Spore: The ULTIMATE analysis Part 1

[@XDNighthawkXD]

Hey everyone I hope you enjoy the first part in my X part series where I break down Spore in its entirety! For the sake of transparency, I wanted to let all of you know I am officially a KZbin partner so you may see a midroll ad from time to time. Thank you all so much for watching!

[@Diablo_Himself]

Your video description accidentally repeats itself... Liked and subscribed, would love to see more Spore content...and gaming in general. 1:54 Why are your Cells transparent? Steam version, maybe...or just bad graphics settings? 2:48 There are 4 part sets: Diet, movement, attack/defence, and sight. 3:31 Interesting. However, the dominant species on Earth (Humans) are actually Carnivores by nature... 6:03 Actually, having two Separate Flagellas gives more speed, but splitting the one doesn't... 7:01 That Jet works the same as the Warp Engines in Star Trek then...? Moving space , instead of moving the Ship. 8:21 Actually, having Poison means you cant be poisoned AT ALL in Cell Stage. Same with Electric... 12:32 That Spiked Shyster should NOT be able to eat as its spike blocks its mouth. I've never seen one actually EAT. In Spore logic, the Jetster has 4 Jets, that gives it 8 Speed at a cost of 100 DNA points. Jetster has 8 speed, Megamouth has 1 speed. That is NOT one fifth of the speed. RTS fan or not, I like the Creature stage best, then Civilization, Tribal, Cell, and last is Space (too damn LONG)! Alphas have a yellow star? Looks more like a shield to me... Parts you unlock in Creature stage ARE randomly generated... 25:10 The Spore servers ARE still up! I can login, upload and download! Steam version has issues though... Where you Migrate to doesn't make Tribal more difficult, but it CAN make it easier. Also, there are several Migrate paths, you can wander around and choose a new nest somewhere else. Killing an Epic in Creature stage actually gets you an achievement. Repeated level 5 Spit seems to be the best way. What you call Instinct, I call Genetic Memory. The same thing makes Cats run away from Cucumbers... By the way, Traps do NOT help you domesticate a Creature, they simply DIE to the Trap. Humans no longer evolve, we simply invent technology to perform the functions for us. The Wright Brothers weren't the first to attempt flight, by the way... As a Daemonist/Atheist, I see all religion as folly. People believe in a God that may not exist. I offer my services for a price. A low price compared to others, so I get more customers. Simple economics. Aeroplanes are unlocked after 3 CAPTURED cities, therefore unlocked when you HAVE 4 cities. "Not only will several religions have to be rewritten...again"...A good choice of words! Well done. First contact for Humans: USA shot down their Ship and then dissected the Aliens to find weaknesses. 1:29:25 "Darmok and Jalad at Tenagra"..."The Beast at Tenagra"..."Darmok and Jalad on the ocean"... As a Daemon, I try to befriend Humans as much as I can, haha. Humans intrigue me... AI is a bad idea, we will realise this in the future...lets hope, by then, its not too late. "Human Beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet, and we are the cure" - Agent Smith, The Matrix. A popular theory is that Humans actually came from Mars, and left when the planet became uninhabitable. Theoretically, Humans and Daemons/Celestials can communicate, but that communication method IS flawed... "All Warriors must experience fear" - Canderous Ordo, Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic. An animal that needs to fly, evolves wings...a Human that needs to fly builds an Aeroplane. Musically, I am fairly eclectic, listening to most things: Rock, heavy metal, rap, country & western, jazz, blues... I am fairly eclectic with gaming: I like FPS, RTS and RPG, also some third-person shooters and racing games. Humans ARE Carnivorous, we evolved that way. We need meat to thrive. We simply CHOOSE to eat a varied diet. I have a video that points this out and explains it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fGWbeqmEfK5nqpY "It is not the strongest nor the most intelligent that survives, but the one most adaptable to change"

[@OlegInTheDark]

@@Diablo_Himself jesse what the fuck are you talking about

[@Diablo_Himself]

@@OlegInTheDark ...?

[@beefromashroom]

@@Diablo_Himself the hell are you on about

[@Hectonkhyres]

I remember being one of the fellows who was absolutely frothing at the mouth at the product being dumbed down from its original presentation.

[@XDNighthawkXD]

Admittedly I was too young to notice that when I first played it; but it is something I want to cover in part 2, (the backstory of this game)

[@hedgehog3180]

I was like 5 and didn't even know that EA was a company.

[@ktk44man]

I found the preview later and while I love the spore we got I'm still appalled. It could have been something truly phenomenal

[@corvididaecorax2991]

I was definitely one of those. It was so disappointing what we got compared to what they initially showed. Particularly the tribal and civilization stages just feel like they were tacked on half finished.

[@scrittle]

Civilisation phase felt complete to me. But oh my god is the tribal phase so linear, mind-numbingly easy, and boring. It's way easy to kill everyone but I'd rather play the trade game for civilisations.

