Spore in 4 days.

Well very soon we get to see if Spore is worth the hype or not. I was not impressed with the creature creator and I'm not impressed with the screenshots. However if the game is as deep as they say it is this game is a must have for me.

Needless to say that I will be visiting my local Best Buy on Sept. 7 to pick up a copy. Just maybe since my expectations are a bit low right now this game will blow my mind.

And if not then there is always Fallout 3 and hopefully a GTA 4 (if Rockstar's pattern continues).

Looks like Sim Earth Redeux, Ill probably skip it.

It isn't true until it is on the shelf

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thantos

It isn't true until it is on the shelf

Schroedinger's Spore?

I've got a better idea. I'll download Wild Metal from Rockstar Classics (seriously, what's the deal with this "omganewgame!!!" thing?).

So far I like it. Only up to the tribal stage, though I can't wait to get into space. You guys get wind of people uploading phallic species? Assuming they ain't been pulled from the servers I'm hoping to find and extincterise some for the hell of it.

Quote:

seriously, what's the deal with this "omganewgame!!!" thing?).

It's a gamer thing.

To me Microsoft has ruined gaming.

There are many things that 'could' ruin gaming for me if I let them. Draconian copy protection schemes, bug infested games, hardware requirements, etc., etc.

But I don't let them. It's not perfect in the gaming world but there is much fun to be had.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahluka

So far I like it. Only up to the tribal stage, though I can't wait to get into space. You guys get wind of people uploading phallic species? Assuming they ain't been pulled from the servers I'm hoping to find and extincterise some for the hell of it.

How did you get it, its nto due fro release til sunday.
Do they have a playable demo? I'm sick of buying games that suck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abachler

How did you get it, its nto due fro release til sunday.
Do they have a playable demo? I'm sick of buying games that suck.

It was released here yesterday (Europe).

Many have had technical glitches with the online portion of the game. I did not try that part yet but I can say that I played the game for about 12 hours and it never crashed, glitched, or hiccupped. This was after starting two new games on separate planets and taking one all the way to the galactic stage and flying to about ten or twelve other planets. Of course I'm on XP and not Vista so I do not know how stable it is on Vista.

Graphics-wise it really is nothing to write home about but then again it does get the job done. The fact that you get to design not just your creature but later your buildings, vehicles, ships, and spaceships is very cool. At the galactic stage the scope of the game is just huge and a bit overwhelming but there is plenty to do and it's not just the same stuff over and over.

My first impressions are that this is a top-notch game with very high production values and huge amounts of replayability. For me each stage was done just about right with the tribal stage being about the hardest, at least for my creatures. The game had a lot of hype behind it and for the most part I can say it lives up to it.

Did anyone buy the Galactic Edition or is pretty much everyone in agreement that $30 more is ridiculous?

I don't intend to buy the game but I'm curious about the announced multiplayer features in which the game is meant to not introduce the type of unhealthy competitiveness of many other online games. You feel they deliver on this regard?

I bought the Galactic Edition because it had so much to offer that you just don't get anymore these days. Rememeber the days when you would get little figurines, maps, big manuals, and sometimes whole books? Those days are gone so when they offer something like this for a mere 30 bucks more I jump on it.

For 30 bucks you get the 100 page Spore book, hard-cover book about the art and concepts, National Geographic DVD about how to build a better being, a DVD about the making of Spore, a poster (these used to be commonplace in the video games market), and a very nice plastic case that holds everything. For me it was well worth it.

Lots of people are downing the game and I figured it would happen given the hugely negative climate in gaming but let's face it - there is no game out there that will ever meet every one of your expectations. But gaming for me isn't about just one game but about many gaming moments combined. I remember staying up the night before my college finals just so I could beat XCOM and downing more coffee than is healthy for a horse just to pull it off. I remember playing Crusader: No Regret and No Remorse and finding new interesting ways of killing the bad guys. Nearly everything was destructible in the game and it had the classic office level where you could just go nutso and glass would be shattering everywhere. I remember just recently on Oblivion when I loaded it up and finally made it outside near the main city. The completely awe-inspiring visuals of the sunset just outside the main city gate caused me to just sit there and admire the view.

Gaming is about so much more than what one game delivers or how technically accurate it is. In the end it's about fun and if it's fun I'll play it even if it's Yars Revenge, Pitfall, or River Raid on the old Atari 2600, or RC Pro Am on the Nintendo, or Wing Commander on the PC, or Oblivion on the PC. If it's fun I'll play it.

The DRM worries me.

You are only allowed three installs, so like a rental not a purchase.

You can contact EA to reset the 3 install limit at any time. I dont like it, but it is effective at limiting CD KEY posting. The game is, interesting, although it lacks any significant end game content. You have to micromanage your income generation and theres no way to turn off random events, which get really annoying after about the 3rd time. Oh Im 100 lightyears away exploring and theres an ecodisaster on a colony, so i have to spend half an hour flying back just to zap 5 infected critters or lose the colony. Coming from Maxis, its no wonder the game feals like The Sim's In Space.

Agreed. The 'help me because I'm helpless' disasters really do get tiresome. Overall they detract from the overall goal of the space stage. I'm more than 80% through the space stage and am beginning to wonder what happens at the end? Will it let me continue to play or will it end? I think you can go to every planet in the galaxy which is a LOT of planets. Terraforming is my favorite thing to do and can be an effective weapon. Of course my weapons are to the point that dropping a couple bombs on a city pretty much wipes it out so it is a moot point.

