SPORE

[Queeaqueg]

Damn it, I really want 2 play this now but I haven't got the PC power. Is the game multiplayer?

[Kevin164]

No, it's a singular event. BUT you share everything you create. It goes onto a server that downloads onto your game. So every tree, vehicle, or hut is basically the brain child of some other player. You get stats on how your races fairs against other players on the same server and you can send messages back and forth to each other about it. I expect a lot revenge and virtual genocide to take place over or because of these conversations.

[Queeaqueg]

That is a shame, I thought you could get other people's different races to interact with each other.

[Kevin164]

Each player's race does interact with each other. It's not real time though between two players via a connection, but the computer keeps track of your aggression and choices creating a profile for how that species you created acts for another's game . It's basically a big galaxy being populated with player content from Cell to the Space Phase and it's based on how you react in your game that sets the stage for another player in his or her game.

[Kevin164]

Well, Spore is out since this Sunday and a plethora of YouTube videos about its gameplay have flooded the network. After watching a long drawn out Space battle between an emerging empire over another I promptly received a headache. I've already heard a few complaints from other Mac Users about this game so I guess I might have to wait an see if it is converted over to a console format before I purchase it or a new computer.

[Nav]

I picked it up at the weekend and it's a pretty awesome experience. It plays like a series of increasingly difficult minigames until you make it into space, at which point it really kicks up a notch.

My first species was a very aggressive carnivore, which gives you advantages during the creature, tribe and civilization stages, but what you don't realise is that once you go galactic, all that aggression comes back to bite you in the ass as a lot of races aren't prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt and would rather wipe you out of existence than negotiate. Founding colonies, terraforming and trading spice all becomes very difficult when you have to run back home to defend your colonies every few minutes.

I've started a new species of herbivores. Certain creatures and tribes will want to kill you on site and it's harder to defend against that, but I should reap the benefits of making friends and playing nice once I'm in space. Of course, winning the civilization stage was no pushover last time and my Muncheroos aren't really geared towards combat.

[vasko]

I just bought it last night, squeezed in about 3 hours before bed.
Much fun indeed, only the tip of the iceberg so far...
I've done the same as you Nav, my first instinct is to kill and eat everything on site, maybe I'll try a more balanced approach eh?

[Nav]

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I realise that there's a real short vs. long term tradeoff in the game. If you're a big, strong, aggressive carnivore then it makes the creature and tribal stages much easier. However, when you get to the civilization stage many of the other civs are the same species as you, meaning you end up on a planet full of aggressive, powerful carnivores.

The result for me was that I never had the breathing room to do anything other than fight. We were all attacking each other from the get go and it didn't let up until I'd bludgeoned my way to victory. My immediate neighbours were actually a religious race, but their city was in a strong tactical position and I didn't have time to negotiate. My militant Spoonys wiped them out in short order. There may have been other peace-loving races on the planet, but the Red Spoonys and the Blue Spoonys must've devoured them before they even met me because we ended up in a savage, three-way Spoony civil war. The Reds were fairly easy to deal with, but the Blues were tough. They developed a powerful air force early on (designing your own tanks, ships and planes is a lot of fun too, btw) but my greater financial muscle enabled me to zerg them with cheaper tanks and ships and eventually win in a bloody war of attrition.

Of course, now we're in space many of the other spacefaring races just attack me on sight because of my bloody, ruthless history (social commentary from Mr Wright, I wonder?). I've made some friends though, but I'm finding they tend to be of the unscrupulous variety...

[vasko]

...three-way Spoony civil war.

I've waited all my life to hear that phrase!

[Kevin164]

I find myself wishing for the earlier footage of the space stage from 2005 than the newer version I've seen on YTube on Spore. It seemed you could get lost easier than in the green territorial and lined filled version that is out in stores currently. Any thoughts good or bad about Space's game play?

[Xar]

I find myself wishing for the earlier footage of the space stage from 2005 than the newer version I've seen on YTube on Spore. It seemed you could get lost easier than in the green territorial and lined filled version that is out in stores currently. Any thoughts good or bad about Space's game play?

Filters are in place to change the look of the Space stage, so if you don't like the lines connecting various empires, you can get rid of them. Thus far the Space stage is extremely cool, though it's much more complicated than any of the previous stages. You do have unparalleled freedom... I went commercial and began buying solar systems from other races, then I established a galactic zoo on a planet in my home system, and then when I needed a safe place where to keep my artifacts, I converted my home planet's moon into a wild preserve within which I dropped genetically engineered carnivorous variants of herbivores I found in the galaxy... as an added bonus I pumped up one creature from each of these species to Epic status (made them giants, basically). Now those Epic creatures with spit attacks can actually damage my spaceship; if anyone tries to enter that moon, woe to them!

[Nav]

The Space stage is where the game really gets a bit of depth. I'm having fun with it now and I'm getting quite powerful, but terraforming is still very difficult. I've bought the cloud generators, but getting the timing right with a meteor or comet strike so that they bring the planet into the next terra stage, and finding the right vegetation and animals to keep it there, is very tricky.

[Loredoctor]

I'm selling Spore at a retailer which buys second-hand games. I found the game very average, sorry. Plus, Warhammer Online is too good.

[Damelon]

I picked up Spore yesterday and played it for a few hours. My carnivore race is stuck in the tribal stage. I haven't quite figured out the interactions there yet and I've gotten wiped three times. My herbivore race is good at making friends, but hasn't gotten to the tribal stage yet.