[@julianhernandez5188]

Something worth mentioning about the different gameplay genres in Spore is that Spore works as a pretty good introduction to video games in general for someone with little experience in them. The cell stage does a good job of warming people up to the basics of navigating a space while getting pickups and avoiding enemies as well as rudimentary character creation, and by playing the rest of the game players gain an understanding of both action and strategy gameplay. Spore is basically a gateway drug into many other genres of video game: if you liked the civilization stage you might like Civ or other 4X games, if you liked the space stage you might like space sims like Elite Dangerous, etc. Playing Spore as a little kid definitely opened my eyes to new genres. I wouldn't be surprised if this appeal was one of the main reasons Spore got retooled to be more silly and simple for younger audiences

[@asinglebraincell6584]

Didn't expect the phrase "dying is incredibly traumatic" and an analysis of religion from a Spore video but I am here for it

[@hi-ougidemonfang]

1:22:06 slight correction here; yes they found co2 and methane but the actual indicator of life was dimethyl sulphide. methane and co2 are found in other reactions ( carbon dioxide is common in combustion reactions for instance) but as far as we know dimethyl sulfide is only produced by organisms… think they specifically called out bacteria and plankton.

[@XDNighthawkXD]

I see, I think I misunderstood the article I guess I assumed it was Co2 because we exhale it and methane because its generated by livestock. My bad.

[@nathlack6170]

If we ever find elemental oxygen in an atmosphere that is a very high indicator of life - as far as we are aware without life oxygen will swiftly (on geological timescales) react away to non-existance

[@thisisjuleka6027]

26:49 really random thing here but there's a very obscure mechanic in the creature stage where you can find other nests of your current creature. And if you click on them you can make that nest your new home nest. This often includes all the nests youve been at so far and a few others. So you can actually choose where you end up but its super obscure and never really told to you. Lovely video btw!! Cant wait for part 2!

[@sekirofan0]

Was looking for this comment

[@JourneyLT]

If you use freecam you can find nests of your creature on other continents. If you make those nests your home, the sea monster will come out of land and eat you. You'll then respawn on the other island.

[@thisisjuleka6027]

@@JourneyLT yeah thats always cool to try! Though i wish you could go there without cheats

[@Diablo_Himself]

Yes, this allows you to move around at will after Migrating...to find a better spot.

[@barneysoldierson54]

What if you play the first 4 stages then for the 5th you hop onto Stellaris?

[@ciboria1]

"Dying is extremely traumatic; I can only imagine this because I've never died before" That line made me laugh more than I have in weeks. Thank you for the fantastic writing

[@evervirescent]

i’m not sure if anyone pointed these out already, but i want to add some things: - as of the writing of this comment, the sporepedia is still running and hosted - you can choose where your final nest is to an extent. if you find a nest of your own creature, you can click on it to make it your home nest - in my experience, it takes 2 hits for an epic to kill you, the first just takes you to near zero - epic creatures give more meat than normal ones, but not enough to be worth it

[@cinnasauria]

I feel like I have to point out that it's really not true that that kind of aggressive competition is rewarded by a hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Hunter-gatherer groups are actually known for egalitarianism, caring for those unable to fend for themselves, and different groups sharing resources between each other during times of hardship, because cooperation is an extremely powerful survival strategy. No need to compete with each other for resources when you can ensure that everyone gets something. A nomadic lifestyle also helps humans take advantage of resources in different areas. Aggression really doesn't characterize our success as a species. Early humans, even outside Homo sapiens, were thoughtful and empathetic too. We form societies, we always have.

[@tommasocorsini6485]

Yeah there are a bunch of evo-psych half-truths in the video unfortunately :/

[@LiveforHM]

What happens when other tribes and societies want our resources for their own?

[@chenthelegend3110]

@@LiveforHMthat’s the thing, the “other” mentality is what lets us be aggressive against other human beings and animals, thats for example why people at home may support a war but a soldier sent to kill and they come back with regret for killing another human after actually seeing the enemy face first hand, we other people and dehumanize them, though with yknow human brains some people never dehumanize the “other” and some people won’t humanize the “other” and we end up with empathy for our own group and a lack of it for another in general terms

[@funnymango571]

people talk about this game from time to time but nobody seems to give it much thought. great video!

[@kale3504]

Spore is probably the main if not THE reason why I'm pursuing Evolution and Ecology as my major. I loved spore and I absolutely loved study evolution because of this game.

[@maude-poppy]

this comments really fun bc i ALSO attribute my major to spore, but im doing Accounting and Economics 😂 id always play the exact same strategy so id be Economic civ stage and Trader space stage, and id make charts of spice prices (before i learned they just change randomly over time). really cool that at least TWO people had their careers shaped by this little 2008 pc game 🥰

[@fiend375]

43:29

[@jordyn2442]

⁠@@maude-poppythat’s super cool how you both were inspired in different ways! I’m currently doing a math biology major, my two biggest interests my entire life have been evolutionary biology (especially early hominid evolution) and mathematics, accounting, etc! Based on these two comments and this whole video I think I need to play this game even if I’m over a decade too late lol

[@chenthelegend3110]

You know what I never realized but I was obsessed with spore when I was younger and it was my first introduction to “evolution” as a concept (Pokemon as well but that’s even less of an evolution game lol) but now I’m a bio technology student and now I’m obsessed with palaeontology haha I would definitely attribute that to spore, what a game eh that’s awesome

[@kosha4735]

Exactly the same, but I am a biotechnologist! It's so awesome to see people like us!

