Spore E3 2008 News Roundup: Spore

Judhudson · Jul 21, 2008

E3 2008 News Roundup: Spore

Last week was a very busy week with E3 going on! I managed to gather all of the information from E3 and posted it at Simprograms. Since I had to constantly update it, it wouldn't be wise to have it posted in two places. Now that it is over, I can post it over here! So here is a cut-n-paste of the news coming out of E3.

Gameplay Videos

Interviews
http://www.g4tv.com/e32008/videos/27182/Exclusive_Hands_On_Spore.html

Gametrailers.com - Spore - E3 2008: Developer Walkthrough Part 1
Gametrailers.com - Spore - E3 2008: Developer Walkthrough Part 2
Gametrailers.com - Spore - E3 2008: Developer Walkthrough Part 3

Spore Trailer Preview

Details from EAs Press Conference

Screenshots

Space Odditys Blog - Spore playable at E3

Voodoo Extreme - Spore Screenshots from all Stages

Articles/Previews

I only had a limited amount of time at the EA demo station, so I quickly bypassed my handlers attempts to stick me with a developer who would walk me through the game. I figured, as a long-time PC gamer, that if the game was any good I could figure it out faster than someone could explain it. The handlers gave me a queer look, warned me that the galactic stage was difficult, but largely left me be.

I began the civilization stage by picking a pre-made creature from the Sporepediain this case the Max Rebo species, fashioned after the blue-colored piano player from Star Wars, recreated perfectly in the game by some anonymous creature artist. I then had a choice to make my Rebos into militaristic, religious or economic powerhouses. The thought of war-like Max Rebos was too much to resist.

Shacknews: Spore Hands-on Preview, An Hour with the Civ Phase and Galactic End-game
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Will Wrights Spore is aiming to set precedents in many ways, and its also set to break a long-standing Maxis tradition: the game ends. Producer Thomas Vu told us that the space phase of the game is what he considers the RPG phase, with 15 to 20 hours of gameplay and prepare to be floored one ending. No matter how your species lives its existence, it always ends the same way as you make your way to the center of the universe.

Joystiq - Spore Space Phase is 15-20 hours, 1 ending only
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One of the more interesting things that EA Maxis just put into the game is a history chart /graph for each of your civilizations stages. For example you can see how your microbe creature became bigger, had its first kill of a smaller creature, what spare parts it picks up and more. Not only does it give you info on your choices but its also a way to see if your creature will lean towards ultimately becoming a herbivore, a carnivore or an omnivore. Picking one of the three will allow you to have special abilities and stats that will not be available in the other two classes.

Big Download - E3 08′ Spore Hands On
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While taking us through an exhaustive hands-on with Spore, Maxis producer Thomas Vu told us that there was a strong possibility that the company would allow you to export your creations creatures, buildings and vehicles from the game into 3D modeling/animation program Maya. Vu said it wouldnt be a stretch for other 3D-creation apps (e.g. Lightwave, 3D Studio Max) to be made compatible, too.

JoyStiq - Strong possibilty Spore creations will be exportable to Maya
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Vu is a producer for the game and was in charge of a team that created Spore planets. To promote the game, they also got cool business cards with eight different creatures. Lim showed me his.

OC Register - A visit with Spores Orange County developers at E3
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Lets take my experience for example. Aboard the magic school bus I received a message from the home world to set up colonies on other worlds. Zipping to planets in a star system is as easy as clicking on them. Using the mouse wheel can either have you enter a planets atmosphere or get a galactic view so you can travel to other star systems. The Maxis guys unlocked my ships special weapons, so I was able to do things that I normally wouldnt have been able to, not without spending a lot more time playing the game and earning such abilities on my own.

The first world I visited had some primitive life that I tried to scare into worshipping me as a god. That didnt work, so I dropped the planet buster on them and watched their world explode. I actually did experience a tinge of guilt about that; it didnt quite make me cry, but it was an interesting response.

