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Will Wright's Spore To Release Sept. 7th
After several delays and much anticipation, Spore looks like it will finally be coming out this year. EA has announced a September 7th release date for the game. The only confirmed platforms so far are Windows PCs, Macintoshes, the Nintendo DS and various mobile phones. Wright wants the Wii, 360, and PS3 to have the game, but they're not firm 'yes'es yet. Newsweek's LevelUp blog is celebrating the announcement with a series of interviews. N'Gai Croal spoke to Will Wright, and the man himself tries to convince us why it's been worth the wait, and (oh yeah) why it has taken so long. Croal also sat down with the game's Executive Producer, Lucy Bradshaw, who explains how the game has settled onto other platforms like the DS and mobile phones.
And here I was thinking it'd be the next vaporware, if Duke Nukem actually came out this year.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree
I released my Spore just the other night...thats right a geek got laid, now thats news!
Strange, they released the release date for an evolution game on Darwin Day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Day
Why make a game for a platform that only Steve Jobs and one other person will ever play on?
...only I'm now about 3 years older than when I first heard about this game. I no longer use a PC, and I'm no longer in college. Most of my free time is spent away from the computer, doing errands (food, misc. real life stuff), or spending time with my wonderful girlfriend.
Sorry EA/Maxis. You missed your opportunity with me. I'm sure its a wonderful product but lets be honest with our release dates from now on.
eric http://www.ericdfields.com/
The Soul of The Sims, by Will Wright
Macintosh HD:XmotiveHarness:src/Motive.c
Tuesday, January 28, 1997 / 9:25 AM
This is the prototype for the soul of The Sims, which Will Wright wrote on January 23, 1997.
I had just started working at the Maxis Core Technology Group on "Project X" aka "Dollhouse", and Will Wright brought this code in one morning, to demonstrate his design for the motives, feedback loop and failure conditions of the simulated people. While going through old papers, I ran across this print-out that I had saved, so I scanned it and cleaned the images up, and got permission from Will to publish it.
This code is a interesting example of game design, programming and prototyping techniques. The Sims code has certainly changed a lot since Will wrote this original prototype code. For example, there is no longer any "stress" motive. And the game doesn't store motives in global variables, of course.
My hope is that this code will give you a glimpse of how Will Wright designs games, and what was going on in his head at the time!
Read The Soul of The Sims code here...
-Don
Take a look and feel free: http://www.PieMenu.com
Act now and it comes bundled with "White Box" at no extra charge!
So I was discussing this news with a couple of my friends as we'd all been interested in the game. Sadly, I will be in the middle of studying for PhD qualifiers instead of being able to play. This brought up joking of just getting a real job instead so I could actually play. The conversation might go something like this:
"So Dr Adviser, I was thinking about taking quals. But Spore's coming out on September 7th so I'm going to get a job instead. kthnxbye."
Sadly, I don't think my adviser or the research engineers I work with would be amused.
Anyone else think its kind of strange that they're announcing the release date 7 months out? I seriously doubt the game is done with all the testing and balancing that needs to be done with it. It's almost like they're trying to slap a ship date on it regardless of whether it will actually be ready by then. Let's hope it's complete enough when it actually does ship. I'm not holding my breath, though.
Another damn game the media has decided they want to pretend that gamers are desperately waiting for.
No on cares about the game.
I heard they are going to package it together with Duke Nukem Forever! Hooray!
Bring on the vaporware!
Will Wright's Spore To Release Sept. 7th ... 2026
Between news on DNF and this, I believe hell hath truly frozen over.
We pulled some disturbing numbers this past week about the amount of PC players currently playing CoD4 Multiplayer (which was fantastic). What wasn't fantastic was the percentage of those numbers who were playing on stolen copies of the game on stolen / cracked CD keys of pirated copies (and that was only people playing online).
Not sure if I can share the exact numbers or percentage of PC players with you, but I'll check and see; if I can I'll update with them. As the amount of people who pirate PC games is astounding. It blows me away at the amount of people willing to steal games (or anything) simply because it's not physical or it's on the safety of the internet to do.
myass
The summary:
The article:
These are contradictory. I think I'll go with the story itself.
Also, something out on a cellphone before major consoles? That seems odd -- is it a first?
everything in moderation
How can they release something for the PS3 and DS but no mention of the PSP? Isn't the PSP much better than the DS, CPU-wise?
All Hail Discordia. Hail Eris. Fnord.
Isn't Spore DirectX-based? That should make the transition to the 360 trivial. Can't imagine why these platforms haven't jumped all over this... maybe this is anecdotal, but myself and many of my friends have resolved to quit gaming on the PC now that the consoles have more or less caught up. No reason to continue falling deeper into the gaming PC money pit.
