Monolith

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"Place on a tribal or civilized planet to uplift the species on that planet"

Monoliths are basically huge, vertical slabs of black rock or marble.

Contents 1 Myths & legends 2 Monoliths in Spore 2.1 Purpose 2.2 Effect 2.3 Where to use 3 Acquiring 3.1 Locations

Myths & legends

The monolith concept originates from Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, in which mankind's early ancestors were given intelligence from a mysterious black monolith.

In a cut scene from the film adaptation, these monoliths were explained to be Von Neumann probes, self-replicating machines which are theorized would be used by extremely advanced civilizations to search for life in the universe. Von Neumann probes would explore the universe in a systematic way, and would communicate back to their home civilization upon finding evidence of life.

It is further speculated that if a Von Neumann probe encountered primitive, non-sentient life it might be programmed to lie dormant on that planet, either silently observing the evolution of that planet's life or actively guiding its evolution or making contact. The Von Neumann probe would then be re-activated when the civilization it was observing reached a certain level of technology, for example space flight, in order to make contact.

It is this possible application of the Von Neumann probe which is explored in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey in the guise of Monoliths, although the explanation of their use was ultimately removed to add to their mystery, and also in Spore.

Monoliths in Spore

Purpose

Spore uses monoliths as a way to rapidly increase the intelligence of a non-sentient race. This has parallels to SimEarth, a previous Maxis game in which it was possible to speed the cognitive development of creatures by dropping a monolith.

Effect

The player places a monolith on an inhabited planet and the planet's species run to it and worship it. Whichever species touches it first will become sentient and will begin their evolution, going through the Tribal, Civilization, and finally into Space phase. If there is already a tribe or civilization on the planet, the monolith will trigger evolution to the next stage until they reach space.

Uplifting a race will give a +50 Relation Bonus. The number of cities the new creatures will build greatly depends on the planet type. From 1 on a T1, 2 on a T2, to up to 10 on a T3 planet. Only on a planet without spice they will just build 1 city no matter the T-Score.

Much like mentioned above in the "Myths & Legends" section, any planet you place a monolith on will occasionally contact you regarding the evolution of the inhabiting race of the planet, looking much like this:

The Pip species on Planet Pipalooza has evolved to the Space Stage!"

Where to use

Although the description states it must be used on tribal or civilized planets, it may also be used on a planet that has animal life so long as there are no other sentient beings in the system.

Acquiring

This tool uses purchased ammunition.

This requires the Traveler 2 or the Zoologist 2 badge.

Locations

This tool can be purchased in the following locations:

Your Empire : §500,000
Scientist Empire : §250,000
Shaman Empire : §250,000
Trader Empire : §300,000
Zealot Empire : §250,000