Employees Must Wipe Hands on Pants

Okay, I haven’t written in a while. It’s a blog. I’m lazy. Work it out.

Anyway, I picked up the new long-awaited EA/Maxis title “Spore” today. I don’t normally get games the day they come out, but this one has been on my list for a long time.

What to say about this game? It’s certainly unlike any game I’ve ever played. Which is going to sound strange, given that my next statement is that it’s exactly like a lot of games I’ve played previously (and loved). How to reconcile this apparent contradiction? The key lies in the fact that Spore is not really one game. It’s five games.

Five games? How could one game be five games? Well, it’s how Maxis has broken down the gameplay that does it.

The premise is that you are mimicking the development of life from the earliest moments of cell development clear through to a sentient space-faring species capable of interstellar travel. Ambitious, eh?

You go through five distinct stages of development. Each stage is basically its own Mini-Game within the larger context of the development. The stages are:

1. Cell stage – You pilot a single-celled organism through an ocean teaming with other critters. Many far larger than you. This is a very simple game, basically swim and eat, attackand run away. As you grow, you have the option of outfitting your cell with extra flippers, spines, acid spitters, etc. This stage is actually pretty fun to play, since there’s not a lot of strategy involved, and thankfully it moves along pretty quickly. The stage ends by you evolving legs and moving onto dry land.

2. Creature Stage – Basically, you’re in a nest with others of your species. You must seek out other groups of critters and either attack, or make friends with them. Along the way, you must eat, and discover bonuses that let you evolve your critter further. (Add spines, arms, hands, opposable digits, horns, etc.) This stage drags on a little, but this is the stage where your critter really starts to take shape, so the various interactions you’re performing are really more to just show off what your creature has added through development. The stage ends as your critter’s brain expands to the point they discover fire. You then move to…

3. Tribe Stage – Now, I was frankly dreading tribe stage, based on some early reports of friends who played the game. But I have to say, this isn’t really bad at all. Your critter is finally fully evolved, and now you’re out against other criters at a similar level of development. (Think early homonids. Homo Erectus vs Neanderthals vs Homo Sapiens… Except the other species you’re encountering may or may not be even remotely humanoid.) Your goal here is to attack or befriend (or perhaps a little of both) 5 other tribes. Here is where RTS strategy first comes into play. Though it’s a lot more primitive than most RTS games you’ll get today. There’s military, diplomacy, resource gathering, etc, but on a fairly small scale, and your technological tree is really bare-bones. I suppose this is by necessity, otherwise tribe stage would be a game into itself. Which it really could be. I wouldn’t mind. I think the complaints are from people who are dissapointed with it because it a) is not enough like a “real” RTS game, or b) is TOO MUCH like an RTS game, without the depth they’ve gotten used to. Playing titles like Warcraft II, Age of Empires, Starcraft, C&C, etc you expect a lof more than this stage offers. Once you’re either friends with, or have wiped out, the other tribes, you enter…

4. Civilization Stage – This is even more like an RTS you may be used to than the Tribe Mode is. Here you have buildings, unit support, sea units, land units, defensive emplacements, limited resource points, the works. Again, very slimmed down compared to a modern RTS. The advantage here is you get to design the buildings, the vehicles, everything. Really, throughout the game, the focus is almost more on designing unique things than it is on gameplay. Eventually, you must capture, purchase, or persude all the other cities on the map (planet) to join your cause to proceed to the final stage…

5. Space Stage – Woh. Suddenly, you go from being one petty little species, master of your planet to having spaceflight. Not just spaceflight, but interplanetary, heck, interstellar spaceflight. Soon you’re contacting alien space -empires, setting up trade routes, conducting diplomacy, all on a very similar scale to Side Meier’s Civ games–only in space. (I’m sure there’s other space-trading games out there that would compare better, but I actually haven’t played many of these.)

Further notes: Really, this game is far more than the sum of its parts. The thing that is woven throughout the entire game that is truly groundbreaking, and likely will be the reason this game is remembered as a pivotal moment in gaming history, is the fact that the game content is shared. What does this mean? Let me explain.

When you create and play through Spore (on any one of the 5 levels) your species (if you so choose) gets uploaded to the online Spore server. At the same time, the other species you encounter from the game are gathered from the same online database. Basically, you’re playing against critters, vehicles, spacecraft etc that OTHER USERS have created, not the game designers. This is a big reason why so much of the game hinges on design. The epic scale required for this game basically caused the Spore designers to realize that there was no way they could make enough content to populate the Spore universe. So they made the users do it. Laziness? Or genius? Perhaps both. Whatever the motivation, the outcome is that the depth of design in the game is literally inexhaustable. You will never EVER have the same game experience twice, no matter how hard you try.

As to the game itsef… I’m not entirely sure yet. It seems fun, so far. The Space mode seems to be incredibly more sophisticated than everything else leading up to it, and I’ve really only touched the surface of that so far. I may come back with an assessment of that in a few days.

I must say, that if you’re coming into Spore expecting a single tightly-knit gameplay experience, you’re in for dissapointment. This game is really all over the map. The flip side of that, however, is that once you play each mode ONCE, you can then choose to start at any mode you prefer for future play. You also have the ability to go back into your personal library and reuse your vehicle/building/spacecraft designs if you get tired of designing things.

