Spore

Posted by Judhudson in DarkSpore

Want more parts for your Spore game? Darkspore’s editior is just a heavily modified version of Spore’s creator editor, so it shouldn’t be surprising that the files are roughly similar. In fact, so similar that you can actually transfer the parts and pieces from Darkspore over to Spore! Davopotamus figured out the method to display Darkspore parts in your game:

INSTRUCTIONS: First you need to know a few things.

These parts come from your own Darkspore/Data folder.

You must copy the file Arenas_RDX9.package, Arenas_Textures.package & Other.package from your Darkspore/Data into your current Spore/Data directory. If you use Galactic Adventures, then its in the Spore_EP1/Data folder

You must have latest patches for everything to work properly.
I will not answer ‘Doesn’t work’ anythings!

Via DavoOnline - See the thread on the official Sporum

Posted by Judhudson in Spore

Keynote speaker Will Wright is the award-winning creator of Spore, The Sims, and SimCity. The head of the entertainment think tank Stupid Fun Club, Wright is widely acknowledged for creating the simulation video game genre.

Innovators in technology and design continually reimagine computer games. User-generated content for commercial games (Spore, Little Big Planet), social network games (Farmville), vast simulation worlds with their own economies (World of Warcraft), games using mobile phones to augment reality (Ghostwire)–ten years ago these were dreams, and now they’re part of the cultural fabric. As the imagined becomes real, the question of “what’s next?” confronts both academic researchers and the game industry.

“Inventing the Future of Games,” a day-long symposium April 15 in Silicon Valley, aims to explore the possibilities of the next decade of gaming innovation and technology. Sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Center for Games and Playable Media, the symposium will gather some of the brightest minds of academia and industry to discuss the advancement of game design and technology.

The inaugural symposium, which starts at 8:30 a.m. at the India Community Center in Milpitas, Calif., will feature keynote speeches by Sims creator Will Wright, Linden Lab CEO Rod Humble (Second Life), and Michael Mateas, co-creator of Facade and director of the UC Santa Cruz Center for Games and Playable Media. Tickets are $100 for the general public and $30 for UC Santa Cruz students.

“We’re looking forward to starting conversations between academics and industry professionals on where the field of computer games might go,” said Mateas, an associate professor of computer science in the Jack Baskin School of Engineering. “Moving toward games that truly pay attention to the player’s actions and generate dynamic responses would allow games to create new types of experiences. It would open up new approaches in interactive storytelling. Multi-player missions and quests could be adapted to specific social play styles. A whole new world of games waits to be discovered.”

The symposium will include four sessions: exploring the relationship between games and cinema, making self-generating games, the future of games and culture, and creating new forms of character and dialogue.

Session speakers will include Jordan Mechner (Prince of Persia), Emily Short (Galatea), Ian Bogost (Georgia Tech/A Slow Year), Tracey Fullerton (University of Southern California/The Night Journey), Robin Hunicke (thatgamecompany), and UC Santa Cruz game program faculty members Noah Wardrip-Fruin, Marilyn Walker, Arnav Jhala, and Jim Whitehead. UC Santa Cruz’s John Funge, Warren Sack, Soraya Murray, and Sri Kurniawan will moderate the panels.

For more information, visit games.soe.ucsc.edu

Posted by Judhudson in DarkSpore

Missed out on the 24 hour period to get your Darkspore beta-keys? Well, don’t feel down as it’s still possible to get one…if you have a copy of Spore, that is! MaxisJason posted the following on the official Spore forums on a very simple way to get a key if you have yet to obtain one – and that’s to re-create one of the Darkspore characters in Spore’s creature creator. Here’s the scoop, with special thanks to TerraSpore for posting:

Greetings Everyone!

We’re really excited about our upcoming game Darkspore and are happy to invite the awesome community here on Spore.com to get an early sneak peek! That’s right! You’re all invited to the beta!

What is Darkspore?

Well, first things first. Some of you may not be familiar with our new game Darkspore.

Darkspore is a unique sci-fi action RPG, where you battle across alien worlds in fast-paced solo and co-op action. You can also test your skills against others in head-to-head or team PVP.

