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Spore Creatures Now Outnumber Known Earth Species

Posted by timothy on from the does-not-count-the-hollow-earth-creatures dept.

GBC writes "AFP is reporting that, as of a week ago, the number of creatures in the "Spore" database exceeded the number of known species on Earth. They are created using 'Creature Creator,' which is available in a free (with limited parts) or paid download at the Spore website. Will Wright seems extremely happy with the progress so far: 'We hit 100K in 22 hours and a million by the end of the first week. The numbers are just blowing us away.'"

128 comments

  1. What percentage are... by ivan256 · · Score: 4, Informative

    ...penis creatures?

    1. Re:What percentage are... by SomeJoel · · Score: 5, Funny

      Dude, don't be a dick.

      --
      <Complete your profile by adding a signature!>
    2. Re:What percentage are... by CogDissident · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, seriously, who wants to read CAD. That comic is awful (and the author is a bit of a dick too).

    3. Re:What percentage are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Way to be on-topic!

    4. Re:What percentage are... by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Very few, especially as EA moderates those sorts of creatures now. They ask you to not upload such creatures and if you continue, your banned. Sure you can a new account and the bans aren't perminent, but the vast majority of creatures don't need moderation anyways. There are so many wonderful creatures, its a shame the penis creatures made so much noise. I've contributed ~130 creatures myself.

      --
      Demented But Determined.
    5. Re:What percentage are... by fictionpuss · · Score: 1

      Not that many. Yes - sure, the ability to create something which will offend, will be attractive for some.. and griefers will take longer to get bored. But sooner or later, the novelty of creating giant animated penii will wear off.

    6. Re:What percentage are... by jockeys · · Score: 1

      BLASPHEMY!

      --

      In Soviet Russia jokes are formulaic and decidedly non-humorous.
    7. Re:What percentage are... by eln · · Score: 3, Funny

      But sooner or later, the novelty of creating giant animated penii will wear off.

      If that's true, how do you explain Second Life's continued existence?

    8. Re:What percentage are... by Tragedy4u · · Score: 3, Funny

      I really don't want to think about Penis Creatures and the statement in the article "The numbers are just blowing us away."

    9. Re:What percentage are... by Pennidren · · Score: 5, Funny

      But sooner or later, the novelty of creating giant animated penii will wear off.

      Speak for yourself

      8========D ~~

    10. Re:What percentage are... by spooje · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm going to make a planet of vagina creatures then use them to bilk the penis planets of all their wealth after a large divorce settlement.

      --
      Tea and kung-fu. Life is good. Rising Phoenix
    11. Re:What percentage are... by Blublu · · Score: 1

      giant animated penii

      Pssst! It's penises! It's also octopuses and viruses! The word penis doesn't even end in "-us" for fuck's sake!

      --
      meh
    12. Re:What percentage are... by fictionpuss · · Score: 4, Funny

      I didn't say human social evolution was a quick process.

    13. Re:What percentage are... by Gewalt · · Score: 1

      I'm going to make a planet of vagina creatures then use them to bilk the penis planets of all their wealth...

      that's not milk you're drinking there

      --
      Modding Trolls +1 inciteful since 1999
    14. Re:What percentage are... by andrewd18 · · Score: 3, Funny

      the author is a bit of a dick

      No, no, no, you've got it all wrong. The author's a cad.

    15. Re:What percentage are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      Don't be angry, Buckley. Your art and comedic skills should improve...eventually.

    16. Re:What percentage are... by jollyreaper · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's not a penis creature, it's vermiform fauna. The fact that it shoots a viscous white goo when you pat its head is completely coincidental!

      (having not played with the creature creator yet, I would be horrified to discover such a thing is possible)

      --
      Kwisatz Haderach
      Sell the spice to CHOAM
      This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
    17. Re:What percentage are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Hey now, just 'cos I think OP was OT doesn't mean you should start hurling insults. I'm NOT Buckley.

      I can be funny when the situation demands.

    18. Re:What percentage are... by Verteiron · · Score: 1

      Actually you can only make them spurt... er, shoot... er... SPIT purple goo. Although you can make them do it on command, as often as you like.

      --
      End of lesson. You may press the button.
    19. Re:What percentage are... by mweather · · Score: 1

      If second life is any indication, then no, it won't.

    20. Re:What percentage are... by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 2, Funny

      Although you can make them do it on command, as often as you like.

