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Evolutionary Scientists Test-Drive Spore, Gripe

Posted by timothy on from the but-not-bitter-about-salaries-in-academia-no-sir dept.

ahab_2001 writes "The computer game Spore has been marketed partly as an experience that makes evolutionary biology come alive in a game setting. But does that claim hold water? To find out, John Bohannon, a correspondent for Science Magazine (writing as 'The Gonzo Scientist'), sat four card-carrying scientists, ranging from evolutionary biologist Niles Eldredge to JPL astrophysicist Miles Smith, down in front of a terminal to play the game. The upshot, says Bohannon: Spore flunks basic science, getting 'most of biology badly, needlessly, and often bizarrely wrong.'"

1 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Evolution or Creation? by W3ird_N3rd · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I think there is only one way to do it properly: take control of the evolution out of the player's hands entirely.

    I'm thinking of running the evolution part on the server, and make it an MMO/FPS-sortof. The server would have a 3D-world, an environment that changes constantly and some creatures to start with. Players can log in, and are given a random creature. They can run/walk/sneak around, eat, mate, sleep and kill. Many creatures won't be able to mate right away, and if you die before you were able to mate.. Well, that's evolution. ;)

    After you die, you can directly continue playing with another randomly assigned creature with different properties.

    I'm not sure how long a "round" would have to take, but I already know how to decide who wins: the player that mates the most will win. I think it would be pretty exciting.