The Wait is Killing Me
Thanks to my friend Ty, and Mike’s habit of reading the internet on weekends, I watched a supremely awesome video the other day. You should go watch it too. It will take a while, as it’s not short, but definitely go. Especially if you love video games. And Darwin. And six-legged monsters with only three knees. And Care Bears.
After watching that video, I decided that I must own and play that video game. Unfortunately for me, and now for you, seeing as I’ve just gotten you super excited about it, we will have to wait. Rumors are of a release in Q4, but I have no direct linkage to that effect. I am left wondering if the release is delayed due to the fact that no one actually owns a powerful enough computer to run the game…
Since Saturday, when I first saw that video, I have been imagining how I would play. I think I would aim for a circular type creature, maybe with dozens of legs, similar to a caterpillar. I could go either way with the temperament. Maybe give it some menacing weapons for killing and eating smaller critters, or possibly going all plant-eater neo-hippy. Either way, when we got a space ship, we would totally create a galactic empire. Maybe we could even name our UFO the Enterprise!
So what if I like Star Trek? (Joe – I totally understand)
I am so awestruck at this game, and the concepts in it, that I’m having a difficult time putting it to text. Really, the only way to describe it is, “Spore – the game where you play God.” But even saying that wouldn’t fully encompass the awesome.
I’m a software engineer, by trade. As such, I can appreciate much of the awesomeness that must have gone into this game. It must have been bouncing around in Will Wright’s head for decades (GameSpot said, “…it seem[ed] almost as if he had been waiting his whole life to design this game”). The development can’t have been started less than three years ago, if not longer. Just the AIs required would be a huge undertaking, and that’s not even the half of it.
The truly groundbreaking part of the game is its very nature. The player creates something from scratch. There is no set model that has been pre-rendered. There are no set movements that are associated with such a model. The game provides no reasonable limits on what a player can do. So, the only logical way to do this is programmatically. How awesome is it that the game adapts the creature’s movement and behaviors just based on the way it looks. I think it’s awesome.
Awesome!
You know what, I’m pretty sure this even qualifies for:
I think, perhaps, I am getting a bit out of hand. Also, I’m pretty sure this entry has been somewhat scatterbrained. You should know that I visited the dentist today, and am therefore a little teeny tiny itsy bit distracted. Okay, thoroughly distracted. But who cares! Spore is coming!
I didn’t care about PC gaming anymore until I saw that video.
Thanks.
I’m not sure if i’m being sarcastic or not.
My mind is blown.
I never cared about PC gaming before I saw that video. I mean, I enjoyed a good run at Civ 3 (I totally won by building the spaceship, go me!), and I’ve continually failed to build a sustainable city in SimCity, but other than that (and a college addiction to Snood) PC games never really caught my attention. But I must have Spore.