[@anthonydelozier6118]

This was the first game I ever played, it brought me into games with joy and passion. Then I got spore hero on the Wii and decided that life was in fact not worth living and all things that give us joy will eventually leave us with heartbreak.

[@Kiyajadie]

same happened to me when I discovered the Sims 2 lmao :')

[@frocco7125]

But I liked that one! I thought it was a nifty spin off.

[@justinroberts2323]

It was my first game too! My mom got it in a bargain bin st a flea market mixed in with movie CDs and it ran like sandpaper on our old box computer, but it was the funnest thing in my eyes when I got to play it. Not many games can draw out creativity or curiosity like this one.

[@felismiscellaneous5668]

I mostly enjoy this video, but I think you have a bit of a limited view of carnivorism/herbivorism and socializing. Wolves are completely carnivorous, and their "society" is based on caring for each other, including the weaker ones. Many herbivores fight and kill each other during mating seasons to impress potential partners. Herbivores are generally more violent than carnivores because the way carnivores must get their food is often dangerous to them, especially those that hunt larger animals. They are usually skittish and have to think about whether or not they should attack based on how healthy their prey is, and how healthy they are, because that attack might spell their death. The moose does not have to worry about hunting down its food, it just has to defend itself and/or its babies. A moose is more likely to stomp you to death before a wolf ever thinks about mauling you. Caring for your family/herd/pack/etc is beneficial to both herbivores and carnivores because a "society" always increases the lifespan of the individual, and animals that aren't dickheads are more likely to be cared for by the pack.

[@XDNighthawkXD]

That's fair. I really shouldn't speak so "Matter of fact" about it. Hippos, Moose and Zebras are some of the most violent animals on the planet and they only each grass. I think in part 2 I'll take the time to go more into the nuances of physical traits which are developed. Emphasizing on the idea that animals are mostly a product of there environment rather than their diet. Thank you

[@cinnasauria]

@@XDNighthawkXD Thoughtful comment and response. Predators in particular have to conserve energy for the hunt and so tend not to pick fights they can't win. Many encounters between two predators involve a lot of bluffing rather than attacking and this is something we ourselves can use during various encounters. On the other hand, plenty of herbivores have adaptations just FOR fighting and can be actively aggressive. Most carnivores eat things other than meat as part of their regular diet, and most herbivores even eat the occasional bit of meat from time to time as something of a supplement. Not all carnivores are predators, some are scavengers, basically it's just that few things in nature are strictly one thing or the other, it's all a gradient and that's how evolution is able to happen.

[@cinnasauria]

​@@vamppanic absolutely agree. i was trying to communicate that it is pretty even, it just varies depending on species and circumstance. i was thinking about how many ruminants are known for intraspecific competition for mates, and become more reactive and territorial around mating season. a bull moose won't hesitate to charge a car just for being there. basically, besides predation and defense, animals can also be aggressive when it helps ensure reproductive fitness. it's all survival, but even the instinct to kill isn't exclusive to predators-- lions are known for intolerance of offspring they didn't father, but this isn't always the case, and they're not alone. zebra stallions are just as prone and have even (very occasionally) been documented attacking calves of entirely different species. and just as not all carnivores are strictly predators, not all herbivores are prey when full-grown. african elephants and rhinos will absolutely attack a lion on sight, because nothing else really threatens them and they can afford to throw their weight around. personally i just think it's worth remembering that few things in nature are so cut-and-dry, because adaptability is key.

[@rowbot5555]

Thank you so much for this comment, its really suamazing just how often people get this wrong and its nice to see this misconception more widely corrected! A hippo is far more likely to kill you if you get close to it than a hyena or even a lion

[@solsystem1342]

Mostly good points. I will push back on the idea that society is always a good idea. The amount of largely solitary animals would seem to make this obvious. Bears don't go it alone most of the time because they're stupid. It's just not usually worth two bears trying to work together on something because they would need to get double the food and bringing a second bear into your already large hunting/foraging range doesn't really help maters.

[@horse14t]

Minor corrections on a couple of Creature Stage comments; The servers are actually still up and people can still share and download other people's creations. You just have to have Spore on EA's program as the Steam version of the game is incompatible with the servers. Also, you can choose a different location for your final nest at any point in the Creature Stage. On your minimap there are trails which lead to other nests made by your species. It's only the first two nests in your journey that become inaccessible. The number of trails also increases with each migration step, so if you want your city to start at a coastline and not in the middle of the continent after your third migration, you can leave your third nest and find another one closer to the coast if you want to.

[@horse14t]

Couldn't use the new name of Origin as the word that is apple without the le kept getting the comment deleted...

[@lunaris3983]

Actually the Steam version can still connect to the servers, you just have to dig up your CD key. Which they hid in the files instead of giving to you.

[@horse14t]

@@lunaris3983 Don't you still have to put that in Origin to connect though? I've always had the physical game so I never had to fiddle with the Steam version

[@lunaris3983]

@@horse14t You do need to have an origin account and redeem the key there. But you don't need to install the game through origin, you can just launch the steam version normally once it's set up

[@horse14t]

@@lunaris3983 Oooohhhhh okay! I get it now, thanks!