The plus on this game is really what it’s going to do for future gaming. The ability to share game elements bewteen online users the way this system does–well, let’s just say there’s a LOT of potential there.

Game may be worth checking out just for that, despite being a little schizophrenic otherwise.

…oh, and there’s also this new billion-dollar science laboratory. But nobody really cares about that, do they?

Article is here.

The International Space Station is probably the greatest unified human endeavor in our entire history as a species. Never before have so many different nations come together and joined resources to create a single project with such a massive expenditure of funds, engineering know-how, and raw determination. All for the peaceful goal of increasing scientific knowledge for the human race as a species. Completely independent of nationality, creed, religion, race, gender, or any other imaginary dividing line.

If our race wants to take pride in any single accomplishment that we can truly say we did TOGETHER, without ulterior motive, without posturing, without war, or greed, or to allow one subset of humans to dominate and control another, this project is really the poster child for such a feat.

And all the press seems to care about is that the bathroom works.

Seriously, every single mention, every story written about the ISS in the months since the toilet developed a problem has been sure to wedge that fact into the first two or three sentences. Do they think the human race, engaged in the greatest endeavor of all time, is nothing more than a pack of scatalogically-minded perverts? WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ASTRONAUT’S POOPIES?

For those who are interested, I’ve started a joint SF project with one of my co-workers.

Here is the first of what will hopefully be many many exciting installments.

My friend Patrick wrote this about his recent foray into Australian culture, specifically, his somewhat unhealthy interest in Vegemite.

I don’t know if this is high art or anything, but it’s pretty funny.

I’m writing this on my new iPod Touch. Kinda a pain, but it’s cool that I can do it at all.

Woot. Technology.

So, I won a brand new 8GB iPod Touch from this thing we have at work.

Haven’t received it yet, but should only be a few more days.

I went online to the Apple website to look at the features, and MAN those things look cool.

Given that my existing iPod is an old 4th generation 20GB classic style, the ones before they even had a color screen, this new one is going to be a whole new experience.

It makes me think back to the mid-1980’s, when you’d read articles about all the amazing new gadgets and gizmos that people were predicting we’d have going into the 21st century. (Which seemed like forever in the future back at the time.) Well, guess what? We’re there. And yes, the gadgets and technology that are coming along lately is getting pretty impressive. I saw this laptop yesterday, and man, this has got to be the sexiest computer I have ever seen.

What amazing things does the future have in store? And will these new gadgets be used for good, or evil?

Sigh. I guess the likely answer is probably “both”.

So, I watched the first “Marquee Event” since I got my HDTV. The Daytona 500.

Now, I am so NOT a NASCAR fan. I mean, sure, I’ve seen races, and I know some of the drivers, but this is like so totally NOT a sport I would ever watch given any other alternatives.

In HD, however, this broadcast was phenomenal. Gripping throughout. (It doesn’t hurt that the race was pretty exciting, too. I guess. If you’re into that kind of thing.)

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not going to be one to tell you that HDTV is a bigger improvement than the move from color to black-and-white television (yes, I am indeed just old enough to remember the days of Black and White TV). But it’s probably as big a jump as it was going from VHS to DVD. That’s pretty significant.

It is making me anxious to sign up for my new HDTV package.

We shall see how it compares to the other “Marquee Event” slated for today, the NBA All-Star game. Now, this is something I’m anxious to see (my boy, Brandon Roy is playing for the West!) but alas, I will not be getting in HD. Bummer.

So, the waiting on my new TV finally ended. It is sitting in my living room, taking up half the wall. It is glorious.

For those interested in the nerdy techie details, it is a Vizio 42″ LCD TV with full 1080p, 2x HDMI 2x Component, RGB, optical Audio and a dual digital/analog tuner. For under $1000, this is the biggest, baddest, awesomest set I have yet seen. (I’m sure in a year you’ll be able to buy an even better one for $300 less, but that’s the way these things go. I’m happy to be at least marginally ahead of the curve on this stuff now.)

I don’t yet have an HD package from my cable provider, and I’m looking at switching providers before I do so, so it might be a month or two. All the same, my DVDs and PS2 games look just fantastic on it, and I get to watch the broadcast channels in HD, so there’s some benefit there already, as well.

It’s interesting to me how just having the HD makes me want to watch things in Hi-Def, even if the programs are things I couldn’t care less about. They’re just SO pretty. Heh.

Long time with no posts means I’ve been a busy boy at work, with no time for dilly-dally and posting on my Blog.

I’ve also been following my team, the Red-Hot Portland Trail Blazers, and, no joke, this team is one of the most amazing basketball teams I’ve seen in my 20+ years as a fan of the game.

In other news, I think it’s finally time to bite the bullet and get a new HDTV. Since the digital changeover happens next year, and I don’t want to have to get a stupid converter. My tax return should cover most of the cost, and I’ve got a coupon on a nice 42″ Vizio 1080p model. This is the one my friend Ryan got, and he brought down late last fall and hooked up to my home theater system for a few days.

This should carry me, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century. Maybe down the line I can think about a PS3 (For Blu-Ray functionality, mostly) or something. But one step at a time. My regular DVDs will look pretty awesome on this thing anyways.

Okay, this is uber-geeky, and I’m really not that huge a Trek fan, but the concept here is really cool.

This home theater setup has got to be one of the neatest things I’ve seen.