Associate
US, July 10, 2007 - It's been a while since we've been able to see or really hear anything new about Spore, a game that took the gaming world by surprise thanks to Will Wright and his bombshell announcement at 2005's GDC. Heads exploded, game designers threw underwear at Will, and several babies were conceived (try not to consider that one for too long). Since then it's been a couple of years of us whining to EA about wanting to play the game. Whether it was our babyish tactics or just planning on EA's part, we finally will get to play Spore, just not at E3. We talked to Maxis VP of Marketing Patrick Buechner about that, the recent release date confusion, Leipzig, and many other things, including the official word on Spore DS and its release period.
We've also got a brand spanking new video from EA showing off what Spore is looking like these days. Along with the video, we've got some new screens EA was kind enough to share as well. Keep the hope alive, Spore is still on the way. Look for more info to come from the German Games Convention.
IGN: So what's been going with Spore?
Patrick Buechner: We've been hard at work in the Emeryville offices. Right now the game is at its Alpha stage of development, which for us means that you can play the game through from your humble beginnings as a little blob of eyeballs all the way out though your species exploration and colonization and conquest of space. All of the game's editors, the tools we use to let the players make their own game content, are working so are some of those big technical features of the game such as the pollination process which allows the players to share their content.
IGN: So what are you guys working on now?
Patrick Buechner: Well, the game is looking really good and can be played all the way through so the bigger technical challenges are behind us. Right now the team is focused on polishing and tuning that experience. A lot of what we're doing is putting players in front of Spore and allowing them to play the game all the way through for several hours. We watch them play, we talk to them about their experience including what they liked or what they didn't like. Then we take that feedback and use it as part of the tuning process.
IGN: And what kind of feedback have you been getting?
Patrick Buechner: Overall, it's been extremely positive. A lot of these people have heard of Spore, but a lot of them haven't heard of Spore and those that haven't are really surprised by the whole concept of the game. We're really seeing that the players are loving the ability to create their own content whether it's creatures or vehicles or spaceships or vehicles. We're not completely surprised by how much people are enjoying it and how easy it is to use -- it always has been a core feature of the game -- but it is pretty rewarding to see them really getting into those features.
IGN: Is there anything that players have specifically been having problems with that you've had to think about and fix?
Patrick Buechner: No, no problems overall. For the most part everyone that we've put in front of Spore have been "gamers" either hardcore PC gamers or Sims players so they all have some familiarity with playing games. I think what all of them are trying to cope with Spore is just the epic nature of it. You know, where one game might have one kind of gameplay style, Spore has multiple gameplay styles. From, as Will [Wright] has described it, from a Pac-Man like experience at the beginning of the game to more of an explore, exterminate, and colonize type of game towards the end. So there are a lot of genres that are intermixed there. So you have to adapt your play style to all of those different experiences.
IGN: Do you feel any special pressure with this game since it's probably one of the more important titles to be announced in the last few years for all of its community features and creative tools?
Patrick Buechner: Of course, any development team feels pressure. I think expectations for Spore are really high and I think what this team is really focused on is creating a game that meets or exceeds the expectations of players and of Will's original vision and their own goals. I think it's really great to be working for a company that will allow us the time and the resources in order to get that game experience right. So definitely there's a lot of pressure but members of this team has been under the same kind of pressure before to deliver The Sims and it's the kind of pressure that they like.
We've also got a brand spanking new video from EA showing off what Spore is looking like these days. Along with the video, we've got some new screens EA was kind enough to share as well. Keep the hope alive, Spore is still on the way. Look for more info to come from the German Games Convention.
IGN: So what's been going with Spore?
Patrick Buechner: We've been hard at work in the Emeryville offices. Right now the game is at its Alpha stage of development, which for us means that you can play the game through from your humble beginnings as a little blob of eyeballs all the way out though your species exploration and colonization and conquest of space. All of the game's editors, the tools we use to let the players make their own game content, are working so are some of those big technical features of the game such as the pollination process which allows the players to share their content.
IGN: So what are you guys working on now?
Patrick Buechner: Well, the game is looking really good and can be played all the way through so the bigger technical challenges are behind us. Right now the team is focused on polishing and tuning that experience. A lot of what we're doing is putting players in front of Spore and allowing them to play the game all the way through for several hours. We watch them play, we talk to them about their experience including what they liked or what they didn't like. Then we take that feedback and use it as part of the tuning process.
IGN: And what kind of feedback have you been getting?
Patrick Buechner: Overall, it's been extremely positive. A lot of these people have heard of Spore, but a lot of them haven't heard of Spore and those that haven't are really surprised by the whole concept of the game. We're really seeing that the players are loving the ability to create their own content whether it's creatures or vehicles or spaceships or vehicles. We're not completely surprised by how much people are enjoying it and how easy it is to use -- it always has been a core feature of the game -- but it is pretty rewarding to see them really getting into those features.
IGN: Is there anything that players have specifically been having problems with that you've had to think about and fix?
Patrick Buechner: No, no problems overall. For the most part everyone that we've put in front of Spore have been "gamers" either hardcore PC gamers or Sims players so they all have some familiarity with playing games. I think what all of them are trying to cope with Spore is just the epic nature of it. You know, where one game might have one kind of gameplay style, Spore has multiple gameplay styles. From, as Will [Wright] has described it, from a Pac-Man like experience at the beginning of the game to more of an explore, exterminate, and colonize type of game towards the end. So there are a lot of genres that are intermixed there. So you have to adapt your play style to all of those different experiences.
IGN: Do you feel any special pressure with this game since it's probably one of the more important titles to be announced in the last few years for all of its community features and creative tools?
Patrick Buechner: Of course, any development team feels pressure. I think expectations for Spore are really high and I think what this team is really focused on is creating a game that meets or exceeds the expectations of players and of Will's original vision and their own goals. I think it's really great to be working for a company that will allow us the time and the resources in order to get that game experience right. So definitely there's a lot of pressure but members of this team has been under the same kind of pressure before to deliver The Sims and it's the kind of pressure that they like.