[@beefromashroom]

Spore has been one of my favorite games since I was little, and I love that you're taking it seriously! Sure, it's a cartoony, sometimes silly game, but it's still well crafted and fascinating and it deserves to be talked about

[@WolfZonez212]

If you have a fully upgraded nest and a spit level of 4 or 5 you can bait an epic to your nest, stand in the back and just spit on it and let your allies fight for you until it’s dead. It usually ignores your allies and just stands and screams at you. The epic can’t enter the nest but it HAS to be the last nest. This was my only strategy throughout my childhood and also recently when my nest was put smack dab in the middle of 3 epic spawns 😂

[@SgtRichardGeisechts]

This video is really compelling; I had never thought to have given SPORE a deep analysis beyond creature culture and what could have been. SPORE is quite possibly my favorite game of all time, and to see it in a different light gives it more intrigue. edit: I really hope Thrive and Elysian Eclipse push to the end (however long that may be) and accomplish what both respective games are seeking to accomplish. A SimEverything was what Will Wright had been seeking to accomplish, and while the product that was delivered was not his dream, I am sure someone along the way will carry that torch to the podium.

[@louissteyn6871]

That segment at the beginning of the civilization stage and mentioning how our brains hasn't really changed reminds me of how I came to the conclusion we aren't smarter than our ancestors just better educated

[@SlothDemon]

Such a good Video. Not only that you are deep diving into the games mechanics, you are also speaking about it in a very sophisticated way in terms of how they apply to the the real world. Superb bro, superb.

[@MemesSwitched]

Omori refrenced in spore, truly one of the best videos of our generation

[@DialE4Eggs]

Glad to know I'm not the only one who still plays Spore

[@foxtailzerda9108]

This was a truly amazing analysis of a game that's one of the keystones of my childhood. I always knew there was something special about Spore beyond just indulging my overactive imagination, and this deep dive finally put my feelings about it into words. It may not have aged the best, but it's always nice to come back to. I can tell you've put a lot of effort and research into this video essay, and it's only part 1! with how thorough this part was, I'm eager to see what else you have to say about it! I've always been more interested in the evolutionary and biological side of the game, but hearing your analysis of the sociological side was really interesting too! At around 27:00 though, if I remember correctly, I think you sort of can choose where to migrate to. The path leads to a new nest, but I think towards the end of Creature stage the path can continue past your current nest and split off. If you explore around enough, you may find another nest of your species and you can choose to make that your home nest instead. You could use this to find a nest closer to the sea, and so have easier access to fish in Tribal stage, and later, access to sea vehicles in Civilization stage.

[@XDNighthawkXD]

Two things 1.Thank you very much 2. HOLY CRAP YOU'RE RIGHT! I just tested it and you are absolutely correct! I have put AT LEAST, 1000 hours into this game and I had NO IDEA you could do that! You need to understand how crazy this is, it's like someone just told me about a new color that always existed and I had just never seen it before. This is insane! Thank you!

[@kotzpenner]

@@XDNighthawkXDthat was actually a neat trick I read back then to get access to the sea

[@xoids126]

39:00 "As long is there is two people left on the planet, someone is gona want someone dead." That's just a quote from "Meet the Sniper". Still a good quote to use in that section.

[@thisisjuleka6027]

"dad put ma on the phone" wouldve also fit :p

[@Pipwick]

I had a copy of Spore Heros as a kid (I still have it somewhere), and there were drastic changes in gameplay compared to OG spore. Since I grew up with Heros instead of the original, when I found out about OG spore I was speechless. There was an amazing game only available on PC that I could never obtain. Now that I've grown up and have access to both I feel like I didn't appreciate Heros enough and just judged it based on gameplay differences. Great video btw keep it up!

[@FerinitheBloodHusky]

the jump from the ds spore to the pc one was so great for me. I was so excited at both all the creators and how much bigger the game was aswell as small things like being able to jump off cliffs. I will probably never experience a technological jump so great again in my life.

[@tylluanfathomless1628]

wow. this easily takes the number 1 spot for my favorite video essay. when i was watching one of your other vids and heard that you were doing a video on spore, i got super exited as spore was one of the first games i ever played when i was very young. this video really opened my eyes on the game as a whole, and really made me appreciate the game better. this video was incredible, the analysis was great and so was the structure. the only real advice/ critique or whatever i have to give is keep making more vids like this, because this one was phenomenal and making more just makes you better at it. im very exited to see your new content in the future, thanks for making this one

[@Goobert77]

Yum yum, I love eating spores

[@ortherner]

Amazing video

[@TheDolphinTuna]

34:03 The Creature Creator actually did have a standalone releae to promote the game leading up to launch. There were a couple differences from the final version, but it ensured that there was already a massive stable of wacky player-created creatures to populate everyone’s galaxies on release.

[@AeonKnigh432]

It's me, I'm the person who's favorite spore stage is Tribal. It's definitely a weak point but it's still good.

[@elrusito5034]

I don't like the tribal stage because it's underdeveloped compared to crature stage (every stage following creature seems to have diminishig development). If you see Spore as an "evolution-sim game" the tribal stage makes perfect sense.

[@kakarotwolf]

Same, but I'm also an RTS nerd so ... 😂

[@FerinitheBloodHusky]

i think the tribal stage, and civ, would of benefited by more seamlessly transitioning into the civ stage. It would of added more to it over the run time of the stage aswell would of maybe prevented the "make or choose 4 building and 1-2 vehicles right now" at the start of the later one.

