Lest we forget: SPORE

[Ryslin]

---Probably lots of spoiler typeness in here be warned---









I really enjoyed going the economic route at Civ phase. That requires killing at least 2 tribes in Tribal Phase.

Space... whew space. Yeah, that's a doozy. Lots of folks with advice out there. The best piece of advice I have seen so far is remember terraforming tools work in both directions.

For a rather non military space group.. removing the planet's viability from under them seems to be a ideal prospect.
The reason behind this is you get 1 colony on a barren->T2 planet. If you knock them out of T1 you get a city with nothing but a cityhall and any defenses it had. This at the least makes them loose a ton of sporebucks and is a more manageable target.

There are 9 philosophies. They are generally based on the color of the "cards" you get at the end of a "phase".
I am sure someone will find the spreadsheet promptly, but there is a nice list of what it requires to get to what in the EA-Spore forums.

The noise ratio is going up in the EA-Spore forums. I am hoping to find a less .. noisy place to discuss strategies. Anyone have links?
I am aware of the Spore forum at the Sims Community forum as well.

[Solowren]

Yee, I'm starting up my game. :]

[jsalemi]

Yee, I'm starting up my game. :]

* jsalemi is envious, and hopes his game is somewhere near being fully on his machine when he gets home later...

[Skadi]

These are the 2 threads I found helpful about the space age.
http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/spore-game-discussion/336161-tips-space-stage.html
http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/spore-game-discussion/336159-lost-space-handy-hints-tips-survival-black.html

The manual that I posted a link to has all the info about the different abilities you can earn at the end of each stage, and what they give you.

[Zazazu]

Space... whew space. Yeah, that's a doozy. Lots of folks with advice out there. The best piece of advice I have seen so far is remember terraforming tools work in both directions.

Hrm. I do believe the Deer race are going to get it. You have given me ideas. Try to shoot my ship down? Heh. Let's see how you like tasting vacuum.

[Gus Smedstad]

Cell: really dull.
Creature and Tribal: not as dull as Cell, but still not good games.
Civilization: very simplistic, but worth playing.  Rather like one of those Indie RTSs, only with superior production values.
Space: This was worth the $50.  It's really excellent, and it's the only part of the game that has any depth.  It has lots of weak spots, like the excessive repetition of the Pirates and Hunt The Diseased Critters events, but it's really fun.

While I can understand the temptation to ignore the ship customization tool since it does nothing in game terms, you're constantly staring at the ship.  It's worth spending at least a minute or two to make it look decent.  Plus, I kind of enjoy tinkering with the vehicle tools more than the creature tool.

However, I had a crash after 8 hours of gameplay and lost everything from mid-Tribal to mid-Space.  So it's a very good idea to save often.

 - Gus

[photo]

$50? You PAID for it? Pft...

This is my first Arr... Thank God for #Grah.
My game crashed as well, but it was only loading from cell to creature. I was still mad though.

Would someone pretty please link me to a copy of the full version of Creature Creator?

[somnambulist]

Somewhat offtopic, but MATY and Pescado got mentioned in the Mefi thread on Spore --  by someone younger than me and with a lower user-number. Harumph.

[jsalemi]

Would someone pretty please link me to a copy of the full version of Creature Creator?

I thought the full version of the Creature Creator was part of the game, and what was released a month or so ago was just a limited preview of it?

[Frally]

RE: My motion sickness - thanks for the tips. Haven't had a chance to try anything out yet, but I will fiddle around with it later tonight. Are there camera modes I could have switched accidentally? I didn't even know that was an option. I haven't touched the settings button, I've played the game straight, so let me know if there's some other way I could have toggled something I shouldn't have toggled.

The problem for me is more that the camera jerks around everytime you turn so it can always behind your creature, rather than just remaining static. When you're looking for creatures to attack and things to pick up, you do a whole bunch of turning around - it's too much for my weak stomach to handle. I remember having this problem with Tomb Raider back in the day and thus never finished that game either

Scrolling the view right back so that I'm playing from a birds eye viewpoint diminishes the effect somewhat. However, the birds-eye viewpoint doesn't scroll back far enough for me to have a good view of my surroundings. Also? The movies at the end of stages are done with a "rotating camera" effect, so there is no rest from the constant movement. I actually feel sick just thinking about it now. *chunders* Hopefully any camera cheats I find will fix it up. I'll keep you posted.

