Spore-Creature-Creator
Latest
Run Spore Creature Creator on unsupported GMA 950 Macs
Quite a few users were frustrated to discover that the recently released Spore Creature Creator won't run on Macs with Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics (basically Mac minis and older MacBooks). An enterprising TUAW reader has come up with a solution. Clancy posted the following instructions: download trial click show package content open resources folder open tginstall.plist in Property List Editor (Having xcode installed helps) Click the root triangle scroll down to InsufficientRenderers Change Intel GMA 950 OpenGL Engine to Intel GMA 850 OpenGL Engine (or something lower) Save and run the installer Clancy reports that the Creature Creator is running fine on his Core2Duo Mac mini with this modification. I'm not sure how well this will hold up on the full game (though the GMA 950 is supported on Windows), but if you have an unsupported Intel Mac and would like to have a look it might be worth it.Update: It seems clear from the comments that this is only working on the Mac mini and not on the MacBook.
BigDownload offering big prizes to see your Spore creatures
How intelligent is your design? Our friends at BigDownload want to see your best work using the Spore Creature Creator demo, and they're offering 10 copies of the full version, a Wacom tablet and two NVIDIA video cards to tempt you. Click here for details and contest rules.
Spore Creature Creator demo available now on PC and Mac
Like another layer in the Russian nesting doll of Spore hype creation, the Spore Creature Creator demo is out now for both Mac and PC. Big Download reports the demo contains 25% of the content available in the full $10 retail version releasing tomorrow. We've got some impressions up on the Spore Creature Creator after fiddling around with it for a week. Spore proper will release Sept. 7 -- make sure to check your system specs.
-creature-creator-trial-installer-icon.jpg.cf.jpg)
Spore Creature Creator now available
EA has made the Spore Creature Creator trial available for download on both Mac and PC. A while back EA promised simultaneous release for Mac and PC, and they seem to be on track with the Creature Creator which is available for purchase at $9.95.The Spore Creature Creator is a preview and demo for the full Spore game, which is scheduled for release on September 7. As you might expect from the name the Creature Creator allows you to build and customize creatures which you'll later be able to use in gameplay once the full game is released. I've been playing with the trial this morning and it does look very promising.The Spore Creature Creator is Leopard and Intel Mac only. It requires at least an ATI X1600 or NVidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100. It will apparently not run on computers with the GMA 950 integrated graphics chipset on OS X (though, it will on Windows). The trial version can be downloaded directly from the Spore trial site.Thanks, Shiraz!
A week with Spore Creature Creator: Day One
In our quest to familiarize ourselves with the laws of nature (and subsequently defy them), this week we're going to share at least five abominations, one each day, that we've concocted in Spore Creature Creator. You can keep track of this writer's progress via this Spore profile page. While we've got no Murlocs today, we did try our hand at making a Moogle. Check out all our creations via the gallery below. Each one contains a link to the creature's respective Sporepedia page where you can download and edit our work.%Gallery-25321%
The Spore report: Murloc sightings
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Murlocs_in_Spore'; It won't be long until you'll be able to hear the lilting sound of "mgrlllmgrlrrr" across the universe. Spore, the new game from The Sims' Will Wright, which involves creating a species from a single living cell and evolving it all the way through space colonization, is growing murlocs. The official release of Spore's Creature Creator isn't due until Tuesday, June 17, but somehow it broke free early, giving WoW players an early start in trying to create their favorite Azerothian creatures.We got a peek at some of these creations. The little guy to the right was created by a Spore user named Saphirus. If you check the Sporepedia, you'll find some more murloc attempts -- including one by WoW Radio's Duncor. There's even an odd attempt at a kodo (you wouldn't know it except from the description) and a strange looking crocolisk.[Thanks, Andrew.]
New games this week: Spore Creature Creator edition
They say records are made to be broken. And all great streaks must come to an end. Today, 45 consecutive weeks of "New games this week" brought to you by Justin McElroy has abruptly ended. For no good reason.As we take a moment to reflect on Justin's special achievement, we can't help but acknowledge the magic behind it. What manner of intelligent design commanded his fingertips at the keyboard? How is it that on the day the streak began, Justin seemingly wrote for the day the streak would end? Let us illustrate (with just a few, slight tweaks inserted):"It's days like this that make us pine for a time machine. Can you imagine being able to tell you from five years ago that the biggest release one week would be an original IP from EA where you [drag] and [drop] arms around to [create new life]? Oh, and also, you appear to be a giant pink squid-Travolta ... and it's called [Spore Creature Creator]. This new release list doesn't just tell you what games are coming out, it reminds you that wonders never cease."
