Spore Heaven

Welcome to Spore Heaven!

Spore Heaven is the premier fansite for Spore, Maxis' new God Game from legendary game-designer Will Wright. Spore Heaven is dedicated to providing first class content, up-to-date news, and a friendly gaming, designing and modding community for all things related to Spore.

• Become part of Spore Heaven's vibrant community in the forums.
• Download creatures, buildings and adventures created by Spore Heaven's designers in the downloads section.
• Have questions? Check out our FAQ.
• Read our range of editorials and guides to get to grips with the inner workings of Spore.
• If you're considering purchasing Spore, why not check out our game information?

News:

Dr Pepper free Spore parts now available

Posted by Yeebaagooon on February 08th, 2010 @ 3:29 p.m.

I'm sure you all remember the 14 free Spore part giveaway? I'm sure you all wanted to get them - now you can!

It turns out that all of these parts are included on an unreleased patch in the game (1.06), and this patch has been uploaded to a website by a kind soul. I would like to point out that this patch is unofficial and could possibly cause complications. However, you can now download these mech parts and use them in your game. Excellent news for us all, especially if you had no chance of getting these parts until now !
We don't know if EA will release this patch officially yet.

You can find download the Dr Pepper free Spore parts here.
Please be sure to read all the disclaimers.

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Interview with Chris Hecker: Heckling the Future

Posted by Yeebaagooon on January 15th, 2010 @ 11:19 a.m.

Chris Hecker has worked with Maxis on Spore. After Spore he is now independant and is working on the multiplayer SpyParty game.
In this interview, Hecker talks about the future of gaming.

The interview was originally posted on Gamasutra.

Quoted from The Interview:

It seems like there's a trend in big name developers leaving their corporate employ and going indie. How has this transition welcomed you? Did you ever think, "Now that I'm no longer working for a game company, I can actually make games"?

Chris Hecker: Well, to be fair, in my case it wasn't voluntary. I got laid off! However, I did have a plan to leave in January, so this really just moved up my timeframe, and also made sure I actually left. The big paycheck can be hard to give up when the time comes!

For me, being indie basically converts all of the different problems one encounters while making games in an organization into one single problem: "Can I afford to feed myself long enough to make the game I want to make?"

That, of course, is ignoring the deeper problem of, "Do I have the talent to make the game I want to make?" but it's best not to think about that one too much.

What should be the role of formal game design theory, such as the Mechanics/Dynamics/Aesthetics framework (PDF link)?

CH: I think theory has a place, and I indulge in it myself, but it's very early and we're a long way away from understanding how our medium works, even at a low level.

I think analyzing and critiquing games we play is the most important thing right now -- with the exception of actually making more games -- moreso than constructing general theories about how they work. MDA is a nice framework for thinking about things, but it's too coarse to be much use as a tool you use daily when making games, I find.

That said, I've often claimed in lectures that the biggest question for game design in the next 10 years is "How do games mean?" which can be seen as asking how mechanics eventually result in aesthetics, so it's definitely interesting to think about this stuff.

It's easy to build castles in the sky, though, so we need to be making games. Also, I want research to be backed by data when possible.

How do you think procedural content succeeded and failed in previous examples, from Spore to Spelunky, and what do you think is holding back its application to game design?

CH: I think there are a lot of different definitions of "procedural content", but in general, I think it's interesting because it gets to questions of authorship in interactivity, and it tries to get us away from statically authored linear content. So, the more explorations in this direction, the better.

Spore and Spelunky are very different in how they use proceduralism, of course. Spore uses it to empower the player to create things like creatures and buildings, while Spelunky uses it to create novel environments for the player to experience. Both are compelling uses, to me.

I think that if something is holding it back, it's just that we don't know how to really work with interactivity very well. It's kind of the same thing that's holding back all game design.

If you had a hundred bucks, and you bet it in any ratio on either web, the Wii, or traditional consoles being the biggest source of audience growth in the next several years, and assuming each pays out 3:1, how would you allocate that stake?