Also, Darkspore has the all new Hero Editor which uses Spore technology to allow the player to outfit their heroes in ways never seen before in this genre.

Here’s how to get your beta key.

You didn’t think we would just hand a beta key over to you did you? No no, we’d like you all to show us more of the amazing creations you all have been uploading since the release of Spore!

You see, in Darkspore there are a large variety of characters to collect and customize. From large hulking brutes to small agile scrappers and everything in between.

Don’t worry, we won’t ask you to make ALL of the characters we have in the game. To get your beta key, we’d like you to recreate one of the three Darkspore characters we have chosen below, in Spore’s creature creator.

Press the “Play Video” button underneath the hero thumbnails to check out the hero spotlight videos. This will give you a better idea of how they will play in the game.

Important!!

When you upload your creation, you must tag it with “DarksporeBetaNOW” or else you will not receive your beta key!

All submissions must be in by 11:00am PST February 24th, 2011

Have fun! And we look forward to seeing you in the Beta!

FAQ

I decided to add a frequently asked questions section to answer your questions.

Q: Do I have to live in the USA to qualify for this beta invite?

A: Absolutely not! We are now accepting entries from all over the world (unfortunately martians are still ineligible.)

Q: Are only creature creations accepted?

A: Absolutely not! All types of creations are eligible. Just don’t forget to tag them with “DarksporeBetaNOW”

Q: When should I expect my beta key?

A: Beta keys will be emailed on 2/25/11

Q: Are people with the trial account eligible?

A: As long as you are able to recreate a Darkspore creature and tag it with “DarksporeBetaNOW” then I don’t see why not.

Requires internet connection, EA account and Spore Creature Creator to enter. By uploading and tagging your creation

“DarksporeBetaNow” between 2/11/11 and 2/24/11, you agree to receive email notifications about the upcoming Darkspore beta. Participation in Darkspore Beta requires an EA account, beta agreement acceptance and registration code. You must be 18+ to accept the beta agreement. Code expires 3/13/11. EA online Privacy Policy and Terms of Service are available at www.ea.com. Code may not be substituted, exchanges, sold or redeemed for cash or other goods or services. May not be combined with any other offer, gift card, rebate or discount coupon. Void where
prohibited, taxed or restricted by law.

Posted by Judhudson in DarkSpore

A new challenge has appeared, are you man enough to take it? Take this Hypno Mantis template and modify it to the description set via Maxis for a chance for your character to become an NPC in DarkSpore!

Fixed Morphology Challenge

In this fixed morphology challenge it’s up to you to modify our template creature to fit the bio provided below. Entries will be judged on creativity, simplicity, adherence to creature bio, and how well they animate. Show us what this creature should look like in the Hypno Mantis Template Challenge!

Using the template above, submit a creation that shows us how you think the Darkspore Hyno Mantis NPC should look. Decorate and paint the creature, but don’t alter the base template in any way. Entries will be judged on how cool they look. The second template can be used for non C&C players.

Bio: Like a few mutant children of the Darkspore, hypno mantises were once small, harmless creatures playing a vital role in their ecosystems. Now they’re giant, repulsive, terrifying monsters, taller than the average sentient biped and more than capable of slaughtering sentients by the dozen in a single attack. But the hypno mantis doesn’t need to touch its prey to kill. Instead it propels a symbiotic plant that sprays toxins in a cloud. Hypno mantises also possesses revivifying antigens and boosters that allow it to bring seemingly dead creatures back to action. If all its other attacks fail, the hypno mantis attacks physically, with devastating results.

Color/vibe references:
These images are meant to generally inform the aesthetic direction you take especially when painting your creature. It’s not a requirement to match your paint to these colors, but we just want to give you an idea of the vibe we’re looking for.

What will the challenge winner(s) get?
Maxis will hand pick the winner in this challenge. The winner(s) will be featured on Spore.com and may be included as NPC designs in Darkspore!

Challenge Rules:

To submit an entry, tag it with: mchynomantischallenge

You can submit as many entries as you’d like

All submissions must be in by 11:00am PDT December 20, 2010

Optional: Post screenshots or YouTube movies of your creation on the forum

Winning Criteria

No parent author in the lineage other than yourself or MaxisCactus

No offensive/copyright protected references in entry

No links/references to other sites in submission tags/name/description

No cheats allowed

No using the invisible limbs bug

Asymmetry is allowed, but entries should be in a default idle stance.