I'm saving up now to buy the planet buster. Usually races have one main T3 (earth-like) planet that is the base of their empire. Then they have colony planets with usually 1 or 2 cities for t2 and 1 city for T1 and T0 planets. I can't wait to bust a T3.

Also you don't have to colonize which makes the micromanagement portion easier. So far if a race demands money from me I simply wipe them out completely and all is well.

Yeah, I really dislike how in the space stage I'm having to make buildings in the colony level decisions. I have the same attitude as you do Bubba in regards to bullies.

The thing I hate the most is that I'll be dealing with one issue and another will pop up. Seriously, I would like to have more then one ship

I had one race that I went to war with due to a mission from another planet. Later I tried to end the war peacefully and they demanded 450k to 1050k. I gave them 750k which was close to all I had and they then said that was not enough and needed more. Well they made me mad so I went and wiped their entire race out. The followers of Spode on the game are the most arrogant, ingorant races and they are very hostile.

So far I've wiped out 3 races and now everywhere I've explored so far in my galaxy is shaded in green. I don't have the heart to wipe out my long time allies although it probably would further my progress in the space stage.

I will say that even though it is a simple game it is very addictive. It's one of those where I want to move forward in the game but continually ask myself is this really fun or more like work?

Overall I would say that Maxis has accomplished their mission with this game by making it very addictive. No matter how annoyed you get at it you always want to find new planets, new races, and find new ways to destroy their cities. Their are some very cool weapons available and very cool planetary effects coded into the game. The minute you go to someone's nice little T2 or T3 planet and throw down about 3 or 4 drought machines and witness firsthand their planet wither to nothing....you are hooked.

I'm going to play again as a herbivore and see how that changes things.

I also would like more than one ship but the balance comes in that you can have allies with you (the same system used in the creature stage) and the more expensive weapons are very powerful. I also want to know why your enemies can begin pummeling you from space but at that point you cannot retaliate except with crappy auto turrets? Another question is why does every race have 2 types of defensive space ships? They usually have a weak one and a strong one. You just get one.

http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=20080914

:)

Once the game gets older I'm sure they will probably release a DRM patch so the three installs are not there anymore.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubba

Once the game gets older I'm sure they will probably release a DRM patch so the three installs are not there anymore.

To be honest, I'm sure if nobody told me about the install limit, I'd probably never know. If I did it would be years and years down the line... I tend to maintain installs of games for a while. Maybe it's just how I manage my hard drives.

Plus, it's not like you only get 3 installs and have to
buy the game again. Just call customer service and
ask for another one. I think I'll pick this game up.
Sounds pretty awesome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubba

Agreed. The 'help me because I'm helpless' disasters really do get tiresome. Overall they detract from the overall goal of the space stage. I'm more than 80% through the space stage and am beginning to wonder what happens at the end? Will it let me continue to play or will it end? I think you can go to every planet in the galaxy which is a LOT of planets. Terraforming is my favorite thing to do and can be an effective weapon. Of course my weapons are to the point that dropping a couple bombs on a city pretty much wipes it out so it is a moot point.

I'm saving up now to buy the planet buster. Usually races have one main T3 (earth-like) planet that is the base of their empire. Then they have colony planets with usually 1 or 2 cities for t2 and 1 city for T1 and T0 planets. I can't wait to bust a T3.

Also you don't have to colonize which makes the micromanagement portion easier. So far if a race demands money from me I simply wipe them out completely and all is well.

Its probably a bit late in the game for you, but try playing as a scientist and you get a superweapon that wipes out an entire planet. It does tend to ........ off every other race though, but if you like to wipe people out who cares. Personally I made the effort to get ecologist so that I can insta load every plant and animal on a planet, saves time from hunting them all down just to get a full T3 ecosystem in your cargo bay. Theres also playing as a zealot, which lets you just tke over the planet intact, still PO's the whole galaxy though. If it werent for teh annoying 'help me' missions it woudl be a more fun, im thinkign of enablign cheats just so i can turn them off. I really thougth that puttign an Uber Cannon on a planet owudl have given it some defence agaisnt pirates, but apparently not. You have to actualyl show up fro it to blast them.

Found this:

Quote:

i am just copy and pasting from another forum as far as i know credit goes geos to at cheathappens.

You can lower the rate of pirate raids and eco disasters by adding following lines to the end of file preferences.prop located in "User name"/Application Data/Spore/Preferences directory. Just open it with notepad.

universeSimulatorPirateRaidFrequency 100
universeSimulatorPirateRaidAllyFrequency 100
universeSimulatorPirateRaidPlunderFrequency 100
universeSimulatorHappinessDisasterFrequency 100
universeSimulatorBiosphereCollapseFrequency 100

This should lower the rates and if you input 0 instead of 100 it should disable them.

You should also be able to input those lines like cheats inside the game, but you will have to do it each time you start Spore.

