Spore

[ebns72 0]

This video is long, but I had to pick my jaw off the floor after I saw it. This new game by Will Wright looks incredibly revolutionary, I cannot wait for it. It combines elements from the sims, simcity, and civilization but adds so much more...it looks incredible.

To see the video, you need to register but it is pretty painless. Scroll down a bit here to find the video (you need to register as I said). Its called "Will Wright discusses his new game creation called 'Spore'"

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

how long is that?

The speaker is "very american" and very funny and interesting!

[ebns72 0]

its pretty long, I didn't watch it all in one sitting. I watched it throughout the day, did like 20 minutes then remembered where I was at and came back. You can pause/resume it easily, it may appear like it doesn't work but just give it 10 seconds after clicking the button and it should work. The best part, IMO, is toward the end or 3/4 the way through, so don't stop half-way through and think you've see it all!

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

nah, I just noticed you can simply jump to the right chapter! Damn great game and funny as hell!

[hellfish6 7]

What an absolutely fascinating game. Thanks for the link!

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

I dont want to destroy any euphoria but it appears the game is nothing but a link of mini-games. So actually your evolution during the cell-era does not have an impact on your future developments. Sure, due to the right development you may grow faster, but still, when you grow bigger you can become the same animal like any other on the planet. Also, if I am not mistaken, the same pictures were already available during E3, so I hope the game with make it to "gold status" one day.

Anyhow, it looks like it could also become an awesome multiplayer game to me!

[Messiah 2]

saw this in PC Gamer among other things - looks amazing if you ask me - i cant wait

[hellfish6 7]

I wonder if your creation can die out - like if you make it to slow and too unadaptable, can you get eaten and die out or unable to adapt to a changing climate and have to start over again?

[bn880 5]

Very nice system, but I don't see how it's evolutionary.

[hellfish6 7]

My concern with it is that I have with all Maxis games - they're great designs and ideas but often very little depth and seem rushed. SimCity, for example, has nearly instantaneous constructions (which admittedly has gotten better with SC4) but it took how many years to get there? Any city planner will tell you it can take months, if not years, to do anything. I'd kinda like that simulated if only as an option.

The Sims (I only played #1, never bought any addons) always let you work, but your work never affected your life. Anyone who has ever had a job has known that often their lives revolve around their job - good days, bad days, etc. It's not just a paycheck. The Sims largely treated jobs as paychecks. That's it.

Anyway... I'm done ranting. I'll probably buy this game but I'm sure I'll also be underwhelmed and feeling like it was capable of so much more.

[ebns72 0]

Very nice system, but I don't see how it's evolutionary.

The things I personally find revolutionary about it are both in concept and technology. To my knowledge, there has been no other game that procedural generation for the animations and such. What Will Wright was talking about was the game analyzes what you've made and makes behavioural patterns, the way it walks, etc. Based on what you do. For the walking example, there are no defined walking animations that exist in the game. Every animation is a different one based on your species configuration.

Think also about the sheer scale of it...you thought ofp was large, this game covers and entire GALAXY each with their respective solar systems each with their respective planets and moons. The dynamicness (is that a word? :P) is incredible. As the video demonstrated, terraform planets by first creating an atmosphere by releasing gases created by volcanoes, then transplanting animals and creatures from one world to another. You can destroy a planet and form a new astroid belt or chunks of the planet could form a moon. Stars can collapse and become supernovas. You can conquere the galaxy or destroy it.

The game creates and entire, functioning ecosystem for every planet, In addition to simulating what can be an entire planet of politics and countries similiar to what we see in the civilization series. Yet game manages to create these complex planetary ecosystems consisting of possibly hundreds of creatures not just for one planet but an entire galaxy of planets. On top of that, all the creatures are taken from every player currently playing the game, or it can be evolved by the computer from a spore. You can also play god by terraforming a planet and putting your own spores there to watch them grow and become their own ecosystem.

Quote[/b] ]Sure, due to the right development you may grow faster, but still, when you grow bigger you can become the same animal like any other on the planet. Also, if I am not mistaken, the same pictures were already available during E3, so I hope the game with make it to "gold status" one day.

