Karl
07-07-2005, 06:52 PM
I read about in in Game Informer. This is a review from a site I found:
Entitled Spore, Wright's latest creation spans the rise of a space-faring civilization from its humble beginnings in the primordial soup. "It's actually a lot like WarioWare," he says. "It features a wide variety of game types as a sort of homage to my favorite games."
Spore touches upon a wide array of gameplay concepts as the action evolves alongside the player's creature. Wright revealed six different themes of gameplay: tidepool, evolution, tribal, city, civilization and invasion. Each of these modes draws upon its influences while remaining stylistically consistent with the rest of the game.
Tidepool phase: In the game's initial state, the action most resembles a sort of free-form Pac-Man. There's also a strong hint of Super NES classic E.V.O. and quirky GameCube cult favorite Cubivore; fighting and consuming other creatures allows you to adjust the form and abilities of your creature.
Evolution phase: Once your creature begins to grow and take on a distinct physical form, the game switches to a more Diablo-like feel. With its emphasis on battling other creatures to strengthen yourself while making forays away from your safe haven, this section is very much about growth and development.
Tribal phase: When your creation has achieved a satisfying level of physical development, you can focus on its mental acuity. At this point, you relinquish control of an individual and instead move to a streamlined RTS interface, caring for an entire tribe of your homebrewed beasties, giving them tools, food and slowly upgrading their state of existence. Think Populous.
City phase: Here the game becomes more like Wright's own SimCity, with emphasis resting primarily on building up the technology, architecture and infrastructure of your race's dwellings.
Civ phase: Once your city is established, you can zoom out to the global scale. Here your people begin seeking out other cultures in a Civilization-style experience. Interfacing with the rest of the world can be tackled in many ways, be it militaristically or diplomatically; on foot, in boats or by airship. Ultimately, however, the goal is for your creatures to conquer the planet.
Invasion phase: Once the world is your oyster, you can move on to other worlds in your solar system to colonize or terraform. And beyond that you'll find other solar systems, scattered throughout a beautifully-rendered galaxy in which planets lurk among dust clouds and black holes spew ejecta. Here you set forth to make contact with other planets.
The Invasion section of the game is enormous, potentially endless. After hunting for other populated worlds, players can venture into the universe in the manner they think best fits their personality: Whether using the diplomacy of Star Trek or the destructive fury of War of the Worlds. Some races will welcome players, while others will greet instellar visitors with hostility.
Ultimately, the goal is to help players' comfort with and understanding of the gameplay and tools scale up and evolve in tandem with their virtual progeny. "This is very much contrary to the usual game design," Wright says. "Usually you get the sandbox gameplay as training wheels for the goal-oriented content. Here, the goal-oriented game is training you for the open-ended sandbox." By the time players are ready to conquer the galaxy, they'll have mastered every element of the game interface and will be ready to tackle the rest of the universe on their own terms. It went on to discuss having your race being placed in other players games via the internet.
I'm thinking...freakishly awsome? Discuss.
Entitled Spore, Wright's latest creation spans the rise of a space-faring civilization from its humble beginnings in the primordial soup. "It's actually a lot like WarioWare," he says. "It features a wide variety of game types as a sort of homage to my favorite games."
Spore touches upon a wide array of gameplay concepts as the action evolves alongside the player's creature. Wright revealed six different themes of gameplay: tidepool, evolution, tribal, city, civilization and invasion. Each of these modes draws upon its influences while remaining stylistically consistent with the rest of the game.
Tidepool phase: In the game's initial state, the action most resembles a sort of free-form Pac-Man. There's also a strong hint of Super NES classic E.V.O. and quirky GameCube cult favorite Cubivore; fighting and consuming other creatures allows you to adjust the form and abilities of your creature.
Evolution phase: Once your creature begins to grow and take on a distinct physical form, the game switches to a more Diablo-like feel. With its emphasis on battling other creatures to strengthen yourself while making forays away from your safe haven, this section is very much about growth and development.
Tribal phase: When your creation has achieved a satisfying level of physical development, you can focus on its mental acuity. At this point, you relinquish control of an individual and instead move to a streamlined RTS interface, caring for an entire tribe of your homebrewed beasties, giving them tools, food and slowly upgrading their state of existence. Think Populous.
City phase: Here the game becomes more like Wright's own SimCity, with emphasis resting primarily on building up the technology, architecture and infrastructure of your race's dwellings.
Civ phase: Once your city is established, you can zoom out to the global scale. Here your people begin seeking out other cultures in a Civilization-style experience. Interfacing with the rest of the world can be tackled in many ways, be it militaristically or diplomatically; on foot, in boats or by airship. Ultimately, however, the goal is for your creatures to conquer the planet.
Invasion phase: Once the world is your oyster, you can move on to other worlds in your solar system to colonize or terraform. And beyond that you'll find other solar systems, scattered throughout a beautifully-rendered galaxy in which planets lurk among dust clouds and black holes spew ejecta. Here you set forth to make contact with other planets.
The Invasion section of the game is enormous, potentially endless. After hunting for other populated worlds, players can venture into the universe in the manner they think best fits their personality: Whether using the diplomacy of Star Trek or the destructive fury of War of the Worlds. Some races will welcome players, while others will greet instellar visitors with hostility.
Ultimately, the goal is to help players' comfort with and understanding of the gameplay and tools scale up and evolve in tandem with their virtual progeny. "This is very much contrary to the usual game design," Wright says. "Usually you get the sandbox gameplay as training wheels for the goal-oriented content. Here, the goal-oriented game is training you for the open-ended sandbox." By the time players are ready to conquer the galaxy, they'll have mastered every element of the game interface and will be ready to tackle the rest of the universe on their own terms. It went on to discuss having your race being placed in other players games via the internet.
I'm thinking...freakishly awsome? Discuss.