      Ah, that must be where the novelty is for these guys.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    21. Re:What percentage are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

      The correct pedantic plural is "penes."

    22. Re:What percentage are... by mweather · · Score: 1

      Yep. Third Declension.

    23. Re:What percentage are... by underpants_gnome · · Score: 1

      Creatures with penises aren't a problem.

      Now, the myriad of Goatse creatures that I saw...

    24. Re:What percentage are... by CaptainPatent · · Score: 2, Informative

      I wouldn't be so sure!

      --
      Well, back to rejecting software patent applications.
    25. Re:What percentage are... by gnarlyhotep · · Score: 1, Insightful

      With the irony of him complaining about other people inappropriately showing penises...

    26. Re:What percentage are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      That smile face has a really long nose!

    27. Re:What percentage are... by tgd · · Score: 1

      You two stop being penii.

    28. Re:What percentage are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The comic's not awful, it's just that his first choice for a serious storyline was a tad too big for him. The sequence of comics go like this:

      Mediocre strip about video games with punchline
      Mediocre strip about video games with punchline
      Mediocre strip about Wintereenmas with punchline
      Mediocre strip about video games with punchline
      Mediocre strip about video games with punchline
      Mediocre strip about video games with punchline
      MISCARRIAGE AND CRYING
      MISCARRIAGE AND CRYING
      MISCARRIAGE AND CRYING
      MISCARRIAGE AND CRYING

      You probably confused a MISCARRIAGE AND CRYING strip for a mediocre strip with a punchline, which is easy to do since they're roughly equal in average humor, and decided that the author was a dick. Not true! It's just that he's worse at drama than he is at comedy.

    29. Re:What percentage are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b42/mason4300/ctrlaltdel_spore.jpg

  2. First Post by jedie · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    !!

    --
    "The majority is always sane, Louis." -- Nessus
    http://slashdot.jp
    1. Re:First Post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

      fail, you got beat by some guy who even looked up a link.

  3. Yes but... by wikdwarlock · · Score: 3, Funny

    Aren't they mostly just variations on walking genitalia or lewd acts thus far?

    --

    "I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer." -Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear
    1. Re:Yes but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Exactly like real life!

      Or was that just the varieties of humans on this planet...

    2. Re:Yes but... by Haoie · · Score: 1

      It really says something about the people who'll play this game, no?

      --
      If each mistake being made is a new one, then progress is being made.
    3. Re:Yes but... by TriggerFin · · Score: 1

      It says they're EA's customers?

      --
      Here's your sig.
  4. How many per user? by sky289hawk1 · · Score: 1

    How many creatures per user are created? They didn't seem to have a limit on how many creatures are created per user, so couldn't 5 people be creating thousands?

    1. Re:How many per user? by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 4, Informative

      Each profile gives some statistics about this, so I grabbed the numbers off my profile:
      # Total number of creatures uploaded: 1906743
      # Total Users Total number of users: 675241
      # Creatures Uploaded in last 24 hours Creatures uploaded in last 24 hours: 30567
      # New Users in the Last 24 Hours New users in last 24 hours: 7853

      1906743 / 675241 = ~3 creatures per person. I've uploaded 130 myself, but there are a lot of of 1-time-only-creature creators too. As far as I've seen, very few users are over more than 200 and even 100 only somewhat common.

      --
      Demented But Determined.
    2. Re:How many per user? by Cryophallion · · Score: 1

      Yeah, this is just like the hoopla over the American Idol people saying there were more votes for AI than for the last presidential election. However, since people voted multiple times (MANY multiple times), while it seems to imply that there is more interest in AI than politics, it is just a misleading statement that makes it look as if Americans only care about the next big singer (whether or not we are is beside the point, this is only about misleading #s due to multiples being allowed).

    3. Re:How many per user? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, so you're saying one voter = one vote in politics? Heh.

    4. Re:How many per user? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm from chicago and I support the parents message.

    5. Re:How many per user? by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      Yes, yes, realistically 1 voter = 0 votes.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
    6. Re:How many per user? by drachenstern · · Score: 1

      No no no
      As N approaches the actual voter, his respective vote appears to diminish to 0.

      Now we have to ask if accepting a vote is even important in a popular election anymore, or are the reported figures just being generated with an abacus and a shaker table? (Hint for the imaginationally impaired, shake an abacus on a flat surface and then read it. It should always change to some degree)

      No, I'm forgetting that these are the people who can't use an abacus in the first place.