I am not certain what you mean like "every other animal on the planet." You can create any creature your imagination can handle, and you can evolve them how you please (however there are some limits as to how much you can change from your original creature based on a points/buying system).

Quote[/b] ]I wonder if your creation can die out - like if you make it to slow and too unadaptable, can you get eaten and die out or unable to adapt to a changing climate and have to start over again?

I was wondering (and I am hoping) that this game will include Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. If it were included, if an unsuccesful generation of species died out, you would just go back to the previous generation and attempt to make a better mutation. The game will probably include this (natural selection is how evolution occurs in reality...) along with the possibility of AI-controlled varients of your species mutating to become their own species. Or at least I hope so, that would be so sweet to compete with other varients of your species in the survival of the fittest.

[bn880 5]

Sure, but where is the evolutionary game there.

Revolutionary maybe. I mean, you get way too much freedom to overhaul the creature every time it mates. An evolutionary model would not have you making modifications to the creature, but millions of different genetic variations and competition in the real world would eventually generate evolved organisms. I sure would like to see this game become more of an emulation of evolution. And over time we'd see what it came up with.

[hellfish6 7]

IIRC Will Wright made a game years ago called "SimLife" which was a lot like this game. I just now remembered it - except in SimLife you created animals using DNA and let them roam free in a world you created. They'd mate and evolve naturally.

It's been 10-15 years since I played SimLife, though, so it's entirely possible I'm remembering it wrong.

One thing I always liked about Mr. Wright is his interesting game ideas. SimLife, SimCity, SimAnt and all the others. Very out of the norm and even semi-educational.

[ebns72 0]

Sure, but where is the evolutionary game there.

Revolutionary maybe. I mean, you get way too much freedom to overhaul the creature every time it mates. An evolutionary model would not have you making modifications to the creature, but millions of different genetic variations and competition in the real world would eventually generate evolved organisms. I sure would like to see this game become more of an emulation of evolution. And over time we'd see what it came up with.

Ah I misunderstood you I see what you are saying.

I, too, as you do want natural selection implemented in the game.

What you are asking (to be able to watch an evolution emulation by natural selection) will probably be implemented in the game judging by the closing comments on that game. You will be able to transplant any computer-controlled creature onto another planet (probably bacteria too) and the computer can create variants it on its own to form an ecoystem. The only real evolution you are controlling is that of your own creature. Of course, all the other creatures in the game are having their evolution controlled by the computer . Hopefully this will create some natural selection scenarios with the AI-controlled species where several variations exist within the species and they compete for survival...those that die don't reproduce and make it to the new generation while those that survive do.

Will Wright is a very smart and scientifically knowledable man, so I doubt that he has overlooked natural selection in his game. keep in mind that demo wasn't even an alpha, he said it was pretty much help together with duct tape and glue. The details of the game are very vague, but I'm sure that other ai-controlled variants of your species will exist where you need to compete to survive like in reality.

Also, the freedom showed when changing generations was for demo purposes. The "buy" system in the game will limit to how much you can change when you "evolve" it...it will probably never be as drastic as the sea to land conversion of the creature in the demo. At each new generation the most you can add is a leg or replace feet with fins so it is more gradual. If you could change that fast, the game would be awfully short

[Guest]

Yeah I've been following this since E3 this year. Other than the gameplay (Spore vs Simlife etc....not getting into that), the revolutionary stuff is the proceedural content. I'm really hanging out to see just how much of it is proceedural. Gonna be interesting to see if more game devs start using this approach.

I'm probably waiting more for this game than any other now (....fkn STALKER release date pushed back endlessly....)

[bn880 5]

I guess then it is definetely worth waiting for, since as long as they have the game engine which is capable of simulationg thousands or millions of life forms properly, they can control the logic of evolution even through scripts and "mods".

All this waiting, wish something came out already....

[Espectro (DayZ) 0]

Man, I just saw the video... This is awesome.... Lets get atleast SOME of these games released allready!!!