Spore cancelled?

[WindupAtheist]

Buddy of mine says he read this in one of the print mags.  But there's no big WTF thread waiting here for me, so is it true?

 

[DraconianOne]

Considering people are previewing it at the Leipzig Games shindig over the last couple of days, I'd hazard a guess at no.

[Krakrok]

You can download and play a ghetto version of a planet simulator like Spore here.

[WindupAtheist]

Stupid print mags.

Krakrok's game looks interesting.  Given the inordinate amount of fun I had with Darwin Pond, I gotta try this.

[Samwise]

This program may have been one of the first to simulate a physical advantage in an evolving artificial life via "natural" selection.

Piffle.  I know for a fact there have been others before him.  I wrote one myself, and I was inspired by several others.   

[Margalis]

It was cancelled, then remade as a game aimed at pre-teens.

[Krakrok]

Leipzig Spore Press Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSDAl4hrgZ8

[Samwise]

Doesn't sound to me like they're cancelling it.   

Also, I was initially dismayed at how bright and colorful the land creatures were, and then I remembered that you can skin them however you want.  The only big difference between the creatures in that video and the ones in earlier demos was that the creatures in that video had a bright blue skin instead of mottled green and brown, and that's completely player-controlled.  So I'm no longer dismayed.

[Margalis]

I see a lot of differences. The creatures now have goofy looking faces, they sing, animated hearts waft up from their love interests, etc. Comparing to the early vids it is a noticeable change in art direction IMO.

[Samwise]

goofy looking faces, they sing, animated hearts waft up from their love interests, etc.

How are the newer videos any different in that respect?   

[Morat20]

goofy looking faces, they sing, animated hearts waft up from their love interests, etc.

How are the newer videos any different in that respect?   

They're not. Mating (the hearts), singing (socialization) and all of that was part of it from the beginning. It's just what was shown was the "making a creature and having it eat other creatures" bit, which seems to still be firmly part of the game. Sure, you can make cute creatures. You can also make things that seem to be mostly tooth and claw and evil, from what I've seen.

But hell, this is a gaming site. Shit never lives up to the expectations, because it's not exactly the way we'd have done it ourselves. We're worse than REM fans for arguing about when someone sold out their vision.

[Margalis]

It's not like I am the only person who has noticed a change in art direction. It's a common complaint. Maybe that art was always there and just not showcased, but the impression the game gives off is different from what it was before. It's a bit of a bait and switch, intentional or not.

[Samwise]

It's not like I am the only person who has noticed a change in art direction.

I'm not sure if you can complain about a change in art direction in a game where most of the art being showcased is generated by the player.

I think more than anything we're seeing a change in the way the game is being demoed/marketed.  BFD.  I'm already planning to buy it, I don't care what they put in their ads at this point as long as the game is still good.

[NiX]

It's not like I am the only person who has noticed a change in art direction. It's a common complaint. Maybe that art was always there and just not showcased, but the impression the game gives off is different from what it was before. It's a bit of a bait and switch, intentional or not.

Did you not watch the Robin Williams video of him playing Spore? It clearly showed the art you see in the recent video off. I see nothing different and I think it's just people who assumed it should be one way and didn't bother to actually look. Its always been this way. It's not a bait and switch if you didn't bother to notice in the first place.

[Wolf]

When did they remove some of the stages?

It used to be Cell -> Sea Creature -> Land Creature -> Tribe -> City -> Civilization -> Space

I guess they merged the sea and land creature phases and the tribe and city ones :)

[Murgos]

One of the main reasons Will Wright (and Sid Meier's) games are fun is that they go through extreme amounts of iteration in development.  They've both done talked at length about how many design and test cycles their respective games will go through.  If they cut something here and there, or streamlined something else it's because they've been hammering at it and know it needed to change.

Also, arguing that the game is a 'bait and switch' because colors went from shit green to purple?  You gotta be fucking kidding me.

[Sky]

I think they ditched sea creature phase and fused city and civ phase, which kinda bummed me out some. Or at the least they toned down and shortened sea phase and I don't think you can choose to stay a sea creature.

The gripe about art direction is somewhat warranted. The cell phase went from glass slide to cartoony with googly eyes.

[Morat20]

I think they ditched sea creature phase and fused city and civ phase, which kinda bummed me out some. Or at the least they toned down and shortened sea phase and I don't think you can choose to stay a sea creature.

The gripe about art direction is somewhat warranted. The cell phase went from glass slide to cartoony with googly eyes.

One of the various interviews had someone (Wil possibly) mentioning that stuff cut in development is frequently found in the first expansion -- in response to a comment about the sea phase.

They're pretty close-mouthed about any design decisions they make, but I got the impression they were trying to streamline game play. Sea creature may simply not have been different enough from land to warrant the phase, and if they ditch sea creatures in their entirety I suspect they'd be in the first expansion. (There also could have been technical reasons -- sea life is radically different from land life in terms of allowable structure and movement. That may have pushed them to ditch it, as you couldn't share much code with the land side).

As for the art -- I always figured the first demos were just that -- demos. I think a lot of the cartoony stuff is coming out because of the textures (which really do change the look), and their marketing choices. The proof will be in the pudding.

[Roac]

Stop working on your game, because it gets worse the longer you work on it!  Also, no patches please.  Infact, if you could just publish the design specs I'd be happy.

[Samwise]

Stop working on your game, because it gets worse the longer you work on it!  Also, no patches please.

It would be funnier if it wasn't actually true in some cases.  Did somebody say twitch?