NickTheNick
Warlord
What do you think? What would the perfect Spore have looked like? What was missing?
Imagine we are back to square one, designing the whole game from scratch, not just constrained to the current engine of the game. If you may not have yet realized, this thread will not be very oriented towards those who are satisfied with this game, rather, it is for those who yearned for it to reach its true potential.
Here are some sample questions to answer in your response. What were you expecting that the game did not have? What part of the game dissapointed you the most, or needed the most improvement? What are some features you would implement in the game if you were one of its developers?
Here's my response. What I was expecting most was that when you would reach the creature stage, when you were in the editor to evolve into the next generation of your species, you would have SO many options to choose from for the different graspers, sensory developments, weapons, etc., that you would have a search box where you could narrow your search to a smaller list of your preferences. Note that I said graspers instead of hands, and sensory developments instead of eyes. That is to reflect the further expectation I had that body parts would NOT just be limited to what can be found here on Earth, but open to anything as long as it is scientifically plausible. This expectation was sorely met, for the options were much fewer than I had hoped and the parts all taken from Earth animals. I wasn't going to be able to create creatures in a world as diverse as that of the documentary Alien Planet.
Although I think the tribal phase was the worst part of the game, my standards were highest for the creature phase, which consequently dissapointed me the most. I was hoping that each generation of my species and their interactions with the environment would be like those of the BBC documentary, Walking With Monsters, or in other words, LESS CARTOONISH.
And lastly, a feature I would have implemented had I been lucky enough to be a developer would have been to change the creature evolution from being like a shop to being more like a tech tree or a talent tree. Once you go down a certain path, such as choosing the pincerlike carnivorous mouths, then you should not be able to change that mouth and get a carnivorous beak, you would have to change only to a mutation of your current mouth. Then after a couple mutations you could change to a beak-like mouth that has its roots in the mouth you first picked, but is not the same as the actual beak you wanted since you didn't pick that. So basically, once you go down a certain path of evolution, you cannot deviate to another path, but you allow for leeway and creativity within that path, which over time divides into further paths for more customization.
You do not have to write as much as I did, I just had a lot of bottled up emotions over this game, and am very glad I have found such a forum to express my thoughts on.
Imagine we are back to square one, designing the whole game from scratch, not just constrained to the current engine of the game. If you may not have yet realized, this thread will not be very oriented towards those who are satisfied with this game, rather, it is for those who yearned for it to reach its true potential.
Here are some sample questions to answer in your response. What were you expecting that the game did not have? What part of the game dissapointed you the most, or needed the most improvement? What are some features you would implement in the game if you were one of its developers?
Here's my response. What I was expecting most was that when you would reach the creature stage, when you were in the editor to evolve into the next generation of your species, you would have SO many options to choose from for the different graspers, sensory developments, weapons, etc., that you would have a search box where you could narrow your search to a smaller list of your preferences. Note that I said graspers instead of hands, and sensory developments instead of eyes. That is to reflect the further expectation I had that body parts would NOT just be limited to what can be found here on Earth, but open to anything as long as it is scientifically plausible. This expectation was sorely met, for the options were much fewer than I had hoped and the parts all taken from Earth animals. I wasn't going to be able to create creatures in a world as diverse as that of the documentary Alien Planet.
Although I think the tribal phase was the worst part of the game, my standards were highest for the creature phase, which consequently dissapointed me the most. I was hoping that each generation of my species and their interactions with the environment would be like those of the BBC documentary, Walking With Monsters, or in other words, LESS CARTOONISH.
And lastly, a feature I would have implemented had I been lucky enough to be a developer would have been to change the creature evolution from being like a shop to being more like a tech tree or a talent tree. Once you go down a certain path, such as choosing the pincerlike carnivorous mouths, then you should not be able to change that mouth and get a carnivorous beak, you would have to change only to a mutation of your current mouth. Then after a couple mutations you could change to a beak-like mouth that has its roots in the mouth you first picked, but is not the same as the actual beak you wanted since you didn't pick that. So basically, once you go down a certain path of evolution, you cannot deviate to another path, but you allow for leeway and creativity within that path, which over time divides into further paths for more customization.
You do not have to write as much as I did, I just had a lot of bottled up emotions over this game, and am very glad I have found such a forum to express my thoughts on.
