Spore prototypes open to public

By Robert Purchese Published 10 September, 2008

From fish to beast to spaceship.

EA Maxis has uploaded nearly a dozen game prototypes that were designed to test certain areas of Spore.

Each can be downloaded and played, and range from behavioural and self-propagating star simulators to creature and space-game prototypes. There's even a program that simulates gravitational attraction between particles in clouds.

None of these have been tested for public use, nor are they supported or even explained particularly coherently. The idea was simply to offer eager fans a glimpse behind the evolutionary curtain.

Spore was released last Friday and predictably picked up lots of critical plaudits for the ambitious ideas on offer. Head over to our Spore review to find out why.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (9) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Eraysor #1 3 years ago

    They have been there for ages you know.
    Edited by 1 at 10/09/08 @ 10:10

  • Gearskin #2 3 years ago

    They have, even the Facebook app contained links. EG N00bs!!! Ha.

  • DFawkes #3 3 years ago

    Maybe I'm being cynical, but all I see is them shouting "Look at these free prototypes! They're free you see! No charge! See, the publisher didn't make us totally evil." Then in hushed tones "Forget the DRM. Please forget the DRM. It's not our fault, forget it. Please."

  • sickpuppysoftware #4 3 years ago

    Are these riddled with DRM too? Can't have us enjoying ourselves too many times now can we?
    Edited by 1 at 10/09/08 @ 10:38

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #5 3 years ago

    Lets be honest this type of DRM your all furious about just encourages cracking more not less, they will soon see this and stop doing it, if not the millions of phone calls asking them for extensions on the number of installs surely will, unless they make it a premium rate number.

    OK i give in there EVIL.

    Still a good game.

  • L42yB #6 3 years ago

    @GamesProgrammer -

    Ideally, they would see that they have hurt their own sales by using this DRM shit. And encouraged more piracy rather than discouraging it...

    But the sad truth is that EA will probably point the finger squarely at pirates and use this as an excuse to have even worse DRM in the future.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #7 3 years ago

    Can't have us enjoying ourselves too many times now can we?

    You'll go blind, if you're not careful.

  • Branoic #8 3 years ago

    *sigh*
    If only they spent more time on their gameplay mechanics and less on the gavitational behaviour of particles in clouds.

  • Farzlepot #9 3 years ago

    The sorts of people who make up the bulk of EA games sales probably haven't even heard of DRM, much less know what particular disadvantages one particular DRM system confers on one particular game. And even if somebody tells them, they probably don't give a damn. I doubt EA will even notice the missed sales from the few of us who do care about that sort of thing.