Like alot of you, I love Spore, but I also think alot of things need to be changed before the game can live up to the hype it garnered before release. This isn't a letter to Maxis (I don't believe they get around to checking forums very often), so I'm posting it here instead. This is in no way an attack at Maxis or EA, just some stuff I believe would make the game better as a whole.



As you all know, Spore would be nothing without the numerous creation tools that come with it. We are essentially using the game as a virtual hub to showcase our favorite creatures. That's why I think there need to be alot more environnmental creation tools at the players' disposal. There are a few things Maxis could do to go about fixing this..

-More terraforming tools in space stage
-The ability to beam our captains down to planets to admire our work (no more of this "hologram" crap)
-The ability to share custom planets with the spore community (without the need for adventures)
-A flora editor (generic, I know)
-An armor and weaponry creator (your pollinated species could sell your armor/weapons in space stage)
-More building, vehicle, adventure and creature creation tools


My next problem with spore is the lack of creature creation depth. I'd really like to change my creature in ways other than in aesthetics. That's why I think we need a personality and voice modifier in creature creator. They could do something similar to the sims in which you choose from a wide variety of personality traits to use on your creature, such as outgoing, carefree, loner, etc. If you start from a cell, you could be able to choose your personality traits based on your course of evolution. The voice editor would be fairly straightforward; choose from a group of voices then adjust the pitch and tone with sliders.


The core gameplay of spore is VERY simplistic, and I'm sure Maxis has no intention of changing that. They could, however, make slight changes that leave the core gameplay in tact.

-A stage length slider you could adjust before beginning the game would be awesome. The more the left the slider, the shorter the stage; the more right the slider is, the longer the stage. This would allow players to breeze through the various stages or increase their overall playtime in each one, should they desire.

-Climate changes from creature to space stage. This would allow us to engage in different kinds of gameplay depending on the weather. We could have intense snow, drought, heavy rains, beautiful springtime, etc.

-A stronger emphasis on evolution. The player's journey through the various stages should make a difference by the time they reach space stage, instead of allowing a direct leap to space with all the advantages.


Well, I have other ideas too, but I don't really feel like writing anything else. Lemme know what you think, and if you really like the suggestions, I'll post this in the feedback section.

this actually belongs in Feedback, just PM a Sporemaster to move it

Well, really, you should START in the feedback section. I'm not sure why you just went to the work of posting all that in the GD, when you know feedback exists.

I'm not being mean, but most of what you're suggesting is already suggested by others.

There's no reason why you can't tell Maxis what you, individually, want, but you might have more impact supporting one of the other petitions that are more fleshed out.

But ultimately, if you really want to be heard, you should ask a mod to move this to feedback.

First off let me say this belong in the Feedback subsection, not the General Discussion subsection.

This isn't a letter to Maxis (I don't believe they get around to checking forums very often)

That's why we have a Feedback section. They read that one.

-The ability to beam our captains down to planets to admire our work (no more of this "hologram" crap)

But it achieves the same result.

-The ability to share custom planets with the spore community (without the need for adventures)

Why? It wouldn't add to peoples games, at least not with the way Spore is currently set up.

-An armor and weaponry creator (your pollinated species could sell your armor/weapons in space stage)

Because this would be useful when all you do is fly around inside of your ship in space?

-A stage length slider you could adjust before beginning the game would be awesome. The more the left the slider, the shorter the stage; the more right the slider is, the longer the stage. This would allow players to breeze through the various stages or increase their overall playtime in each one, should they desire.

We can already do this as soon as you unlock the stages. You can skip levels entirely by destroying the old save and then using a new planet for the next stage ahead if the player desires.

-A stronger emphasis on evolution. The player's journey through the various stages should make a difference by the time they reach space stage, instead of allowing a direct leap to space with all the advantages.

Consequence abilities and archetypes.

Very good ideas and very well thought out, good job, now everyone won't completely hate you!

ashkelon wrote:Well, really, you should START in the feedback section. I'm not sure why you just went to the work of posting all that in the GD, when you know feedback exists.

I'm not being mean, but most of what you're suggesting is already suggested by others.

There's no reason why you can't tell Maxis what you, individually, want, but you might have more impact supporting one of the other petitions that are more fleshed out.

But ultimately, if you really want to be heard, you should ask a mod to move this to feedback.

Yeah, it's just something I wanted to talk over with players since I didn't think Maxis would ever read this. I just figured general would have the most people.

And yeah, if I decide to do this again, I'll be sure to post it in feedback. Sorry.