Other few helpful lines you could experiment with

universeSimulatorGrobTeaseAttackFrequency (100 by default)
universeSimulatorGrobWarAttackFreqExtremelyAware (40 by default)
universeSimulatorGrobWarAttackFreqVeryAware (80 by default)
universeSimulatorGrobWarAttackFreqAware (160 by default)
universeSimulatorWarAttackFrequency (300 by default)

Haven't tried it yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubba

Once the game gets older I'm sure they will probably release a DRM patch so the three installs are not there anymore.

Actually an upcoming patch will add an authorize /
de-authorize system like iTunes.

I also heard that the DRM install limit has the following rules:

You can install the program on up to <install_limit> separate machines
If you re-install on a machine with no hardware changes it does not count towards your limit
The install limit has been pushed to 6 or 7 due to vast numbers of DRM complaints

This actually doesn't sound all that bad. EA knows that 6 years from now all we are going to do is crack the DRM and install however many times we want so it's not like when they take the server down you are screwed forever. Plus since they know the cracks are their I'm sure they will release a DRM patch long before they shut the install server down for the game.

Some of my friends at work bought the game and downloaded my objects and creatures. Pretty cool that others can see your work but it is also a bit embarassing. :) Last count on Spore was nearly 22 million different objects. Your game will select from these and pull them down during your gameplay meaning that you will probably see new and different objects/creatures every time you play the game or go to new planets.

The game is growing on me more and more and overall is a lot of simple-minded fun.

Oh and I finally busted a T3 planet with my planet buster weapon. All I gotta say is...nice....really nice. :D :D

Do NOT patch SPORE!!!

Since the patch my game won't play for more than 10 min without crashing. Also I have missing laser beams and a missing abduction beam and sounds either don't play at all or play extremely late. Many others are having graphical corruption and other major gameplay issues. I will probably be re-installing SPORE to get back to a pre-patch version.

Ok how sad is it that I just wrote a script to min/max my colony's spice production...

Pretty sad. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thantos

Ok how sad is it that I just wrote a script to min/max my colony's spice production...

May we see the source :)

I think this guy's reviews are funny, though he does not review any game he likes (or does not like any games....)

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vide...tion/218-Spore

Quote:

Originally Posted by abachler

May we see the source :)

I wrote it in PHP and just used a brute force approach. Since there are only 3^11 possible combos it doesn't take too long to do it.

Looks like I can't attach PHP files so I'll just copy and paste the code.

Code:

