Delayed

[bloodyrosemccoy]

Grandma Moses Day
National Grandparent's Day
Neither Rain Nor Snow Day
Anniversary - Google Founding
Birthday - Buddy Holly (musician)
Independence Day (Brazil)

I was going to go pick up God: The Home Game Sim Everything Spore today,* but I got sidetracked and instead wound up planting daffodils for next spring with Mom and a tiny, enthusiastic trowel-wielding neighbor who wore his bike helmet the whole time he dug up our garden.  This turned out to be a good thing when he would let go of the spade and, as it was much taller than he was, it would bonk him on the helmet.

 

If you ever need any yard work done, there’s a three-year old across the street from me who is all over that shit for you.

 

So maybe Spore tomorrow. I hear the creature creation is still the best part, and that the gameplay leaves something to be desired.  I hope there’s more to it than that, because I already have the Creature Creator** and am looking for more.

 

I can also return a game I just got that turned out to leave EVERYTHING to be desired: Myst for the DS. I saw it and thought, “Ooh, hey! My all-time favorite computer game is now on the DS! Given the level of processing Myst was at when I played it back in the day, I expect what they did here was clean it up and take out all the glitches. I am sure it will be glorious!”

 

Apparently my expectations clashed with those of the people who adapted it to the DS, because the philosophy for making this game seems to have been “Add More Glitches.”  They also didn’t bother to clean up the graphics or the sound effects, so this game is an absolute mess.  I can’t even bring myself to beat it Smug Bastard style, where you can fix the whole thing in like a minute and a half.*** So back it goes, with the comment, “Tell them to make a good version next time!”

 

But they don’t have to make it too fast.  I’ll be busy with Spore for at least a little while.

 

 

*Of course I preordered it. What did you expect?

 

**And have been trying to approximate a xlormp, because that book is bananas-awesome.

 

***No, I am not telling you how.  That would be the esoteric and occult knowledge you earn by playing it through once the right way, you lazy bastard.

Comments

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

I'm enjoying the gameplay so far, but it may be that I am easily entertained.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_wastrel/]

Well, I'd heard that the gameplay had been hyped up as being more complex than it ended up being, but I should mention that I only mentioned I'd found it limited in the same breath as I said I couldn't fault it on aesthetic grounds, and that was really the main appeal of it for me to begin with. Watching the creatures move around in their environments and listening to the sounds they made reminded me of some of the best documentaries I've seen, with an added "alien beauty" element to it that I'm rather partial to.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Alas that Steve Irwin is no longer around, because Crocodile Hunter: Spore Edition would be brilliant. Although David Attenborough's documentary would probably be better quality ...

I read a review saying that it's more like a toy than a real, goal-oriented game, but hey--I was in it for the Designing Aliens and the alien beauty element from the beginning, so games are sort of a bonus.

Realistically, it always sounded a little too ambitious--to make it a really impressive game, it would have to take into account how each species's biology would affect its possible cultures, and how each culture would affect the other on planetary history, then how the whole thing would relate to an interstellar community. But that's still asking a lot of a computer program, so it seems to be on a much less versatile algorithm. We may just have to stick with worldbuilders themselves for that.

But so far with the Creature Creator it's been loads of fun seeing what I can do with the idea I have, and getting more ideas for later creatures. That's my favorite bit anyway!

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

I know that it's not so much going to have that, but I can construct the background and cultural nuances myself around the framework that the game provides. That's part of the fun for me.

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

*grin* Well, you know me--I've been using the Creature Creator to make critters from my own stories, the ones I worldbuild for when I have a little spare time. So I can definitely fill in the blanks myself!

As far as I'm concerned, the best part is simply that they made a game like this in the first place. Playing within the framework should be loads of fun. I'm excited to start playing!

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

I altered the colors on my creatures right before tribal, so I figure they'll have a creation myth that involves that somehow. Maybe I'll write it eventually.

[ellixis.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I don't want it to be a really deep game - to be that, it'd have to have a more realistic evolution process, for one - so I'm pretty happy with it.

[xlormp.livejournal.com]

If you manage to make Xlormp in creature creator, you are hereby ordered to send me a screenshot.

*runs away*

[padparadscha.livejournal.com]

Got fantastically sidetracked, but here he is!



I tried to approximate the orifice on his stomach. Not sure how well it turned out, though ...