After playing with Spore for awhile, and watching the animations, I'm actually not overly impressed with it. Everything seems to follow some fairly basic key points, and the complexity is far less than I had expected from watching the videos.
The leg animation also really breaks down if you get too many, too close.
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Quote:Original post by Talroth
After playing with Spore for awhile, and watching the animations, I'm actually not overly impressed with it.
A lot of developers have trouble generating algorithmic walking animations with legs they have hard-coded into their engines. To do it with completely customizable ones seems pretty impressive to me.
Quote:The leg animation also really breaks down if you get too many, too close.
Yeah, it's not invincible. Even one of my simple biped creatures tripped over itself when I put the legs too close to the end of the spine.
But this sort of thing wouldn't be a problem outside of customizable creatures. If you were generating this stuff in-game, you would be aware of the engine's limitations, and could easily program your generator to avoid them. I'm not sure why they didn't do the same with the editor.
Quote:Original post by DaveMS
I'm pretty sure they used the Euphoria engine by NaturalMotion for the animations. Check it out here: www.naturalmotion.com/euphoria.htm
No, it wasn't Euphoria. Euphoria uses canned animations on fixed skeletal structures then modifies the animation based on physics properties (collisions, gravity, etc.). The creatures in Spore uses generic animations that are modified based on a dynamic skeletal structure. Fairly different approaches, each with it's own inherent complexities. I have heard rumors of them possibly licensing the animation technology and creature creation technology as engines to other developers, but it is currently just a rumor. It would be weird and awesome if someone could build something like a Star Trek Online game and have planets populated by creatures from Sporepedia with their varying levels of development.
I do have to agree with everyone that the game sort of slows down to be pretty boring past the cell stage.
I liked the first 2 stages,
The universe stage just feels like a diffrent game, I just dont find it fun.
Very little interaction, its so dumbed down for myself its not even playable.
First 2 stages expanded would have been a great game for me.
The rest just drags it down since it was over simplified
The universe stage just feels like a diffrent game, I just dont find it fun.
Very little interaction, its so dumbed down for myself its not even playable.
First 2 stages expanded would have been a great game for me.
The rest just drags it down since it was over simplified
Its an awful, bad game, which is flawed right down to its roots. I havent seen so many erroneous decisions since the Hindenburg.
The cell stage was cool, but I don't know.
It felt like it was a game made for people who didn't game.
That's probably why it felt so bland...
Although the way things are these days, every game I play feels like a game made for first time gamers.
It felt like it was a game made for people who didn't game.
That's probably why it felt so bland...
Although the way things are these days, every game I play feels like a game made for first time gamers.
Quote:Original post by Calabi
Its an awful, bad game, which is flawed right down to its roots. I havent seen so many erroneous decisions since the Hindenburg.
For me so far Spore hasn't reached Black & White levels of bad design element soup. Black & White was a classic example of how the sum of a games elements can be much, much less than the value of its parts. Spore is flawed, but not to the same level IMO.
I had the chance to play it the other day. I haven't seen this much love put on a game in a while.
I really don't remember a moment when I wasn't having fun with it.
I can name at least 100 games before I dare to say this one isn't a good one.
I really don't remember a moment when I wasn't having fun with it.
I can name at least 100 games before I dare to say this one isn't a good one.
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Agreed. If Spore is a failure, it wasn't for a lack of trying.
My biggest gripe is the most obvious one. It just tried to do too much, and stretched itself thin.
My biggest gripe is the most obvious one. It just tried to do too much, and stretched itself thin.
Quote:Original post by Trapper Zoid
For me so far Spore hasn't reached Black & White levels of bad design element soup. Black & White was a classic example of how the sum of a games elements can be much, much less than the value of its parts. Spore is flawed, but not to the same level IMO.
Maybe. Spore did a few things very well, whereas Black & White was just a mess. But for me at least, the effect is the same: I played it for a couple days, and now I have no desire to ever play it again.
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