Gaming Spore

No problems with it on Vista 64 here either, and that's not with a clean system.

 

A great review once again. I only played around with the creature creator but this looks fantastic. I MUST get this game lol.

 

Odd, as mine is an essentially clean install too, not much more than steam, firefox and AVG installed so far

 

Is anyone else here finding the last 2 phases of the game rather un-amusing compared to the first 3?
I'm loving Cell/Creature/Tribal phases(that might be due to my heavy Hack'n'Slash addiction), but as soon as the Civ/Space phase hits, the controls/objectives are just totally wacko and I lose the entire feeling of being connected to my what my critters are doing. >_<

EDIT: i found out what they are doing... as it turns out, when you're exploring,there is no "governor" AI, so everything remains unbuilt unless you build it... Kinda lame, to think you have to hold 30 planets like that >_<

EDIT2:I seem to totally not understand how to keep in control during the space phase ^^
I mean, the first stages are self-explanatory, but the Space hits you and you have to keep on top of like TONS and TONS of functions/vitals troughout an ENTIRE galaxy PER planet
+1 vote for a Galaxy Phase/Outer space Phase/Divine Race phase ... Becuz damn, for me it's just too much info at once

But it's amazing, as i don't lose out on anything since I can just play my favourite phases over and over! I literally spent 5 hours feeding my cell-critter with bigger monsters XD *Zap,stingsnout combo coolness*

 

TBH its quite boring i mean yeh wow you get to create your own stuff but its boring as feck

 

It is an "intelligent" design simulator, which is annoying.. but then again so is that entire side of "god" gaming.. unfortunately the principles of evolution don't lend them selves to an interactive experience.

Will I be able to run this game with all the bells and whistles on a 256MB DDR4 2600XT? You went into things about the settings etc, but didn't actually put any of it in context with some frame rates. I can tell a 4870X2 is going to be extreme overkill, but it would be nice to know the lowest end machine it takes to max out all the settings with 30fps at some standard resolutions... especially on a game like this which the "Integrated masses" might want to pick up.

 

A fresh start, and the Space Age is far more accomodating now, my humble empire is growing without being ripped apart by angry aliens, it paided to be a bit more friendly with my neighbours, even if it means having to visit them and listen to their petty problems and grips, a bit like real life?

I was suprised how quickly the 'eveloutionary stages' went by, considering all the hype about them, and now I'm left with the Space Age or Galactic Civilisations II+ [the game].

Mind you, I'm having fun with Spore. So long as I get my monies worth judged by my standards, then I have no grounds to complain

 

I agree, there's nothing to the game.

 

By the way, Woolworths is selling it for £29.99, which is where I got it. Really not bad! Go Woolies!

Game wise, I'm having fun with it, but I'm getting the feeling they've got this brilliant concept and really quite ingenious selection of progressive, user-desgined systems, and struggled to wrap it in particularly deep gameplay. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying it, but it's definitely casual aimed and there's the worry that after a month or so I won't pick it up again. But for £29.99, it aint half bad.

 

does anyone have the "spore galactic edition"?
I'm just wondering what is in the "Exclusive 100-page Galactic Handbook" that comes with it.

http://eastore.ea.com/DRHM/servlet/...D=ea&Locale=en_US&Env=BASE&productID=97353300

 

I got the Galactic Edition.
To me, it's well worth the extra fiver. The "How to build a better being" DVD is quite basic, but absolutely fascinating.
I haven't watched the Making of Spore DVD yet, but the clincher is the Art of Spore hardback book - it's quite interesting, definitely!

To answer your question Chris, the Galactic handbook is basically a how-to guide, which goes in depth into each stage, and gives tips on the bonuses you can get for how you play the game.

 

Really enjoyed the creature phase, shoulda stuck with it longer than i did though, click for the next terrible stage, and thats the end of making ur creature.......can u go back? or do i have to start over?!

 

i think that's the end of modifying the creature. you can only add/change what they wear from there on.

 

Yep, gameplay isn't particularly deep but I'm having incredible fun with it.

 

Just spent 7 hours straight playing it.
My god, galactic age is a time eater.

 

****ing unbelievable, spent the last 3 hours playing, but the silly ****ing game has to be saved manually, and it crashed, amazing. Now the game won't run for 3 seconds, seems Task Manager unlocks it for a few seconds but that's it. Back to cell stage, great...

Apart from that, very fun game.

 

True, I will admit, as much as people decry the simple gameplay, it's a bloody time eater I tell you! You can spend HOURS on it and not even notice.

 

when you say crash, what happened?

i keep getting flickering screen after a while, and i have to ALT-TAB out, and restart the game. the time for it to start flicker depends on whether i've got Folding GPU2 running or not. im guessing it's a nVidia driver issue?

 

Black screen, so I had to end it via task manager.

 

K, update.

Installed a modified driver for the GPU I have and the game now runs perfectly, just creating a city atm and so far loving the game.

Seriously, don't see what all the fuss is about, just enjoy it.