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The reason I was disappointed with Spore wasn't because it was fun at the expense of being scientifically inaccurate... it's because it wasn't all that fun peri

The reason I was disappointed with Spore wasn't because it was fun at the expense of being scientifically inaccurate... it's because it wasn't all that fun period. I enjoyed most of the Sim games because they give you a complex system with rules where every little decision has some slight impact on the way the game turns out. Part of winning is learning the rules to the system and strategizing (whether or not that system really reflect the reality of what it is ostensibly a simulation of). There are too many things in Spore that don't make any difference in the gameplay. Most of the influence from one stage to the next is purely aesthetic or otherwise very limited. And everything except the Space stage was pretty simplistic with few opportunities for strategy.

unalone 18y ago
Yeah. I mean, I love The Sims 2. Still have it installed: it was one of the few games, other than Civ2 and Pharoah and Lords of the Realm that I moved over. And I love it because it's so incredibly detailed. So intricate. Everything combines into everything else. And Spore PROMISED that. I was expecting to have to balance different types of flora to maintain the ecological balance on my planets. At the very least, I was expecting some very intricate classes. Because that's FUN. Always has been. Spore was one-dimensional, start to finish. (Though I didn't play too far on the space stage: from there I'd lost interest.) There was no interaction. I wanted the first stage to be the simplest. I wanted rapid iteration of complexity. Something for everybody. I got none of that. It's a shame, because the technology was so incredible. It just went into an awful game.
- DaniFong 18y ago
  It sounds like Will Wright wanted something like that too. Have you ever played sim earth? I liked it a lot.
  - unalone 18y ago
    Never, actually. It always seemed too out there. Is it worth a look?
    - DaniFong 18y ago
      That and SimLife were pretty much scientifically based models of planets and biological systems. They were both quite difficult to play (you had to understand quite a lot) but very engaging. They definitely taught me a lot. But I don't know where you'd find them any longer.
      - jyu 18y ago
        When you don't know where else to look, eBay is a pretty good general purpose solution: http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZsimQ20earthQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZR40QQ_mdoZ http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZsimQ20earthQQ_armrsZ1QQ...
- boredguy8 18y ago
  And that's the downside of having to plop down $50 for a game. I don't understand how the 'game industry' expects to beat piracy when it costs so much for so little assurance that you'll get what you want. If this had been (nearly) any other product, I could have returned it, gotten my refund, and gone on my way.
  - unalone 18y ago
    Yeah. I'm feeling the exact same way about my copy of Spore. I bought Spore, even after seeing all the warnings about piracy, because I had such faith in Will Wright and Maxis. I thought that they would make my money worth it. Now? My list is down to Valve and Maxis. If The Sims 3 or Spore 2 comes out, I'm going to pirate it first to make sure it's worth my money. I'll buy it afterwards, but my trust is gone.
    - Chocobean 18y ago
      I have always intended on purchasing a copy, in spite of all the DRM stuff. I wanted to play it three days early though, and obtained a copy online. I was disappointed, but I still went out and bought the copy on the launch day, hoping to have the experience improve with online sharing. Turns out that the creators, and sharing your creation, and then pimping your creation IS the entire game. Your meticulously designed creation which took 3 hours to make is evolutionarily no better than a 10 year old's cell with legs and googly eyes, with the only difference being how much time you have to "sell" it on the official forum to get any attention. It's an intelligent introvert's worst nightmare: your works will not be noticed amongst the hundreds of millions based on merit, but on how marketable it is and how much marketing resources is backing the creation.Your beautifully designed planet with semi-realistically balanced ecosystem performs absolutely no better than a randomly generated neighboring planet inhibited by "variations on the theme of vomit-green spheres." As a new best selling game it's not bad, but I was looking for a "simulation" game. I did find a spectacular one though, so this year wasn't a complete loss : http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves

unalone 18y ago

Yeah. I mean, I love The Sims 2. Still have it installed: it was one of the few games, other than Civ2 and Pharoah and Lords of the Realm that I moved over. And I love it because it's so incredibly detailed. So intricate. Everything combines into everything else. And Spore PROMISED that. I was expecting to have to balance different types of flora to maintain the ecological balance on my planets. At the very least, I was expecting some very intricate classes. Because that's FUN. Always has been. Spore was one-dimensional, start to finish. (Though I didn't play too far on the space stage: from there I'd lost interest.) There was no interaction. I wanted the first stage to be the simplest. I wanted rapid iteration of complexity. Something for everybody. I got none of that. It's a shame, because the technology was so incredible. It just went into an awful game.

DaniFong 18y ago
It sounds like Will Wright wanted something like that too. Have you ever played sim earth? I liked it a lot.
- unalone 18y ago
  Never, actually. It always seemed too out there. Is it worth a look?
  - DaniFong 18y ago
    That and SimLife were pretty much scientifically based models of planets and biological systems. They were both quite difficult to play (you had to understand quite a lot) but very engaging. They definitely taught me a lot. But I don't know where you'd find them any longer.
    - jyu 18y ago
      When you don't know where else to look, eBay is a pretty good general purpose solution: http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZsimQ20earthQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZR40QQ_mdoZ http://shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_nkwZsimQ20earthQQ_armrsZ1QQ...
boredguy8 18y ago
And that's the downside of having to plop down $50 for a game. I don't understand how the 'game industry' expects to beat piracy when it costs so much for so little assurance that you'll get what you want. If this had been (nearly) any other product, I could have returned it, gotten my refund, and gone on my way.
- unalone 18y ago
  Yeah. I'm feeling the exact same way about my copy of Spore. I bought Spore, even after seeing all the warnings about piracy, because I had such faith in Will Wright and Maxis. I thought that they would make my money worth it. Now? My list is down to Valve and Maxis. If The Sims 3 or Spore 2 comes out, I'm going to pirate it first to make sure it's worth my money. I'll buy it afterwards, but my trust is gone.
  - Chocobean 18y ago
    I have always intended on purchasing a copy, in spite of all the DRM stuff. I wanted to play it three days early though, and obtained a copy online. I was disappointed, but I still went out and bought the copy on the launch day, hoping to have the experience improve with online sharing. Turns out that the creators, and sharing your creation, and then pimping your creation IS the entire game. Your meticulously designed creation which took 3 hours to make is evolutionarily no better than a 10 year old's cell with legs and googly eyes, with the only difference being how much time you have to "sell" it on the official forum to get any attention. It's an intelligent introvert's worst nightmare: your works will not be noticed amongst the hundreds of millions based on merit, but on how marketable it is and how much marketing resources is backing the creation.Your beautifully designed planet with semi-realistically balanced ecosystem performs absolutely no better than a randomly generated neighboring planet inhibited by "variations on the theme of vomit-green spheres." As a new best selling game it's not bad, but I was looking for a "simulation" game. I did find a spectacular one though, so this year wasn't a complete loss : http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves