Game Analysis #3 - Spore
In 2008 Maxis released Spore, a god game where
players take control of the development of a species of which they create
themselves. They begin their life as a microscopic organism and the player must
control their development as the creature becomes more intelligent and grows as
a species.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get a hold of a copy of Spore, nor could I find an affordable copy to buy :/ Therefore this analysis may be slightly less informed than my previous 2.
Unfortunately I couldn’t get a hold of a copy of Spore, nor could I find an affordable copy to buy :/ Therefore this analysis may be slightly less informed than my previous 2.
Structural Framework Analysis
How do the rules and conditions of the game create conflict?
How do the rules and conditions of the game create conflict?
One possible rule/condition seen at the
beginning of Spore comes in the form of a choice. Players are forced choose
whether their creature is a herbivore or a carnivore. No big deal, right?
Wrong, from the videos I have been watching and reviews I've been reading it
seems that carnivores are portrayed as a more brutal species compared to
herbivore as they tend to have to fight and enter combat throughout the game to
survive. Herbivores seem to befriend other herbivores and have a much calmer
development cycle. This rule/condition of gameplay can cause conflict between
the different species within the world of spore later in the game. This is most
apparent at the “creature” stage of the game where carnivores must go around
killing and destroying in order to progress whereas herbivores seem to have it
much…friendlier?
Are players struggling
against each other, the game or both?
As there are 5 separate elements of
gameplay styles in Spore, it is difficult to label the game in terms of
multiplayer options. These stages are cell, creature, tribal, civilization and
space stage. The cell, creature, tribal and civ stages are all single player
components of the game. However, the
space stage of spore allows players to roam around the Spore galaxy, finding
new planets to land on and explore. Most of these planets are run by other
human players or have been created by them. However, players can not “go to
battle” or enter combat with other players like one would in a multiplayer
game. No, instead these worlds are populated using the pollinated content, all
creations, creatures, buildings and vehicles etc, are automatically shared and
can be found in the “Sporepedia” (a sort of online Spore content library).
So, having said this, I can conclude that players aren’t ever really struggling against each other. Unless perhaps they want to better what someone else has created and dropped in the Sporepedia but that’s not really what the game’s about. Ultimately the player is struggling against the game.
So, having said this, I can conclude that players aren’t ever really struggling against each other. Unless perhaps they want to better what someone else has created and dropped in the Sporepedia but that’s not really what the game’s about. Ultimately the player is struggling against the game.
What are the
interactive experiences provided for players in the game?
In some ways, Spore is one massive
interactive experience. The chance for a player to fully interact with the
development of something they themselves created. However, this conclusion
depends on how we depict “interactive”. I guess the “god” element of the game
suggests that its an interactive experience but not one that continues after
the games been switched off..
Perhaps the Sporepedia can be considered an interactive experience for the player as they can interact with all the community made content that has been created and also submit creations of their own.
Perhaps the Sporepedia can be considered an interactive experience for the player as they can interact with all the community made content that has been created and also submit creations of their own.
Referring to my initial point, players
can literally create what they want too, surely this is interactivity? The
player must interact with the game and their creature or world to enhance it.
They get to choose how their creature looks and how it behaves in the world of
Spore.
From what I can gather, without
actually playing the game, this interaction with your spore creature most
definitely creates meaningful play. You don’t want a creature you designed from
organism to creature fail miserably. No, you want your creature to do great and
be amazing. The personal stake in your creature from the interactive elements
of the game creates meaningful play definitely.
Aesthetic Framework Analysis
What does the game
look like?
Visually, Spore is very bright,
colourful and vibrant. Personally, from what I have seen of the game, I find
the creature models quite comical in appearance. As I mentioned previously, the
game is split up into 5 separate sections of gameplay and each portrays a
different “look” in terms of aesthetics and presentation.
What are the possible
visual influences and intertextual references?
Whilst searching for gameplay videos of
Spore I came across the Zero Punctuation review, which is admittedly frank and
to the point with dark comedy. However, there is an adequate point made about
the different level stages of Spore and how they are just like pre existing
games. So this could be considered an influence. Skip to 2:58 to see the visual
influences for each stage of the game or watch from the start to see a comical
video review of Spore.
Contextual Framework Analysis
Consider the game in
terms of context, origin, year of manufacture, company, target audience, does
the game contain any persuasive purpose, what would make the game more
effective and what potentials does the game point to?
Developed by Maxis and designed by Will
Wright, Spore was released in 2008 for PC and Macintosh. Described as a
massively single player game players assume the god role and create an army of
creatures, developing them from organic cell through to galaxy exploration.
Spores target audience can vary
greatly, often described as trying to please a wide variety of different gamers
and supporting varying styles of gameplay to suit. With elements of 3rd person action, simplistic FLOW-esque top down games and
RTS games Spore offered options to many different gamers suggesting that its
target audience was…well, pretty much everyone.
From what I can tell most of the
sections of different gameplay needed more work or just needed to not be there,
this is what I can understand from reviews. Having said that, Spore points to a
potential of learning. Learning about development cycles, growing a community
of your own, making adult decisions and ensuring your creatures are okay. These
are all responsibilities which the player must take seriously in order to
successfully manage the game.