Or ask a SporeMaster to move it. They have the green names down with the all the people online on the index page. Private message one of them with a link to this thread and they should do it.

EDIT: Nevermind, none are on right now.

CrazyShyness wrote:First off let me say this belong in the Feedback subsection, not the General Discussion subsection.

This isn't a letter to Maxis (I don't believe they get around to checking forums very often)

That's why we have a Feedback section. They read that one.

I didn't know whether or not they checked feedback, which is why I posted here just in case.

-The ability to beam our captains down to planets to admire our work (no more of this "hologram" crap)

But it achieves the same result.

Not really. You can't interact with the enviorment the same way as you do with an actual creature. Plus, the hologram has extremely slow movement.

-The ability to share custom planets with the spore community (without the need for adventures)

Why? It wouldn't add to peoples games, at least not with the way Spore is currently set up.

Huh? Of course it would add to people's games. With a flora editor and more diverse terraforming tools, you could have some really individual planets.

-An armor and weaponry creator (your pollinated species could sell your armor/weapons in space stage)

Because this would be useful when all you do is fly around inside of your ship in space?

I was refering to fighting in adventures.

-A stage length slider you could adjust before beginning the game would be awesome. The more the left the slider, the shorter the stage; the more right the slider is, the longer the stage. This would allow players to breeze through the various stages or increase their overall playtime in each one, should they desire.

We can already do this as soon as you unlock the stages. You can skip levels entirely by destroying the old save and then using a new planet for the next stage ahead if the player desires.

I don't quite follow you on that one. I know it would be pointless with current evolution bonuses.

-A stronger emphasis on evolution. The player's journey through the various stages should make a difference by the time they reach space stage, instead of allowing a direct leap to space with all the advantages.

Consequence abilities and archetypes.

You can use a cheat to change that, and besides, it doesn't make as much of an impact as it should in the long run.

With the planet editor, each planet is already set aside in a player's galaxy and is remembered, if my memory is correct on this. That's why they're all so small and insignificant. I wasn't saying Flora was bad, it'd be fine, as long as you could do a lot of stuff with it and it would be useful.

CrazyShyness wrote:With the planet editor, each planet is already set aside in a player's galaxy and is remembered, if my memory is correct on this. That's why they're all so small and insignificant. I wasn't saying Flora was bad, it'd be fine, as long as you could do a lot of stuff with it and it would be useful.

I don't quite follow you.


<----terrible reading comprehension.

Is there any way to move this to feedback, or am I screwed until a mod gets back?

Muffinsareugly wrote:

CrazyShyness wrote:With the planet editor, each planet is already set aside in a player's galaxy and is remembered, if my memory is correct on this. That's why they're all so small and insignificant. I wasn't saying Flora was bad, it'd be fine, as long as you could do a lot of stuff with it and it would be useful.

I don't quite follow you.


<----terrible reading comprehension.

No, my fault I wasn't really clear there.

Point is is that I think Spore already has a galaxy put into place for you, but it is random for every copy. But as soon as the game loads, I think it already has everything in place and it only uses the planets when you get to them. Then it will flush certain planets out with creatures and empires and other things as you go along. But the planets are already there.

GA took already unused planets (I think it was gas giants) to place the adventures on them. Planet sharing would be a nice feature but it is just like Cell sharing right now, you couldn't really do much with it the way the game's mechanics are set up. Doesn't mean it won't be there for Spore 2 (that is if Maxis gets to make one).

CrazyShyness wrote:

Muffinsareugly wrote:

CrazyShyness wrote:With the planet editor, each planet is already set aside in a player's galaxy and is remembered, if my memory is correct on this. That's why they're all so small and insignificant. I wasn't saying Flora was bad, it'd be fine, as long as you could do a lot of stuff with it and it would be useful.

I don't quite follow you.


<----terrible reading comprehension.

No, my fault I wasn't really clear there.

Point is is that I think Spore already has a galaxy put into place for you, but it is random for every copy. But as soon as the game loads, I think it already has everything in place and it only uses the planets when you get to them. Then it will flush certain planets out with creatures and empires and other things as you go along. But the planets are already there.

GA took already unused planets (I think it was gas giants) to place the adventures on them. Planet sharing would be a nice feature but it is just like Cell sharing right now, you couldn't really do much with it the way the game's mechanics are set up. Doesn't mean it won't be there for Spore 2 (that is if Maxis gets to make one).

I agree, that would definitely be worthless if the change came without more planet customization tools. The way I see it is that putting this in the game along with a more advanced editor similar to the adventure planet editor, it would be a great way for players to customize their own worlds for other players to see and experience.