I think the technology is definitely in service of this other goal state. But if it doesn’t, no amount of technology in the world is going to necessarily provide that. And if the technology helps you accomplish that, great. Most people don’t realize that, they just think: “Oh, it’s easy to use.” But the computer is always kind of analyzing what it thinks you intend to do.ĭo you think the technical accomplishments of this game are being overlooked? And is that by design?Īt the end of the day, what you really want to deliver is an emotional entertainment experience to the player. There’s quite a bit of artificial intelligence in the (creature) editor that makes it easy to use. This has to do with the underlying procedural animation and procedural texturing … which is pretty interesting because we basically had to teach the computer to replicate a lot of what our artists do. That’s probably the very first thing that people hit and are really excited about. I’m not sure if you’d call it technology, but basically all the magic that brings to life the stuff the players make. What technology are you most proud of in the game? The technology driving “Spore” is pretty sophisticated stuff - user-generated content, procedurally generated content, social networking tie-ins. So, you have a 2-D scroller for Cell, a third-person action game for Creature, a real-time-strategy (phase) for Tribe and a more elaborate strategy for the Civilization level, and the space game is probably closer to a massively multiplayer online game, which is pretty much the historical order (that) they appeared in the game industry. And when you look back at the history of the game industry, games were increasing in complexity too. It kind of fit, because the levels increase in complexity. Also, it seemed to fit, not only with the themes of each level, but there seemed to be something nice about leaving those themes and genres in the historical order of when they appeared in the game industry. “Ī basic rule of thumb is that you don’t want to be mixing genres, but another rule is that if you’re going to break a rule, you might as well thoroughly break it. “I think of (games) almost like a modern chemistry set. “I like to get people to think about the world around them, and have these little toy worlds in which they can run experiments,” he said during a recent interview. “The Sims,” which spawned many expansions and a massive fan base, helped to usher non-gamers into gaming. That’s the other reason “Spore” is so huge: It’s the Next Big Thing from the guy who made the best-selling PC game in history - a “virtual dollhouse” in which players piloted little digital humans through ordinary digital lives. The success of “SimCity” proved that teenage boys weren’t the only audience for video games, and it paved the way for Wright’s biggest game to date, “The Sims.” Keep in mind that this was 1989, an era where video games were about diminutive plumbers named Mario, not mass transit systems for virtual constituents. “SimCity,” his first big-selling game, tasked players with - of all things - civic planning. Electronic Arts - which owns Maxis, the studio responsible for “Spore” - could have made two-and-a-half “Godfather” games in that time period.īut Wright’s games are - if you'll pardon the pun - game changers. Wright says the idea came to him about seven years ago, and it took another five years, and a team of 120, to make it real. Making a game of this size is no small undertaking.
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