      I am /me and I approve this message

      --
      2^3 * 31 * 647
  5. In related news by jamie · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    In related news...

    Rep. Boehner [R-OH] says there's no 'wildlife' in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

    White House buries climate change deaths report

    Klingon Speakers Now Outnumber Navajo Speakers

    1. Re:In related news by stoolpigeon · · Score: 1

      huh - it's interesting to see this - pudge does lots of it too but usually keeps it to his journal. not saying it's bad, just don't know that i've seen other editors actively advocating political positions in the front page threads.
       
      will there be some sort of 'official' slashdot take on things or is it just more of a free for all? and if so, does the editor thing come into play at all - as far as moderation and what not, or are you guys operating under different rules than the rest of the participants? just curious.

      --
      It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
    2. Re:In related news by hostyle · · Score: 1

      -1 No Indiana Jones reference

      --
      Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris.
    3. Re:In related news by Hubbell · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Have you ever seen pictures of ANWR? I should say picture, without the s, because one picture says it all. Most of the 20million acres is just that, barren tundra. Drilling for oil would use maybe a few thousand acres at most. All you psycho environuts need to start putting things into perspective.

    4. Re:In related news by downix · · Score: 1

      Have you seen the millions of miles of untapped, yet leased land given to the oil companies already?

      --
      Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
    5. Re:In related news by SQLGuru · · Score: 1

      I've seen pictures of Gabriel Anwar.......pretty hot (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000270/).....especially in certain scenes in Body Snatchers.

      Layne

    6. Re:In related news by Woundweavr · · Score: 1

      Here is a long picture diary of a trick to ANWR that prove you absolutely positively don't know what you're talking about. But then, I think that should be apparent given the name of Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.

      Drilling in ANWR would not yield significant benefits to the oil market until 2026 according to the Department of Energy.

      It seems before you should tell people to get perspective, you should stop deluding yourself with homemade "facts".

    7. Re:In related news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All you psycho environuts need to start putting things into perspective.

      Name-calling generally isn't effective in convincing someone that their opinion may not be the most well-warranted. It also reflects badly on your character, and reinforces negative stereotypes about everyone who advocates your position, even further harming your agenda.

      If you really want any of the "psycho environuts" to listen to reason, then you will need to come across as reasonable, and present your arguments (including plenty of supporting evidence) in a respectful and logically precise manner.

    8. Re:In related news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Have you been to the Arctic? Tundra is not barren.

      It is treeless, but thats a long way from being barren. Many areas are covered with flowers, moss, lichen, and are host to all sorts of birds, insects, mammals, etc. The huge caribou herds are the most obvious wildlife. Lush, no. Beautiful, yes. There's nothing quite like coming over a hill and seeing the entire side of a mountain covered with blooming purple flowers.

      You're right that oil drilling will disturb only a tiny fraction of the area in the reserve, but the effect will be greater than you would think from that areal ratio because it would ordinarily consist of criss-crossing the area with a network of roads and pipelines. The total area won't be much but the impact from that would be, especially because tundra environments are quite fragile compared to many other settings. Even dragging the equipment across the surface necessary to do seismic studies (the early stages of exploration) will leave scars on the surface that will be visible for decades. I know, because I've seen plenty of examples in the Arctic that date from the 1960s and 1970s. The effects from melting permafrost are *really* difficult to control if anything is disturbed on the surface.

      All of this means that while I think you are right that drilling could be done, it would have to be done carefully. Doing it the way it was done at Prudhoe Bay, which is an absolute MESS that wouldn't be tolerated down south, is not appropriate. Pointing this out -- that it isn't barren rock and dirt and it is extraordinarily fragile compared to most environments -- doesn't make people "environuts". It means they understand what the real situation is, and want an appropriate balance between the short-term need for oil and longer-term preservation of a mostly pristine environment in as intact a state as practical.

      I'm all for doing it, but doing it to the VERY high standards that should be expected in a wildlife reserve. That means flycamps only during exploration (no roads), specialized exploration techniques to limit damage to the tundra surface, complete remediation of drilling sites, and if a pipeline is put in it has to be engineered to be easily pulled out and the conditions restored when the production is finally done a couple of decades from now (assuming they find anything -- there's no guarantee).

      People who use this stuff also need to put things in perspective: just because they aren't tearing up *your* back yard looking for black gold doesn't absolve you from some responsibility to make sure they aren't tearing up your neighbor's back yard to satisfy your binge consumption of the stuff.