Posted by Judhudson in DarkSpore

Spore creators, time to get creative again for another shot at possibly creating an NPC for DarkSpore! Read up on the details for Spore’s Laser Tank Template Challenge over at the Sporums or read below:

Fixed Morphology Challenge

In this fixed morphology challenge it’s up to you to modify our template creature to fit the bio provided below. Entries will be judged on creativity, simplicity, adherence to creature bio, and how well they animate. Show us what this creature should look like in the Laser Tank Template Challenge!

Using the template above, submit a creation that shows us how you think the Darkspore Laser Tank NPC should look. Decorate and paint the creature, but don’t alter the base template in any way. Entries will be judged on how cool they look. The second template can be used for non C&C players.

Bio:Possessing brains and nervous systems cloned from the planet’s strongest warriors, laser tanks were once beings who fought the Darkspore. Formidable foes, laser tanks are highly resistant to energy attacks, and can slice up to three enemies simultaneously with sustained energy beams at nearby foes. They create “laser walls” to cage in their foes at penalty of dismemberment or death.

Color/Vibe references:

What will the challenge winner(s) get?
Maxis will hand pick the winner in this challenge. The winner(s) will be featured on Spore.com and may be included as NPC designs in Darkspore!

Challenge Rules:
• To submit an entry, tag it with: mclasertankchallenge
• You can submit as many entries as you’d like
• All submissions must be in by 11:00am PDT December 8, 2010
• Optional: Post screenshots or YouTube movies of your creation on the forum

Winning Criteria
• No parent author in the lineage other than yourself or MaxisCactus
• No offensive/copyright protected references in entry
• No links/references to other sites in submission tags/name/description
• No cheats allowed
• No using the invisible limbs bug
• Asymmetry is allowed, but entries should be in a default idle stance.

Posted by Judhudson in Spore

50% off of many titles from The Sims series – great deals to be had if you are into downloading digital copies of the games. Deal ends on 11/29 – so act fast!

To the EA Store!

Posted by Judhudson in DarkSpore

Spore fans, it’s time for another shot at possibly having your creature turned into an NPC for DarkSpore! Maxis is holding a new challenge in which they want you to modify their template for their ‘Ray Shot’ character. Read the details over at the Sporums or view them below:

Fixed Morphology Challenge

In this fixed morphology challenge it’s up to you to modify our template creature to fit the bio provided below. Entries will be judged on creativity, simplicity, adherence to creature bio, and how well they animate. Show us what this creature should look like in the Ray Shot Template Challenge!

Using the template above, submit a creation that shows us how you think the Darkspore Ray Shot NPC should look. Decorate and paint the creature, but don’t alter the base template in any way. Entries will be judged on how cool they look. The second template can be used for non C&C players.

Bio: Ray shots once were solemn, nocturnal hunters, whom the Darkspore turned into homicidal hench creatures. Cunning and ruthless, ray shots unleash death in the form of plasma-bursts resembling miniature comets, one for each enemy who faces them. Those micro-comets can be dodged, but inflict terrible damage on those who fail to do so.

Color/Vibe references:

What will the challenge winner(s) get?
Maxis will hand pick the winner in this challenge. The winner(s) will be featured on Spore.com and may be included as NPC designs in Darkspore!

Challenge Rules:
• To submit an entry, tag it with: mcrayshotchallenge
• You can submit as many entries as you’d like
• All submissions must be in by 11:00am PDT November 30, 2010
• Optional: Post screenshots or YouTube movies of your creation on the forum

Winning Criteria
• No parent author in the lineage other than yourself or MaxisCactus
• No offensive/copyright protected references in entry
• No links/references to other sites in submission tags/name/description
• No cheats allowed
• No using the invisible limbs bug
• Asymmetry is allowed, but entries should be in a default idle stance.

