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EA's (Limited) Creature Creator For Spore Released
JimboFBX writes "The Spore creature creator has been released. It's a limited demo, but it lets you make a full creature and test drive it a little. It gives some insight on what you'll be able to do with your creatures. Personally, the novelty already wore off within 10 minutes. From what I can tell, the full creature creator is a separate purchase from the actual game. Gotta love EA." An anonymous reader points to a thread at More Awesome Than You alleging that this creature creator also contains some phone-home features which might be cause for concern.
Has anybody seen any logical explanation for charging for the full version? The entire idea of releasing the creature creator is to have a population of creatures ready for when the game is released, as far as I've gathered. If so it makes no sense to limit it.
Is it as simple as "we think we can get a few bucks off of this so let's charge for it", or is there some other reason?
Legit version has malware-ish features. Warezed version will certainly be clean. Do they WANT people to pirate or what?!
Circumcision is child abuse.
It's quite entertaining (Goatse-monster aside) to toy with this program.
Some of the limits in the creator are a bit silly (like only having carnivore mouth options and not including herbi- and omnivore), but it's still fun, and very easy to learn to use.
I can't wait to get my hands on the full game - but I really hope I get to set the language myself and not be limited to whatever the installer has detected on my system.
We do not live in the 21st century. We live in the 20 second century.
The "free" demo does also come bundled with SecuROM, so, downloader beware.
Also, it includes about 8 items out of each of the menus. If you're wanting to, you can pay the full price for the demo and get everything, and then proceed to upload your content to help out the developers by allowing them to have content ready when the game launches.
So, basically, you're paying EA to make their game world better, and they don't even trust you enough to give you access to the limited edition of the demo without some pretty intrusive spyware. And EA wonders why they get such a bad rep?
____________________
Clouds in the Sky,
Water in a bottle
Gotta love the penis monsters....nothing beats getting your entire civilization wiped out by being that rock with their cocks out....
<a href="http://kotaku.com/5017350/when-spore-penis-monsters-attack">When spore penis monsters attack</a>, you can't beat the title.
Orbis terrarum est non altus satis
I've been looking forward to the creature creator for some time. Ever since I was a kid, I have had a really overactive imagination...something like this is exactly what I have been looking for!
Given the horrible fact that the retail game will have SecuRom, I will likely just buy a copy in the store, then download and play a cracked copy.
I've heard rumours that the creature editor contains SecuRom as well, but that doesn't bother me TOO much at this point...likely gonna be formatting my computer soon anyway. ATI, hurry up and release the 4870!
Living With a Nerd
Now all we need is the vaginasaurus to go with it.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-cjbTXOeMM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbvbyzvXOOc
;)
That one had me laugh out loud at work today.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
Turns out the leaked version of this has been around for at least a week. Various xChan boards have been doing threads featuring a variety of memes that were created using it.
Not terribly surprised that the "demo" is crippled. It's EA after all. Too bad about the SecureROM nonsense, though.
for it seems we will need their 'fixes' to be able to play our LEGITIMATELY purchased version of this game.
on a sidenote, i have to ask - has it become a tradition to hire iditos for top level management positions in gaming firms ?
Read radical news here
Now, SecuROM in the installer-- that is worthy of note.
The game does utilize an internet connection for legitimate purposes. The banner at the start seems to be loaded off the internet (advertising the full game). There's a section in the "Sporepedia" that has links to purchase the game, advertisements for Spore merchandise and other things which I would think are loaded dynamically off the net. And the game of course lets you create and upload creations.
More, you know, evidence of malicious intent would be nice before people start running around like the sky is falling.
He and Floppy should mate.
Belief is the currency of delusion.
Sigh. Can't you bootcamp to Windows?
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
I might be interested in this game if I can make Cthulhu & the Gang. Otherwise, meh.
You mean... people buy Windows?
Rob
This is a perfect example of what I like to call "BioShock Conundrum" (since that was my first experience). Why buy when pirating is a more enjoyable and pleasant experience?
Also, you can legally buy XP for a lot less than $150, and I assume most people with Macs and an interest in gaming already have a copy installed so they can play the majority of games that don't work on a Mac, and play the ones that do work on a Mac with higher framerate...or be on the Weeds.
"I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
Why would I want to run XP when I have a Mac mini? I'd rather spend the $130 on a better version of the MacOS ...
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Where are those requirements? We get a "download editor" link, then on the download page we get a direct link to the editor with no mention of what is required, other than Windows or Mac.