    9. Re:In related news by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      You mean the land which might or might not contain oil but they have no clue how much or how hard it will be to access, or what type of crude? Yes, yes I have. OTOH, they pretty much have everything about ANWR pinned down except for the exact amount.

    10. Re:In related news by lgw · · Score: 1

      Have you seen the millions of miles of untapped, yet leased land given to the oil companies already?

      Other than leased land so far underwater that we lack the technology to drill, oil companies are currently pumping *everything* they can stick a drill into, even slow-moving interns! Oil is $140 a barrel, man - is there some non-greedy oil company you're imagining here?

      What a retarded meme.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    11. Re:In related news by ravenshrike · · Score: 1

      Of course, that ignores both the existence of oil futures and the fact that if we had started drilling in '95 when this first came up we would be getting physical results by 2013.

    12. Re:In related news by lgw · · Score: 1

      I remember the whole "we won't get benefits for 10 years" arguments 10 years ago, man, and 20. Drill here. Drill now.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    13. Re:In related news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK. Here's the one picture you requested:

      http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/anwr-forest-455-pictures.htm

      That just doesn't seem as barren as you say.

    14. Re:In related news by YukonTech · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You seem to forget it does not only effect the places you drill, but you need to build roads, pipelines, accomodations for the workers, basically tear into every area of alaska that is still untouched. Just because some selfish wingnut like you needs to drive his SUV doesn't mean the human race should risk losing some of the only land on the planet that hasn't been raped by mankind. The Porcupine Caribou herd relies on the land in ANWAR as they migrate every year drilling in ANWAR will lead to the demise of the 120,000 caribou herd not to mention all the northern communities who rely on the herd for sources of food, clothing and materials. But hey what do you care about things like heritage, compassion, thousands of human lives, and houndreds of thousands of animal lives? as long as you can save some money filling your gas gussling vehicles, and spend your weekends cruising thats what's important right?

    15. Re:In related news by larry+bagina · · Score: 1

      It's currently at $135, down from $146 due to George Bush's cheerleading for offshore drilling and poor economic predictions.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    16. Re:In related news by downix · · Score: 1

      Actually, no they don't. The predictions are that ANWR will require 10-30 years of exploration before extraction can begin save for 1000 acres along the coast that have already been explored.

      --
      Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
    17. Re:In related news by Hubbell · · Score: 1

      A few roads, and a few pipelines that the animals actually love. There's a pipeline already in alaska iirc where the enviromental nuts freaked out saying the pipeline would harm the environment, but it's actually been a boon due to the heat given off by them that many animals like to nest/bed by.

    18. Re:In related news by triffid_98 · · Score: 1
      OMG, I can run my car on caribou oil? By all means start the drillin' immediately!

      In all seriousness, what does drilling for oil under the ground have to do with wildlife above it? Not that I necessarily agree with doing it, with gas at absurd highs it seems high time to start exploiting our reserves, which include massive amounts of oil shale.

      Norway seems a roughly similar environment, did drilling for oil somehow extinctify all of their wildlife?

      he Porcupine Caribou herd relies on the land in ANWAR as they migrate every year drilling in ANWAR will lead to the demise of the 120,000 caribou herd not to mention all the northern communities who rely on the herd for sources of food, clothing and materials

    19. Re:In related news by downix · · Score: 1

      I see you do not grasp *why* it's $140 here, yet it's the same price in euros, canadian dollars, mexican pesos, that it was before the Dollar's price went up?

      Can we say "Dollar devaluation?" I knew we could. It is where the price of hard goods seems to go up, when infact the currency used to measure it is, infact, dropping like a stone. If you had studied the price per barrel of oil in euro, while yes it was risen, it is nowhere near as dramatic.

      --
      Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
    20. Re:In related news by Enoxice · · Score: 1

      Well maybe they should use explorers or scouts instead of warriors so they can get the extra movement point(s) per turn.

      --
      Anyone else think the comments just weren't rendering right before they turned off ABP and saw ads?
    21. Re:In related news by Woundweavr · · Score: 1

      And if my aunt had balls she'd be my uncle.

      We should be reducing our oil dependency. Period. Full stop.

      Doing irreparable damage to the ecology of ANWR for a theoretical supply of oil that at the most generous estimates would supply the US with less than 6 months of oil in 20 years is not good policy.