Game utilizes Transgaming's Cider, which means a buggy, non-native piece of slow running crap like every other Cider game I've played...
Sigh. Please, bring back the 6 month waits for Aspyr & the rest to do a proper version.
Dupe.
Also, if you have the capability to track who is using a pirated copy, you have the capability to ban them from your systems, right? If it's a more decentralized model, and you can't stop them, then you don't really have the capability to track them. QED.
Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
...so wear a raincoat?
So, any news on the following?
* The so called "Underwater stage"? Supposedly this was cut in lieu of your creature moving from cell to the beach...
* Flying critters, or otherwise critters with wings?
* The length of each stage? In the latest interview he talks about difficulty levels and how that will affect it, so... How long will it take each stage on the average difficulty?
I think this type of game play where you can play at various levels of abstraction has a lot of potential, especially when applied to a MMOG. Don't like Civilization-type game play? Command individual wars. Don't like the micromanaging of forces? Play from the perspective of an individual squad or soldier/unit. Every different perspective of game play interacting with the other perspectives.
Ever since playing the original X-Wing, I've always thought this kind of dynamic perspective game play would be awesome when combined with online play (MMOG). I know this has been done to a certain degree with Star Wars Galaxies, or what have you, but not as flexible as it could be.
I'd love to see a Star Wars MMOG where you could slip in and out of perspectives (with some load time of course). Imagine flying as an individual tie fighter, X-Wing, gunner on a battle ship, etc. (with other players or AI). Meanwhile, other players could be controlling the sides of the battle from a Homeworld-type perspective. Above them could be other players who are controlling things at a higher "Master of Orion"-perspective. This way, communication could be facilitated between players on the same team throughout these different perspectives.
Adding a hierarchical aspect to MMOGs (and allowing players to choose what perspective they want to play at) could add a whole new dimension to MMOGs. Of course, for this to work it couldn't just be real players. You would have to have an economics engine to grant players access to AI units to fill in the gaps of forces.
As far as I've seen, there don't appear to be any MMOGs out there that provide this kind of game play. Has anyone seen something like this?
So we've got those who complain about companies releasing a product before it's ready, and then we've got those who complain that a product is taking too long to come out. I'd like to think that Spore is one of those games that's going to have playability over a large range of ages - you're not going to outgrow it. Sure, we're not getting any younger, but you gotta admit you still wanna have a crack at it, and you still will when it's finally released.
Has it taken a long time from concept to completion? Yeah, that's a pitfall they've encountered. Maybe their timing is good, though - the MMO world has calmed down a bit, the Wii isn't as brand-spanking-new, people have done Bioshock... now there's something new to anticipate and it's not competing against the "biggies" we've had lately. Granted, in the months to come we may find that new hardware and games are going to challenge it. But think of it this way - it's certainly piqued your interest, right? Controversy means people will take a look at it, just to find out what the fuss is about.
If the game is good enough, it doesn't matter when it's released - it's not going to miss the boat because it's not trying to ride a fad. In the meantime, we can still play the games we've been playing. No need to hop from one game to the next constantly, just sit back and enjoy what you're playing... when Spore comes out, you'll be ready for it, and maybe you can take the time to play it out and appreciate what it is, rather than whipping through and waiting for the next late-release game.
Had to be said.
>> Will Wright's Spore To Release Sept. 7th
If he waits that long, he's going to have a hell of a case of blue balls.
Maybe you should get a better, even more wonder girlfriend, who actually lets you play computer games, and even plays them with you, and doesn't make you spend all your time doing errands for her.
I guess the devs finally figured out a way to program a game in this title.
This game has been marketed to death as some Will Wright masterpiece. What exactly has Will Wright done other than an early 80's game about building a city, and a game who's main purpose is to wash dishes and trap people in a pool?
I'm not saying Spore will be good or bad, but I'm not buying a game who's sole reason for hype is a guy who's managed to make two franchises and milk them to death in a way that makes Nintendo jealous.
I remember the last time there was this revolutionary game coming, with wide open gameplay and everything was possible and it looked really gorgeous and you had near absolute freedom...
That was Black & White.
So tell me again why am I going to let myself be burned by this Spore?
It's amazing how many things that have been considered vaporware for so many years are coming it this year. Obviously most have still not sent he light of day but we are starting to get release dates. I always thought Spore would come out in the next 12 months but a few old friends like Duke Nuke Em Forever will have a bitter sweet edge to it. There needs to be a little mourning for some of the more long lived bits of vaporware. I just hope they both live up to expectation so it can be a positive thing them being released and not just a let's get it over with and get on with our lives event.
I can't believe I'm seeing what is essentially relationship advice on slashdot.
Don't forget about Fallout 3!
