‘Spore’ designer not bugged by explicit creatures his fans make

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This article was published 25/08/2008 (6292 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LOS ANGELES – Will Wright is not offended by the explicit monsters some folks have created using his evolution simulator, no matter which private parts they may resemble. In fact, Wright said he’s been impressed with the indecent beasts spawned by a slimmed-down edition of “Spore,” his much-anticipated but difficult-to-describe game.

“When you give players creative control, you have to expect they’re going to do the unexpected,” the prolific video game designer said. “Some of it’s really good for what they were shooting for. It’s amazingly explicit, especially when those creations are animated. We just have to make sure those people aren’t messing up the experience for others.”

That means “Spore” – due out Sept. 7 for Windows PC and Mac – will allow players to ban such critters from inhabiting their user-generated universes. Of course, there’s much more to Wright’s eight-years-in-the-making game than “Spore”-nography, made with the “Spore Creature Creator,” a standalone character editor released in advance of the full game.

Creating life forms from scratch is only a piece of the final game, which allows players to go from squirming singled-cell organism to fully fledged space-dwelling civilization. Published by Electronic Arts and developed by Wright’s Emeryville, Calif.-based studio Maxis, “Spore” takes a microscopic look at players’ choices and their repercussions.

Unlike Wright’s people simulator “The Sims,” which went on to become the best-selling PC game of all time, the ever-changing gameplay in the five levels of “Spore” fluctuates based on decisions made by the user about their species, such as choosing to become a carnivore over a herbivore or deciding to destroy other creatures instead of socialize with them.

“You can play through the entire game without killing anything,” said Wright. “It’s very challenging but, it’s also very beneficial. When the game initializes the relationships of other creatures or tribes or civilizations for the next level, many of those relationships have to do with how aggressive those creatures perceive you to be.”

When Wright speaks about “Spore,” he refers to it as a brand, not just a game or franchise. It’s a business lesson the 48-year-old designer and Maxis co-founder learned after releasing “The Sims” in 2000, a game which revolutionized the industry, spawning multiple expansion packs and a sequel. A third edition of “The Sims” is currently in development.

“‘The Sims’ felt like we tripped into it,” said Wright. “We weren’t thinking of ‘The Sims’ as a brand. We were thinking of it as an offbeat computer game. With ‘Spore,’ we had the confidence that the players would always exceed our expectations if we gave them more creative control. From day one, we’ve been thinking about ‘Spore’ as a brand.”

While “Spore” can be played offline, part of the experience includes the ability to share the creatures, buildings and vehicles formulated with “Spore” online. Players can comment, post videos and download copies of other users’ inventions from the “Sporepedia” and use them in their own game. Wright believes “Spore” can go even further than that.

“‘Spore’ is an intersection between science and creativity,” he said. “You can apply that to almost any format. I don’t want to limit ‘Spore’ to just games. There’s a lot of other activities including books, movies, TV or whatever you can imagine that we could take it in if we think of it as a brand. What that could look like is yet to be determined.”

Along with the PC and Mac versions of the game, EA will release “Spore Creatures” for the portable Nintendo DS system and “Spore Origins” for mobile devices, such as the iPhone. The compact games will focus on individual aspects of “Spore.” Wright said future console editions are a possibility but wouldn’t simply be clones of the computer versions.

” ‘Spore’ on almost any platform is going to be different and tied to the unique aspects of that platform,” said Wright. “Sitting in front of a console is very different from sitting in front of a PC. Whether you’re using a mouse or a PS3 controller or a Wii wand, that right off the bat is arguing for a somewhat different design.”

Wright also isn’t ruling out the idea of crafting a sequel to “Spore,” although it’s difficult to envision what one could do after conquering the universe in the first game. Wright insists he has no premeditated ideas about what another “Spore” game would entail. Much like the creatures and civilitations in “Spore,” he wants to leave that up to gamers.

“I don’t think we could design a sequel to ‘Spore’ until the fans showed us what they like,” said Wright. “I think there’s going to be a fair amount of learning over the next few months. What’s important for me is what sort of stories the players are using the game to tell. Games that have the longest legs are the ones with the most narrative density.”

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On the Net:

http://www.spore.com