<?php // Default variables $types = array( 'c' => 'City Hall', 'h' => 'House', 'f' => 'Factory', 'e' => 'Enterainment', 'u' => 'Unknown', ); $adj = array( 0 => array(false, true, true, false, true, true, true, false, false, false, false, false, ), 1 => array(true, false, true, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, true, ), 2 => array(true, true, false, true, false, false, false, true, false, false, false, false, ), 3 => array(false, false, true, false, true, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, ), 4 => array(true, false, false, true, false, false, false, false, true, false, false, false, ), 5 => array(true, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, true, true, false, false, ), 6 => array(true, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, true, true, ), 7 => array(false, false, true, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, false, ), 8 => array(false, false, false, false, true, true, false, false, false, true, false, false, ), 9 => array(false, false, false, false, false, true, false, false, true, false, true, false, ), 10 => array(false, false, false, false, false, false, true, false, false, true, false, true, ), 11 => array(false, true, false, false, false, false, true, false, false, false, true, false, ), ); // Ok get to work! if (isset($_REQUEST['find'])) { $minhappy = isset($_REQUEST['minhappy']) ? (int) $_REQUEST['minhappy'] : 2; $minpop = isset($_REQUEST['minpop']) ? (int) $_REQUEST['minpop'] : 0; $minprod = isset($_REQUEST['minprod']) ? (int) $_REQUEST['minprod'] : 0; $plots = array( 0 => 'c', 1 => 'u', 2 => 'u', 3 => 'u', 4 => 'u', 5 => 'u', 6 => 'u', 7 => 'u', 8 => 'u', 9 => 'u', 10 => 'u', 11 => 'u', ); $best = array( 'score' => 0, 'plots' => $plots, ); // Do up the adj matrix if (isset($_REQUEST['adj'])) { for($i=0; $i <= 11; $i++) for($j=0; $j <= 11; $j++) $adj[$i][$j] = (isset($_REQUEST['adj'][$i]) && isset($_REQUEST['adj'][$i][$j])) || (isset($_REQUEST['adj'][$j]) && isset($_REQUEST['adj'][$j][$i])); } calc_best($plots); $subtemp = 'show_best'; } else { $subtemp = 'start'; } echo '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <title>Spore Colony Populator</title> </head> <body> <div style="float: right;"><h3>Connection Reference Image</h3><img src="spore.png" alt="" /></div> <h1>Colony Best Fit</h1> '; call_user_func($subtemp); echo ' </body> </html>'; function start() { global $adj, $minhappy, $minpop, $minprod; echo ' <h2>Adjacent Connections</h2> <form action="', $_SERVER['PHP_SELF'], '?find" method="post"> <table> <tr> <th> </th>'; for ($i = 0; $i <= 11; $i++) echo ' <th>', $i, '</th>'; echo ' </tr>'; for ($i = 0; $i <= 11; $i++) { echo ' <tr> <td>', $i, '</td>'; for($j=0; $j <= 11; $j++) { echo ' <td>'; if ($j <= $i) echo '  '; else { echo ' <input type="checkbox" name="adj[', $i, '][', $j, ']" value="1" ', !empty($adj[$i]) && !empty($adj[$i][$j]) ? ' checked="checked"' : '', ' />'; } echo ' </td>'; } echo ' </tr>'; } echo ' </table> Min Happiness: <input type="text" size="3" maxlength="2" name="minhappy" value="', isset($minhappy) ? $minhappy : 2, '" /><br /> Min Production: <input type="text" size="3" maxlength="2" name="minprod" value="', isset($minprod) ? $minprod : 0, '" /><br /> Min Population: <input type="text" size="3" maxlength="2" name="minpop" value="', isset($minpop) ? $minpop : 0, '" /><br /> <input type="submit" value="Find best fit" /> </form>'; } function show_best() { global $best, $types; echo 'Best plot has a score of ', $best['score']['h'], ' happiness, ', $best['score']['m'], ' production, and ', $best['score']['p'], ' population and is in the configuration of: <table> <tr> <th>Plot</th> <th>Type</th> </tr>'; foreach($best['plots'] AS $plot => $type) { echo ' <tr> <td>', $plot, '</td> <td>', $types[$type], '</td> </tr>'; } echo ' </table> <h1>Again</h1>'; start(); } function calc_best($plots, $depth=1) { global $best, $types, $minhappy, $minpop, $minprod; if ($depth > 11) { $score = score($plots); if ($score['h'] < $minhappy || $score['p'] < $minpop || $score['m'] < $minprod) return; if ($score['m'] > $best['score']['m']) $best = array( 'score' => $score, 'plots' => $plots, ); return; } foreach($types AS $type => $dummy) { if ($type == 'c' || $type == 'u') continue; $plots[$depth] = $type; calc_best($plots, $depth+1); } } function score($plots) { global $adj; $score = array( 'h' => 0, // Happiness 'm' => 0, // Money 'p' => 0, // Population ); // Ok calc values for the building themselves. foreach($plots AS $plot => $type) { switch($type) { case 'f': // $score['m']++; $score['h']--; break; case 'e': $score['h']++; break; case 'h': case 'c': $score['p']++; break; case 'u': break; } } for($i=0; $i<=11; $i++) { for($j=$i+1; $j <= 11; $j++) { if (!$adj[$i][$j]) continue; $s = connection_score($plots[$i], $plots[$j]); // echo $i, ' (', $plots[$i], ') $score['h'] += $s['h']; $score['m'] += $s['m']; } } return $score; } function connection_score($t1, $t2, $verbose = false) { $val = array( 'h' => 0, 'm' => 0, ); if ($t1 == 'u' || $t2 == 'u') return $val; // Center connected with something if ($t1 == 'c' || $t2 == 'c') { switch($t1 == 'c' ? $t2 : $t1) { case 'f': $val['m']++; break; case 'e': $val['h']++; break; } } // House connected to something elseif($t1 == 'h' || $t2 == 'h') { switch($t1 == 'h' ? $t2 : $t1) { case 'f': $val['m']++; break; case 'e': $val['h']++; break; } } elseif ($t1 == $t2) ; // f-f and e-e both don't change anything // All that leaves is factory-entertainment else $val['h']--; return $val; }

The reference image is
http://www.geekoverloaded.com/spore.png

If you just want to run the script you can at http://www.geekoverloaded.com/spore.php

For a min happiness of 2 the result is:
Plot Type
0 City Hall
1 House
2 Factory
3 House
4 Factory
5 Factory
6 Enterainment
7 House
8 House
9 Factory
10 House
11 Enterainment

Oh I see, you wrote a script to calculate the best configuration. I had thought of doing this is C++, i just hadn't gotten around to it. My approach was also going to be brute force. Since there are 11 slots, which can each contain 3 types of buildings and generate 17 interconnections bepending on the two buildings the connection connects.

Since there is a racial bonus that can boost the output of your colonies, I will calculate merely the number of blue 'spice' connections, green happy connections, and white nothing connections.

Prior to running this my current plan produces 11 spice symbols, 5 happy faces and 5 sad faces for a neutral happiness with 4 white connections. The configuration is shown below.

I assigned each position a number from 0 to 10, with position 0 being the one that has only a single connection and moving clockwise around the town hall. I attached a picture of the config I am using now. When i finish the program ill post the source.

Here is the numbering (1 - 11) subtract 1 for the index into the array obviously

It turns out that there are 42 configurations that produce 11 spice symbols, 4 of which also produce 2 Happy faces, the rest produce zero happy faces or fewer. I specifically excluded configurations that produce sad faces, although you can get up to 15 spice symbols with 6 sad faces.