Quickly somebody. How can we insult, degrade and belittle this new band of religious quacks.
"I'm Will Wright, bitch!"
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
Wow. Apparently you didn't get the memo. Vaporware is always "going to be released soon." It is the second requirement of vaporware.
Write your own Choose Your Own Adventure. http://www.freegameengines.org/gamebook-engine/
What I fear is that spore will end up like black and white, which is to say they will try to turn it into a game.
Most simulation games are fun because they basically let you play god. The world is your sandbox and you can do pretty much anything you want.
Black and white had this, and had a pretty cool sandbox, with people you could pickup and throw around, and a semi intelligent animal you could train to do tricks. Then they added the "game" elements.
First, they intentionally made the interface hard to use so that it would be "challenging" to learn how to use it. Everything was done with a series of mouse gestures that rarely worked. The "game" was figuring out how to do the mouse gestures well.
Second, they made you build your own cities house by house with a frustrating interface. The game offered to let you play god, but for some reason your tribe of people expected their god to construct their houses for them?
Finally, while the game was "black and white" and advertised the ability to be good or evil, the game largely punished you if you were evil. The world and all the creatures in it started to look ugly, and your society would start to fall apart in many ways. Also, numerous highly annoying mini games were designed to punish you for evil and reward you for good.
What I fear, is that similar unfun tasks will be inserted into spore. I fear that much of the game will be spent micromanaging your creature, or in other boring tasks, like designing your city.
Let's call it Will Delay's Spore
Oh wait, I won't buy an EA game until they fix their servers. I just got finished with a round of disconnects with Battlefield II. What fun!
* The so called "Underwater stage"? Supposedly this was cut in lieu of your creature moving from cell to the beach...
:)
* Flying critters, or otherwise critters with wings?
This is Will Wright we're talking about. These kinds of things will be reserved for expansion packs. You didn't think he was going to sell the you *whole* game for that price, did you?
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." - Mark Twain
I think he meant he released spoor (poopy, #2, doodoo, etc), not spore. I have bad news for you: that's NOT the same as getting laid.
-Don
Take a look and feel free: http://www.PieMenu.com
Theistic evolution criticism
... by Darwinian natural selection"
Choice quote :
""the illusion of design in the living world is explained with far greater economy
"the universe would appear the same to us whether it was designed by God or not"
By Caroll and Dawkins.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
If it's good, a lot of us may end up buying it and playing it.
If it's bad, then we've lots of other shit we can be doing instead - it's really no biggie.
So give us a quick tinkle when it's out in the shops, otherwise just **BUGGER OFF** until it's ready.
Thanks for your time and understanding.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
Ars Technica has more information on the three versions.
-mrxak
Onions Will Kill You
Why do we care about some dude's fungus? I guess he's going to have some mushrooms then or something?
As a developer interested in the workings of the game, I think that the most important change in this game is the inclusion of generated content above and beyond what has been done before.
So much time of the developers of modern games, and the reason that the damn files are so huge, is all the static data. Where are the trees, what kind of trees are they, what is the texture on that building, etc? With cpu's being what they are today, if you can figure out the statistical distribution of the trees, or create an algorithm that creates position dependent textures, then you can have a huge leap in realism, dynamic level of detail, and infinitely large (and diverse) virtual spaces.
If it's done right (and I'm crossing my fingers), it will be a great experience. And as with any other technology, it will spread to other games. In 10 years, creating a realistic game could be much easier. Today it's becoming exponentially harder and harder to create all that content.
The more people I meet, the better I like my dog.
If a sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, then a sufficiently advanced alien is indistinguishable from God. (Is this the Star Trek V argument or something?) I suppose it is moot anyhow. Occam's razor favors evolution, IMHO.
-
The point is: If your girlfriend is preventing you from playing Spore, then she's not a very good girlfriend.
My, my! We're getting pretty defensive, aren't we?
You're the one who brought up your "wonderful" girlfriend, and you keep making excuses for her again and again, how she prevents you from doing things you want to do, and makes you do errands all the time so you have no free time. Sounds like there's an underlying fundamental problem that you're tormented by, and you're trying to justify the situation you're stuck in.
Are we supposed to be impressed that your "wonderful" girlfriend uses BBEdit? My girlfriend uses Eclipse -- so what? You're being patronizing and sexist if you think we should be impressed by girl using BBEdit. For your information, not all girls are computer illiterate and refuse to play games. You should get out more, and meet more interesting people! Preferably ones who don't demand to dominate your time. Once you find a better girlfriend, you will see your current situation with a lot more perspective, and you'll actually be able to play Spore without making your girlfriend mad at you.
wow, finally. This game looked amazing a while back. I can't wait to play it.