jackuul wrote:Revised....

The old spore cellular stage...



Now...


That's sadder than yarn will ever be.

I like the 2008 look better. It looks more fun.

What, is that the wrong opinion?

mountainman wrote:
I like the 2008 look better. It looks more fun.

What, is that the wrong opinion?

No, i agree with you that the 2008 version looks aesthetically more pleasing. Honestly I never really had a gripe about the looks of this game. Sure it's cutesy but for some reason it works.

My biggest complaint is the general tediousness of stages 2-4. The overly simplistic simon-says approach really doesn't appeal to me, and can make the gamepainful going from cell to space. And the possible notion that I might have to purchase a future expansion to augment the general gameplay of the core game just leaves me sour. Sure it's making an assumption on what they have planned for future enhancements, but I still can't help feeling as if many of these elements were removed either to reach an eventual deadline or pave the way for future expansion.

Oh at last, the other shoe has landed. There's a surprise.

I don't care how full of features the expansions claim to be, I've been down this road before. Judging from the quality of the core game, I would expect years more of buggy expansions. Okay. I'll go buy something which actually works.

blazur wrote:My biggest complaint is the general tediousness of stages 2-4. The overly simplistic simon-says approach really doesn't appeal to me, and can make the game painful going from cell to space.

I appreciate that opinion, and I do recognize that the game can be shallow and repetitive (what you describe as tedious), but I still find it tremendously fun and engrossing, though curiously, it's not the kind of game that would have appealed to me 5-years ago. I hated The Sims the first time I played it for many of the same reasons that people dislike Spore, but with less time to play games these day, I find that I have a greater appreciation for so-called "casual" games than I used to, so it sounds to me like you're simply not the intended demographic.

mountainman wrote:

rocketgirl wrote:But I started seeing other things as each demo came along; with each new presentation, something that had gotten me fired up about Spore was taken away until eventually almost NONE of what I wanted was still there.

Then why'd you buy the game, dummy?

Misplaced optimism, obviously; I was hoping that what I was seeing in demos was misleading...and it WAS, just not in my favor. I was a fool; won't get fooled again.

cthulhoo wrote:
150 hours, what more did you really expect for your money? Compared to most games, such as Half Life 2 or Bioshock you certainlly got alot of playtime out of Spore don't you think?

not really: i'm very selective about my games and i only buy those who offer a lot of variation and replayability. i think i've played the long campaign with all parties in medieval total war II by now for example or i can just start a new game in Civ4 right now because i know it will be tactical variable from whatever i played earlier but it will always be a finished product. a game doesn't have to be really recent for me, just well made and i sometimes rediscover them after years (they don't have DRM !!!).
the only way that will happen with Spore is when i've some creative idea but it would be more like fooling around with it than actually playing in my opinion. sure i knew the risk and this time it failed, no real harm done but it's just average for me.
it would actually have to be a game with more depth before i even consider buying no matter what expansion. i'm not going to fill up my harddrive with just more to dress up and pay the full for just that.

Here's where my experience and age comes in , those of you complaining about expansions? WHY? (ask yourself) if you are indeed agreeing that the core game needs improving, expansions is how that happens , if you think for $50 you deserved a mega game with all the content they imagined for SPore , then you're fooling yourself. Some great games in the past were ruined by lack of support from the developer *cough LucasArts* Cough* Battlefront 2* , Spore is barely 2 weeks old and already has had a tweak patch adding enhanced gameplay and graphics (not just a mainteneance patch) , shows EA cares about this product . Im all for E A games making some paper on this game (just keep those expansion packs to $20 or under , thank you) .

You can expect some new content for X mas , im sure EA will make the traditional Christmas patch , even if it's just adding a alien snowman race or a rogue Santa tribe , or reindeer pirate ships. Spore is a game that is best played in small doses , at night , if you rushed to finish it already then you completley are missing the point of the game , it's not a marathon to run, this game is an adventure , an experience . It's teaching you to think of options , when your first plan does not work, you re-think your actions and try a new plan. I wont argue that the game shown in 2005 was interesting , it sure was, but the Spore retail version has much of merit also.