Code:

// Spore Spice Optimizer.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console application. // #include <windows.h> // for the variable types I prefer #include <stdio.h> BYTE Building[12]; BYTE Link_A[] = { 1 , 2 , 3 , 0 , 4 , 5 , 5 , 6 , 0 , 7 , 8 , 0 , 9 , 10 , 10 , 0 , 11 , 0 }; BYTE Link_B[] = { 2 , 3 , 4 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 7 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 9 , 10 , 8 , 11 , 11 , 2 , 2 }; int SpiceCount(BYTE* pBuilding , int* TotalHappy); int IsHappy(BYTE A , BYTE B); int IsProductive(BYTE A, BYTE B); int main(int argc, char* argv[]){ Building[0] = 0; // Building zero is the town hall it is always considered a 'housing' unit int temp = 0; int TotalHappy = 0; int CurrentBest = 0; for(int x = 0;x<177147;x++){ temp = x; for(int z = 1;z<12;z++){ Building[z] = temp % 3; temp = temp / 3; } temp = SpiceCount(Building , &TotalHappy); if(temp >= CurrentBest){ if(TotalHappy >= 0){ CurrentBest = temp; printf("%d , %d Output %d Happy\n" , x , temp , TotalHappy); } } } return 0; } int SpiceCount(BYTE* pBuilding , int* TotalHappy){ *TotalHappy = 0; int Production = 0; // calculate the happiness from the buildings themselves for(int x = 0;x<12;x++){ if(pBuilding[x] == 1) *TotalHappy += 1; if(pBuilding[x] == 2) *TotalHappy -= 1; } // Calculate the Happiness and Production from the links for(int x = 0;x<18;x++){ *TotalHappy += IsHappy(pBuilding[Link_A[x]] , pBuilding[Link_B[x]]); Production += IsProductive(pBuilding[Link_A[x]] , pBuilding[Link_B[x]]); } return Production; } int IsHappy(BYTE A , BYTE B){ BYTE C = (A << 2) + B; switch(C){ case 1: case 4: return 1; case 6: case 9: return -1; default: return 0; } return 0; // should never reach this spot } int IsProductive(BYTE A , BYTE B){ BYTE C = (A << 2) + B; switch(C){ case 2: case 8: return 1; default: return 0; } return 0; // should never reach this spot }

C'mon abachler,

Quote:

#include <windows.h> // for the variable types I prefer

And what's so wrong with unsigned char?
Or, if you insist, on "typedef unsigned char BYTE"?

Quote:

#include <stdio.h>

Fine. Lets just throw away C++ stupid language rules...

Quote:

return 0; // should never reach this spot

Can you say it can't ever reach that spot? So what on earth are you thinking?

So, as my new configuration I use configuration 28248, which is shown here. I will probably change to a more productive configuration once I acquire the happy generators.

That is the same configuration I gave above. Glad to see some confirmation in the final layout.

One of the reasons I wrote it in PHP instead is so that I could easily change the min requirements and the connection information. That helped when I started a new creature and got to the civ stage as the civ stage has at least 2 different city configurations. One with 11 and one with fewer.

All you have to do is change the index arrays Link_A[] and Link_B[] to reflect the other set fo links, then change the 12 and 18 to however many buildings and links there are. In fact Ill modify it so there are #DEFINE's to easily change the numbers where they matter.

Code:

// Spore Spice Optimizer.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console application. // #include <windows.h> // for the variable types I prefer #include <stdio.h> #define BUILDINGS 12 // this includes building 0, the town hall #define LINKS 18 // the number of interlinks between the nodes BYTE Building[BUILDINGS]; BYTE Link_A[] = { 1 , 2 , 3 , 0 , 4 , 5 , 5 , 6 , 0 , 7 , 8 , 0 , 9 , 10 , 10 , 0 , 11 , 0 }; BYTE Link_B[] = { 2 , 3 , 4 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 7 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 9 , 10 , 8 , 11 , 11 , 2 , 2 }; DWORD Cost[] = { 25600 , 12800 , 19200 }; int SpiceCount(BYTE* pBuilding , int* TotalHappy); int IsHappy(BYTE A , BYTE B); int IsProductive(BYTE A, BYTE B); int main(int argc, char* argv[]){ Building[0] = 0; // Building zero is the town hall it is always considered a 'housing' unit int temp = 0; int TotalHappy = 0; DWORD TotalCost; int CurrentBest = 0; __int64 Combos = 1; // this performs the pow() function, only on integers for(int x = 0;x<(BUILDINGS-1);x++){ Combos *= 3; } for(int x = 0;x<Combos;x++){ temp = x; TotalCost = 0; for(int z = 1;z<BUILDINGS;z++){ Building[z] = temp % 3; TotalCost += Cost[Building[z]]; temp = temp / 3; } temp = SpiceCount(Building , &TotalHappy); if(temp >= CurrentBest){ if(TotalHappy >= 0){ CurrentBest = temp; printf("%d , %d Output %d Happy %d Total Cost\n" , x , temp , TotalHappy , TotalCost); } } } return 0; } int SpiceCount(BYTE* pBuilding , int* TotalHappy){ *TotalHappy = 0; int Production = 0; // calculate the happiness from the buildings themselves for(int x = 0;x<BUILDINGS;x++){ if(pBuilding[x] == 1) *TotalHappy += 1; if(pBuilding[x] == 2) *TotalHappy -= 1; } // Calculate the Happiness and Production from the links for(int x = 0;x<LINKS;x++){ *TotalHappy += IsHappy(pBuilding[Link_A[x]] , pBuilding[Link_B[x]]); Production += IsProductive(pBuilding[Link_A[x]] , pBuilding[Link_B[x]]); } return Production; } int IsHappy(BYTE A , BYTE B){ BYTE C = (A << 2) + B; switch(C){ case 1: case 4: return 1; case 6: case 9: return -1; default: return 0; } return 0; // should never reach this spot } int IsProductive(BYTE A , BYTE B){ BYTE C = (A << 2) + B; switch(C){ case 2: case 8: return 1; default: return 0; } return 0; // should never reach this spot }

There also seems ot be a difference between teh configurations on yoru home plaet based on what the city type was at the end of the civ phase. I havent explored the exact results, but it appears that military cities actually have more links, and thus may provide greater . Although Ive counted at least 6 unique layouts so far. The layouts of the home planet cities may be proceedurally generated, although there were a few duplicates. I have attached the 6 I fodun so far.

