User experience testing at Maxis Studio Jan 13 & 14th

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 01/13/2009 01:34:29

Hey Everyone!

We’ve heard your feedback on our official Space Adventures thread and you’ve got some great ideas! We have another new opportunity for some of you to share your thoughts about the upcoming expansion. Since we’d like to get a sense of how players interact with the game, we’ll be inviting between 4 and 6 San Francisco Bay Area local players to the Maxis Studio in Emeryville for some user experience testing next week, Jan 13 & 14th.

We're looking for people who meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Someone who could arrange to spend about 2 hours at Maxis' offices in Emeryville, CA on Jan 13 or 14th

• Someone who has finished at least the Spore Creature stage

• Someone who has done player-created mods for PC games--not only Spore, but for games such as Starcraft, Counterstrike, Battlefield, etc.

A small compensation will be given for your time.

If you’re interested, please send your email address to MaxisSaguaro@Maxis.com

Cool idea, wish I was in that area

hattrickster wrote:Cool idea, wish I was in that area

Same.

FutureFilms wrote:

hattrickster wrote:Cool idea, wish I was in that area

Same.

Same

I used to live in Sacramento, CA. I moved to Westville, OK. One of the lamest places! SLOW INTERNET!!! NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!
I would've gone if I still lived over there.

I have 1 and 2, but not 3. And I'm not near Emeryville. I want to get a job with Maxis some day.

PlanetKing wrote:

FutureFilms wrote:

hattrickster wrote:Cool idea, wish I was in that area

Same.

Same

Same

Well, whoever meets those requirements, they should not only go up there but while they're doing beta testing or whatever, they should give Maxis a peice of the communitie's mind. Words on an internet page have less effect then someone telling you in person, so whoever goes up there should tell Maxis exactly what the community here thinks!

....And will you guys stop saying "same"?!?!? We get it, you wish you live in California.

I'm in Umeå, Sweden...that's close to San Francisco Bay Area, right?? *Hopes*

Cool idea btw!!

I think we should put toghether money and send RocketGirl there... she'd qualify... Finished atleast creature stage to discuss on space-stage. Genious. Why not defeated the Grox without using mods?

....And will you guys stop saying "same"?!?!? We get it, you wish you live in California

same!

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 01/06/2009 15:52:42

Hmm... I have the first two, and the third up to some level.

I must say I have never actually completed a mod, but I've tried modding for Half-Life 2, so I got an idea of the process and the issues coming with such things. For example, when I look at the way water is handled in Spore, I see adding an underwater stage won't be possible without some serious recoding of the way planets work, perhaps even a complete overhaul of the game's engine.

However, there's another issue: I live in the Netherlands, Europe.

It's slightly difficult to get to California from England.

Ricotez wrote:Hmm... I have the first two, and the third up to some level.

I must say I have never actually completed a mod, but I've tried modding for Half-Life 2, so I got an idea of the process and the issues coming with such things. For example, when I look at the way water is handled in Spore, I see adding an underwater stage won't be possible without some serious recoding of the way planets work, perhaps even a complete overhaul of the game's engine.

However, there's another issue: I live in the Netherlands, Europe.

A bit off topic, but I don't think the code needs to be overhauled to let it work. Sure, there must be written new code. However, From what I read prior release the spore-engine is practically built to expand upon and shouldn't be too hard actually.

My only question is, how the spore cards will hold both the terrain data AND the underwater data.
On the other hand, I'm still riddled how a spore card holds the data for parts that aren't visible on the backside and aren't symitric. (building parts).
For example, I build a wall, a solid wall. On the front a gate, on the other side one window. When I save it and view it in the sporepedia only one side is showcased but when I would import that image to spore and view it ingame the backside is there.
That's one thing Spore is really unique and cool.

A couple of you have mentioned that you don't meet the third criterion.

I just want to emphasize that we're looking for a range of people, so if you've met even just one of the above criteria, we welcome you to apply for this opportunity.

-MaxisCactus