[@howlins]

this video was a real treat! spore was a major part of my childhood, and every time i think about it now i'm hit with how intelligent this game really was. i feel like i hardly see people talk about it anymore, and it's always weird to be reminded that playing this game is not a universal experience just because of how influential it was to my brother and i when we were very young. i have so many friends my age who have never touched the game and i almost get frustrated about it, lol. side note, i've been thinking about making video essays for a little while but thought the things i care about just aren't interesting enough to watch a video about, but the feeling of seeing this pop up in my recommended yesterday and getting so excited that somebody else in the world cares about spore as much as i do kind of rewired my brain a little. thanks for the accidental encouragement.

[@diddles3383]

46:40 bit of a nitpick, but comic isn't a genre, it's a medium. Superhero might be more accurate (not all comics are about superheroes, etc)

[@Angryprobedroid]

Hi I liked this video! Spore was one of my childhood games as well and it's good to get a fresh perspective on this. When it comes to the video itself I think it the analysis of the game modes and clash of genres was spot on. If something could be improved I would venture to say some areas could be summarized, such as the explaining the consequence abilities you get from different stages; it's sort of intuitive that you would get something like firebombs for your chief from being aggressive. One thing I would like to challenge is the presumption of aliens in the space stage section. In this part of the video, time was dedicated to the process of first contact and you emphasized that us humans may not be all as special as we think we are. I think there's merit in treating our place in the universe with humility, however I think that should also come with tempering our expectations. When we talk about meeting aliens, we're not talking about any old amoeba or small shrimp trying to get by, first contact is about civilizations! Whether it's a type 1, 2, or 3 on the Kardashev scale or whatever hypothetical we're using this should be a huge event! In this part we're not just looking for a place where life lives eternally trapped under an ice ocean or an extremophile environment where the mass of the planet in question is just a little too great and the gravity too strong. We may not be so special in the grand scheme of things, but what we're looking for is incredibly specific: A planet that sustains life well enough for a species to evolve, likely over the timescale of billions of years, and for that species to not succumb to natural calamities or -- self-made ones as we are facing -- by the time we are able to contact them. And to top it off we want the would-be Klingons to reach the point of developing radios and crap we consider to be advanced As of now we've found no planet that definitively could sustain life as we know it. There's no end to articles wanting to drum up excitement for the latest planetoid who looks to be in the habitable zone but who's star probably strips them of all atmosphere. Of course there are probably a good few planets fitting the criteria out there, but how close? Not within our own system it seems. If you think we'll even come close to reaching or surpassing the speed of light in our lifetime then there's no end to the possibilities of what could occur or where we could go. It's true that our technology has reached great heights relative to what humans were using before in recent memory, but does it go that far? Can we rewrite what seem to be laws in terms of our understanding of physics now? Even a planet a third of the galaxy away from us would, according to some quick maths... take tens of thousands of years if you were traveling at the speed of light. More of a one way trip, and who knows how things will be different by the time we reach the other side? If we're talking about galactic relations, would a trip be profitable outside of scientific inquiry and curiosity? After all this I don't think there's evidence to rule out life and galactic civilizations, far from it, but that differs from (especially our own lifetime) us having proof or even the possibility of meaningful contact. The universe is full of exciting stuff, I'm not holding my breath on the aliens though.

[@Mishi-mashi]

This video was great! Long essays are always hard, but you did an excellent job both keeping flow and yet also exploring small details! Keep on keeping on.

[@cloritic]

I never thought too hard about this game as a child, but comparing the themes of spore and human behavior, evolution (and some other animals), etc. was really interesting

[@pinkprideparade]

big fan of this video cant wait to watch part 2 right now

[@leen8430]

Wow. What an incredibly in-depth, well-researched analysis. It's obvious you put in a huge amount of time and dedication. I love detailed essays on niche games or topics, so thanks a lot - that was great!

[@kotzpenner]

Spore was one of the reasons to buy my first real and own pc. Imagine me, working 2 months part time in the supermarket (my first job) and then buying the parts and building it with my first 650€. This was the first game I played on it. It was my benchmark, I distinctly remember „I wanna know how well this runs now“. Went from a 40 gb, 1 ghz machine that was far too old by that point, to a decent gaming rig. Before I had to wait at least a minute between planets in space stage or loading overall, with the worst settings. Afterwards it was smooth sailing on the highest settings. It was a real pleasure. Played it a lot (I got it on release) and became disillusioned by what could have been.

[@LeDoctorBones]

A small critique about your points on aliens. We do not know enough about life and the universe to be able to say how likely either simple alien lifeforms or advanced alien civilisations are. I also believe it likely that more aliens exists, but believing in it with any certainty is in no way dissimilar to religious dogma. Especially since we cannot see the likely telltale signs of advanced alien civilisations in our own galaxy such as Dyson Spheres/Swarms. (I do believe Isaac Arthur actually has a lot of good videos on this topic.)

[@bluciuswastaken]

I Clicked on this video with the intention of falling asleep to it. But here I am, almost 2 hours in absolutely mesmerized with the intricacies of Spore and much to my delight, this is but the first part of your analysis. Needless to say, I am extremely satisfied and I am looking forward to the next part/s, take my sub!