    22. Re:In related news by kesuki · · Score: 1

      rather than destroy a wildlife preserve, and contribute to global warming, why not come up with affordable ways to mass produce algae for bio fuels, and create a sustainable profitable renewable carbon neutral energy source, that especially benefits from the use of human sewage for it's mass production...

      drill, and drill now, do you only think of how much it costs you to fill up on gas? do you realize that bio-diesel and bio-ethanol from algae feed stocks could easily be produced BELOW the cost of oil, if it were mass produced like corn is..

      it also takes care of what to do with human sewage, in part.

      and here's the upshot, we knew about algae in the 70's when carter wanted to go green, but greedy energy companies aren't about 'building up' new only partially government tested alternative energy sources, especially ones they can't 'artificially' inflate, because just as the price of corn is always abysmally low, if there were 1000 companies all making as much algae as they can the price of algae energy would be very hard to control.

      --
      https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
    23. Re:In related news by LandDolphin · · Score: 1

      So we drill, and we get more oil for a short period of time 10 years from now. What happens as our (and the worlds) needs for oil grow at a faster pace? IN 10 years it will lower the gas prices from $11 a gallon to $10.75?

      We need to be focusing on moving away from oil. We need to find a fix for our problem, not a temporary patch that will only last a short time.

      --
      Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
    24. Re:In related news by lgw · · Score: 1

      Drilling in ANWR will not destroy a wildlife preserve, or even be noticed by the wildlife - there's a *lot* of land up there. Your proposals might help the cost of gas, but they would fail to piss off hippies, so they have no benefit to society. Come up with a way to make bio-diesel directly from vegetable rights activists (Soylent black?) and maybe you'll have something.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    25. Re:In related news by kesuki · · Score: 1

      "Drilling in ANWR will not destroy a wildlife preserve, or even be noticed by the wildlife"

      except for every time the pipeline shifts as the melting permafrost becomes unstable and gallons of the stuff leaks out and starts contaminating the ground water.

      --
      https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
    26. Re:In related news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I support this post - so long as they start with hunting this is a better option.

  6. Worried by kenp2002 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Should it worry me that there is more interest in fake creatures then real ones these days? This is turning into Pokemon on Meth...

    --
    -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
    1. Re:Worried by pembo13 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Well I think the time for worrying about such things is long past. Make your peace.

      --
      "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
    2. Re:Worried by i+kan+reed · · Score: 1

      You have it wrong. More of x does not mean people are more interested in it. There are far asteroids than planets in our solar system, but planets receive a lot more interest.

    3. Re:Worried by electricbern · · Score: 1

      That's because genetic engineers haven't been able to create real life penile creatures. Wait until genetic science get up to speed.

      --
      alias possession='chmod 666 satan && ls /dev > il && tail daemon.log'
    4. Re:Worried by kat_skan · · Score: 2, Funny

      Tweakachu! I choose you!

    5. Re:Worried by francisstp · · Score: 1

      Until proven otherwise asteroids are not man-made.

    6. Re:Worried by i+kan+reed · · Score: 1

      nor are planets, nor are regular species. The whole argument that quantity=interest is extraordinarily specious.

  7. I helped by Devir · · Score: 1

    My amazingly large number of 3 creatures helped add to that database.

  8. And it's only been out for a month by Pluvius · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I guess this takes the concept of Wikigroaning to a whole new level.

    Rob

  9. Me too... by AllIGotWasThisNick · · Score: 1, Insightful

    My skins cells also outnumber known Earth species. Is that relevant to anything? I believe someone commented yesterday (when this was news) that obviously this only implies that the criteria for "creature" is less stringent than for "species".

    1. Re:Me too... by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 1

      It reminds me of that old joke:

      "I wish I had enough money to buy an elephant."
      "Why do you want an elephant?"
      "I don't, I just want the money."

      It's a relevant size measurement. People know there are a lot of Earth species - this must mean there are a lot of Spore "creatures." The point is that people put (at least some) effort into creating these things, which means that it must be doing alright. If the average person spent a mere five hours on a creature (although I haven't used this due to system requirement, I imagine it would take more to create a breast/penis monster) that's over 83k hours spent on this in the first week alone, or the amount of time 2,083 employees spend at work. That's astounding anyway you look at it.

