nothing?' or any other Big Philosophical Question." We probably all have good guesses, right? People draw penises because they think it'll shock people or because it's one of society's few visual taboos and because they're not ...EA Got My SimCity Back, So I Killed It With a Giant Fire-LizardMar 4, 2013 - KotakuFollowing a struggle with the tech folks following a fault in the SimCity press servers, the lost city of Fahey's Folly—aka the SimCity on the Edge of Forever—was found once again. In celebration, I unleashed red-hot dino fury. Since I'll be using my own Origin account and retail servers for our upcoming SimCity review, Fahey's Folly didn't have long to live anyway. I think destruction by a Spore-looking Godzilla stand-in is what the city would have wanted. The scaly bugger doesn't do all that much damage anyway—this video is actually the third of three dino attacks. Thanks to the GlassBox engine, any destroyed buildings are quickly replaced once the rubble has been bulldozed. Natural disasters just aren't what they used to be. EA assures me that the bug that kept me from my city was an issue with the private servers the press preview are being held on, and should not affect retail customers, so hopefully noone should have to lose something they love, get it back and then kill it ever again. At least not in SimCity. It's Time For Me To Be A PC Gamer AgainSep 18, 2012 - Kotaku People become gamers by accident, usually when they're young. A school-friend's console turns them into one. Or a parent hands them their first controller. It happens naturally. But being a PC gamer...as far as I've been able to tell, that happens on purpose. That's something you declare. It's no accident. It's an effort, a conscious act. I once was a PC gamer. Then I stopped, for years. Soon, I'll start again. I'm ready. Who a PC Gamer Is For most of my gaming life, the no-stress ease of the gaming console suited me well. I drive automatic transmission after all, not stick. I don't have any desire to lift the hood of a car. Tinkering is barely a pleasure; maintenance is something to pay others for. I recently installed a ceiling fan and only shocked myself slightly. That was enough home improvement for me. The PC gamer, I've observed, is the person who will lift the hood of a car. They tinker. They fix. They expect things to not run perfectly and they assume the responsibility to make them run better. The console gamer waits for a patch. The PC gamer finds one. Or makes one. My PC Days, Pre-Nintendo I was a PC Gamer in 1985, when, despite my complaints, my parents bought a Commodore 64. I still recall my bizarre reaction, as I complained to my mother that using a computer was "cheating". Strange, I know, but that's how I first came to think of computers. To me, they were shortcut creators. That was their power. We did word processing through Bank Street Writer and practiced typing with a game that involved a wizard whose spell-casts I can still hear in my mind today. We got a lot of games. Snooper Troops stands out, as does Test Drive and a batch of Accolade adventures. I played Spy Hunter off of a cartridge and Impossible Mission off of a floppy disc. My favorite game was LucasArts' Labyrinth, a text adventure that turned into a graphical adventure based on the Jim Henson movie. But here's the perfect PC gaming twist: We made some games. Basic stuff. My brother and I typed in programming code from Run magazine. I have no idea what we typed in, and I'm sure we never intentionally deviated from the code listed in the magazine. Nevertheless, that was as under-the-hood as I'd ever get. The PC gamer, I've observed, is the person who will lift the hood of a car. They tinker. They fix. I liked playing games on a computer, partially because that was the only machine we had games on. We'd had an Odyssey 2, not an Atari, but neglected it by the time the C64 arrived. Maybe it broke. I don't remember. We'd eventually get a Nintendo Entertainment System, later than any of my friends did, and soon we'd have an IBM PC, too (maybe a 286; probably a 386). My brother preferred the computer; I glided toward Mario and Nintendo. He played Microsoft Flight Simulator. A lot. Downstairs, my C64 pulled me back in because we got a modem for it. I logged into a service called Quantum Link, the proto-AOL that included Club Caribe, a LucasArts-looking graphical chat room ...
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