Where does your script output the configuration?

Hmm when I get home I'll take a look as I have one that was agressive throughout.

I compared diplomat vs another one (can't remember but it was Green, red, red, blue (iirc)) and got the same city layout.

and the 6th is

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thantos

Where does your script output the configuration?

Hmm when I get home I'll take a look as I have one that was agressive throughout.

I compared diplomat vs another one (can't remember but it was Green, red, red, blue (iirc)) and got the same city layout.

ah, I will put that in now, I was just manually decoding the sequence number. The layouts are the same on all your colonies regardless of any othe rfactor, but the cities on your Home Planet are different based on unknown factors. The home plant only generates red spice, but it cheaper to configure than the colonies so if you have the cash you might as well boost its output.

Is that in the space stage or still in the civ stage? I know there were at least two civ stage configurations. Wasn't sure if they carried over to space stage or not.

Played it finished. In one phrase: a waste of a good game mechanic. First of all, this i like 5 games in one. The first four are short, very short. The tribe stage and civ stage are like an RTS. And well of course compared to other RTS they suck. Badly. Very badly. What makes the stages playable it is that there is a continuation from the previous stages, which is nice and what Spore wanted to achieve in the Single Player.
The space stage is OK. It is fun. But again... there are many other games that offer space exploration and building things.
In one word, focus on one style or make five games. It is a WASTE to make a whole game mechanic that lasts a few hours. In the end only the space stage takes you time.

Lets thing of a moment what are the good points about the game. You can create and evolve a creature. There are many games that you can evolve an empire. Many games that you play through centuries. Many games that you explore. But SPORE offered you the chance to create a little creature and evolve it. But that is JUST the first two stages. Why??? Why waste all the good points in the first two stages?

They really should focus only on the second stage. Or a combination of the first and second stage. Like be able to create more species. Have more options to evolve. Like a combination of an action/building game. You design your creatures, evolve them. The resources you get should be obtain through the "action" (fighting, singing whatever). Just an idea....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thantos

Is that in the space stage or still in the civ stage? I know there were at least two civ stage configurations. Wasn't sure if they carried over to space stage or not.

AFAIK, there are only 3 layouts in civ stage, there are at least 6 in the space stage for your home planet only, all colonies use the same layout which is different from the ones on your home planet, I dont yet know about alien cities. Im still adding the code for the extra layouts, and of course the code to print out the config. Im workign on the layouts first, since they will take the most time.

There isn't an 'ideal' spice layout according to the manual. How you lay out your cities really depends on what type of strategy you are going for. You can get away with extremely unhappy cities producing a lot of spice if your military might is built up and if you keep religous type empires away from your planets.

I tend to produce angry cities or cities with no happy faces but tons of spice. It is much easier to win back a city than it is to gain new planets using nothing but conversion and/or peaceful means. Taking over a planet as a Warrior is a simple process of terraforming to the point the planet dies at T0 which will then leave the empire on that planet with a max of 1 city left. The final city will also be nearly stripped of all its buildings and defenses which makes for an easy target. Drop a couple bombs and then take over the city. Wash, rinse, repeat. The Grox are the only combatants in the game thus far that have given me trouble.

Lately all I have been doing is conquering cities and planets and collecting the money from them as well as stealing their spice. Also when you destroy the local space fleet you get a lot of cash that falls to the ground and then you just beam it up. You can almost make as much money conquering as you can doing high dollar missions. You also will gain about 85% of the max rank for the space stage by doing this.

Well again, the obvious determining factor is how much unhappiness you can tolerate. You can of course modify the minimum happiness factor, which will usually produce higher spice production.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubba

There isn't an 'ideal' spice layout according to the manual. How you lay out your cities really depends on what type of strategy you are going for.

Which is why I put in an adjustable min happiness. If you want spice production through the roof just set the min happiness to something like -10. If you want really happy cities set the min happiness to 5.

Quote:

Originally Posted by abachler

AFAIK, there are only 3 layouts in civ stage, there are at least 6 in the space stage for your home planet only, all colonies use the same layout which is different from the ones on your home planet, I dont yet know about alien cities. Im still adding the code for the extra layouts, and of course the code to print out the config. Im workign on the layouts first, since they will take the most time.

I think all of the space stage colonies are the same. I haven't taken one over that didn't fit the current model.

Not really worried about home planet cities as individually they produce a lot less. And I've always been able to get the entire planet producing enough to max it out by the time I get around to it.

Oh a little trick if those that don't know: If you beam a plant/animal down to a planet in order to fill a bio slot you can immediately beam it back and the slot will remained filled. Great for when you are running low.