CH: I think Facebook will crush them both, assuming the Facebook game developers can figure out how to make their games matter a bit more, as opposed to just designing machines to separate people from their wallets and friends lists.

Some people have attributed decisions to make Spore less difficult and scientifically accurate to you. How do you feel about the way the game turned out? What would you change, if anything?

CH: There are two parts to this question. First, did I somehow hypnotize Will Wright and make the game in my cute image? The answer to that is "no", as Will, executive producer Lucy Bradshaw, and I have all stated publicly. Sadly, those statements didn't get as much coverage as the inflammatory accusations.

The second part is harder. What would I have changed? Personally, I wish there was more consequence from the player's choices in the editors. I think players could have explored various ecological niches by building different creatures, and gotten some firsthand experience at the idea of compromise and tradeoffs in a dynamic environment, and had a pretty compelling time doing that.

You've said that there are things AAA studios can do, but won't. They theoretically have more artistic potential than indies, who are typically constrained to a smaller audience. Why do you think it is that so many companies stick to playing it safe? What are these companies losing by refusing to challenge people's comfort zones?

CH: Well, one of the things I talk about in this series of lectures is how really weak we are in terms of audience reach compared to literature, film, and music. So, if we're going to ignore the art aspect, I think there's a lot of money being left on the table by only making games about orcs and space ships and commandos.

We need to do the hard work of figuring out how to make games that speak to the human condition, and if we figure it out, I'm betting not only will we make a new respectable art form, but we'll also grow massively as an industry.

There are almost seven billion people on this planet and almost half have some access to the internet. There are hundreds of millions of people who play consoles. What is going to happen when four billion people play games as regularly as they would watch television or listen to music?

CH: Hopefully, to quote 2010, "something wonderful." I do think a huge part of the friction of games, and especially experimental games, is training the player. There is some of this in other forms, where a particularly difficult book, film, or piece of music will need to be experienced multiple times, but with games we need to teach people how to play them every time if they're even slightly novel.

This is a huge impediment to accessibility. Hopefully, as more people become "interactively literate", this will be easier, however I think it's still going to be a long road, because controllers are changing all the time as technology progresses. It will be a long time before it's stable.

Many new developers think that you can design a game on paper and then implement it. Can you speak to the utility of prototyping? What exercises can designers try to push themselves into experimental territory and hone in on important things?

CH: I think everybody should learn to program, because code is how interactivity works; it is the underlying language of our form. I think it's possible to design systems without understanding programming, but I think it's harder. It's like learning how to draw the human form from life if you want to be a painter, or learning to play an instrument if you want to be a composer. It's not strictly required, but it helps, a lot.

Can you speak about your current project and how it targets the standards you're setting in your writings and lectures?

CH: With my new game SpyParty I'm trying to ask some questions about subtle social behavior. It remains to be seen how well that works out, of course!

SpyParty is a multiplayer game. It's set at a fancy Bond-esque cocktail party, with all the usual spy-movie archetypes in attendance, including the suave James Bond guy, the ingenue, the mad scientist in the wheelchair, the general from the third world country, the old dowager, et cetera.

All of these people are NPCs doing normal cocktail party things, like talking, having drinks, flirting, looking at art and books, and whatnot. One of the players, the spy, picks one of the partygoers and controls them, trying to perform as that character at the party while also trying to accomplish missions on the sly, like "bug the ambassador", or "poison the general's drink." The other player, the sniper, is looking in on the party, and trying to figure out which character is the spy and terminate him or her before it's too late.

The game is asymmetric, meaning the players have completely different play experiences. The spy is about dramatic performance, staying in character, hiding in plain sight, and getting away with subtle antisocial behavior. The sniper is about pattern recognition, noticing social clues, and making a consequential judgment call based on your imperfect observations.

Thanks to Zen for the heads up!

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Spore Heaven Polls

Posted by Yeebaagooon on January 08th, 2010 @ 10:20 a.m.

