SPORE - A Whole New Way To Think About Gaming

[ShadowTiger]

SPORE (http://www.gamespy.com/articles/595/595975p1.html?fromint=1)


So, while Wright was eating another creature, he started to walk backwards.
Taken completely out of context, I dare you not to laugh at that.


The editor was what Wright called an 'artist in a box.' It automates all the grunt work of modeling, skinning, and animating a creature. It's a "creative amplification of the player," allowing gamers to totally customize the experience even if they don't have any artistic skills. Moreover, because the creatures are defined simply and animated using these procedural techniques, the data files are incredibly small -- as small as 1K each! This makes creatures easy to move around, store, share with friends, upload to databases, etc.Okay. Now, I am officially drooling. Towelette, please ...


We all thought this was cool. But Wright wasn't done yet.
We all thought this was cool. But Wright wasn't done yet.
We all thought this was cool. But Wright wasn't done yet.
:D :drool:
Notice how many times he said that. The good points just keep coming ...


He dropped a creature down on this world ... where it violently exploded. There was no atmosphere yet. Over time, he could terraform the world -- Wright demonstrated his awesome power by hitting the planet with a ray gun that created volcanoes.

...
I am utterly awed. Half-Life 2, ... The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, ... and now, Will Wright's Spore.


* Is too stunned to say anything else *

[Coder GT]

Interesting, I guess. I barely understand this.

[Kairyu]

I'm afraid I don't quite see what's so revolutionary about games which have a modding community.

They kinda downplayed the mathematical compression, which was the only real "unique" idea presented. And even that isn't really new, it just hasn't been used in games yet. And I seriously doubt that most modern games could be compressed as well as the article implied. There's a lot more to game files than the graphics, and I doubt 2D games would be smaller if compressed in that manner.

[ShadowTiger]

Meh. You're probably right. ... But maybe your standards are just a lot higher than mine. :p Maybe I'm just in awe because of a few things... The file size of certain files being 1K, (Of course, they make no mention of the OTHER Files, which could be in excess of 100 MB each for all we know.) and the lack of artist-generated images, ... well, you know what I mean. Wright makes some interesting points. Obviously we haven't seen a full review of the game, and much of it is just observations, but you have to admit, it does seem pretty cool.

Very obfuscating comments though. Quite parallel to de-hyping HL2. Bewildering, but acceptable.

[DarkDragoonX]

I'm afraid I don't quite see what's so revolutionary about games which have a modding community.

They kinda downplayed the mathematical compression, which was the only real "unique" idea presented. And even that isn't really new, it just hasn't been used in games yet. And I seriously doubt that most modern games could be compressed as well as the article implied. There's a lot more to game files than the graphics, and I doubt 2D games would be smaller if compressed in that manner.

You're insane... this game has the potential to be astoundingly unique, both gameplay-wise, and technically. A game that creates all of your creations' animations dynamically, on the fly is nothing short of remarkable. The amount of creative power this game gives you is also amazing. Also, they aren't compressing the entire game, they're compressing the data for the creatures you create... something they could do without too much difficulty.

And that's not even getting into the game itself.

[AtmaWeapon]

The game is going to be good at worst and awesome at best.

Will Wright is Mr. Sim City himself. He is what Peter Molyneux would be if his games weren't horrible.


And I seriously doubt that most modern games could be compressed as well as the article implied. There's a lot more to game files than the graphics, and I doubt 2D games would be smaller if compressed in that manner.

Take a look at what can be done in 96k using these techniques. (http://www.theprodukkt.com/kkrieger.html) This is the future. The demo scene has been churning out lots of amazing stuff using progressive drawing like this.

[Mercy]

And I seriously doubt that most modern games could be compressed as well as the article implied. There's a lot more to game files than the graphics, and I doubt 2D games would be smaller if compressed in that manner.
It is not so much about games that have already been made, but about those yet to come. Graphics, in particular, tend to be the chunkiest portion of most modern video games. Wright's newest brainchild is impressive enough as a game but as a developer's tool it is potentially revolutionary. This could be either the best or worst thing to happen to the industry in a while.


m.

[Kairyu]

Well, okay, it seems I'm wrong. This is rather impressive. But I still say the game itself doesn't seem too revolutionary besides the compression methods, it's just SimCity taken up to SimGalaxy.

[bigjoe]

Take a look at what can be done in 96k using these techniques. (http://www.theprodukkt.com/kkrieger.html) This is the future. The demo scene has been churning out lots of amazing stuff using progressive drawing like this. Man, it's too bad I cant get this to work on my computer. :( (Im a few steps short of the system requirements)

But looking at the pictures, I'd have to say Im thorougly impressed that this is done in 96k. Think of a MMORPG where each update was about that big. You'd You wouldnt have to worry, even if you were on a crap connection.

(But then, from what I could tell, the system requirements would be more..)

Now, on the topic, Spore looks to be a remarkable idea. From a single cell organism to a super society. I cant wait to have a culture of ravenous insects who travel from planet to planet, ravaging all that they encounter.:evil:

One thing I hope, though, is that they allow civil war between two seperately located groups of the same species. You cant have a realistic evolution of society without, first, fights with one another.

[Dechipher]

I disagree. In SimCity, you place an airport, it generates pollution and expands your city.
In Spore, you add a leg, who knows what the fuck is going to happen?

This could potentially be really fun, as it doesn't appear to have the same tedious tendencies that The Sims did. That game was obnoxious after 15 minutes.

[Kairyu]

I disagree. In SimCity, you place an airport, it generates pollution and expands your city.
In Spore, you add a leg, who knows what the fuck is going to happen?

I'd guess you'd have another appendage to use resources and take care of, but gain an evolutionary advantage if you didn't already have too many legs.


This could potentially be really fun, as it doesn't appear to have the same tedious tendencies that The Sims did. That game was obnoxious after 15 minutes.

It sounds fun to me, too, but only if other civilizations were controlled by other people. But then you'd have "M4$T4R H44K4R 22288023652" flying around in a spaceship blowing up every little world which enters the game. So hopefully they'd have a good moderational staff.

[Lutraphobiac]

VERY interesting. I was thinking earlier about how developement of 3-d games needs to be simplified, and how that could bring about a more deverse experience.

I don't think that this style will replace the old style of making games, but it is nice to see innovation.

Kairyu, if you don't see that advantage of not having to program 22,000 animations, then I guess you don't understand. The article said that you shouldn't think of this as that game, but a new way of thinking.

[Kairyu]

Kairyu, if you don't see that advantage of not having to program 22,000 animations, then I guess you don't understand.

No, I see the advantage with the animation style. What I meant was that the game itself didn't look like something brand new, just upping the ante.


The article said that you shouldn't think of this as that game, but a new way of thinking.

I generally read this type of literary work thinking that the writer is trying to convince me that the praised object/person/etc. is flawless, or that it has only a few, insignificant flaws. It's cynical, but I've been burnt a few times too many.