Spore

thelordofcheese

I think most people that are crying the loudest about how 'awful' spore is are those that let their imaginations run wild and now that the product doesn't live up to what the've been dreaming of in their head, they're peeved.

Ciaran500

Stuck for things to do in this now. I've got most of the badges, made it to the highest rank, explored to the centre of the universe (disappointing btw) and now the game isn't giving me anything to do. Theres meant to be a proper ending somewhere in here but I've no idea where to go now.

Canis Lupus

I was worried from the start that I couldn't see the 'game' bit in Spore. Glad I held out. I think I'll buy this when it's in a bargain bucket for a fiver.

0ubliette

Thats some real nice DRM you got there Spore.
****ing joke, its not even that good a game to begin with, then they lump this '3 installs and youre done' DRM ontop of it? **** that.

Ciaran500

0ubliette wrote: »

Thats some real nice DRM you got there Spore.
****ing joke, its not even that good a game to begin with, then they lump this '3 installs and youre done' DRM ontop of it? **** that.

Most games with that release a patch after a while removing the restrictions.

Sarky

I don't think I can quite grasp how people don't like Spore, unless they happen to be dead inside.

Maximilian

I've only played up to the point where you grow to a city and I'm not that impressed with it so far. I would happily have skipped them altogether. I'm hoping the the later stages improve as the game opens up.

ShadowHearth

What? spore gots DRM like an bioshock? OH COME ON!!!! Thats why pc gaming is dieng!

I played to tribe lvl, and so far, the moust fun part of game was cell part, it was atleast fun to hunt those bas**** , who hunted you a min ago!

So far, i am a bit dissapointed... And DRM wount make good name for it aswell.

Stev_o

Whats worse is that its Securcom DRM noooeesssss

BKtje

I had heard nothing about this game and honestly, it's total toss thus far. I liked the cell stage and am now on civ stage but honestly, i can't be arsed with it anymore.

Zillah

thelordofcheese wrote: »

I think most people that are crying the loudest about how 'awful' spore is are those that let their imaginations run wild and now that the product doesn't live up to what the've been dreaming of in their head, they're peeved.

I heard about it before, thought it sounded interesting. That's about it. My complaints really are just it as a game.

Sarky wrote:

I don't think I can quite grasp how people don't like Spore, unless they happen to be dead inside.

I'm honestly not trying to start a heated argument or anything, but would you like to address some of the failings people have pointed out in the game? What about it makes it fun for you?

papu

ShadowHearth wrote: »

What? spore gots DRM like an bioshock? OH COME ON!!!! Thats why pc gaming is dieng!

I played to tribe lvl, and so far, the moust fun part of game was cell part, it was atleast fun to hunt those bas**** , who hunted you a min ago!

So far, i am a bit dissapointed... And DRM wount make good name for it aswell.

drm is fine , as long as it isn't this STUPID 3 activation lark , with bioshock it was ok , save for the fact that when you uninstalled the game it called home servers and gave you back that install , that has not been done with spore , 3 installs and your done , Its already happened someone with their mass effect game which runs the exact same DRM , 3 installs and go buy another 54euro game.... its sickening.. ..

Azza

You misunderstand the 3 activation system they have in place. It allows the game to be installed on only 3 seperate computers but on these computers you can install/uninstall it as many times as you like. If you do run out of activations you can ring EA to get them to unlock more activations (I believe its a free phone number). It like what MS have done on Windows only you can't install Windows on 3 machines you can only install it on 1.

I'm not sure fi you change hardware or install a different OS (Xp/Vista) if that counts as taken one of the 3 activations up.

Its an akward system but not anywhere as bad as people make it out to be.

papu

Azza wrote: »

You misunderstand the 3 activation system they have in place. It allows the game to be installed on only 3 seperate computers but on these computers you can install/uninstall it as many times as you like. If you do run out of activations you can ring EA to get them to unlock more activations (I believe its a free phone number). It like what MS have done on Windows only you can't install Windows on 3 machines you can only install it on 1.

I'm not sure fi you change hardware or install a different OS (Xp/Vista) if that counts as taken one of the 3 activations up.

Its an akward system but not anywhere as bad as people make it out to be.

hmmmm
its the same type of activation as mass effect , which just came out a few months ago

This is proven to be true by a guy over at the Mass Effect forums. He registered and started to play the game (Activation #1). Well, when he tried to play the game he had strange artifacts on his screen. Thinking it was an OS-related issue, he reinstalled XP and reinstalled the game (Activation #2). Finding out that it didn’t help the problem, he soon figured out it was his graphics card struggling. Well, he bought a brand new card and that solved the problem (this triggers Activation #3). Game ran fine for a short period of time (2 days) and he played thru it and completed the game. Well, a week after that, he decided he wanted to run thru the game again. This is where he stumbles upon this error:

“The game can not start. For security reasons, only a limited number of machines can ever be licensed by a single purchase. This limit has been reached. Please purchase another registration code, reinstall, and then try again.”

it does not say Uninstall the game and try again , it says purchase a new copy...FU EA and securom....
www.simprograms.com/?p=692

super_furry

DRM issues aside, is Spore worth buying for someone who hasn't played anything like it since Sim City?