[@corpsenymph4644]

Honestly I wasn’t expecting an analysis into animal instincts and sentience and how spore represents it in game lol. Not that it’s bad, in fact I think it’s incredibly interesting, especially when you touched upon how human brains haven’t really changed. Social norms and behaviors we learned have, and how we entertain and feed ourselves and show aggression have changed too, but the brain itself hasn’t really evolved. All in all I’m REALLY enjoying the video :D

[@meaninglesscommenter8457]

something you missed about the nest situation of creature stage: you can find nests of your species around the world and select it as your new main nest. this means you do have some choice in your nest location!

[@Hellooo134]

As a lover of biology, I have to say that you cannot make a good game that actually helps you understand evolution. Evolution is intrinsically a process that does not require intelligent intervention. Because of that, player led evolution is unrealistic.

[@Foggeer-von-Dreitveld]

Have you tried Thrive by Revolutionary Games? It is, as of now, a somewhat Spore inspired single celled live simmulator in which you are the 'intelligent designer' of a species. However, all the other species which coexist with you are derived from your species or eachother, with small changes created by an AI. These species can have their own ofspring in turn and they can become extinct if they are not fit for the environment they are in.

[@carsoncas5355]

@@Foggeer-von-DreitveldI was gonna bring up that one could do a player led evolution and have other species use normal evolution for a good game and actually bring that game up. It also has a mode where you can just watch species evolve with little to no intervention too.

[@jjkthebest]

I think it could be done, but it would be very different from spore. I'm imagining a game where you can change the environment and the creatures live and evolve on their own to fit the environment you create.

[@Croationman]

I’ll never forget that video showing off the features that weren’t in the game at all

[@Claragonza3]

Great video! Thought I had stumbled on a 300K youtube but happy to support a soon to be big creator! You're doing great, good video even with the slander of my favourite part of spore, the tribal stage! There's a part of spore for everyone and I'm glad to see someone enjoys it as much :)

[@l.abuddy23]

This was so satisfing to listen to. To hear the breakdown of each stage was a beautiful string of words. As someone who played this game constantly as a kid, you did a great job at critiquing and exlaborating it. The other PSore anaylsis videos never went in this deep and I really appriacte your effort to dive into a game that was made for kids. I cannot wait otthear what you have to say more on this game.

[@CutieBlondi]

I use to sit on the family computer for HOURSSSS and play spore in elementary school. I had literally no clue how to play it and still don’t lmao. Thank you for making this!

[@barbariety_myrkr14]

Amazing, deep and thorough analysis of the game and it's stages. Makes me wonder on what else do you have to say about it in the next parts. I'm here for the ride, and also, btw, you motivated me to play the game one more time making a creature with no eyes (didn't know about that detail). Thanks a lot!

[@XDNighthawkXD]

Thank you I appreciate you saying that! Next part is a little up in the air, I definitely want to go over the small bits I missed and maybe go into the story of this game some more. Thanks for watching!

[@ΒΑΣΙΛΗΣΜΑΚΡΗΣ-μ8ρ]

@@XDNighthawkXD Maybe you could talk about the spore galactic adventures expansion and how it makes the space stage much better than it is

[@stanisawzokiewski3308]

I love the way you started the video. Spore was my introduction to science as a whole. It made me understand basic concepts of a child and started my hunger to *evolve* 27:40 ok chill out with the anti human propaganda. Thats not a good survival strategy. When plants first evolved they almost wiped out all life by filling the atmosphere with oxygen

[@Wertalek]

39:01 bro did NOT just quote meet the sniper💀

[@samtournesol]

ok i finished the video, luved it, may or may not have cried a little bit at the end. thanks for uploading ♡

[@paigeseliger836]

"You'll probably notice a pattern here, but don't get used to it" 🎉✨️science✨️🎉

[@tubanotuva]

Absolutely superb video. I loved the way you focused and made parallels to humans as a species while still considering how the game simplifies it. Spore was my childhood game and this video made me happy with every second of it. Amazing work!!

[@RaxoFilms]

this video made me nostalgic as hell, i remember getting this game on release and loving it, thank you!

[@coliimusic]

This game was too my childhood classic, so it's awesome seeing someone do a proper retrospective on it. Takes me back to a simpler time, when all I had to worry about was what Mom was doing and what was happening at School the next day❤❤

[@Hotchocolaterabbit]

This video deserves so much love! Thanks for taking the time to make this, it's made me want to play Spore so bad lol

[@tarabelle7716]

The ending of the video was really sweet. Also I enjoyed it as a whole, nice overview of spore

[@SnuuySnuuy]

honestly no criticisms keep doing what you're doing. good editing and nice clear speech

[@sirzorg5728]

I made well over a thousand custom creatures as a kid, but since that computer died over a decade ago, they're all lost.