      --
      I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
    2. Re:Me too... by Clovis42 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      If the average person spent a mere five hours on a creature

      It's more like .5 hours. I put my 12 year old brother in front of it for the first time and he made an impressive looking creature in about 30 minutes. It is an amazingly simple tool to use. If the other parts of Spore are as streamlined and elegant as the Creature Creator it'll be one of the most impressive games in years. I doubt that will be the case, though. There are some tutorials on the Spore website. You can watch a Maxis employee throw together a nice mantis in about 5 minutes.

      --
      Clovis
      ^ Clovis, look! It's that guy you are!
    3. Re:Me too... by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 1

      Oof, thanks. MEANT five minutes, not hours. The meager math following that inane statement uses five minutes.

      Besides, the average human can't spend five hours on ANYTHING.

      --
      I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
    4. Re:Me too... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The number created for Spore also are created in a vacuum. They aren't all on the same planet competing for resources and space to live.

    5. Re:Me too... by AllIGotWasThisNick · · Score: 1

      It's a relevant size measurement

      So, this is the "Library of Congress" for biology:

      Professor: There are more ants in that anthill than known species on Earth!

      or just Spore?

      Will Wright: We've got more creatures than known species on Earth!

      I stand by my complaint about relevance. :D

    6. Re:Me too... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the amount of time 2,083 employees spend at work. That's astounding anyway you look at it.

      No, it's not.
      It's not astounding at all.
      It's just sad.
      Very, very sad.

  10. The creature creator would have been much cooler.. by halsver · · Score: 1

    ... if it had a console where you can hack the creature's DNA! Or at least try altering the DNA to give it mutant powers!

    Really it would be a fun exercise and it and it could teach what can go horribly, horribly wrong with just a little nudge to the DNA here and there. 8)

    --
    Roughly half my comments are never submitted. You may be reading the better half...
  11. Underestimite of life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Actually, it's only the Eukaryotic species that number in the millions. There are more than 10^9 bacterial species. How much more, no one knows (http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=16357141).

    1. Re:Underestimite of life by mweather · · Score: 1

      Hence the qualifier "known".

  12. DRM on Creature Creator? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've mostly been staying away from Spore because of the fairly restrictive DRM it's supposed to be shipping with. Anyone know if the creature creator tool also installs the DRM?

    I just recently re-formatted and re-installed windows, and I'm trying not to bog it down again with crapware like DRM systems that drag down my system performance.

    Personally, since I can't get the full game without DRM, I'm not sure I'm too interested in the CC even if it *doesn't* have the DRM, since it's not *much* use creating a creature but never playing the game.

    1. Re:DRM on Creature Creator? by Yvan256 · · Score: 2, Informative

      From what I've read even the free creature editor comes with SecuROM, so yes, you should stay far away from it.

    2. Re:DRM on Creature Creator? by mweather · · Score: 5, Funny

      I just recently re-formatted and re-installed windows, and I'm trying not to bog it down again with crapware like DRM systems that drag down my system performance.

      Then why did you install Windows?

    3. Re:DRM on Creature Creator? by lgw · · Score: 1

      There's no DRM built into WinXP or Win2003 (and probably none in Win2008). Of course, there's no sane reason to install Vista.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    4. Re:DRM on Creature Creator? by mweather · · Score: 1

      Not until you upgrade to WMP 10, or insert a CD or DVD which autoruns a DRM installer.

    5. Re:DRM on Creature Creator? by lgw · · Score: 1

      But even after installing WMP10 you can still watch your DVDs on a real player - the DRM is in WMP, not in the OS.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    6. Re:DRM on Creature Creator? by GrayNimic · · Score: 1

      From what I've read even the free creature editor comes with SecuROM, so yes, you should stay far away from it.

      Which is common now, apparently because the executables from "demo-esque" variants of games could often be editted (without too much difficulty) to run the full game, given the full game's data files. So if the demo doesn't have DRM, then they've just made their big DRM investment worth even less, by doing most of the hacker's/pirate's (depending on your POV) job for them already.

      At least, that's the best explanation I've ever run across as to why freely distributable demos get DRM. I don't know how similar the CreatureCreator is to Spore, but it might be the same logic anyway.

    7. Re:DRM on Creature Creator? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That only applies to Windows after Windows 2000, Microsoft's LAST DRM-free operating system.

