[Michlo]

Did you know that there are hidden controls when creating?

No? Well there are.

First of all, there is the mouse-wheel. Wait, that's a piece of hardware, not a tip. But if you use this when you have an item selected in the builder, you will find you can reduce or enlarge the piece! This is particularly handy when you're dealing with your creature's spine as you can do this with the individual segments, greatly aiding you in getting the shape you're looking for.

There is also an easy way to copy a part that you have modified. Just hold down the alt key.

Finally, if you hold down the tab whilst you have your piece selected you'll see some other hand tools pop up.

Cheers.

[Vagrant0]

It is also strongly suggested that you rename your creature every time you change it. For your buddies, or any soul who happens to have gotten your content, this makes it alot easier for them to tell your creations apart. This is really paramount when it comes to the space stage where you're being told to pick up a certain creature. Changing the coloring every generation or two, if only a little bit, also makes things easier.

No matter what, the species, buildings, and anything else you make while in a game will be uploaded to the public, so please try to spend some effort and considder others. One of the reasons why you run into some blank buildings, among other things, is because people don't do anything but very minimal effort. If you're wanting to do something that you don't want to share with the rest of the world, you should considder logging out of your account for the duration of that game. You can always delete the online copy later, but many forget to.

Being Michlo's buddy, and having none other at the moment I have a planet where 4 of the 6 species are purple and named the same... Not only did I end up having to kill them all off in tribal, but I was also visited by his black orb spaceship. While this is an extreme case, it should however be noted as some people have it set to where they only get buddy content.

Opening up the creature editor outside of play and just making a few random creatures can also make things a little more interesting for your buddies.

[Michlo]

Vagrant0, on Sep 16 2008, 07:59 PM, said:

It is also strongly suggested that you rename your creature every time you change it. For your buddies, or any soul who happens to have gotten your content, this makes it alot easier for them to tell your creations apart. This is really paramount when it comes to the space stage where you're being told to pick up a certain creature. Changing the coloring every generation or two, if only a little bit, also makes things easier.

No matter what, the species, buildings, and anything else you make while in a game will be uploaded to the public, so please try to spend some effort and considder others. One of the reasons why you run into some blank buildings, among other things, is because people don't do anything but very minimal effort. If you're wanting to do something that you don't want to share with the rest of the world, you should considder logging out of your account for the duration of that game. You can always delete the online copy later, but many forget to.

Being Michlo's buddy, and having none other at the moment I have a planet where 4 of the 6 species are purple and named the same... Not only did I end up having to kill them all off in tribal, but I was also visited by his black orb spaceship. While this is an extreme case, it should however be noted as some people have it set to where they only get buddy content.

Opening up the creature editor outside of play and just making a few random creatures can also make things a little more interesting for your buddies.

Hmm, good point, mate. I had thought it would be interesting for people to see the species as it evolved but it isn't, you'll just end up with more. I'm going to go delete mine now.

I hope you liked my orb, at least.

Cheers.

[Vagrant0]

Michlo, on Sep 17 2008, 03:11 AM, said:

Vagrant0, on Sep 16 2008, 07:59 PM, said:

It is also strongly suggested that you rename your creature every time you change it. For your buddies, or any soul who happens to have gotten your content, this makes it alot easier for them to tell your creations apart. This is really paramount when it comes to the space stage where you're being told to pick up a certain creature. Changing the coloring every generation or two, if only a little bit, also makes things easier.

No matter what, the species, buildings, and anything else you make while in a game will be uploaded to the public, so please try to spend some effort and considder others. One of the reasons why you run into some blank buildings, among other things, is because people don't do anything but very minimal effort. If you're wanting to do something that you don't want to share with the rest of the world, you should considder logging out of your account for the duration of that game. You can always delete the online copy later, but many forget to.

Being Michlo's buddy, and having none other at the moment I have a planet where 4 of the 6 species are purple and named the same... Not only did I end up having to kill them all off in tribal, but I was also visited by his black orb spaceship. While this is an extreme case, it should however be noted as some people have it set to where they only get buddy content.

Opening up the creature editor outside of play and just making a few random creatures can also make things a little more interesting for your buddies.

Hmm, good point, mate. I had thought it would be interesting for people to see the species as it evolved but it isn't, you'll just end up with more. I'm going to go delete mine now.

I hope you liked my orb, at least.

Cheers.

It is interesting, having variations of a creature is kinda what the game forces you to do. The problem is really them all being named the same and me for only having one buddy with content at the moment. It's really my fault for not looking at what you had uploaded before adding you as it seems Spore tends to prefer to use content from buddies over Maxis content, and when that pool is small, that's where these sorts of problems actually become problems.

As for naming, I personally use the name generator for almost everything. Has ended up working well so far, and allows for creatures and things to be named without regard to looks, intent, or ability, which can often be a good thing. It also gives an almost Seusian quality to your encounters. Although I guess it's up to you if you prefer to see the "Big Horned Guy Empire" verses the "Flibbleflabble Empire" (ok, Cosbian quality...). I just try to find names for things that kinda work.

[Michlo]

Ah well I'm sorry this caused you an issue, mate.

People on the Sporum have already been asking for a way to stop the auto-uploading but I'll keep an eye on mine and keep them to my finished products. I do still have to sort out a way to get my other finished ones up there too though to give some variety. heh. Someone suggested making a small tweak so I'll do that when I have the time.

And you STILL didn't say anything about my orb. I was so proud of that! hehe.

Cheers.