Spore

[Fridlekh]

Hope you aren't a frequent user of SysInternals tools, or have anything like Daemon Tools Isntalled ... :P

I don't think that would cause the "can't connect to the internet" type of error, but SuckyROM will refuse to work if anything that is capable of device emulation or debugging is present... >_<

[CallakDW]

Well the reason I'm asking is I wonder if somthing is wrong with EA's network, since I can't seem to access their website either. Is anyone else having issues.

[Kumu Honua]

Hope you aren't a frequent user of SysInternals tools, or have anything like Daemon Tools Isntalled ... :P

I don't think that would cause the "can't connect to the internet" type of error, but SuckyROM will refuse to work if anything that is capable of device emulation or debugging is present... >_<

I have never had a problem with SecuROM. Nero works fine.

[Dremora]

Okay, so my dad is the one who originally pre-ordered Spore for me (I didn't ask, I just told him how cool the game looked; this was before the knowledge of the limited installs ruined it for me). He refused to cancel the order, even after I told him about said limited installs and I didn't want him wasting money on something like that.

So it came in the mail yesterday. Since he ordered it from EA itself and not Amazon we can't return it unless the software itself has something wrong with it. The crappy DRM it comes with obviously doesn't count.

SO I might as well try the game, but what's ridiculous is that since you can only install it 3 times, I have to decide, carefully, which computer to install it on (we have 4 ). It feels exactly like I'm being treated like a criminal and not a legit customer. Uhg.

All that aside, I've been browsing around the Spore forums lately and came across this. The guy has very good points and starts out like this:

Let me introduce myself in two sentences: I'm a 30 year old microbiology grad who's been playing games since I could hold a colecovision controller. I've developed PC games for $$$, and I work as an environmental consultant. So I think that qualifies me to talk intelligently about game design and especially about games that claim to be based on real science.

You can probably guess where this is going from there and it got me thinking how if Spore was more scientifically accurate, it could be donated to schools (SecuROM-free) and be used as a teaching tool. It'd be really fun for the kids, while at the same time teach them more about evolution and biology.

[Frith-Rae]

There's a show on the DISCOVERY (or maybe it was NATGEO) channel about genetic evolution and features Spore often as a way of how the concept is being illustrated in a video game... so yea, I can totally see how schools would want to use it .

[RuneDragoon]

You can probably guess where this is going from there and it got me thinking how if Spore was more scientifically accurate, it could be donated to schools (SecuROM-free) and be used as a teaching tool. It'd be really fun for the kids, while at the same time teach them more about evolution and biology.

ooh, didn't think about that... that is cool.

I just managed to get the game and find the game short but the graphics very nice. And how the bloody heck do you kill those epic monsters.... I got one shotted...

[Malaquion]

ooh, didn't think about that... that is cool.

I just managed to get the game and find the game short but the graphics very nice. And how the bloody heck do you kill those epic monsters.... I got one shotted...

Get your whole tribe with Stone Axes on the creature. I did that with my Malaquion dragonflies.
The funny thing is, the Malaquions I play in the actual Spore game are a little different from the ones in my Creature Creator version of Spore...and the CC version ended up in my game as an Epic. So my tribe of Malaquions basically killed a bigger version of themselves. XD

[Takora Drakan]

About tribe stage, i made as my second creatures some feathered raptors, i pretty like them, but.... when you give a other tribe a food present, they hop around and sing like some hippies oh my god i laughed so much!

[Deth]

I got my copy today and playing around with my first creature. Here is the great Scorpo. I have also gone in and added others who linked creatures as buddies so I have some safe content if it comes down to it. I have had no problem running it and I think it looks great so far.

[Malaquion]

Tip for anyone in space and having a bit of trouble conquering other empires:

Use the cloud vacuum (or the cloud...gatherer?, depending on whether it's faster to thin or thicken their atmosphere) to reduce their planet to T0 before attacking. They'll only have about two ships and one city left once you de-terraform their planet

[Arietna]

and for those who are unimpressed and have only played to tribal stage etc.. Persevere to space stage REALLY..

I was worried that it wouldn't take long, but boyoboy, the space stage is enormous, that is where most of the work has gone into the long term playability.

great him Malaquion, I just need to steal a herbivore and a giant plant from my enemy's planet before negaterraforming to bomb them I think

[Takora Drakan]

I don't know, I don't get to understand that whole terraform thing, I used now 200k bucks and the planet i should terraform still has T0 <_>

Anyone care to explain what I do wrong? I don't understand that terraform hud either

[Malaquion]

and for those who are unimpressed and have only played to tribal stage etc.. Persevere to space stage REALLY..