[@sammymen1530]

Great video as usual broseph. I guess my only question would be what do you plan to talk about in part 2? Seems to me like you covered the majority of things about spore succinctly in this one video, but again I enjoyed it very much. Keep up the good work Nighthawk :D

[@XDNighthawkXD]

Thank you! I actually have a good bit left to talk about really the only thing I'm not sure about is how I should structure it. I want to talk about the history of the game (supposedly this game took 8 years to make) I also wanted to talk about the mods for this game a bit more as well as highlight some of the "spore-like" games that are in development, also this isn't really part of the analysis; but I wanted to do a pseudo-documentary about the evolution of the nighthawks in game. I already have most of their lore written down I'm just not sure where I should put that section. Alot of part 2 is not set yet; but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

[@therealchief850]

Fantastic 10/10 video, got me feeling nostalgic, depressed, and curious of the future, all over a goofy lil funny game

[@ladymari1]

This was such an entertaining and well put together video, you deserve a lot more views

[@Volchonochec]

Glorious video Bud, for a chunk of critique i can provide, a lot of flaws in this game is a result of "Not much time and not much resources to spare" due to Maxis being under EA and you know these guys. For example, you argue about first contact being pivotal moment in any race that face it and game doesn't represent it at all, and someone can say, that, "Sorry pal, there was no time for that in development cycle, we needed to work on more critical things". My point being, even though you sprinkle some, maybe you can sprinkle more bits about what challenges developers meet (especially those who worked on spore, procedural animation generation, when there is little to none of this in the field at the time was hell), on the other hand, maybe this type of vids will not benefit much from that. Sorry for the wall of text :-3. Just a thought that cross my mind when i watched it. Thank you for you work, its always a joy when someone open his soul a little, ok am done, see yea.

[@JustinDavis-o3p]

Such a beautiful and sometimes wonky game! I absolutely loved this game when I was a kid and when i return to it it brings me a little bit of that same joy and charm that it graced me with then. I sorely wish there was a sequel and if one were to be made I would ask that the creators of No Man's Sky would stand at the helm. EA is never to be trusted. Your video is one of the rare gems in the Spore KZbin space. It goes in depth on things most seem to discount or just avoid. I even learned some new things about the game I did not know!

[@Sckadoo]

I thought that I was a Spore expert, but this video is showing me things I never even knew about!

[@snek7915]

This was such an amazing video, and a very compelling piece of commentary on humanity as a whole, with a really really beautiful conclusion at the end. I don't know if there's anything I can offer in terms of criticism, as you did a great job in presenting and supporting your ideas, and backing them up with visuals, and your line reading was honestly better than most larger channels. Audio mixing in particular is something that surprisingly not that many people can get right, which makes watching their videos very challenging, but you did really well there too. There were a few abrupt transitions and some of the lines felt like they needed a little more or little less verbosity, but none of them were enough to really disrupt the flow of the video. So, that's probably just something that will even out with experience. Absolutely looking forward to watching more of your stuff!

[@vonotto4358]

Great video man, hope this blows up!

[@mysryuza]

I didn’t know changing the mouth size changes the tone of the voice! Fun fact: I thought it was something that was already widely known, but it is possible to change your nest location. If you find another random nest of your creature, you can click the nest to make your new home. This is useful for those who want a nest next to the water for civilization stage to enable sea vehicles. There is a bug that randomly happens sometimes where your tribe chieftain and/or a random tribe member could get stuck at a certain animation that prevents them from doing anything. It’s nearly or about impossible for you to befriend all tribes in this state, as the chieftain is required to do the performance (I say nearly because some players found possible ways to fix it without restart the save, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all from my experience). You can still advance with a friendly outcome in the timeline if you befriended all but one tribe before the error happened. It’s not impossible to clear the stage if befriending tribes is not your goal. There were times I tried to starve the chieftain to Respawn to fix, but it didn’t work. The best you could do besides what I mentioned is restart at a previous save if you didn’t save after the bug happened. I think clicking T opens the timeline without accidentally advancing to the next stage. If you have multiple creature files (which is common through saving them multiple times with a few or no changes), there is a chance for your creature to enter tribal stage and give you the option to be cannibals with another version of your creature being animals. However, I’ve only witnessed it once, so I concluded that it’s rare. What I find funny is sometimes you can find an egg in Creature Stage hovering high in the air above your creature’s nest or a nest of the same species.

[@justinroberts2323]

One thing about speed in civ stage- At the very start / tutorial of civ it is best to go for 100% speed on your vehicles to snag as many geysers as possible before other civs pop up. The early starting civs are never aggressive, so theyll leave any geyser you own alone, you just have to beat them to it.

[@MichaelTunesi]

Thanks

[@XDNighthawkXD]

Why thank you very much. That was very kind of you.

[@Nathouuuutheone]

"Cells are looking for food. Food equals energy. Energy equals movement." Around 4:50 I have absolutely no memory of "energy" or movement costing anything. I remember being able to wander aimlessly without eating.

[@Cyfaeras]

Eagerly awaiting part 2, this was great!

[@Solibrae]

Quite in-depth and I was surprised at how you connected the game with real-life so consistently.

[@Freezagger]

Thanks for the wonderful analysis, it was a new take that gives quite a bit to think about.

[@sleepingchaser]

Really enjoyed this video! Very detailed analysis!

[@rowbot5555]

4:00 theres an interesting game like this called "thrive" in the works, it was started by the same people that thought spore was far too dumbed down, it's been off and on for like 9 years now but the project really picked up steam about 3 years ago and is funded by donations and made by volunteers and passionate nerds. That being said, its still very early in development and has only recently added support for multicelularity

[@Kiorka]

That was an absolutely wonderful video. A lot of love and care was put into it, and I can tell. Keep up the good work Hawk.

