late night and bored
Moderators: Shir'le E. Illios, Bhaern Quel
late night and bored
sitting at school in the dorm lounge trying to find something to do and just feeling lonely. it's 12:01am EST. anyone else bored?
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Shir'le E. Illios
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Not that much, no. 
Love -x-x-x-
Shir'le
Love -x-x-x-
Shir'le
-= Shir'le E. Illios =-
Chosen of Eilistraee
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Alaric Darkrose
- Regular
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- Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:26 pm
- Location: Hiding on Istvaan IV
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Shir'le E. Illios
- High Priestess
- Posts: 2352
- Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:51 pm
- Location: Eilistraee.com
- Contact:
Try Spore?
[EDIT] Seriously, at times I wish I had time to be bored. I've always got [i:3mxch6ck]way[/i:3mxch6ck] too much to do and too little time to do it in.
Love -x-x-x-
Shir'le
[EDIT] Seriously, at times I wish I had time to be bored. I've always got [i:3mxch6ck]way[/i:3mxch6ck] too much to do and too little time to do it in.
Love -x-x-x-
Shir'le
-= Shir'le E. Illios =-
Chosen of Eilistraee
-
Alaric Darkrose
- Regular
- Posts: 269
- Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:26 pm
- Location: Hiding on Istvaan IV
[quote="Shir'le E. Illios":3iryic7p]Try Spore?
[EDIT] Seriously, at times I wish I had time to be bored. I've always got [i:3iryic7p]way[/i:3iryic7p] too much to do and too little time to do it in.
Love -x-x-x-
Shir'le[/quote:3iryic7p]*interested* What is this Spore that you speak of? Not even blowing stuff up on Saint's Row is entertaining to me.
[EDIT] Seriously, at times I wish I had time to be bored. I've always got [i:3iryic7p]way[/i:3iryic7p] too much to do and too little time to do it in.
Love -x-x-x-
Shir'le[/quote:3iryic7p]*interested* What is this Spore that you speak of? Not even blowing stuff up on Saint's Row is entertaining to me.
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Shir'le E. Illios
- High Priestess
- Posts: 2352
- Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:51 pm
- Location: Eilistraee.com
- Contact:
Spore is a game (which has just been released) by Will Wright (creator of The Sims and Simcity). I say "game", but I should probably say "toy".
From a "game" perspective it's five minigames in one. The premise is that you start as a microbe and then evolve into a creature and into an intergalactic species. This evolution is divided in five stages that all play different (each a mini game of sorts).
The first stage, [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]cell stage[/url:qosn2d2h], you're just a cell swimming in the primordial ooze, eating bits of food to grow and avoiding the other (usually hostile) cells. It's a bit like pacman without the walls. And as you grow you can give your cell creature new abilities (which is where the editor comes in, which I'll get to). Until finally you grow a pair of legs and can get on land... enter stage two.
Stage two, [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]creature stage[/url:qosn2d2h], has you controlling your creature on land. It plays a little like a (very lite) action RPG where you have to hunt down food (fruit or meat depending on whether you're a herbivore or a carnivore) and either conquer other species in simple combat or befriend them in a simon-says-like game. And again as you go you evolve and can continually customize your creature with more abilities and limbs (again where the editor comes in). Finally you evolve enough to become a primitive tribe... stage three.
In stage three, [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]tribal stage[/url:qosn2d2h], you no longer control a single creature but a small group of them. You sent your creatures to gather food, conquer the tribes of other creatures, or make friends with them. And you can put down buildings to give you more tools to use. This stage plays a little like a very, very simple RTS. When you've conquered all other tribes you grow into a civilization, your tribe growing into city for the next stage.
Stage four, [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]civilization stage[/url:qosn2d2h], plays like a very simple version of civilization (or so I'm told). You develop your city by placing buildings (that you can edit yourself) and can create vehicles (again that you edit yourself) of three types: land, sea and air. With those vehicles you claim resource nodes and take over other cities, turning them into your color. Finally you conquer the entire planet and get the ability to create a spaceship for the final stage.
So far all stages together you can probably finish in a few hours (I think it took me about six), but the final stage, [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]space stage[/url:qosn2d2h], is easily longer than the previous stages combined. Now suddenly the whole galaxy opens up to you and controlling your spaceship you can go to different planets, explore alien worlds, etc. It plays a little like a simple, single-player MMORPG perhaps. You encounter alien species that you can make war or peace with, you can terraform planets and inhabit them with new species, etc, etc. As you go your ship gains more tools to use on your journey to the center of the galaxy (which, I'm told, actually has an 'end' to the game; I haven't played space stage yet though).