[Zazazu]

Ah. I always play at the furthest-out view. The videos don't bother me much, but they are short.

[Solowren]

So, Spore overheated my computer. Fun times! From now on I'm just going to play with my fan pointing right at the tower.

...This game autosaves, right? I was about 10 minutes into the creature stage.

[Surelyfunke]

Space stage made me want to play Alpha Centauri, which I am downloading now.

[Hellyes]

If anyone has any suggestions for me.  I just started the Tribal stage.  I have a laptop and having a terrible time translating the mouse maneuvers to touch pad, and I have a terrible camera angle.  It's like I am at ground level and having to look up at them.  Is that how it's suppose to be?  It's so uncomfortable and difficult to navigate that way.

Ah. I always play at the furthest-out view. The videos don't bother me much, but they are short.

The videos are driving me batty.  I wish they'd have a way you can by pass them.  I keep clicking buttons trying to find a way to escape. 

[Aelia]

The cut scenes? I can skip them with the escape button.

[Quill]

...This game autosaves, right? I was about 10 minutes into the creature stage.

It most definitely does not autosave my games.  ::grumbles::

[photo]

Would someone pretty please link me to a copy of the full version of Creature Creator?

I thought the full version of the Creature Creator was part of the game, and what was released a month or so ago was just a limited preview of it?

Orly? I hadn't noticed.

[Zazazu]

Yeah, no autosave. CTRL-S works for a quick save. I don't have any crashing, but I still save frequently because I'm still learning.

[AuKestrel]

I'm up through the Tribal stage, and so far I'm pretty underwhelmed.  There just isn't very much to the gameplay, and what's there is very, very repetitive.  In fact, despite the fact that you control multiple creatures, not one in Tribal, and you buy clothing for bonuses instead of body parts, it feels only trivially different from Creature mode.  Hunt for food that you only need sporadically.  Find nearby nests, and either kill everyone or charm them with a Simon game.

This game needs more possible interactions and more goals.  Kill X Creatures / Charm X creatures / Domesticate an animal isn't very much.

 - Gus

I got to the tribal stage last night but stupidly didn't realise that meant I had to stop evolving. Tribal stage is pretty boring compared to Creature stage, at least so far. I've been attacked by another tribe and have failed to charm two more tribes. It's very boring compared to creature mode. It's like Age of Empires  (I) only with fewer options and worse animation. And no cheat to add the gray guy with the laser gun to your camp! *g*

My son's in Space mode already and loving it, but I'm not sure I'll ever get past Creature mode at this point because Tribal is way boring and I like reinventing my creature all the time. Dressing it up is just... stupid.

The arrr'ed version that we got came with a creature pack so we have not yet felt the need to go online/register.

[Ryslin]

There is a small exploit in space level for basic terraforming tools (atmo generator , 3 plant types and the basic eco level of animals).

Don't finish the terraforming tutorial.. use it elsewhere than where your people desire, like over on that other barren waste that has pink spice on it. Throw a colony , do the normal terraforming and you have a functional money producing location as you can have a factory there. (no spice from a colony untill there is one).

Also tips-

If you are being hounded ..earn a colony somehow and head for the rim. One can rebuild the empire out there. You don't have to keep your homeworld to stay "alive".

[Skadi]

There is no autosave! The best thing to do is to save at the beginning of each era, and that way you can go back if you're not happy with how things are working out.

Save as soon as you enter the space stage, particularly if its your first time playing it.

I'm in the process of writing a guide/faq. It's being updated twice a day at this stage as I add more and more to it. Has cheats, cell and creature stage now, and I'll be adding tribal shortly. I'm also waiting for it to clear the queue at GameFAQ's.
http://arr.sublimesims.net/files/spore_guide_skadi.txt 

Edit: It's been accepted at GameFAQ's.

[Faizah]

The cut scenes? I can skip them with the escape button.