      Starting with Windows XP, you get 'Product Activation' and other media cartel-friendly DRM BS. :P

      No thanks, I'll stick with Windows 2000. :)

  13. Tricky Geniuses at Maxis/EA by Babbster · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Apparently, Will Wright and company weren't at all satisfied with the idea of people creating monstrous amounts of after-market content for their Sims games. Not only have they whet the appetites of all the people who enjoy the Creture Creator for the retail game, but they also get to sell Spore right out of the gate as having "millions of creatures available online." The only expense involved was building the software for creature creation, and they would have done that anyway. Brilliant!

    1. Re:Tricky Geniuses at Maxis/EA by sp332 · · Score: 1

      True, but don't discount the cost of building the software. It's over-budget, behind schedule, and from what I've seen so far, totally kicks ass!

    2. Re:Tricky Geniuses at Maxis/EA by Amorymeltzer · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It's over-budget, behind schedule, and from what I've seen so far, totally kicks ass!

      That's the way it should be. It's why Blizzard is one of the only group out there that makes a good product - Damn the release date! A better game is better for everyone in the long run. Really, that line should read:

      They're putting every resource they have into making this the best, taking every day necessary to make it even more awesome, and from what I've seen so far, totally kicks ass!"

      *insert joke about how DNF must be, ipso facto, the greatest game ever made*

      --
      I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
    3. Re:Tricky Geniuses at Maxis/EA by SamSim · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's why Blizzard is one of the only group out there that makes a good product - Damn the release date! A better game is better for everyone in the long run.

      Quoth Shigeru Miyamoto: "A late game is only late for a while. A bad game is bad forever."

      --
      qntm.org
    4. Re:Tricky Geniuses at Maxis/EA by MagdJTK · · Score: 1

      Tell that to the Duke Nukem Forever team...

  14. Re:The creature creator would have been much coole by Cornflake917 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Really it would be a fun exercise and it and it could teach what can go horribly, horribly wrong with just a little nudge to the DNA here and there.

    You obviously haven't seen the creatures that already have been created with this software. Some of them are the definition of "horribly wrong."

    --
    Abaddon: An Xbox 360 Indie game
  15. The database is incomplete by Spassoklabanias · · Score: 2, Funny

    The original poster obviously missed the most extraordinary animal on the planet: the slashdotter. Without it, the world is obsolete. By the way, how would this creature look like? Any takers?

    1. Re:The database is incomplete by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 1

      I wish I could find it now, but someone did create a creature that looked just like a man sitting at a desk with a computer monitor on it...

      --
      Demented But Determined.
    2. Re:The database is incomplete by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 3, Informative

      Oh, wait! Here it is...

      --
      Demented But Determined.
    3. Re:The database is incomplete by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unfortunately enough, the Creature Editor does not provide an option to have these creatures carry around their Mom's Basements.

    4. Re:The database is incomplete by TriggerFin · · Score: 1

      Hmm... I was imaging something more along the lines of a slash'd otter....

      --
      Here's your sig.
  16. My mom always told me . . . by christ,+jesus+H · · Score: 1

    My mom always told me I was 38% god and 62% sticky stuff . . .

    --
    Ohh spiteful one tell me who to smote and he shall be smolten!
  17. Bad link by Valdrax · · Score: 1

    I do hope you realize that the link you made to "your" profile does nothing for any of us. I mean, did you even look at the URL to notice that there's nothing that uniquely identifies your account in it?

    --
    If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
    1. Re:Bad link by Dr.+Eggman · · Score: 1

      Yes, I completly failed with that link. Furthermore, I forgot that only people with an account are able to view profiles anyway. Ah well.

      --
      Demented But Determined.
  18. Beware of the Spores by knightf0x · · Score: 3, Funny

    "The Spores Dana, beware of the Spores, and the Invid. Beware of the Invid. They will come in search of the Spores."

  19. dead children in darfur, not impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    polar bears going extinct - $500000000

    children dying of curable diseases in poor countries - $100,000,000

    some random crap you made online, while sitting in your parents basement sucking away the trust fund on taco bell and orange crush margaritas - worth saving on
    archive.org for all eternity, and having your own web page about it, multi-hosted, and putting an entry in wikipedia. --- priceless!

    1. Re:dead children in darfur, not impressed by ravenshrike · · Score: 0, Troll

      AC ignoring the fact that polar bears aren't going extinct at all, nor the fact that scientists don't know whether changes to their will end up killing them or not(existence in non-climate controlled zoos tends to suggest otherwise but is no guarantee) as well as ignoring that the ban on DDT as a mosquito repellent(not the ban on using it to protect crops) has killed the most children in poor countries each year - Fucking hilarious.