Throughout all this is the editor and while the minigame might be simple and a bit shallow (particularly if you're used to games), the editor is where its true strength lies. The [url=http://uk.pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340 ... l:qosn2d2h]creature editor[/url:qosn2d2h] is probably the best example. Allowing you to create a creature in 3D you've got untold flexibility while the editor remains extremely simple. Create a spine as long as you want, curving more or less how you want, determine the thickness of the body and then attach parts to it; legs, arms, eyes, mouths, hands, glands, decoration, etc. You can pretty much put them where you want and what you want. Six legs, an arm on top of their head, three mouths on their rear end? The sky is pretty much the limit.
And all the editors are pretty much like that. With the vehicle editor, for example, you get more blocks and such to use, rocket engines on your car and sails for your ships, but the editing principles remains the same and thus very simple and intuitive. In fact, since you're likely to start with the cell editor, which is a 2D version of the creature editor to keep things simple, even that you're gradually introduced to.
And it doesn't stop there. Spore's second strength is the way its online component works. Because once you've created something, a creature or building or vehicle or spaceship, you can share it online (from within the game; never have to leave the game itself) in the Sporepedia. This is a massive catalog of all things everyone created, which you can then import into your own game to use (don't want to create your own housing building? Just download one someone else created).
In fact, the way spore works the universe is automatically populated with content other players (and Maxis; if you can't play online there's an entire Maxis-created catalog on the disc included) created. You can put all kinds of limits on this (like only getting content from your buddies) and flag things for removal if it's inappropriate or you just don't like it. But all this gives the universe a limitless variety and will be different for everyone. If you have content from your buddies, for example, you might encounter a planet inhabited by the species your buddy created (and blast them to kingdom come
).
Note, you're not actually playing online; this is a single-player game. You'll never encounter other players directly. It just gets the content to fill the universe with from the online database. All creatures you download, created by other players, are fully computer controlled.
Of course, the stages themselves are all perhaps a bit shallow and as a gamer they might feel lacking and way too simple. But that's because, as I said, this isn't a game; this is a toy. You're supposed to mess around with it and do what you want. It's up to you to decide what to do with it and get your fun out of it; the game doesn't hold your hand and tell you what to do (though it might feel like it does when you first play through the five stages). It's simple because it doesn't want to punish people for their creativity I think. And just the editor alone can give you hours of entertainment (before Spore was released they released the creature creator and people already created millions of creatures even before the game launched).
Do read up on the reviews (like the [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]IGN video review[/url:qosn2d2h]) and decide for yourself whether it sounds interesting. But I at least would suggest to give it a try.
Perhaps it might help cure some of your boredom.
Love -x-x-x-
Shir'le
From a "game" perspective it's five minigames in one. The premise is that you start as a microbe and then evolve into a creature and into an intergalactic species. This evolution is divided in five stages that all play different (each a mini game of sorts).
The first stage, [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]cell stage[/url:qosn2d2h], you're just a cell swimming in the primordial ooze, eating bits of food to grow and avoiding the other (usually hostile) cells. It's a bit like pacman without the walls. And as you grow you can give your cell creature new abilities (which is where the editor comes in, which I'll get to). Until finally you grow a pair of legs and can get on land... enter stage two.
Stage two, [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]creature stage[/url:qosn2d2h], has you controlling your creature on land. It plays a little like a (very lite) action RPG where you have to hunt down food (fruit or meat depending on whether you're a herbivore or a carnivore) and either conquer other species in simple combat or befriend them in a simon-says-like game. And again as you go you evolve and can continually customize your creature with more abilities and limbs (again where the editor comes in). Finally you evolve enough to become a primitive tribe... stage three.
In stage three, [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]tribal stage[/url:qosn2d2h], you no longer control a single creature but a small group of them. You sent your creatures to gather food, conquer the tribes of other creatures, or make friends with them. And you can put down buildings to give you more tools to use. This stage plays a little like a very, very simple RTS. When you've conquered all other tribes you grow into a civilization, your tribe growing into city for the next stage.
