Talk:Spore (2008 video game)/Archive 11

Enough with the Dune references
Can we please stop inserting speculation about the origin of spice as the currency for civilisation/space phase? Yes, it could be a Frank Herbert reference, but it could also be a reference to the fact that spices were a commonly traded commodity between real civilisations. Either way, it doesn't belong in the article. 2p0rk (talk) 16:17, 21 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I have reason to believe it is a Dune reference, considering that there are many other pop culture references in the game already. Nonetheless, I note someone has added it again. Can we get a discussion on whether to keep this or not? Maybe, remove it for the time being until we get official confirmation from an interview or something?Avnas Ishtaroth (talk) 01:28, 26 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I agree, it's very likely that it really is a reference to Dune. After all, Wright mentions 2001 and Star Trek as influences on the Space Phase. However, it's pure speculation and this article is waaaaaaaay too long already.
 * It probably does belong in the Development of Spore article though. 2p0rk (talk) 20:50, 26 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Maybe it's glitterstim —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.106.104.40 (talk) 01:01, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

More DRM vagueness
"This is a change from the planned system which would have required authentication every ten days, a method which met with opposition from the public, and will allow gamers to play Spore without a disc." Does it mean that the new system will allow play without a disk? The old system? Does it have nothing to do with either and should be moved to another section? My internet is filtered so I can't follow the reference myself, so I'd like to see the section re-written. --162.39.93.10 (talk) 14:36, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Edit should suffice. JAF1970 (talk) 21:14, 15 May 2008 (UTC)
 * A random IP added the now-discredited rumor that you can only install Spore 3 times to the article, I have reverted it due to no references. KiTA (talk) 13:45, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Can you please link to the place that discredits the 3 install limit? I can not find that. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 156.98.129.16 (talk) 03:31, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Well here is a message from one of the makers of Spore that states that you can install the game on different computers and no mentioning of install limit. Also if there is a limit its only on how many computers you can have the game active not how many times you can install it on one computer. http://mysporepage.com/article/article_15/ --80.221.239.213 (talk) 14:30, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

What about this link: http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/52618. It says there is 3 installs only. is it creditable for you guys? 156.98.129.16 (talk) 21:47, 17 June 2008 (UTC)DudeX
 * I read that article; it says install on 3 systems, not 3 installs. Which makes a lot more sense.  D a n si m a n  ( talk | Contribs ) 02:01, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Tribal Phase video
YouTube. It more or less confirms the farming of animals, as another creature is in a pen. Other stuff, too. JAF1970 (talk) 07:47, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Man, that pen is way too small. Someone alert SCETOSC (Spore Creatures for the Ethical Treatment of Other Spore Creatures)! Tritium h3 (talk) 21:35, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Aw, c'mon. That's how you make veal. :p (This is bordering on Forum talk, so let's end this discussion here. heh) JAF1970 (talk) 18:02, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Digital Rights Management
The Digital Rights Management has changed on Spore. There will no longer be as intensive DRM; players will authenticate their CD-key on installation instead of every 10 days as previously stated. Source: DRM Changes for Spore and Mass Effect PC TheTrueHeadfoot (talk) 18:19, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Er, um, that was posted weeks ago. JAF1970 (talk) 18:21, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Also it says that it authenticates the game everytime they download new connection so in Spore it means almost every time you play it as it downloads contect from the server almost every playing time. So in reality it will authenticate the game more often it would have on the other authenticate method. Still to me its right to do so as it will discourage piracy. --80.221.239.213 (talk) 05:57, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
 * they can dress it up any way they like and argue about eulas till they're blue in the face i still wont buy it if its full of drm. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.110.46.178 (talk) 16:15, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

"Also, players will not have to start at the tide pool phase, but can simply jump in to any phase."
Anyone have a reference for this? I know it's been said, but I do not know which video and/or interview it's mentioned in. —Preceding unsigned comment added by KiTA (talk • contribs) 14:15, 6 June 2008 (UTC)


 * It was mentioned in one of the videos made out some convention event if I remember correctly. Still it seems more that you first have to play the phase once trough before you can choose to start from that phase as they had also mentioned that the individual parts of the creatures have to be found in the game. So you won't start with the whole set of arms and other organs but you have to either take them by force from other creatures or with social interaction. --80.221.239.213 (talk) 23:04, 6 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I think that both those bear mentioning in the article, if they're not already there and we can cite references. The "you have to earn your parts" adds a new spin to the creature section, definitely.  There are also interesting connotations -- what if you randomly end up on a planet missing some of the weirder arms and legs?  Will "DNA Hunting" be part of the Space game?  KiTA (talk) 01:04, 7 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Will Wright stated "Also, players will not have to start at the tide pool phase, but can simply jump in to any phase." in the GDC 2005 video and several E3 videos. JAF1970 (talk) 03:17, 7 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Well that he did say but I remember someone else or him saying that "You have to first clear the previos stage before you can go the next" or close to that in one of the vidoes. I would think both of those statements are right but after you have once cleared the stage you can freely choose what stage you want to start in. So you have to clear tribal phase so you can choose the civilization phase and so for but you could still choose creature phase if you don't want to go forward yet. --80.221.239.213 (talk) 13:35, 7 June 2008 (UTC)


