Gameplay
From SporeWiki
[edit] Game-Play
Spore will be a simulation that "ranges from the cellular level to the galactic level." It features several stages that are reminiscent of some of Wright's favorite games:
- Tide pool phase, similar to Pac-Man
- Creature phase, Diablo
- Tribal phase, Populous and Populous: The Beginning
- City phase, SimCity
- Civilization phase, Risk and Civilization
- Space phase, (a.k.a. UFO stage or Invasion), similar to 4X and space colonization games
The last stage of the game, in which the player is in control of a space ship (the UFO) with an interstellar drive, has been described as a giant sandbox mode. The player will be presented with the option to engage in wide-ranging missions similar in game mechanics to Grand Theft Auto. This appears to reverse the gaming convention of freeform tutorial modes followed by goal-oriented endgames. Spore is much more goal-oriented (survive, eat, reproduce, etc.) in its early stages and gets more open-ended and free-form as the game unfolds. At the UFO stage the player will have access to tools, such as the creature editor, from previous stages. It was revealed at MacWorld '08 by April Jones that you are able to jump into any stage of the game at any time. For example, you can jump from the cell phase to the space phase.
Wright calls the game a "massively single player online game." Simultaneous multiplayer gaming is not a feature of Spore. The creatures, vehicles, and buildings the player can create will be uploaded automatically to a central database (or a peer-to-peer system), catalogued and rated for quality, and then re-distributed to populate other player's games. The data transmitted will be extremely small, only 1 kilobyte according to Wright. (Think of it as sharing the DNA template of a creature while the game builds the animal itself, which represents a few megabytes of texturing, animation, etc.) When the player progresses to a new stage, Spore will import creatures as needed. For example, if a flying carnivore is needed to balance the ecosystem, a creature that fits that description will be downloaded. The editor is also a neat feature in this upcoming game. With this "editor" you can design everything from your species, to your buildings, to your vehicles. That includes tanks, aircraft, submarines, boats, and UFO's.
[edit] Frequently asked questions
[edit] How does your creature evolve?
Initially from the primordial soup to the tribal phase you have to kill and eat to get evolution points. Once you amass enough you lay an egg and this takes you to the Creature editor where you can shape your creature and add / remove body parts. Once you hit land you need to mate to get eggs. After that, it is unknown as how you earn points, though conquest of enemies on your planet and in space seems one plausible possibility. To what extent you can change your creature is unknown.
[edit] Is combat interactive?
From the descriptions we have, fights are not fully interactive. Combat may be similar to the interaction between characters seen in The Sims -- you tell them what to do, and the individual does it. Considering that algorithmic evaluation is the core of Spore's programming and AI, combat will most likely work in an "Give creature attack order" -> "AI fights" kind of way.
[edit] What does the UFO do?
Wright called it the "Swiss Army Knife" of the Spore universe. The demo demonstrated that when the interstellar drive is obtained, it can fly all over the galaxy and contact other life forms; establish interplanetary settlements and terra-form and even destroy planets. Other demonstrations have show the ability to place large monoliths that uplife nearby creatures stages. Other features mentioned but not shown include the ability to abduct and even cross-breed creatures.
[edit] Will you be able to enslave other races, or create pets or other domestic animals?
The intergalactic zoo is confirmed for the UFO stage of the game. Domestication and slavery have not been confirmed or ruled out as of yet. However apparently [from the E3 video] if you convince a civilization to worship you the aliens will follow you like any other colony.
[edit] Will there be weather, like rain, snow, hurricanes?
There was definitely weather when the Genesis device was used during the demo: thunderclouds and lightning. If that was specific to the genesis device or whether there is normally weather is not known for sure. No other weather-like effects were shown during the talk though Will has said they would like to add weather if possible.
In the E3 video with Robin Williams, as Will first gets his UFO and pulls out, he says, "We have weather systems, some storms going down there," as he rolled his mouse over some clouds.
[edit] How does the game progress?
The player moves through a vast, transitional game-world, starting in a 2D tide pool, moving somehow to a full 3D world of land, sea and air, to player-designed cities, into orbit around the world, traveling from planet to planet, then between stars, and finally throughout the entire galaxy.
The expression of time changes depending on what stage the player is currently within. Time slowing down relative to the player as the game progresses. Microscopic to Galactic, millions of years in a generation to real-time.
[edit] Will creatures have special abilities?
Will Wright has stated that creatures will not have special abilities (unless you consider flying,built-in weapons(claws, teeth spines, clubs, possible ranged abillities, etc.) , specific abillity ranks, etc. "special" abillities).