  20. How many Spore creatures are Duplicates? by jameskojiro · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I wonder if anyone has duplicated another user's creature without knowing about it....

    --
    Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
    1. Re:How many Spore creatures are Duplicates? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know but is that a copyright or patent violation?

      Oh wait, Maxis probably owns all the content you create anyway. Carry on suckers!

    2. Re:How many Spore creatures are Duplicates? by LandDolphin · · Score: 1

      That would be interesting

      --
      Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
  21. Re:The creature creator would have been much coole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    my creatures resemble this remark

  22. Re:The creature creator would have been much coole by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

    That'd just not work, you'd end up either changing an intron or breaking some important protein blueprint, making the creature unable to live. It's like letting you fire specific neurons in your creature's brain, you'd just end up causing seizures.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  23. DRM by pluther · · Score: 2, Informative

    Gah!
    I did that several months ago. It hasn't allowed me to watch my purchased DVDs since. Apparently, it doesn't like my VGA connection to my monitor.

    I had to go learn how to rip DVDs just so I could watch the video I legitimately purchased.

    Ironically, WMP 10 has no problem playing the ripped content, or any DVDs that I burned myself.

    --
    If the masses can keep you down, you're not the Ubermensch.
  24. Bill Joy was right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/joy_pr.html

    See, this is what happens when computer get too smart.

  25. Re:The creature creator would have been much coole by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't think you understand the scale of DNA... each creature would need gigabites of space, and you'd never find a set of changes that would result in "powers" by random guesses by an individual.

    Sure, you could simplify the DNA... but then you'd pretty much just be giving someone a hex editor and a save file. And the result would be pretty much uniform failure to load the creature.

  26. Yey for EA, Can't wait for expansion by SupremoMan · · Score: 1

    Spore: Vacation, Spore: Hot Date, Spore: Pets, and of course Spore: IKEA. Each of the expansions will give you an amazing array of building blocks for your creatures, like 2-3 appendages, and 1-2 new other attachments, for the low low price of $30. Remeber, EA can make it happen, so it Will.

  27. Securerom species? by partowel · · Score: 0

    Has anyone made the species that dies after only FIVE generations?

    YES.

    Every single game of SPore will die after FIVE
    "reinstalls".

    Spore : The game RENTAL that keeps on giving EA money.

    The future is ugly : No one owns anything.

    The company rents/leases property to you.

    You have no more ownership over anything.

    Home ownership will soon be destroyed.

    Oops, off topic.

    SOFTWARE ownership will soon be destroyed.

    You will NEVER own any software from EA.

    THEY CONTROL YOU!

    But people are idiots and will support Securerom.

    Crack addicts.

    If EA succeeds with this securerom bulls**t,

    everyone will copy them.

    I hope Blizzard doesn't do that. I really

    want starcraft 2, diablo 3.

    But if Blizzard puts securerom on their products,

    goodbye blizzard.

    I guess my gaming days are numbered.

    It had to be a police state that made me stop

    playing games. I guess I'll have to make my own

    game. Learn programming. Give it away for free.

    I've always hated programming. But I do like

    revenge.

    Legal tactic to Securerom : Design your own game.

    Give it away for free.

    Scrabulous anyone? LOL.

    Scrabble was too damn effing slow. India

    kicked their ass.

  28. wow by Hibagon · · Score: 1

    I never really thought of trying this out but this is too impressive... Downloading the free trial right now!

  29. A crying pity by KlausBreuer · · Score: 1

    Wow, was I looking forward to this game. *Did* I love that free creature creator demo!
    Wanted to buy the full version, but here in Europe it costs 10 EUR instead of 10 Dollars. And when I sniffed about I found - secuROM.

    And my happyness collapsed into a crying heap. SecuROM! And, yes, the full game will have it too!

    Good-bye, Spore. I'm really very sad, but it looks like we'll never meet...

    --
    Free PC version of ChipWits at http://www.breueronline.de/klaus/chipwits/
  30. This is it? by christ,+jesus+H · · Score: 1

    E3 is almost over and the population of SPORE penis monsters is all we have to talk about? Come on Slash dot editors . . . . .

    --
    Ohh spiteful one tell me who to smote and he shall be smolten!
  31. Creatures created by 2 year olds. by DeLukas · · Score: 1

    What they don't say is that 90% of them look like something drawn by a 2 year old.