Stage four, [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]civilization stage[/url:qosn2d2h], plays like a very simple version of civilization (or so I'm told). You develop your city by placing buildings (that you can edit yourself) and can create vehicles (again that you edit yourself) of three types: land, sea and air. With those vehicles you claim resource nodes and take over other cities, turning them into your color. Finally you conquer the entire planet and get the ability to create a spaceship for the final stage.
So far all stages together you can probably finish in a few hours (I think it took me about six), but the final stage, [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]space stage[/url:qosn2d2h], is easily longer than the previous stages combined. Now suddenly the whole galaxy opens up to you and controlling your spaceship you can go to different planets, explore alien worlds, etc. It plays a little like a simple, single-player MMORPG perhaps. You encounter alien species that you can make war or peace with, you can terraform planets and inhabit them with new species, etc, etc. As you go your ship gains more tools to use on your journey to the center of the galaxy (which, I'm told, actually has an 'end' to the game; I haven't played space stage yet though).
Throughout all this is the editor and while the minigame might be simple and a bit shallow (particularly if you're used to games), the editor is where its true strength lies. The [url=http://uk.pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340 ... l:qosn2d2h]creature editor[/url:qosn2d2h] is probably the best example. Allowing you to create a creature in 3D you've got untold flexibility while the editor remains extremely simple. Create a spine as long as you want, curving more or less how you want, determine the thickness of the body and then attach parts to it; legs, arms, eyes, mouths, hands, glands, decoration, etc. You can pretty much put them where you want and what you want. Six legs, an arm on top of their head, three mouths on their rear end? The sky is pretty much the limit.
And all the editors are pretty much like that. With the vehicle editor, for example, you get more blocks and such to use, rocket engines on your car and sails for your ships, but the editing principles remains the same and thus very simple and intuitive. In fact, since you're likely to start with the cell editor, which is a 2D version of the creature editor to keep things simple, even that you're gradually introduced to.
And it doesn't stop there. Spore's second strength is the way its online component works. Because once you've created something, a creature or building or vehicle or spaceship, you can share it online (from within the game; never have to leave the game itself) in the Sporepedia. This is a massive catalog of all things everyone created, which you can then import into your own game to use (don't want to create your own housing building? Just download one someone else created).
In fact, the way spore works the universe is automatically populated with content other players (and Maxis; if you can't play online there's an entire Maxis-created catalog on the disc included) created. You can put all kinds of limits on this (like only getting content from your buddies) and flag things for removal if it's inappropriate or you just don't like it. But all this gives the universe a limitless variety and will be different for everyone. If you have content from your buddies, for example, you might encounter a planet inhabited by the species your buddy created (and blast them to kingdom come
).Note, you're not actually playing online; this is a single-player game. You'll never encounter other players directly. It just gets the content to fill the universe with from the online database. All creatures you download, created by other players, are fully computer controlled.
Of course, the stages themselves are all perhaps a bit shallow and as a gamer they might feel lacking and way too simple. But that's because, as I said, this isn't a game; this is a toy. You're supposed to mess around with it and do what you want. It's up to you to decide what to do with it and get your fun out of it; the game doesn't hold your hand and tell you what to do (though it might feel like it does when you first play through the five stages). It's simple because it doesn't want to punish people for their creativity I think. And just the editor alone can give you hours of entertainment (before Spore was released they released the creature creator and people already created millions of creatures even before the game launched).
Do read up on the reviews (like the [url=http://pc.ign.com/dor/objects/735340/sp ... l:qosn2d2h]IGN video review[/url:qosn2d2h]) and decide for yourself whether it sounds interesting. But I at least would suggest to give it a try.
Perhaps it might help cure some of your boredom.
Love -x-x-x-
Shir'le
-= Shir'le E. Illios =-
Chosen of Eilistraee
-
Alaric Darkrose
- Regular
- Posts: 269
- Joined: Fri Aug 29, 2008 6:26 pm
- Location: Hiding on Istvaan IV
-
Shir'le E. Illios
- High Priestess
- Posts: 2352
- Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 9:51 pm
- Location: Eilistraee.com
- Contact:
You kinda can; you can just... not evolve (you have to press the "evolve" button to move to the next stage). Though I guess that quickly becomes pointless.
Love -x-x-x-
Shir'le
Love -x-x-x-
Shir'le
-= Shir'le E. Illios =-
Chosen of Eilistraee