3 ms·

I enjoyed Spore a lot. I never saw any of the apparently overhyped marketing, so there were no disappointments for me there. I will admit the gameplay itself wa

I enjoyed Spore a lot. I never saw any of the apparently overhyped marketing, so there were no disappointments for me there. I will admit the gameplay itself was pretty flat - I probably played through the whole game, which was pretty short, only 3 or 4 times. But I'm surprised no one has mentioned the creators, which I think were the really interesting part of the game. They were essentially 3D modelers that were constrained enough that a kid (and I was a kid) could easily use them. I had a ton of fun pushing these creators to their limits. The Galactic Adventures DLC had an "adventure creator" where you could create simple scenarios with your other creations. I didn't realize it at the time, but this was my first exposure to programming. It really lit my imagination on fire and got me interested in game development, and is ultimately how I ended up as a programmer. Such was my love for this game, I ended up getting involved in the Spore forum ("The Sporum", ha). Strangely enough, one of the official boards was "Creationism vs. Evolution", or CvE as it was known by the forum's denizens. I grew up in a deeply rural and fundamentalist area, so CvE was my first real exposure to the beliefs of the other side, rather than the strawmen the church presented. I argued sincerely on the side of Creationism and got handily defeated by facts and logic many times. It didn't fully change my mind at the time, but it planted the seeds of deprogramming. So in a way, this game that was so disappointing for many has a lot of personal significance to me. It had a big influence on my personal beliefs and my career. Thanks I guess, Will Wright.

waste_monk 3y ago
>I enjoyed Spore a lot. I never saw any of the apparently overhyped marketing, so there were no disappointments for me there. I will admit the gameplay itself was pretty flat - I probably played through the whole game, which was pretty short, only 3 or 4 times. From what I recall (this was some time ago), my disappointment was that the marketing materials presented Spore as a relatively "mature" game (that is, not shying away from the cruelty of the natural world in the early stages, war being a bit more serious in the later stages). Whereas the product that actually launched was overly cutesy and felt more like a child's edutainment game. E.g. I recall some of the early marketing materials had blood effects which were missing from the retail game. while I do regret buying Spore and feel it was not worth the retail price, I have to agree the creation tools were quite interesting. More importantly, Spore was (IIRC) my first experience with pre-ordering games, and my ongoing refusal to do so again [1] has served me well over the years. [1] With some very limited exceptions for studios with a proven track record of quality and excellence of craftsmanship, such as Zachtronics.

waste_monk 3y ago

>I enjoyed Spore a lot. I never saw any of the apparently overhyped marketing, so there were no disappointments for me there. I will admit the gameplay itself was pretty flat - I probably played through the whole game, which was pretty short, only 3 or 4 times. From what I recall (this was some time ago), my disappointment was that the marketing materials presented Spore as a relatively "mature" game (that is, not shying away from the cruelty of the natural world in the early stages, war being a bit more serious in the later stages). Whereas the product that actually launched was overly cutesy and felt more like a child's edutainment game. E.g. I recall some of the early marketing materials had blood effects which were missing from the retail game. while I do regret buying Spore and feel it was not worth the retail price, I have to agree the creation tools were quite interesting. More importantly, Spore was (IIRC) my first experience with pre-ordering games, and my ongoing refusal to do so again [1] has served me well over the years. [1] With some very limited exceptions for studios with a proven track record of quality and excellence of craftsmanship, such as Zachtronics.