Thats why i like the ecologist role, instantly beam up a full T3 biosphere from your home planet. Really maxing the productivity of the home planet is less about 'need' and more for the challenge of solving the problem. I mean ive spent several hours messing around with this app, If I charged myself what I charge my employer it wouldnt be worth it.

added reportign of the building types in sequence, 0 is housing, 1 is entertainment, 2 is factory, I also added the links for the various city configs, I havent gotten around to type 4 or 6 yet.

Code:

// Spore Spice Optimizer.cpp : Defines the entry point for the console application. // #include <windows.h> // for the variable types I prefer #include <stdio.h> // Colonies //#define BUILDINGS 12 // this includes building 0, the town hall //#define LINKS 18 // the number of interlinks between the nodes //BYTE Link_A[] = { 1 , 2 , 3 , 0 , 4 , 5 , 5 , 6 , 0 , 7 , 8 , 0 , 9 , 10 , 10 , 0 , 11 , 0 }; //BYTE Link_B[] = { 2 , 3 , 4 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 7 , 6 , 8 , 9 , 9 , 10 , 8 , 11 , 11 , 2 , 2 }; // Home Planet 1 //#define BUILDINGS 12 // this includes building 0, the town hall //#define LINKS 16 // the number of interlinks between the nodes //BYTE Link_A[] = { 1 , 2 , 3 , 0 , 0 , 2 , 0 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 7 , 9 , 10 , 10 , 0 }; //BYTE Link_B[] = { 2 , 3 , 4 , 4 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 9 , 0 , 9 , 11 , 10 }; // Home Planet 2 //#define BUILDINGS 12 // this includes building 0, the town hall //#define LINKS 19 // the number of interlinks between the nodes //BYTE Link_A[] = { 1 , 2 , 0 , 2 , 3 , 0 , 4 , 5 , 0 , 6 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 8 , 8 , 9 , 0 , 10}; //BYTE Link_B[] = { 2 , 3 , 2 , 4 , 5 , 4 , 6 , 6 , 6 , 8 , 7 , 8 , 0 , 9 , 10 , 10 , 10 , 11}; // Home Planet 3 #define BUILDINGS 12 // this includes building 0, the town hall #define LINKS 16 // the number of interlinks between the nodes BYTE Link_A[] = { 1 , 2 , 0 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 4 , 0 , 6 , 5 , 7 , 8 , 8 , 9 , 0 , 10}; BYTE Link_B[] = { 2 , 3 , 2 , 4 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 6 , 8 , 7 , 8 , 0 , 10 , 10 , 10 , 11}; // Home Planet 5 //#define BUILDINGS 12 // this includes building 0, the town hall //#define LINKS 17 // the number of interlinks between the nodes //BYTE Link_A[] = { 1 , 2 , 0 , 2 , 3 , 0 , 4 , 4 , 0 , 6 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 8 , 9 , 0 , 10}; //BYTE Link_B[] = { 2 , 3 , 2 , 4 , 4 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 6 , 8 , 7 , 8 , 0 , 10 , 10 , 10 , 11}; #define MINIMUM_HAPPINESS 0 BYTE Building[BUILDINGS]; DWORD Cost[] = { 25600 , 12800 , 19200 }; int SpiceCount(BYTE* pBuilding , int* TotalHappy); int IsHappy(BYTE A , BYTE B); int IsProductive(BYTE A, BYTE B); int main(int argc, char* argv[]){ Building[0] = 0; // Building zero is the town hall it is always considered a 'housing' unit int temp = 0; int TotalHappy = 0; DWORD TotalCost; int CurrentBest = 0; __int64 Combos = 1; // this performs the pow() function, only on integers for(int x = 0;x<(BUILDINGS-1);x++){ Combos *= 3; } for(int x = 0;x<Combos;x++){ temp = x; TotalCost = 0; for(int z = 1;z<BUILDINGS;z++){ Building[z] = temp % 3; TotalCost += Cost[Building[z]]; temp = temp / 3; } temp = SpiceCount(Building , &TotalHappy); if(temp >= CurrentBest){ if(TotalHappy >= MINIMUM_HAPPINESS){ CurrentBest = temp; printf("%d , %d Output %d Happy %d Total Cost\n" , x , temp , TotalHappy , TotalCost); for(int y = 1;y<BUILDINGS;y++){ printf("%d " , Building[y]); } printf("\n\n"); } } } return 0; } int SpiceCount(BYTE* pBuilding , int* TotalHappy){ *TotalHappy = 0; int Production = 0; // calculate the happiness from the buildings themselves for(int x = 0;x<BUILDINGS;x++){ if(pBuilding[x] == 1) *TotalHappy += 1; if(pBuilding[x] == 2) *TotalHappy -= 1; } // Calculate the Happiness and Production from the links for(int x = 0;x<LINKS;x++){ *TotalHappy += IsHappy(pBuilding[Link_A[x]] , pBuilding[Link_B[x]]); Production += IsProductive(pBuilding[Link_A[x]] , pBuilding[Link_B[x]]); } return Production; } int IsHappy(BYTE A , BYTE B){ BYTE C = (A << 2) + B; switch(C){ case 1: case 4: return 1; case 6: case 9: return -1; default: return 0; } return 0; // should never reach this spot } int IsProductive(BYTE A , BYTE B){ BYTE C = (A << 2) + B; switch(C){ case 2: case 8: return 1; default: return 0; } return 0; // should never reach this spot }

Have any of you tried to remove the ecosystem on a planet and see if it actually affects the T-score? Since stabilizing a planet requires plopping down trees, bushes, carnivores, and herbivores - removing them should de-stabilize the ecosystem. So far the only way I've found to directly inflluence the T-Score is to use the terraforming tools.