Posted by Judhudson in Spore

A new Spore Challenge has appeared! This time, more than likely it’ll have a lot more entries because of the fact that the Maxis team has announced that the winners may be featured as NPC’s in their upcoming DarkSpore game! Sounds great to me, read the details from MaxisCactus and decide if you’d like to enter:

Two Part Challenge

Round 1: Submit a template (8/24 – 9/7)
Create a template creature based on the bio below. Your template entry should be in the form of a published creature tagged mcrakthatemplate. Paint your template white!

Templates will be judged on creativity, adherence to the bio, simplicity, and how well they animate.

Round 2: Submit a finished creature (Dates TBA)
We’ll give you more details on this later when round 2 begins. Players will submit creations based on the winning template from round 1.

Raktha

Bio: Rakthae are the children of two epochs of mutation on Cryos: the Crogenitor era, and the Darkspore era. Originally, they survived Cryos’s descent into an ice age, the Rakthae evolved into double-extremophiles. They flourished when the Crogenitors ripped Cryos with rivers and oceans of plasma, gaining the ability to metabolize plasma itself (especially advantageous with the planet’s dwindling food supply).

But when the Darkspore invaded Cryos, they bent the beautiful creatures to their own will. Protected by halos of flame, the Rakthae inflict flaming devastation on any who attack them bodily, and aim fiery vengeance at any target. Whether defensive or offensive, Raktha flames are difficult to extinguish and can quickly turn terrible wounds into terrifying death.

What will the challenge winner(s) get?
The winner of round 1 will be featured. Winners of round 2 will be featured and may be included as NPC designs in Darkspore! Credit will go to both the template and final creature artists for any creations that go into Darkspore.

Challenge Rules:
• To submit a template, tag it with: mcrakthatemplate
• You can submit as many templates as you’d like
• All submissions must be in by 11:00am PDT September 07, 2010
• Optional: Post screenshots or YouTube movies of your creation on the forum

Winning Criteria
• No parent author in the lineage other than yourself
• No offensive/copyright protected references in entry or parent creation
• No links/references to other sites in submission tags/name/description
• No cheats allowed
• No using the invisible limbs bug
• Asymmetry is allowed, but don’t pose your creature. Entries should be in a default idle stance.

Challenge FAQ

Your questions answered here.

Q: How complex should I make the template?
A: We’ll be looking for simpler creations. Having a simpler template design will boost your entry’s chances of winning.

Q: Will all challenges follow this format in the future?
A: Probably not. We’re experimenting here, and we want to test out some of your brilliant ideas. We’ll see how we like it, we’ll see how you like it, and gauge how best to run challenges after we’ve done this trial run.

Q: Is C&C allowed?
A: Yes, however, if you use C&C and are a winner of round 1, we will publish a duplicate version of your template with alternative parts for non C&C players for round 2.

Is it possible to win with our own template?
A: Yes. If you create the winning template, then make one of the best entry creations based on it, it is possible!

Winning Entries & Darkspore

Earlier we announced that the secret purpose of the Maxis Template Challenges was to allow players to help us design some of the NPCs in Darkspore.

This is THE FIRST challenge since announcement, and I hope we get a huge tidal wave of entries now that you guys know the real reward at stake here.

No Template?

We’re still getting a feel for how best to run these challenges. The feedback you guys have been provided is helping shape the process here. We know you’ve been making unbelievably cool creations based on our templates, but this time we want to give you a chance to spread your wings and really come up with some cool designs on your own.

This is based on your feedback, so I’ve got to give credit to you for helping us redesign our challenge format. This is a trial run, so we’ll see how it goes. Let us know if you like the original template format better, or if you prefer this new style of challenge!

In the past, the templates are based on NPCs in Darkspore that have already been designed, with art and engineering behind them to make sure they work well in the game. We simply skin the current Darkspore NPCs with the models you provide us.

With the new format, we’ll be doing the art, effects, animations, etc. after we determine the winners. This means a team of Maxis folks will be at work making YOUR winning creations shine in the game.

I’m super confident that you guys are going to come up with some work that will blow them away and inspire them as they’re puppeteering your creations to life in the game. Make me proud!

-MC

Posted by Judhudson in Contests

So all of the template challenges held in the past year actually served a purpose – to help feed the NPC’s for Maxis’ newest game, DarkSpore. MaxisCactus gave us an inside look of the process of importing the latest Spore template challenge, the Space Barracuda, into DarkSpore for our characters to battle against. They’ll be holding more contests for Spore players to create NPC’s (note – only Maxis can convert the creations from Spore to DarkSpore as NPCs), so I’d suggest entering if you want a chance for a creation to be featured in a game!