Joystiq hands-on: Spore Creature Creator and the birth of Sporky
click to get up close with "sporky" var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Hands_on_Spore_Creature_Creator_and_the_birth_of_Sporky'; We dropped by Maxis' offices today to get our feet wet in the stand-alone "Creature Creator" component of The Sims architect Will Wright's epic cell-to-galactic-civilization sim, Spore (which hits in September). Set to launch on June 17 in two flavors (a $9.99 "full version" and free downloadable demo, also included with The SimCity Box) the creator could be incorrectly described as a "utility" – in fact, as we found while tinkering with it, the Creature Creator could very well have a life of its own. Read our full impressions after the break.%Gallery-15870%
Spore Creature Creator and demo coming June 17
If you're the megalomaniacal sort who wants nothing more than a race of sentient creatures of your own design bending to your every whim, we have good news! The Spore Creature Creator, once only dated for the murky, fingerprinted window of June, has now been specifically nailed to June 17. If you're megalomaniacal but also too cheap to spring the $9.99 for the game, you'll be happy to hear that a free demo will also arrive that day on the Spore site.Once the full game arrives on September 5, you'll be able to import in all your created beasts. Until then, they're a perfect way to see if friends and family love you enough to feign interest in the computer animal you made. Gallery: Spore
Rumor: Spore Creature Creator included in SimCity Box
Ever since EA announced the early release of Spore's Creature Creator, we've been wondering how the company planned on distributing the pre-game title. Fingers were crossed for a free demo, but now it seems that EA would rather entice players into buying their SimCity Box, which will reportedly include the Creature Creator amongst its lineup of classic SimCity titles.On the game's Amazon product page, the box art indicates the presence of the "Creature Creator Trial Version" as a bonus feature. This same bonus is stated in the product description. If Amazon is to be trusted, we still don't know whether the "trial version" indicates a limited demo of the soon-to-be-released creature editor, or whether the editor is considered to be a "trial version" of Spore.We also don't know if this is EA's only intended method of distribution for the Creature Creator. We've contacted EA for further clarification, and will let you know once we have a few more facts.[Via GamerTell]
Will Wright narrates SPORE gameplay video
Sure, it's nearly a year late in making its way onto the internet, but Will Wright's SPORE presentation from last year's GDC, titled "The Future of Content", is now available on Google video. Will Wright narrates the entire 36 minute video, discussing things like mating, Care Bears, and the finer points of procedural synthesis, so watch it already! See also: Will Wright to deliver GDC keynote Joystiq's SPORE coverage [Thanks, josh & D] UPDATE: Commenter bob correctly notes that the video has been available on the GDCTV website, although registration is required. Consider this the first time it's been available to those who are afflicted with web-registration paranoia.
Spore grabs 4 nominations for Best of E3 Awards
Will Wright's Spore heads this year's pack of nominees for the annual Game Critics Awards: Best of E3. Spore is up for Best of Show, Best Original Game, Best PC Game and Best Simulation Game. Also nominated for Best of Show: F.E.A.R. Gears of War The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Xbox 360 The PS3 and Revolution were not eligible because judges did not get "hands-on" playing time with them. Winners will be announced next Tuesday, June 7.
Wired Exclusive Interview with Will Wright on Spore
Spore's the buzzed-about game of the moment. Wired news interviews its creator, Will Wright, the man behind the best-selling PC game franchise The Sims. Wired didn't score any new screenshots, but the questions they've asked Wright elicit some interesting answers, including some great information about the technology behind the game: And that is what gives the content high compressibility, because every piece of content can be defined parametrically. Every piece of content has, in essence, a genome, which we can now transport across the net very cheaply, because it's so small, or put a database on your hard drive that has 1,000 creatures and occupies a very small amount of space. Wright also lets on that he plans to bring a version of Spore to handheld gaming systems. See the rest of the Joystiq spore coverage here.
GamingSteve grabs exclusive shots of Will Wright's Spore
GamingSteve has grabbed some excellent pics of the hyped, heady Wright-sim, Spore. The site's writer (Steve, we presume) isn't sure how long the pics will be up, so head on over to get a peek that only GDC attendees could enjoy up to now. Actually make that the GDC attendees who could pack into the small room they put Wright in for the announcement (was that done on purpose, and if so, why?) The site also has some good coverage of GDC. What more do you need? Why are you still here? [thanks Gaming Steve!]
Will Wright's Spore caps off a GDC dedicated to the future
One of the themes of this year's GDC certainly played out well. We got a lot of peeks at where the bigwigs think the industry is going, with a few demos thrown in for good measure. Iwata's keynote and demos, Allards's keynote and demo, the next-gen tools on the expo floor, and now the announcement of Spores, the first game by Will Wright since The Sims series. Of course, this speech happened when I was on my way back home. It couldn't be avoided. But it sounds like the perfect way to cap off a GDC where the essence of gaming (for want of a better phrase, trust me) was at the forefront. From what I'm hearing, Spores is the kind of emergent gameplay that could make Allard's dream of a 20 million-unit best seller a reality. Hey, if anyone could reach that number, Wright's the guy. The game lets you start as a simple life form, just emerging from the slime. You can play the game in such a way that the life form develops in specific ways. From there the game is an RTS, where you become a farmer of sorts, controlling herds of animals. Then you can begin to interact with the world around you, in a Sims-lite setting. Eventually you'll be able to travel between planets and solar systems. Apparently the demo was a real highlight of the show. Check out the forum post on Shacknews for a good perspective on the energy in the room. Has Will Wright proven that lightning can indeed strike twice? Gamespot Shacknews ABCNews Gamasutra IGN 1Up
