Reproduction

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Procedural mating

Contents 1 Mating 1.1 Eggs 1.2 Juveniles 2 Time-binding 3 Other topics

[edit] Mating

Mating in the creature phase of Spore may be a mini-game challenge wherein your creature must try to find a mate and impress them; or it may simply be a matter of finding them, period. For mating, a creature first initiated a mating call represented by a series of semicircles protruding from the creature which call for a mate while surrounded by a group. A responsive mate will indicate so with a series of pink hearts over their head. The player will then approach the creature, followed by a brief and supposedly optional (in one demonstration they interact with each other, while in another the egg is made without much interaction) procedurally generated mating sequence - with some lovely background music - that will vary according to how your creature is structured. Successful mating will instantly create an egg during the creature phase.

See also: E³ 2006 B-roll

[edit] Eggs

Eggs are laid by mating in the creature phase and eating in the tide pool phase. They let you evolve your creature by improving or adding to it.

When creatures mate or otherwise reproduce in order to enter the creature editor, they lay an egg (at least in the GDC video). Speculation remains hot concerning whether there may be different options in the completed game. However, considering that mitosis is foregone in the tide pool phase in favor of laying an egg, it is more probable that eggs are simply the in-game representation of access to the creature editor. As such, the eggs that the Willosaur and its evolutionary predecessors laid can and probably should be interpreted as an abstraction of generational change, rather than an accurate depiction of reproduction. After mating, the egg is laid almost immediately. The player must defend the eggs from predators until they are ready to hatch, taking from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Clicking on the ready to hatch eggs brings up the creature editor screen.[1]

[edit] Juveniles

Juveniles (or at least Willosaurs that are smaller than others) are briefly seen in the city phase of the GDC video. It can be surmised that these are a part of general individualization or randomization of one species' members, created by the computer manipulating certain parameters of the species' looks, such as size, length of limbs, and so forth. This is expressly referred to in the GDC '05 presentation, when Wright points out that the AI can manipulate the same "sliders" as the player.

In a recent presentation on Prototyping Spore by Maxis representative, Eric Todd, at the GDC '06, the latest version of the creature editor was shown. Clearly visible was a button labelled 'Baby'. When he pushed it, his creature turned into a differently proportioned, and smaller version of the creature he had designed. Like many other items in the prototyping presentation, this option or feature may or may not make it into the final version of the game as an end-user tool.

In the E³ 2006 demonstration, one of the creatures was surrounded by smaller versions of itself after the eggs in it's nest hatched. Will Wright said that it was the baby version of his creature. The smaller creature produced a call that alerted the elders of the species, cementing the fact that it was indeed a juvenile. It had different proportions. This part of the game was where they interacted socially to make herds. It has been seen in demo videos that babies will be included in cities.

You can, however, create baby creatures in the newly released stand-alone creature editor - they are generated by pressing the egg button, and up to three of them can exist in the editor while doing a trial run, in addition to the original, adult, user-created creature.

[edit] Time-binding

Time-binding is the process by which one generation of creatures pass knowledge to the next generation, often through language of some sort. It is considered to be a necessary element of civilization.

Creatures are definitivley able to vocalize and a creature with an apelike mouth was supposedly demonstrated as using "Simlish" to communicate with another, beyond that language is more or less unheard of but a definite possibility in game.

[edit] Other topics

These are reproduction-related topics that are subject to speculation, with no official information at hand.

• Gender
• Gender variation
• Heredity
• Live birth
• Sexual dimorphism