SSSR - All is revealed To, Members and all Spore fans who may be reading this. For the past month and a bit, rumours of an event named "the SSSR" have been circulating some major Spore forums. It's time for me to reveal what it is, when it's happening and more. I'll start at the very beginning. Last year a fansite for The Sims 2 named WorldSims started a contest where hidden links were placed around five major Sims fansites. The first person to find every hidden link won the contest. Spore was announced at GDC 2005. Planet Spore started on March 28th 2005 along with SnootySpore, making us the first two fansites ever created. At E3 2006, or near it, it was revealed that Spore would not be released until at least April of 2007. Though it is confirmed that the Spore creature editor will be released prior to the game, it's clear that it won't happen any time soon. Therefore I decided that something needed to be done this summer/fall to keep the Spore community occupied. After E3 there's always a long spell where little or no news of games is announced. I therefore decided to arrange the SSSR, the Spore Space Shuttle Race. Depending on how the SSSR goes, it will only be the first of many Spore community challenges set up by major Spore sites, and hopefully will become an annual summer/fall event. With enough help and devotion from the Webmasters of the increasing number of Spore fansites we can create one of the most active and lively game communites on the internet. I hope to achieve three main goals with the SSSR: 1.) The primary goal is to bring the Spore communities from different fansites together and give them something different to do that discuss the game whilst waiting for it. 2.) Notify users of Spore sites about others out there. 3.) Let Spore be known to the very few who don't know of it yet. So, what is the SSSR? It's basically a larger and Spore version of WorldSims' event (which was called SimSafari). I aim to have 10 sites participating in this event. Those 10 have been selected; eight are confirmed to be taking part in it. To explain it better, here's the backstory of the game: ------------------------ Welcome, Spore fans, to the first Spore community challenge: The Spore Space Shuttle Race. You are currently on the outskirts of our own Solar System, hovering close by Pluto, on your journey back from the Aurora Solar System. However, during your stay at the Planet Ephos, your UFOs were sabotaged by an unknown enemy, probably in an attempt to put you out of action so that you cannot defend your planet. On your way back into the Solar System, each one of your UFOs exploded due to malfunctions in the battery of the Xenos Ray Gun. Thankfully, you were all able to escape. The Association of Spore Fan Protection (ASFP) has managed to get you each a small space shuttle which you can use temporarily. Each of your UFOs was made up of 100 different parts. These parts have now been scattered around the Solar System, and have landed on each of the nine planets, as well as the Sun. The ASFP are tracking the parts, and are able to give you information on the location of the parts at certain intervals. It is up to you to now find those parts and rebuild your UFOs to return to your home planet; Earth. You are against each other now. The enemies which sabotaged your UFOs are planning an attack on Earth. The first ten pilots to return home will be recruited to fight the battle. ------------------------ The 100 lost parts are in the form of 100 images and will be hidden within the 10 sites participating in the event (10 images on every site), and fans will be given clues in the form of riddles to lead them to the hidden images. The event will last twelve weeks. Every week a new site will be brought into play, along with a new set of 10 images and 10 riddles. The contest will continue two weeks after the last site is brought into play. The first fan/player to find every single image will be declared the Winner and will be given a completely free copy of Spore on release date*. Runner up prizes will be given to the players who come in second and third place, though they have not yet been decided. The SSSR will begin on the 18th of September 2006. IF plans are finalised COMPLETELY before then, then the contest MAY be started before that date. Every piece has an associated code with it. Members wishing to participate in the contest will make their own topic in a special forum on Planet Spore, where they can only see their own topics. Within this topic they will post a reply every time they find a new piece, listing the piece code, the site it was found on, the page of the site and where on the page the hidden link was and finally, the riddle which led them there. This is all to deter cheating as much as possible. If this year's Spore Community Challenge goes well, then next year's one will be something which is more community based, and forces the fans to work together rather than against each other. The plan is a game which takes the fans into the deep and horrifying backstory of the fictional group, the ASFP. Now that all is hopefully cleared up, I am willing to answer any questions about the SSSR which anyone might have. Please ask me rather than emailing Webmaster of participating sites (which I won't currently list). Thank you for being patient, and I hope you are all excited about what is to come. Sash Webmaster of Planet Spore
What an awesome idea! we really need somthing to keep us busy while we're waiting for the game. Thank you!