 * No, most recently the messaging has been that they will have some pre-created creatures to jump right into the other stages out of the box. I don't have access to the videos right now to confirm, however, I think it was the Interview with N'Gai Croal or whatever his name is that he said it?  Or the one with the producer right after that?  IIRC it was the one where they first mentiond work on Spore Wii.  KiTA (talk) 14:27, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Sys req
Posted the system requirements. JAF1970 (talk) 02:25, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Game box
The game box I posted is the OFFICIAL box. I'm looking for it from the EA press releases, but it's now been adopted by resellers (ie. GameStop. The other box that was up was from THREE years ago. JAF1970 (talk) 19:48, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Here it is on the official Spore site: Official box JAF1970 (talk) 19:50, 12 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Still can't find a 256px version, tho. (sigh) JAF1970 (talk) 19:58, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Let's not distort the image for a blurry 256px shot, MrStalker. JAF1970 (talk) 21:03, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Leak
There's a leak of the C.C now. Oh boy! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.241.49.114 (talk) 09:15, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Yeah. Should we mention it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.46.106.122 (talk) 12:52, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

First of all its not a leak. Free edition of the Creatures Editor was published with one british computer magazine. Its not a leak when they intentionally allowed the magazine to give the game to those who order the magazine or buy it before it comes available online. Leak would mean someone gave the game out without permission and in this case they had permission. --80.221.239.213 (talk) 14:26, 14 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Buechner told me it was pirated. Regardless, it happens to every game. It's not noteworthy. JAF1970 (talk) 23:19, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

It's actually on this months PC Zone UK, which flopped onto my doormat yesterday. I suspect a postman or news agent opened a copy at night and uploaded it. edit: Anyway its about as much as a leak as a radio station playing a song on the radio before the single is released TheGreatZorko (talk) 10:14, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Spore CC leak
The leak is not relevent to the Spore (video game) page. It's been moved to Development of Spore, which deals with that sort of history. JAF1970 (talk) 07:21, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Disagreeing, unless it receives broad coverage, it is not notable. Leaks occurs every day (images, specifications, price, etc). But unless well referenced by multiple sources, we don't care about that. -- ReyBrujo (talk) 07:36, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Every game gets pirated, I know. But if it IS notable, it's not for the Spore page - it's for the Development of Spore page. JAF1970 (talk) 07:57, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

New box art coming
New box art is coming, I've been told. JAF1970 (talk) 23:19, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Well on the get Spore page of sppore.com (http://www.spore.com/getSpore) they do show a different one. 71.181.174.148 (talk) 12:10, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

How creatures are stored
The creatures are stored as PNG files, specifically as 32 bit (RGBA) 128x128 png file. The creature content is apparently stored using the least significant bits of all four color channels. This means that the creature data itself is no larger than: 128*128*4/8 or 8 kB (4 bits per pixel, (one for each channel), but 8 bits per byte).

Determining that all 4 channels' LSBs are used is my own Original research, this probably should not yet be integrated into the article. However, the fact that the alpha channel's least significant bit is used can be found in many different locations (including slashdot comments and the following blog post: . The fact that the creatures are stored as PNG's can be found in many different places, but a good citation would be . 24.185.237.31 (talk) 00:07, 15 June 2008 (UTC)
 * It's not salient to the article, however. JAF1970 (talk) 23:43, 15 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Actually, storing non-image game information in the form of an image that also graphically represents the content of the file is a very uncommon feature, and is probably worth of a mention if better citation information can be obtained than what the original commenter could find. However, until such a citation could be found, adding this information to the article or one of its sub-articles would not be appropriate. Tacvek (talk) 16:52, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

On the sporepedia section of the spore website it stated that a creature from sporepedia can be downloaded by saving the icon of the picture and then dragging the image into the game editor. The picture is in PNG format and does represent the image of the creature as said by the original commenter. I think this should be added to the article as it is now verifiable directly by the developers. - Anonymous 10:27, 17 June 2008 (BST)

