Spore Creature Creator
Encyclopedia
The Spore Creature Creator is software that allows players to create their own creatures with a standalone version of the Creature Editor from Spore
; the software was one of the first aspects of the game to receive focused development, and underwent ten rewrites since the start of development. It was rated E by the ESRB
in early March 2008, indicating that the editor would be released separately well before the game's release as a utility program. Electronic Arts told MTV Asia that "EA Screen will provide visitors a chance to interact with EA's game producers hailing from the studios, and unveil the hugely anticipated SPORE Creature Creator demo version to gamers for the first time in Asia." Electronic Arts VP Mark Buechner stated on the Spore Facebook
page that the editor would be released in June or July 2008, saying, "We are looking at releasing it two to three months before the launch of the full game."
The SimCity Box
artwork showed a blurb stating that the creature editor would be included with it. IGN
revealed that the Spore Creature Creator utility will be available in two different versions on June 18, 2008. There was a paid version (for $9.95) and a free demo that was downloadable from Spore.com and included for free, bundled with The SimCity Box. The free version of the editor only contained 25% of the available creature parts that were found within the full version. In Australia
, on August 30, 2008, three state newspapers owned by News Limited
offered the full version either free or for $2.
The utility includes a test environment for players to see their creatures go through animations and allowed the player to import other user-created creatures through the Sporepedia at Spore.com. The utility included screen capture and video tools as well, including YouTube
functionality. The editor also gave the user the ability to create animated avatars, and output in RSS
and embeddable HTML
code to facilitate easy incorporation into such sites as MySpace
and Facebook
. The software is automatically superseded by Spore when it is installed, since the Creature editor is already present on the game.
Shortly after its introduction, the Creature Creator was used to create creatures with oversized genitalia, either stand-alone or engaged in coitus (a phenomenon quickly dubbed "sporn"). EA responded with e-mails sent to those who made pornographic machinima
from its demo
, and has flagged certain on-line accounts for "TOS
violations". Furthermore, YouTube has pulled several such videos for violations of its own TOS.
By June 24, 2008, users had already uploaded over one million creatures to the site. During Electronic Arts' E3 2008 presentation on July 14, 2008, Wright humorously noted that fans had done God's work at 38% efficiency by creating the same number of currently known species on Earth, 1,589,000, in about 18 days, compared to God's 6 days. When Spore debuted on September 1, 2008, over 3 million creatures had been added to the Sporepedia via the Spore Creature Creator.
When installing Spore
, Spore Creature Creator must be uninstalled.
Spore (2008 video game)
Spore is a multi-genre single-player god game developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. The game was released for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems in September 2008 as Spore...
; the software was one of the first aspects of the game to receive focused development, and underwent ten rewrites since the start of development. It was rated E by the ESRB
Entertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...
in early March 2008, indicating that the editor would be released separately well before the game's release as a utility program. Electronic Arts told MTV Asia that "EA Screen will provide visitors a chance to interact with EA's game producers hailing from the studios, and unveil the hugely anticipated SPORE Creature Creator demo version to gamers for the first time in Asia." Electronic Arts VP Mark Buechner stated on the Spore Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page that the editor would be released in June or July 2008, saying, "We are looking at releasing it two to three months before the launch of the full game."
The SimCity Box
The SimCity Box
The SimCity Box is bundled software published by Electronic Arts that was released on June 23, highlighting recent SimCity releases.-SimCity 4:...
artwork showed a blurb stating that the creature editor would be included with it. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
revealed that the Spore Creature Creator utility will be available in two different versions on June 18, 2008. There was a paid version (for $9.95) and a free demo that was downloadable from Spore.com and included for free, bundled with The SimCity Box. The free version of the editor only contained 25% of the available creature parts that were found within the full version. In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, on August 30, 2008, three state newspapers owned by News Limited
News Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
offered the full version either free or for $2.
The utility includes a test environment for players to see their creatures go through animations and allowed the player to import other user-created creatures through the Sporepedia at Spore.com. The utility included screen capture and video tools as well, including YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
functionality. The editor also gave the user the ability to create animated avatars, and output in RSS
RSS
-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...
and embeddable HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
code to facilitate easy incorporation into such sites as MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
and Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. The software is automatically superseded by Spore when it is installed, since the Creature editor is already present on the game.
Shortly after its introduction, the Creature Creator was used to create creatures with oversized genitalia, either stand-alone or engaged in coitus (a phenomenon quickly dubbed "sporn"). EA responded with e-mails sent to those who made pornographic machinima
Machinima
Machinima is the use of real-time 3D computer graphics rendering engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation...
from its demo
Game demo
A game demo is a freely distributed demonstration or preview of an upcoming or recently released video game. Demos are typically released by the game's publisher to help consumers get a feel of the game before deciding whether to buy the full version....
, and has flagged certain on-line accounts for "TOS
Terms of Service
Terms of service are rules which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. Unless in violation of consumer protection laws, such terms are usually legally binding...
violations". Furthermore, YouTube has pulled several such videos for violations of its own TOS.
By June 24, 2008, users had already uploaded over one million creatures to the site. During Electronic Arts' E3 2008 presentation on July 14, 2008, Wright humorously noted that fans had done God's work at 38% efficiency by creating the same number of currently known species on Earth, 1,589,000, in about 18 days, compared to God's 6 days. When Spore debuted on September 1, 2008, over 3 million creatures had been added to the Sporepedia via the Spore Creature Creator.
When installing Spore
Spore (2008 video game)
Spore is a multi-genre single-player god game developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. The game was released for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems in September 2008 as Spore...
, Spore Creature Creator must be uninstalled.
Other games/expansion packs
- Spore Creature Creator (2008, PC) – The creature creator element of Spore, released prior to the full game.
- SporeSpore (2008 video game)Spore is a multi-genre single-player god game developed by Maxis and designed by Will Wright. The game was released for the Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems in September 2008 as Spore...
(2008, PC)- Spore: Galactic Edition - Special edition of Spore
- Spore Creepy and CuteSpore Creepy and Cute expansion packSpore: Creepy & Cute is an expansion pack for the 2008 video game Spore. It includes additional tools and features for creature creation that were not present in the original Spore. These include 60 new parts, 48 new paint options, 24 new test drive animations, and two new test drive backgrounds....
- Parts Pack - Spore: Galactic AdventuresSpore: Galactic AdventuresSpore: Galactic Adventures is the first expansion pack for the multi-genre game Spore, developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. The US version of the game was released on June 23, 2009. The European version was released on June 26, 2009....
(2009, PC) - Expansion pack
- Spore CreaturesSpore CreaturesSpore Creatures is the Nintendo DS and iPhone OS spin-off of Spore, developed by Foundation 9, in which a player controls and evolves a creature of their creation.-Plot:...
(2008, DS) - Spore OriginsSpore OriginsSpore Origins is the mobile device spin-off of Spore, and focuses on a single phase of the larger game's gameplay - the cell phase.-Gameplay:...
(2008, Mobile phone) - Spore HeroSpore HeroSpore Hero is the Wii spin-off of Spore, developed by Maxis, in which the players focus on creativity and evolution using the unique controls of the Wii...
(2009, Wii) - Spore Hero ArenaSpore Hero ArenaSpore Hero Arena is the Nintendo DS spin-off of Spore Hero which was released in North America on 6 October 2009, and worldwide on 8 October...
(2009, DS) - DarksporeDarksporeDarkspore is a video game in the original Darkspore universe that borrows the award-winning creature editor technology from the 2008 video game Spore...
(2011, PC)