Yes, that's right. Spore Heaven has got polling. The home page has undergone a redesign in the last few days to make it more welcoming. In addition to new and hot topics, we now have our brand new voting booth, featured gallery images and headlines from the forums.

There will be a page with results for every poll we have when this poll closes.
Our current poll will remain open for a week, and we are asking you if you own Spore.

If you have any suggestions for future polls or anything you'd like to see in the side bar, then please let us know .

Previous polls databse.

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14 Free Spore Parts Giveaway

Posted by Minos Yewman on January 05th, 2010 @ 5:26 p.m.

Dr Pepper is giving away spore parts throughout all of 2010. These are in the form of codes printed on the caps of specially marked bottles of Dr Pepper.

These can be redeemed through until 31/1/2011 so there's plenty of time to collect them all.

These new parts are mecha themed and can be seen below.



Also please note that installing GA after getting these parts will cause glitches in the game. For more information on this and how to fix the problem, go here.

Official Spore News Release

Dr Pepper full rules

Thanks to Jack D P for bringing this to our attention.

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Merry Christmas!

Posted by Yeebaagooon on December 24th, 2009 @ 6:00 p.m.

On behalf of my staff, I would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. We'll be here so drop by if you can spare a moment ... we're not going anywhere...

Hope you all get lots of great presents and check out our new Forum of Requirement!

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Earth Discovered

Posted by Yeebaagooon on December 21st, 2009 @ 09:58 a.m.

Earth is now available as a planet to base your adventures on. The beautifully crafted Earth created by MaxisKate is geographically accurate and a true sight to behold.
This means you can now create all sorts of adventures to play out on Earth! You could tweak the water level, attempt world domination, battle the ferocious fluffy penguins in Antarctica, make Earth pink or place nukes in desirable places.
Just be careful what you do to the planet .

Hopefully we'll be able to see some great adventures on this planet!


Click to enlarge.

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Spore Heaven Creation Tournament 5

Posted by Yeebaagooon on December 20th, 2009 @ 12:10 p.m.

Signups for the fifth creation tournament have now started. There are only 8 slots in this event, so sign up as soon as you can .

We'll start when the signup list is full.

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Spore Heaven Advent Calendar

Posted by Yeebaagooon on November 30th, 2009 @ 3:34 p.m.

Yes, Advent is here.
In honour of the occasion, a Spore Advent calendar has been created at the bottom of every forum page. If you move your mouse over the door of the day, a new Spore creation will be revealed!

I will update this post with the authors of each creation:
1: Candles by Fruktfisk
2: Christmas Tree by JDmino
3: Snowman by Zorx
4: Bolta-dude-a-claus by Crue Knight
5: Santa's Factory by Fruktfisk
6: Fireplace by JDmino
7: Reindeer by Zorx
8: His House by Crue Knight
9: Snowflake by Yeebaagooon
10: Mr Happy loses it by JDmino
11: Santa Speeder by Fruktfisk
12: The Prime Minister's Office by Yeebaagooon
13: Sleigh by Zorx
14: Ganoo by Crue Knight
15: Present by Yeebaagooon
16: Presents by JDmino
17: Christmas Tree by Fruktfisk
18: Present by Zorx
19: Tin Soldier by JDmino
20: Space Snowman by Zorx
21: Snowman by Fruktfisk
22: Earth by MaxisKate
23: Christmas Tree by Yeebaagooon
24: Star by JDmino
25: Father Christmas by Yeebaagooon

Scroll down and let the advent fun begin.

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Spore Heaven GA Competition

Posted by Yeebaagooon on November 28th, 2009 @ 09:17 a.m.

All 5 adventures submitted for the Adventure competition are now available in the DL section.

http://spore.heavengames.com/downloads/

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Mafia - Open Policy

Posted by Yeebaagooon on November 26th, 2009 @ 1:31 p.m.

Spore Heaven now has an open policy in effect when it comes to mafias. However, this doesn't mean you can just go and host. There are a set of procedures for hosts to follow.

This will eliminate the wait of a traditional mafia queue.

Read about it here.

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