IGN: E3 2008 Spore Hands on with the Space Stage in the Magic School Bus
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The possibilities of Spore are so endless that the biggest problem we have with the game is simply getting our heads around it all. Its entirely possible that the game may simply fall apart on the weakness of its own ambition, but at this stage, we dont think so. Wright has created some gems before, and it seems unlikely that Spore will be an experience many gamers will want to pass over. It might be too much information to take in for the moment, but we have a feeling that to experience Spore will be to sell the game to the average, mainstream consumer. So, to describe Spore in one word?

Epic.

PALGN - E3 2008 Spore Preview
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We also took some time to try out the games editing tools to create various vehicles, such as spaceships and land vehicles. The tools seem just as easy to use as the creature creator (which has been available to the public for some time now), as they let you stretch and morph your vehicles chassis however you please, then add wheels, cockpits, wings, and weapons by spending a limited number of points that are represented in a status bar on the right of the screen. For instance, more wheels on a land vehicle make it move faster, but leave you fewer points overall to equip heavier weapons. In addition, the vehicle customization tools let you paint any and all parts of your vehicles with various colors, gradients, and patterns, and youll even have the option to pull up any existing creature in your database and match your vehicles to that creatures skin tone with a single click.

E3 08′: GameSpots Spore Hands On
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Wright also promoted Spores focus on science. He mentioned a National Geographic TV documentary that will be aired at the same time as the games release, and an as-yet unannounced partnership with SETI, the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence - something the legendary creator said he was personally excited about.

Science is a really powerful brand that no other entertainment property is trying to grab, said Wright, after complaining that modern chemistry sets are so nerfed that you could probably eat all the stuff and it wouldnt make you feel sick.

EuroGamer - Spore has more Species than Earth
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Will Wright had himself a little fun at the EA press conference today by comparing the number of creatures created in Spore to the number of species that exist in the world, and it turns out the Spore universe is bigger. According to Wright, the numbers cited the number of creatures in the Sporepedia exceeded known species on Earth in 18 days. Since Creationism teaches that God created the same number of critters in 7 days. Therefore, Wright has declared Spore users to be 38% God.

So next time your wife tells you that you spend too much time playing games, tell her its hard to be God, even if youre only 38% God.

TGR - Will Wright: Gamers are 38% God
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Details from EAs Press Conference

(3:32 EST) WIll Wright takes to teh stage amidst hoots and hollars

(3:33 EST) His shirt says Save Seti at Arecibo

(3:36 EST) He says he always wanted to have a chemistry as a kid that would allow him to create horrible things that would terrorize the world good to know.Science, he says, is a topic few people are trying to tap into in the game industry.Now hes talking about the creature creator.The game has been at the top of the PC charts since it launched.

(3:36 EST) He says they were hoping that if they launched the creator early they would have 100,000 creatures or so by launch, maybe a million by the end of the year. They hit 100k in about 22 hours, a million in about a week.

(3:37 EST) Right now we have about two million creatures. The number of unique creatures in Spore has now exceeded the total known species on earth.

(3:37 EST) It took Spore about 18 days it took God about seven, he points out.

(3:37 EST) Now hes showing off some pretty amazing creations.

(3:38 EST) Hey theyre showing off the celebrity creature creatures. Im number three on the chart baby

(3:38 EST) Whoah, a Companion Cube creature!

(3:39 EST) Sweet, I was in the EA presentation. Go to SporeVote to vote on the best btw

(3:40 EST) EA filmed a documentary with the National Geographic Channel about Spore. Its going to air when the game ships.

(3:41 EST) Trailer time

(3:42 EST) Neat trailer, it shows the creation of a galaxy. Starting with a gold and dark place, creating a small creature at the cell level, it evolves to land creatures, then on to larger creature. Then it evolves and gets weapons. Eventually it leads to civilization. Which then galaxy exploration.

Source: Brian Crecente of Kotaku
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DeKDeS · Jul 24, 2008

Thanks for posting this great roundup!

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Spore E3 2008 News Roundup: Spore

Judhudson is a Hi-Tech Redneck

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Spore E3 2008 News Roundup: Spore

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