BUG: Chieftan Abducted by Aliens

[SpaceDoll]

I've been playing the tribal phase on my arrred Spore, and my chieftan got abducted by aliens.  He doesn't respawn, as he isn't dead, and now I can't do the things the chieftan specialized in (making allies, etc.).  I thought I could just keep playing, but I've searched around, and found that the lack of a chieftan will make the game crash when you advance to Civ stage.  I don't want to lose the stuff I've got, so I am going to try a suggestion found on some random board: provoke a stronger tribe and allow them to destroy your tribe so it starts over.  I hope it works, although I am surprised I am this vested in the game, when I'm not really that impressed with it.  It's cute and all, but the camera bugs me no end, and I keep trying to right click the ground to center my view, a la Sims.  Maybe when I get over that (and the bugs) I will enjoy it more.  Thank goodness I didn't pay for it. 

[J. M. Pescado]

I had a bug where my planet only had 9 cities on it, making it impossible to advance to space. Although you can play your creature with the saved progress indicators again by restarting in the tribal or civ stage, and still keep all your bonus card perks.

[SpaceDoll]

I tried the "let those bozos kill you" method, and it only took me back to my previously saved game, sans chieftan.  I wish I had realized what a problem this was going to be BEFORE I saved like an idiot.  Is there a way I can start the tribal level over at the beginning?  Is that what your saying here (making this an awfully stupid question)?  I guess I'll go give it a try.  Nice thing about Spore is how quickly it loads!

[Solowren]

I wouldn't mind the camera if it was consistent between stages. I HATE that all of the camera controls change once you hit tribal.

[SpaceDoll]

Yeah, I think that is my problem, too.  I don't mind the fact that I am not stuck with one creature's point of view, but it would be nice to change to that point of view, say, during travel and such.  The right click pan (or arrows) thing is just counter-intuitive to me.

[EsotericPolarBear]

does no one believe in edge scrolling?

[Zazazu]

You can use the mini-map to navigate, too.

[GayJohnScarritt]

   I just finished my first run from cell to space, and i noticed the mini-map at Civ stage is NOT the same as the planet-mini-map at Space stage.  The Civ mini-map (in my game) showed slightly less surface area and omitted showing 1 city entirely, tho i managed to find it by scrolling around in the big map.  At Space stage, the mini-map showed the whole area.
   

[Mirelly]

I wouldn't mind the camera if it was consistent between stages. I HATE that all of the camera controls change once you hit tribal.

Ah, but that's just standard Maxis house programming style. Since Spore is a stack of different games, no-one with project direction control saw fit to direct that the various controls had a consistency from one phase to the next. I'm still snickering, in TS2: AL, where the interaction menus now contain: [Slow Dance] and {[Dance] > [Classic]}

The progress-stall caused by the loss of the tribe leader has always pissed me off. Realistically, there are no epoch-length hiatuses between the death of a king and the rise of the next. There's always an aspirant tyrant waiting at the foot of the dictator's throne plinth with his eyes fixed hungrily on the dead man's slippers. And what's the deal with the king going into battle with nothing more deadly than a skull on a stick? A leader arises because of superior arse-kicking abilities and moreover a leader always ensures that he carries the best weapons.

[SpaceDoll]

Actually, I believe the Chieftan's staff has all functionality of whatever weapons/instruments/tools your tribe has acquired, so it is really the Leatherman of Kings.  Or would that be King of Leathermen?  As far as the respawn of a new Chieftan, I don't mind waiting for that so much as not being able to continue on to the Civ stage AT ALL because he has been abducted.  I am learning to utilize the side scroll a little more, and once I discovered that clicking (or is it right-clicking?) each tribe member's "thumbnail" centers them on screen and then follows them (much like Sims), the travelling has gotten easier, too.
Now, though, I am puzzled by the fact that on another planet, every rival tribe consists of a single custom creature I populated a different planet with.  I don't remember the villages all being the same on the last planet; aren't they supposed to be random, or something?

[Mirelly]

Leatherman of kings. Excellent. I have wondered if the staff had such properties, but in the limited number tribe games (and let's face it, a single tribe game is over in less than no time) I have been hard pressed to observe any discernible difference between the chief's ability to survive an attack by an axeman compared with an otherwise defenceless fisherman's survivability under similar attack.

[SpaceDoll]

You know, I generally arm my whole tribe as a unit, so that includes the Chieftan.  Perhaps you must set his staff on task, just as you equip the other tribe members.  My chieftan does tend to be the first casualty of any sparring I initiate, though, so I may start leaving him home to protect egglings from predators.

I believe my biggest hurdle to overcome in the tribal stage is my tendency to try to "que" tasks for my tribe, as in Sims.  I have sent my entire tribe to battle armed with fishing spears and gathering baskets more than once.   

[J. M. Pescado]

Actually, I believe the Chieftan's staff has all functionality of whatever weapons/instruments/tools your tribe has acquired, so it is really the Leatherman of Kings.

I don't really think it does. the Chief cannot throw spears, and is not actually an instrument at all. The chief has an entirely seperate role in the band.

[SpaceDoll]

After the abduction fiasco, I try to keep him isolated so I can keep an eye on him.  I generally send him to gift other villages, or to domesticate wild animals, or sometimes just to fish while everyone else fights.  Also, he makes a good babysitter, as I mentioned before. 

You know, I might have read that about his staff's functionality in the in-game help thingy, rather than observing it, so it is probably just a big fat lie.