I was worried that it wouldn't take long, but boyoboy, the space stage is enormous, that is where most of the work has gone into the long term playability.

great him Malaquion, I just need to steal a herbivore and a giant plant from my enemy's planet before negaterraforming to bomb them I think

Well, to lower your enemy's terrascore, you don't NEED to steal their plants and stuff. If you mess with their atmosphere/temperature, the species will die off all by themselves.

I've wiped out two empires this way. Can't wait till I get the Planet Buster

I don't know, I don't get to understand that whole terraform thing, I used now 200k bucks and the planet i should terraform still has T0 <_>

Anyone care to explain what I do wrong? I don't understand that terraform hud either

Are you placing plants afterwards to stabilize the planet's terrascore? If you get it to, say, T1 but don't place a small, medium and large plant, it'll go right back to T0 in a few minutes.





By the way, playing as a kill-everything race doesn't make it super-hard in the Space stage. I went Predator--->Aggressive--->Military--->Warrior (skipped the cell stage) and now, in space, my Malaquions are allied with four races, have eliminated two, and are at war with only one. I'm getting filthy rich on pink and purple spice.

[Raptress]

Spore has been eating my brain for about a week now. I don't actually have my own copy though, so I can't upload/download anything. However, I made a Photobucket album to show off. :P

I have most of my fun in Cell, Creature, and Space games. Cell game gets really challenging and fun when set to Hard difficulty. Creature is much more interesting in Hard as well.

[RuneDragoon]

I am having difficulty wrapping my simple mind around space... although my arakoan things are quite happy to be out there.

edit: Sorry, my race I had devised because I couldn't simply load a creature I had already made or at least I havent figured that out yet was the Arakao, based off of Arakoan. Feel free to check me out on sporepedia under the username Redpaint.

[Takora Drakan]

Are you placing plants afterwards to stabilize the planet's terrascore? If you get it to, say, T1 but don't place a small, medium and large plant, it'll go right back to T0 in a few minutes.

Uh.. what.. it is now T1 but I planted small,medium, large and 2 plant eaters and one predator creature and it said it fine to me.. but that explains that my red point is moving away.... arghh explain to me please!

What need I do exactly to get to t3 with the terrascore?

Haha I buyed for my spaceship also a corn circle maker.. so funny to use it at tribes, they runn around and look at the my circles Oh and they are pretty on my planet <3

[Sika]

Well, to lower your enemy's terrascore, you don't NEED to steal their plants and stuff. If you mess with their atmosphere/temperature, the species will die off all by themselves.

I've wiped out two empires this way. Can't wait till I get the Planet Buster

So we're not the cause of global warming? There's an alien culture heating up our planet to kill us off?

[Kumu Honua]

Interesting.

Spore is on track to be the #1 pirated software in existance. It's half way to surpassing the (Estimated) sims downloads.

http://torrentfreak.com/spore-most-p...to-drm-080913/

Once again the pirates get to play without problems while consumers get the shaft. I wish they would learn.

[Arietna]

Terraforming..

when you look at the "food map" on the bottom right of your screen, you will see what looks like a target with 4 concentric rings. The centre ring represents T3, the middle one T2, and the outer ones T1 and T0 respectively.

There'll be a dot somewhere on that section.

The vertical position (y axis) of the dot indicates the atmospheric conditions of the planet. If the dot is above the central line, it means that the planetary atmosphere is too dense (so you use tools to lower the atmosphere level), if below the central line, it's not dense enough (so raise it).
The horizontal position (x axis) indicates the planet's temperature. To far to the right, the planet is too hot (lower it), too far left, and the planet is too cold (raise it).

So, if the dot is in the upper left quadrant of the circle, it means the planet is too cold and the atmosphere is too dense.

Once I worked this out, terraforming became a LOT easier.

To stabilise the T score, once you've moved the pointer, you need to place a small plant, medium plant, large plant, 2 herbivores and an omnivore or carnivore. You need to choose different species for EACH terraforming level (so you can't choose the same small plant for t2 as you did for t1)

hope that helps!

[Takora Drakan]

Thank you very much Arietna! Found nowhere in the game the explanation for the hud!

Now to figure out how to add another spaceship to my armada...