Thank you. They're kind of cute the first time, but since I've got three worlds in play at the moment (one each of omnivore, herbivore and carnivore) they were getting old. I don't need to see the 'find a mate' animation that many times. Seriously. (And to think I was wondering how to turn the cinematics back on in the Sims... No more.)

Other minor irritants:
Some of my pre-created creatures don't show up as playable, but I have encountered them on other planets during the space stage. Though it may just be that they're 'unevolved', and I was trying to start one at space level. But there's not much point in starting later anyway, as playing through earlier stages grants special abilities.
Those little easter-egg achievementy things? ("Yay, you didn't attack anyone as a cell!", and so on) Apparently to view your achievements you need to log in. (Badges earned in space mode are properly in-game, at least.)

I'm considering buying this one, just because the achievements thing bugs me. Those are my only issues, so far.

Edit: Well, I found my missing creatures. About a quarter of them went to the 'Downloads' menu, which was where I looked first, and the rest went to 'Everything'. Which is also filled with the 1.6k Maxis creations. I don't know why, and I wish they'd gone to 'My Creations' in the first place, but at least I found them.

[Gus Smedstad]

According to the manual, the achievements are stored on the servers - so if you don't log in, I don't think it remembers.

I'm kind of stuck in the Space section right now.  I had worked my way up to about 2.5 planets (the 0.5 being a T2), and the Deer People declared unprovoked war.  Since then they're constantly huge war fleets against my worlds, and I really don't have time to do much else other than defend and occasionally rebuild some of what they've destroyed.  I did try making a raid of my own, but I ran out of energy before I could take out even one enemy city.

 - Gus

[Catju]

Okay, would someone please explain to me what I'm doing wrong?

I made it to the tribal stage. My creatures are peaceful herbivores and I tried to make friends with other tribes. I tried to communicate with them, but the game said I should play an instrument to them. Okay, so I look for one. I've got one instrument. I make a few of my creatures take the instruments and go with their leader to the other tribe's area. I click other tribe members with the leader and my creatures start playing. A meter comes up but it doesn't change. The game says I can press some buttons to make the performance better. Finally I find the buttons and when I press them, the game says I can only use that abillity during a performance. Result? Nothing happens. I forget about the whole thing and go gather food. Soon the other tribe becomes my enemy. They start attacking me. So I figure I'll attack them, whipe them out and proceed that way. I have my creatures take torches and go to the other tribe's area, again. I have no option to attack them, only to give gifts. But not to worry, they attack me. After a long fight and a lot of respawning, the enemy tribe's population is zero. What happens next? Nothing. I still have an option to give them gifts. I figure I'll attack other tribes as well, maybe I'll "win" when they're all defeated. But the tribe I just killed starts respawning. During all this my tribe hasn't evolved even one bit. Advice, anyone?

[Zazazu]

Ok. First off, make sure you have your warring/social group(s) selected as a group. They went over this in the game tips. Click and drag a box around the creatures you want to be part of the group. Then direct actions.

1. Warring

• Weapons help. If you don't have any yet, I'd hold off on attacking. Give them a gift to calm them down (you've found the option) for now. Wait to kill/befriend them until you are able.
• Torches are only good for attacking the buildings. You don't want to do this until you've killed the tribe members.
• Yay, you have weapons. To attack, choose combat stance by clicking on that red button in the middle section of your controls bar. Then wrong-click on opposing tribe members, not the buildings, to attack.
• Kill members (including any babies). Then kill the tribal hut.

2. Socials

• Everyone is equipped with an instrument. That's great. Make sure you have your group selected as a group, which I suspect you don't.
• With social stance clicked, wrong-click on an opposing tribe member. Everyone will take their place.
• If you have your group properly selected, you'll hear the beat start and a second of silence.
• The opposing tribe will hold up placards showing what they want. Give it to them by pressing the corresponding button (look at social stance control area; it will turn green when available).
• If you don't have the right instrument, play what you have. You can screw up once or twice, usually, and still be successful.
• Do not leave this group while you are doing a performance. The performance will stall and you will have to move the group and restart!

*Wrong-click means clicking with the right mouse button. My lefts and rights get confused, so...yeah.