Your Mac mini is NOT powerful enough (and neither is mine):
"This game will not run on the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards."
no, it says it will run. I got a souped up one at the educational rate. Just the OS is a prob.
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We're being inundated with penis monsters.
It's a new category: sporn
yay for innovation.
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Spore works on a Mac.
Again, if we were talking about some non-Mac Windows-only game, you might have a point.
But the Spore Creature Creator is both Mac and Windows, so I fail to see your point.
Heck, it's going to work for the Wii too.
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The Macrovision thing comes from Installshield, NOT EA. I Googled it. Vague info, but it's definitely Installshield related.
It installs a service without telling you (thank you, Winpatrol). I've disabled it. Nothing untoward has happened from doing so.
AFAIK there's no "souped up" Mac mini, it's only available with the GMA 950.
Hey guys,
I just wanted to point out what nobody has said (for North America, anyway) yet: If you buy the Creature Stand Alone, it counts as a preorder for Spore, in that if you buy spore at the EA online download thingy you get the CSA's price back off your purchase.
Now I'm not naive enough to think that that's going to stop most readers here from just warezing it anyway, but breaking the law is breaking the law; so for those of you who want to do it legit, this will save you money.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
If your Mac is not an Intel Mac, OR your Mac does not have a non-integrated graphics card, it won't be supported for Spore or any other Cider (Transgaming) Mac port. This includes all EA Mac games, but also other recent entries such as EVE online and anything else done by Transgaming.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
"... breaking the law is breaking the law;" ...
So: all laws are equal? They all have the same moral and ethical value? I think not.
Too many laws in recent years have been passed for reasons of power and profit, rather than morals or ethics. There is a big difference.
Some laws DESERVE to be ignored!
I am not trying to state that unlawful copying is a good thing in the vast majority of cases. But, on the other hand, NOBODY has a right to install software (rootkits, malware, services) on my computer without my PRIOR CONSENT.
NOBODY!!!
The latter offense is vastly greater than the former. One might deprive a business of a bit of profit (at least theoretically, but in practice it is far less than claimed). The other is an unforgivable intrusion into someone's personal world and personal information.
I am a professional in the software industry also. But I look to larger issues than someone "pirating" "MY game". Social justice must be addressed as well. And spyware isn't it.
- I thought the download was available on the 18th. Wrong, it's available at 12 noon on the 18th. *sigh* Why make a program available starting in the middle of the day?
- The EA Download Manager isn't downloading the full version. Because I have the trial version installed already. Uninstall that.
- Fyi, your instructions to uninstall don't work. The trial version was not listed under Start / Programs. I had to use the control panel's program manager to uninstall it.
- Now the download manager works, but the full game install is asking for a CD code that was not part of the emails that you sent me.
Criminy. The game (even though just the creature creator, and even though just the trial version (so far)) is still great fun.Even though the installer claims to need 10.5.3, I was able to get Spore to run on 10.4.11
.dmg drag the installation application to your hard-drive and right-click Show Package Contents. Go to to Contents/Resources and open up tginstall.plist. Change the value of MinimumSystemVersion to your version of Mac OS or an earlier one. Save it and open the modified installer on your hard-drive. It should install normally.
After downloading and opening the
After you have installed it, go to the SPORE folder that it created in your Applications folder or wherever you installed it. Once again, right click and show package contents on the app. Go to Contents and, after opening Info.plist, change minimum system version again.
Go back and open the actual application. The only problem I've encountered is that it may take up to a minute to get past the splash screen, but it went faster for me the second time. I don't know if it took longer because of running it under a different OS, or because Cider just sucks compared to a native game.
CATS/Diebold '08- All your vote are belong to us!
It is an Intel Core Duo Mac Mini - at least according to system info.
....
At least it works for my son's fifth year Latin software
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Thank you for releasing the SPORE Creature Creator on an international world wide scale. Except for in Australia, where you've left us out in the cold with no where to legitimately order, pay for and download our very own copy.
You jerks.
Lots of love,
BFM
I downloaded the trial version of Spore Creature Creator to see what this game is about. I install the game fine but when I fire it up for the first time I get...
What the hell is that? Apparently,
Right. File Monitor program? Please elaborate. Are you flagging ZoneAlarm or a virus scanner? Those are the only two programs I can think of that could be monitoring files. Well EA, whatever the problem is, work it out with SecuROM and keep me out of it. You aren't giving me confidence in your final product. If I shell out 55 bucks am I going to be on the phone with you for hours to get this resolved? I hear good things about Pirate Bay...only time will tell.