Spore

[matt j]

I'm actually a little bit excited about this game. Not sure I'll actually buy it when it comes out (not sure my laptop will run it), but eventually I'd try and get it.

(Holiday present request maybe.)

[Ginger Yellow]

Spore

I think they're trying to make it run on fairly basic computers. If you have any kind of graphics card in the laptop, it should run.

As for the game, I'm still undecided. The idea is great, the creative aspects are great, but it's far from clear that the gameplay is going to be any good. That said, it's Will Wright and the guy's a brilliant game designer, so there's no reason why it shouldn't be good.

[Ginger Yellow]

Spore

System requirements:

FOR WINDOWS XP
* 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 512 MB RAM
* A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
* At least 6 GB of hard drive space
FOR WINDOWS VISTA
* 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
* 768 MB RAM
* A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
* At least 6 GB of hard drive space
When launching the game, some Microsoft Vista users may receive a warning about running out of address space along with a link to the Microsoft Knowledge Base. If you see this message, it is recommended that you follow the instructions and go to the website listed in the message to update your system.
For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires at least:
* Intel Integrated Chipset, 945GM or above.
* 2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent.
* 768 MB RAM
Supported Video Cards

ATI Radeon(TM) series
9500, 9600, 9800
X300, X600, X700, X800, X850
X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
2400, 2600, 2900,
3650, 3850
NVIDIA GeForce series
FX 5900, FX 5950
6200, 6500, 6600, 6800,
7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
8400, 8500, 8600, 8800
Intel(R) Extreme Graphics
GMA 950, GMA X3000, GMA X3100
Laptop versions of these chipsets may work, but may run comparatively slowly. Standalone cards that are installed in vanilla PCI slots (not PCIe or PCIx or AGP), such as some GeForce FX variants, will perform poorly. Intel integrated chipsets featuring underclocked parts, such as the 945GU, GML, and GMS, will not perform adequately.
Integrated chipsets such as the ATI Xpress and the NVIDIA TurboCache variants will have low settings selected, but should run satisfactorily.
Please note that attempting to play the game using video hardware that isn?t listed above may result in reduced performance, graphical issues or cause the game to not run at all.
The NVIDIA GeForce FX series is unsupported under Vista.

[matt j]

Spore

Thanks GY. That gives me some hope that my laptop could actually run it.

I really didn't know anything about it until yesterday when I stumbled across Wright's talk at Ted.com. It's not exactly my type of game, but the sandbox aspect of it sounds really appealing at the moment.

[Ginger Yellow]

Spore

I really didn't know anything about it until yesterday when I stumbled across Wright's talk at Ted.com.

Really? It's one of the most hyped games of recent years. It got game of the show at E3 twice. You do know that you can download a demo of the creature creator, right?

[matt j]

Spore

I ignore most new games, since I usually don't bother buying them until a few years have past and they are on the discount shelf. (Just recently was playing Thief, to give an idea.)

I was thinking about downloading that demo, since it would be a good test of my specs. Plus, it looks fun.

[Ginger Yellow]

Spore

If you do, be sure to post pics of your monsters.

[Fatter Hipper]

Spore

My facebook religion status is "God is a computer Geek and we're in his hard drive".

[matt j]

Spore

I downloaded the creature creator demo, and it is a lot of fun even with the limited options.

My laptop doesn't actually meet the specs posted up there, but it ran okay. I wonder if the full game would be okay too?

My five creations so far are here:
http://www.spore.com/view/profile/Matejen

[Ginger Yellow]

Spore

The full game will take a lot more power, I'd have thought. It's got to do procedural animation for lots of different creatures, not just one, and then there's all the behind the scenes gampelay stuff going on as well. What's the most demanding 3D game you can run at the moment?

[matt j]

Spore

Neverwinter Nights, probably. It struggles with multiple creatures on the screen though.

So, nah, my laptop won't be able to do it. Will have to wait for a new one.

(Just ran a online check, and I definitely don't meet the minimum requirements.)

[JtS]

Spore

Sep 3rd London Apple store 3-4pm

http://www.apple.com/uk/retail/regentstreet/?cid=CDM-EU-1962

[Ginger Yellow]

Spore

I'm actually pretty excited about Spore now. Partly because I've been dying for a new real time strategy game for a while (I know it's only a small part of the game), but mainly because I've been amazed at some of the creatures people have come up with. I'm still more excited about Little Big Planet, but this is definitely a first day buy for me.

[matt j]

Spore

I have to agree that some of the creature have been astonishing. Once people get their hands on the building and spacecraft builders, there should be just an explosion of user created content.

Still can't run it, might finagle a new laptop for the new year, but finances being bad and economy being shit, this may be a long-term purchase target.

I expect to hear reviews though, GY, JtS, whoever.

[Ginger Yellow]

Spore

Will Wright's an amazing speaker, BTW. If I weren't working on the 3rd I'd be well up for that.

[dalliance]

Spore

There's an ipod version of Spore too.

Of course, despite the incredible sophistication of this software to be able to create and emulate a dazzlingly vast array of unique organisms, the most common creations will be a bit like this little fella.

[Ginger Yellow]

Spore

Some of the Sporn is really creative. I particularly like this one

[Incandenza]

Spore

Amazon reviewers not happy with Spore's DRM.

[Femme Folle]

Spore

DRM wasn't very popular when it made its debut in The Sims 2 series either.