Creature Creator Release Date!
I have read in many sources that the creature creator release date has been moved back to the 18th of June and, indeed, when I look at the EA store for the US I see that they have updated the page to display the new release date. But, when I look at the UK EA store I see that they are still displaying the release date as the 17th so it seems that the change in release date doesn't apply to all territories. Is this worth mentioning or should I wait till the 17th to see if this is correct and add it to the page then?--CalWalker (talk) 09:11, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Edit: on further inspection the release date varies from the 17th to 19th in various countries and so the 18th should be shown to be the release date in the US and Canada as it is clearly not a worldwide release date. Also I have removed the mention of the price of the game as I feel it is not relevant to the article and as the game goes on worldwide release it will be sold in different currencies.--CalWalker (talk) 09:31, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I belive taht has to do with the time diffrence. Could be wrong though. Pseudoserpent (talk) 09:44, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't think it has anything to do with time difference. I have just discovered that the Republic of Ireland don't get the creature creator till the 23rd!--CalWalker (talk) 09:52, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

The release date for the CC has been pushed from the 18th to the 22nd now. If you have pre-ordered the game then you will have recieved an email notifying you about this. An insider from EA has told us that their servers have been brought down. This is because too many people registered with the leaked demo (it WAS technically leaked because people without the magazine HAVE copies of the CC due to the magazines releasing it too early.) and the servers weren't ready for the very high (10,000 + connections) traffic. They also have to sort out a youtube video limit because youtube have complained that most of their bandwidth is being sucked by thousands of people uploading spore creatures. -- Anonymous 11:43, 16 June 2008 (BST)


 * Do you have a source for this? I find no such information on the Spore website.  There are a lot of rumors floating around, please don't add any information without citing a reliable source.  Tritium h3 (talk) 13:06, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

I have edited this section to clarify the release date as whoever undid the change of date entered the incorrect information for the context of the sentence. Could people please read through the section they wish to edit thoroughly and read the discussion on the subject before making changes.--CalWalker (talk) 14:57, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

I also recieved an email stating that the date was changed to the 22nd, but this was only applicable for the UK release, not the US & Canada. I believe the information provided by anonymous is incorrect. Nonetheless I recieved another email stating that the release date has been changed back to the 17th as originally intended -- Another Anonymous 16:32, 16 June 2008 (BST) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.68.155.229 (talk)

Also heres your proof on Spore European site says it comes out tomorrow and the news that says it was posted today so I think this will end this depate once and for all. http://eu.spore.com/whatisspore/article.cfm?id=23803 --80.221.239.213 (talk) 16:55, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The US release date is the 18th. JAF1970 (talk) 20:25, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
 * So what the release date to Europe is 17th its even posted on the Official Finnish Spore site and the Official Great Britain site as new news article that came out today. That US site was updated later than this so I know it will be tomorrow but if you still want to deny it then do. We will see tomorrow some time at morning GTM time when it will be released as that is the real release date. --80.221.239.213 (talk) 20:35, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
 * UK date, the 17th By the way, this is dangerously turning into a forum. JAF1970 (talk) 07:12, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

The 17th as the release date for Europe is incorrect, some countries don't get it until the 19th and, as I said, Ireland doesn't get it until the 23rd. Is Ireland somehow not in Europe any more? The date varies, as I have clearly stated!--CalWalker (talk) 15:23, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

UK hasn't got it, although Spore site (and indeed the EA Store) say it's released on the 17th. Wolfun (talk) 21:59, 17 June 2008

Creature Creator in Australia
Are Australians even getting the SCC in-stores?
 * Not a forum. JAF1970 (talk) 07:12, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

I've been all over google and not one big name store has so much as mentioned it in their future. - Razorthe6249th (talk) 09:37, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

I could be wrong, but as far as I can see the creature creator is only being released in stores in the US and Canada, elsewhere it is available via the EA store as a paid direct download. This is certainly the case in the UK, but I would have to find references to this.--CalWalker (talk) 09:42, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Well, that sucks. Thanks for the info, though. - Razorthe6249th (talk) 10:05, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Don't know about the UK or Australia but . And no, I don't think this is a grey market/parallel import since Nil Einne (talk) 13:47, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

The Other 'Spore' Game (Commodore 64)
This page should be disambiguated. There are (at least) two video games called Spore. There's also one for the [Commodore 64].


 * I'll make a Spore page for the C-64 version later. JAF1970 (talk) 20:25, 16 June 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm guessing the appropriate titles would then be Spore (1987 video game) and Spore (2008 video game)?  D a n si m a n  ( talk | Contribs ) 07:59, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * No, there's no reason to change this article's name. The C-64 Spore is sort of obscure. JAF1970 (talk) 20:31, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Spore (1987 video game) article created. JAF1970 (talk) 20:44, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Creature creator RELEASE DATE?
If it's only being released tomorrow, why is youtube full of giant dancing penises and monsters with giant breasts? Where did these people get the creature creator then?