Even though on the surface the gameplay of Spore is deceptively simple I'm beginning to see some very complex hidden game mechanics at work. Playing through again has been almost completely different and I've been able to directly influence the path of my civilization now that I know what to do and when to do it. Seems that Will Wright has a very complex system hidden beneath a very shallow exterior shell.

I think some were disappointed that the environment does not directly affect your creature but it is balanced by the fact that everything you do does affect your creature and his eventual evolution to the space stage. The first time through I was a Warrior through and through and my cities produced little to no spice. Second time through my creature started as a herbivore, progressed to a carnivore (for lack of a good food source) and then in the tribal went back to being more peaceful (save wiping out 1 tribe). All this pushed me into the industrial category during the civ stage and my cities produce tons of spice, however, my buildings are much more expensive. Also at first I did not realize that each piece you put on your vehicles affects different attributes of that vehicle. So while the game is so simple it is actually very complex.

And the space stage is beyond comprehension. There are so many planets and so much to do. Sure it is repetitive but there is rewards in it. With each badge you get some new ability which will help you expand your empire be it by force or more peaceful means. I have so many planets in my first game and so much potential to make a ton of cash it is just mind blowing. Keeping all my planets maxed out on spice production is a huge task and one I'm almost too lazy to try. But that isn't the game's fault it is mine. It would reward me nicely if I did maintain my planets better and if I made more T3's (again I'm too lazy and most of my planets are T0's or T1's).
Tons of potential and great gaming ahead if I would just get off my lazy butt and get to it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bubba

Have any of you tried to remove the ecosystem on a planet and see if it actually affects the T-score? Since stabilizing a planet requires plopping down trees, bushes, carnivores, and herbivores - removing them should de-stabilize the ecosystem. So far the only way I've found to directly inflluence the T-Score is to use the terraforming tools.

You can't remove all of the plants and animals via the tractor beam. You can quite literally plop one down and instantly pull it back up and that slot will remain filled. There is a tool you can use to wipe out a species but I haven't used it so I don't know if it is animal only or if it'll work on plants as well.

I woudl realyl like it if you could make spice routes that woudl automatically seel spice and deliver the sporebucks. It get spretty tedious making spice runs for cash. the way teh game makes you move between interstellar and planetary mode.

Yes the manual spice collection does get tedious. Many also complain about the frequency of attacks but I noticed my people were feared among others and did not often get attacked that often. Also even though your planets contact you every time a pirate or enemy ship is attacking I have noticed if you give the cities good enough defenses they normally take care of themselves.

The eco-disasters are quite annoying and senseless. Why should I have to travel hundreds of light years just to shoot 5 infected creatures to save an entire planet?

I ignore all the pirate raids. It turns out that if they are attacking they can't destroy anything if you aren't there. If they are stealing they'll only steal like 1 spice. Considering I probably wouldn't make it back to the colony to pickup that spice before it got topped off again big whoop.

Grox raids are also pointless to respond to (unless it is on your colony) as you get nothing for helping out.

I would love automated spice routes that give cash and not lead to economic buy out. I would also like more then 3 trade routes (trade routes increase how much they like you).

The ignore thing was nice to find out, I have now begun my search for earth, I watched a video of one of the designers where he shows how to find it, and I luckily found a wormhole that lets me skip clear across the core and into the andromeda arm. Still a ways to go, but that cut an enourmous amount of travel through grox territory. I need to stop at some point and buy a planet buster for when I find it MUAHAHAHAHA :)

I actually have a game spot that is VERY close to where earth shoudl be, but I dont have the patience to get the interstellar drive 5 on some other race.

Earth? Video linky please?

http://gamextract.com/?p=2327

Encountered a MAJOR Spore bug today.

I conquered a planet to the point of them surrendering but did not get to hit the capture system button. On my next respawn I went to the system and was about to go to the planet when I saw the capture system button. I thought you could only capture while on the planet but I guess not. Well I hit the capture system button during the transition from space to planet and the entire game went berzerk. The sound was completely messed up and the render was completely black except for the GUI portion. In fact the GUI worked fine but everything else was messed up.

I rebooted the system and loaded my saved game and found out that the screen was now always black. No rendering at all. It completely corrupted my save game file.

If this or something else like this happens to you, all is not lost. If your save game does get corrupted you can go to this folder:

<system_drive>\Documents and Settings\<user_name>\Application Data\SPORE\game0.old

Copy your save game <planet_name.spo> from there to:

<system_drive>\Documents and Settings\<user_name>\Application Data\SPORE\game0

You won't be in the exact same spot as it will take you back to your last good save but it beats starting over. Apparently the devs are well aware that there are multiple ways to destroy your save game which is probably why they put the backup folder there.

With no autosave it is very easy to lose a lot of progress on this game. With so many save game killing bugs there is no excuse for no autosave.

Starcraft in Spore.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3170208