Azza

I'm not sure about Mass Effect but Spore does allows installation on 3 different PC's and on those you have as many installs as you like.

Just reading on the Mass Effect forums its suppose to be the same. You can un-install and re-install as many times as you but reformating windows or doing a major hardware upgrade will cause the loss of one of these activations. In this event you can contact EA and get an activation back.

Lucutus

Oh yes, that's it...

Cell Stage - fl0W: Clickie to play

Land/Tribe Stage - Populous: The Beginning

City Stage - Want Spice? Dune or Supreme Commander for a much better game.

Space Stage - HomeWorld 2 or Nexus spring to mind.

IMO, Spore didn't turn out to be the (r)evolutionary game it was made out by the developers and Wil Wright to be, however, I'm impressed that they managed to incorporate so many other games and make money from it, I wonder do they have to pay up some sort of royalties behind the scenes? or maybe EA just owns everything now?

Enjoyed it for the novelty factor, doubt I'll go back to it.

cregser

^ What Lucutus said.

Zillah

Lucutus wrote: »

Cell Stage - fl0W: Clickie to play

Thats pretty awesome. Starts off slowly but keep eating stuff. My mouth closed, I think I reached the end.

johnny_ultimate

Out of curiosity, is the DRM actually an issue for people? Do you really need to install it on three machines within a week of purchase? When I installed the game it seemed fine, no hassle at all. The only thing I can think of is when you return to play it in five or six years on your brand new floating PC with 50Gb of RAM.

Pete4779

Azza wrote: »

I'm not sure about Mass Effect but Spore does allows installation on 3 different PC's and on those you have as many installs as you like.

Just reading on the Mass Effect forums its suppose to be the same. You can un-install and re-install as many times as you but reformating windows or doing a major hardware upgrade will cause the loss of one of these activations. In this event you can contact EA and get an activation back.

No, your key is restricted to being used for installs 3 times, each of which is checked online. after that you must prove to EA that you need your key to validated for a further 1 install. They are not obliged to reauthorise your key.

Or you can install it on 3 different PCs, the same things applies. You will then no longer be able to reinstall the game.

All uses of the keys are tied to 1 registered account only.

To reiterate: you can install the game 3 times and then it will advise you to purchase a new copy. Each time you install, you must input the key on the back of the manual. That key is checked each time online during installation. After 3 uses, it then becomes disabled.

MooseJam

there is no way you have to buy another game after 3 installs, that's crazy talk, you just have to phone them up and they reset it

xbox36016

geting it today yes

Pete4779

MooseJam wrote: »

there is no way you have to buy another game after 3 installs, that's crazy talk, you just have to phone them up and they reset it

Well that's just one part of it.

The other issues with it is

1. Installation of Securom at Ring-0 kernel runlevel
2. The risk that DRM authentication servers will be shut down, leaving your game inactive. EA say that can do this with 30 days notice. If it seems an unlikely proposition, remember that Yahoo Music is shutting down in a few weeks and any purchased music will no longer be able to be used or authenticated. Likewise, Microsoft have done the same thing and will shut down authentication servers for their own music service. result? All purchased music is rendered useless.

Azza

I'll test it out later with Mass Effect just to see if I can install the game more than 4 times in total.

I think your wrong Pete4779. From what I have read both games are installable on up to 3 machines any number of times. There is a huge
number of websites that report the opposite though but I believe they just jumped on the scare mongering bandwagon.

If I'm wrong I'll stand corrected although I'm not concerend as both games have been cracked so I'm not gonna even need to bother ringing EA if I can't activate a 4th time.

papu

Azza wrote: »

I'll test it out later with Mass Effect just to see if I can install the game more than 4 times in total.

I think your wrong Pete4779. From what I have read both games are installable on up to 3 machines any number of times. There is a huge
number of websites that report the opposite though but I believe they just jumped on the scare mongering bandwagon.

If I'm wrong I'll stand corrected although I'm not concerend as both games have been cracked so I'm not gonna even need to bother ringing EA if I can't activate a 4th time.

3rd time comes

*ring* *ring*

hi ea support how can i help you

"yes i seem to have run out of spore activations"
"do you have it installed on more than one computer"
"yes 4"
"how come"
" i was proving somebody wrong on the internet"


hope your right and don't have to buy a new game, the poor guy with mass effect didnt get any more activations..

pH

They're using the PC piracy thing to essentially crack down hard on 2nd hand game sales (which they believe aren't fair to the developer/publisher - everyone must pay them to play the game).

This is the major change here - in 1 year if everyone moves this way they have in effect destroyed the 2nd hand game market pretty much for good.

Fanny Cradock

Lucutus wrote: »

Oh yes, that's it...

Cell Stage - fl0W: Clickie to play

Bought the game yesterday, played around on the cell staged and instantly though that it was a shorter and less stylish Flow rip-off. Just completed the second stage and I already want my money back. Here's hoping the 3rd stage will blow my mind.

Fanny Cradock

Actually, does anyone know what HMV's policy on returning PC games (opened) is?

tba

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

instantly though that it was a shorter and less stylish Flow rip-off.

http://www.thatgamecompany.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=187