Oh, and considering that they are tweaking this process, these may or may not make it into the final build of the game, set to be released in February 2011.

Space Barracuda: Preview Winning Player Designs in Game

Many of you probably already know about the template challenges we’ve been hosting on the Spore forum. We announced that these may be used to help design NPCs in Darkspore. Today we announced winners for the Space Barracuda Template Challenge!

Players created Space Barracuda designs based on the following brief description, imagery, and template creation. Check out the original thread here.

“Space Barracuda
Bio: Once tiny sea creatures, the space barracudas are now larger and via gravitic powers, able to “swim” through the air on land. Dangerous and unpredictable, space barracudas use their gravitic abilities to teleport themselves and their prey. Prospectors and fighters should exercise extreme caution around these bizarre creatures.”

The creation entries designed by the Spore community were judged by the Darkspore team and finalists were hand picked for preview in Darkspore.

Check out the finalists in the level editor. They won’t all swarm like this in game, but we needed to see all the finalists animate in game to verify viability as potential NPC designs.

We chose our top six and verified that their animation, look and feel all integrated well with the game environment.

Check out the top 6 in game, pitted against Zrin. They look great!!!

The Winners:

1. Space Barracuda By shamar10
2. Starstaidned Space Barracuda By KaluluUchiha
3. Space Barracuda By WforWumbo

Honorable Mention:

1. Space Barracuda By ESquidey
2. Space Barracuda Template By Richardson72
3. Space Barracuda Template By Richardson72

I want to stress that this whole thing is WIP (work in progress). We’re still working out the kinks with UGC, but we want to try to get your creations in game. The images above depict a level populated with a bunch of Space Barracudas, but that was for judging preview purposes. We can’t guarantee that these will be in the final game, but we’ll continue to explore this as an option.

Thanks to everyone who contributed in this challenge. I hope to see you guys enter the next one soon!

-MC

Posted by Judhudson in Contests

The following was posted by DarkSpore community manager MaxisCactus. In the following text, she explains how you can participate in upcoming Spore contests in which winning creations may be featured as NPC’s for the upcoming game!

On the Spore forum, many of our Spore players have participated in our template challenges and there has been speculation around why these are happening.

With the huge announcement Tuesday about Darkspore, you may have already guessed that some of the winning creations from these challenges could help constitute the cast of NPC creatures you’ll see in Maxis’ new action-RPG.

Stegavaar Template Challenge Entries

The entries to these contests absolutely blew us away, and we can’t wait to show off challenge winners as NPCs in Darkspore.

During each template challenge judging round, we bring our favorite entry creations into Darkspore to see how well they integrate with the existing Darkspore environment. A group of Maxis artists, designers, and producers analyze your creations, how well they animate, the execution of their design, and their fidelity to the NPC bio we provided to inform your work.

Stegavaar Entries Previewed in an earlier game iteration

Each template challenge is based on a real Darkspore NPC, which has its own specific abilities, unique animations, and personality already designed and implemented. When we drop your models in to skin the NPCs, they come to life in a new way.

Loading up a level where I have to battle Falcore’s inspired triple-spike tailed Scorpiod or flee Potatofish’s barreling armored Stegavaar proves that these creations deserve a spotlight in Darkspore.

While we’re still working on the pipeline, and the process hasn’t quite been ironed out, there’s something magical here that we can’t wait to show you.

Your participation in this is completely voluntary. The Maxis team is creating all of the core NPCs in the game, but we want YOU to contribute too!

I hope you’ll keep submitting entries in future challenges, and maybe some of you will see your creations come to life as mutated E-DNA hordes in the Darkspore game!

Previous and Current Challenge Links:
• Stegavaar Template Challenge
• Lightning Stalker Template Challenge
• Space Barracuda Template Challenge
• Triocular Scorpiod Challenge
• Uklideon Template Challenge
• Quadrakiller Template Challenge
• Toxiraptor Template Challenge
• Necro Template Challenge

-MC