"...this is what I've been harping about on these boards since the SPORE game came out. And, frankly, it should have been in the game from the beginning! If a genuine personality matrix comes out for Spore and they want to make me PAY for it, they can go bobbing for apples in a septic tank; eight flavors of Not Gonna Happen™. That's not a business model I'm willing to support: screw the customer with the base product, then milk 'em for all they're worth just to make the game complete. Nuh-uh. No way, never, no how, fuggeddaboudit. "

I can tell you right now *I* am not buying these. Deep gameplay is what was promised initially and then yanked at the last minute. That's known as bait and switch and it's a deceptive business practice.

Also, the game is kind of sicky-sweet for me. I'm getting tired of it.

I'm also not paying any more money to EA until they ditch their DRM policy.

nunez1212 wrote:Though I think Spore could be really really good after a few GOOD ones...oh and I love the creature stage...i don't know what there is to fix except let me swim under water and not get eaten after 2 sets in...

Probably been replied to already, but I haven't finished reading the thread, and most likely bears repeating:

A game shouldn't REQUIRE expansions to be "good". I bought the Sims/Sims2 expansions because the game was ALREADY good.

Well I'm not buying an expansion. I'm almost bored of the game already.

Before they talk about expansions, they should fix the SPORE game, many people, including myself, are having problems, especially with the patch.

You do know that these are things Will Wright has already talked about? Expanding the series to other consoles and simply making the game more connective. This is NOT about adding onto just the PC game and getting all that stuff that you think we're "missing".

They should actually go and implement the creature engine they let us all download.

The one that had roaming herds of creatures that automatically ran away from predators.
The one that had large predators roaming around.
The one that didn't have fixed nests.
The one that didn't auto-heal you at every nest of a creature you either befriended or wiped out(which really makes no sense at all.)

The one they said on the site(now removed, I see) that they SAID was the final model they said they implemented in-game.

*******Instead we have:**************

Herbivores never really have to leave their nests. Scripts(most likely) seem to ensure that they have fruit trees literally on the border of their nests(so if you play one, you don't have to either!) The only time things really leave the nests is to socialize.(more on that little bit of stupidity later)

Once in a blue moon you'll see a roaming predator out hunting. One of the few shining moments.

You can freely approach any nests of your own species you want(which, even in E3 2008 Will Wright said was "tricky"). And also approach pretty much any nests of any non-predator you feel like too.

Other non-predator species see fit to do the same to you. Even if you run the most aggressive creature you can, they'll still amble up to your nest, looking to befriend you.

Frankly ALL creatures should act like the rare and epic creatures, sure they have a "home" area, but by and large they wander all over the place. (By "wander all over the place" I mean every time you are at tier1-3 you seem to be running into the bloody things over every hill but at max creature, when you can actually HANDLE one, they're nowhere to be found.)

On the cell stage: Considering you're in the middle of the ocean and not in a lab dish somewhere frankly the green/white background of the old 2005 version doesn't actually make any sense. It WOULD be nice not to run into the exact same cell creatures in every cell stage though.

NOTE: As for the cartoony feel:
Ctrl+Shift+C
Stylefilter -norainbows
Enter.
KTHXBYE.

I'd also like it if EA's big brother program(sorry, patch utility) worked right too and managed to find the game WHEN IT USES THE DEFAULT INSTALL PATH.

raekreborn wrote:You do know that these are things Will Wright has already talked about? Expanding the series to other consoles and simply making the game more connective. This is NOT about adding onto just the PC game and getting all that stuff that you think we're "missing".

Yes that is all good and dandy, but vertical expansion should not be sacrificed for horizontal expansion.

Object Oriented Programming is great, making more games have more customization is great, neglecting a game you already made; using it as a guinea pig for other games, and writing off the complaints with "we knew different game types wouldn't click with everyone' -- not great.

In my opinion, SPORE was their ONE SHOT to do it right, they might be able to patch it to heck, but this is the one title to make this attempt. The idea of a SPORE 2 or expansions is absurd.