-G — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.24.151.96 (talk)

You would have got your answer if you would have read this discussion page but no you had to ask it even if it was already answered. --80.221.239.213 (talk) 18:13, 16 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Then add it to the article.

-G —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.24.150.41 (talk) 16:46, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

-G Don't forget the goatse monster :) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.106.104.40 (talk) 03:39, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Demo: 17th, Full: 18th
Seems like the Demo is the 17th, with the Full version following on the 18th. JAF1970 (talk) 04:00, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Unless you have a reliable source, it shouldn't be in the article. RobJ1981 (talk) 04:18, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The reliable source is Electronic Arts and Maxis. Spore.com says the free trial is on the 17th, and the EA Store lists the complete as the 18th. Go check for yourself. JAF1970 (talk) 07:03, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Exactly. No source don't add. Simple has that. --SkyWalker (talk) 04:33, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

It can't be the 18th, it still says the 17th at EA store. Unfortunatelly, they've failed to notice that it's been the 17th for quite a few hours now. --81.156.244.63 (talk) 06:26, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

If you look at the website it says the 18th now but surely they would've sent emails notifying like with the last change? - Anon 07:26, 17 June 2008 (BST) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.70.225.195 (talk) Edit: An unverified source from xspore tells me the release is will be synched with PST which means 30 minutes until we get our copies. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.70.225.195 (talk) 06:31, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Ok, 30 mins is good. :) But where does it say the 18th? --81.156.244.63 (talk) 06:35, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Reference 41 on the main page. Edit: Not reference 41.
 * That's the American site --81.156.244.63 (talk) 07:03, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Reference: Trial, Full version. JAF1970 (talk) 07:03, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

UK Spore website has updated allowing you to BUY and DOWNLOAD both editions of spore.
 * Whoops, I must've been on the US one by accident. Score! Thanks guys :D! EDIT: Oh wait, nevermind, EA still wants a preorder, lame. --81.156.244.63 (talk) 07:16, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Not a forum. JAF1970 (talk) 07:13, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The UK site has the demo for download right now. The US does not. JAF1970 (talk) 07:18, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * US demo is now available. JAF1970 (talk) 10:33, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The above comment wasn't a forum post. RobJ1981 (talk) 14:34, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * No, it wasn't. It's for article accuracy. JAF1970 (talk) 16:58, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I wasn't in reference to your post, I was in reference to the post by the IP editor...which you yelled "Not a forum" afterwards. RobJ1981 (talk) 19:59, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Please thread your posts so we can avoid confusing exchanges like this one.  D a n si m a n  ( talk | Contribs ) 02:38, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Windows 2000
It says Vista and XP are required, but the free trial of creatures at least works on my windows 2000. Almost all software that runs on XP runs on 2000, even when they don't say it will. Not sure if it should be put in though, any ideas? -OOPSIE- (talk) 12:55, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Of course it might work on older operating systems. Only reason why they don't list them is because they don't vouch that it will work on those operating systems. For example they aren't making the game for Windows 2000 and aren't even testing how it works on it. Still even if the game works on those operating systems there might be bugs just because its not the tested operating system and the game company isn't going to fix bugs that might be on the game when you play it on different operating system. --80.221.239.213 (talk) 14:36, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * We only list that which the game is recommended for by the manufacturer. JAF1970 (talk) 16:59, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * But, in the info box it says system REQUIREMENTS. But you don't require XP or Vista -OOPSIE- (talk) 02:20, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
 * They're the system requirements provided by EA. Most software can be made to run on a system tht doesn't exactly meet the requirements; in fact you could probably get it to run on linux with a fair amount of effort. But to list every situation where one could conceivably run the software would be cumbersome at best, unachievable at worst. While it may work for you on Win2K, it may not work for the next guy with a different configuration. So, for consistency, we list the requirements obtained from the manufacturer.  D a n si m a n  ( talk | Contribs ) 02:30, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
 * When I made a game article, someone stuck a big warning box on it saying "Primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of the article are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article." -OOPSIE- (talk) 08:12, 18 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I wouldn't put any weight behind EA's 'requirements'. Every time I've had a problem with sys reqs, its been an EA thing. Stuff like printing "Supports ATI Radeon 8900 or higher" on the box, the game doesn't work, you email them (including a scan of the box) and they send you specs saying "ATI Radeon 8900, 9100, 9200, 9300 or higher". So while they say it requires something, it's probably wrong.

Yet another Spore
An MS-DOS game from 1991. Time to create yet another article :p JAF1970 (talk) 20:52, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Spore (1991 video game) created. JAF1970 (talk) 21:07, 17 June 2008 (UTC)