[@cdubsb3831]

Please bring this analysis to civilization or Sims. Your coverage of the space stage is stellar.

[@jjkthebest]

You can actually choose where you move to when migrating in the creature stage. It's not random. The map marker points to a random one (or the closest one maybe?) but you can actually just go near any nest along the dotted line and make it your new nest. One thing to add to socialisation: The skills a creature will use will be dependent on the individual you try to befriend. So, if you try to befriend one, but they only ever use their lvl 5 dance, they will always use that lvl 5 dance. Breaking off the attempt and trying again won't change that. However, a different individual may use a different set of abilities. Say, their lvl 5 dance one but then only their lvl 1 sing. This means, if you can't befriend a specific individual, but you really want to ally that species, try befriending different of their individuals. I wanna contest the idea that an rts isn't for creative people. Although I suppose the tribal stage doesn't do this very well. I think fanatical frenzy is way better than gravitation wave. Wait. People have difficulties using the terraforming system? Weird. It seems quite easy to me. Aren't the grox cyborgs?

[@FatherElaijah]

Such a detailed essay! Thank you very much, there've been many interesting thoughts

[@SnuuySnuuy]

this is the best video ever omg I feel enlightened after watching this and its a video about spore

[@mayanightstar]

Raise your hand if you didn't expect to get a big dose of philosophy at the end

[@Melrieoi]

Spore is goated, enough said

[@cadencenavigator958]

You can migrate manually in creature stage; you don't get a DNA bonus, but you can click on another of your species' nests to make that your home, and thus where your tribe/city pops up. Additionally, the a button lets you make things asymmetrical in the creators. In Space stage, NPC empires might actually be able to be Knights, because if you have one and meet it on another save it'll look like a Warrior empire. The stages in order of how much I like them (least to most) is... cell > tribal > space > civilization > creature. When it comes to your analysis of human nature and civilization, I think you're wrong on a few parts. Firstly, just because something is said does not mean it is true; the one you cite is a simple, pithy way to explain war, but think about it. Do you want anyone dead? If so, why? Are you sure you don't just want them to not bother you? I believe that most people don't consider death a thing worth striving for for its own sake; I believe that when people do want others to die, it is usually because of scarcity. And scarcity is not mandatory. As you highlight, space is full of resources that are not used by anyone. If we invested more in space travel- and I remember hearing about theories we were working on that would give us FTL- we could easily move past scarcity... but that's not the only way. I've seen the numbers; we make more than enough food to feed every human being on the planet, but still people starve and die on the streets. We can clothe and house everyone, but we don't. I put the blame on capitalism's quest for infinite profits and the idea that people should 'earn their keep'; as we move towards increasing automation, we have less and less need for people to be doing things like manually growing and harvesting crops or cleaning sewers. While those will still need human supervision and people to fix them when things go wrong, that still frees up a huge amount of people to instead work on whatever they want, be that art or architecture or being the best at their chosen field. As humanity grows and expands we will need to move out into space, but if we focus on sustainability and compassion rather than profit, if we all understand that we all deserve to live, then we can become post scarcity more easily. And, we can do more than one thing at a time. We can fund space exploration and mitigating the harm we've done to our planet. On a lighter note, I don't think the data supports the idea that animals operate entirely on instinct, even predators. A lion will not attempt a kill that it knows will fail, and it will retreat if at all possible. It can learn that something new isn't a threat, or that something old is. If you've ever had a house cat, you'll know that they have distinct personalities, minds, and feelings, and they're obligate carnivores; most predators eat plants as well, and most herbivores will eat meat if meat happens nearby. Thanks for reading this brick of a comment.

[@bryos2876]

loved this video! cant wait for part 2 :) made me want to play spore again and actually try the space stage XD

[@Foggeer-von-Dreitveld]

You mention at some point that you expect that a sapient species which has decended from a carnivorous species would be more agressive than a sapient species which has decended from herbivores, because carnivores need to kill in order to feed themselves. Most mammals, including obligate carnivores (animals which eat only meat), are very cowardly. They will not tippically engage in a fight if they risk injury, even if they will likely win. This behavior makes sense, considering even a single, non toxic bite can lead to the animals demise, especially when an infection occurs. If you look at some of the more agressive terrestrial mammals alive today, I would name tigers, hippopotamuses and rhinoceroses. Two of these are actually herbivores. I think a corrolation between agression and diet is not so easilly drawn.

[@thisisjuleka6027]

Carnivores are usually only agressive when hungry or when they feel threatened. Herbivores agressive for the sake of it :p

[@geo24793]

Great vid! Looking forward to the other parts!

[@SlugCreator]

27:00 You can actually choose where to migrate after the first one. You actually have several nests throughout the continent that the game doesn't tell you about. It took me like 200 hours to figure that out so

[@diegodankquixote-wry3242]

Hell yeah will wright and his freaking hellish spore beasts!

[@tylerherr4288]

i have been pushing this for halo since infinite was in dev but mix the halo wars rts style with the fps style let us command troops to go around a hill and flank the enemy while the player (the one man war machine that more often then not doesnt need side by side help) gets to do the frontal assault

[@BardouSia]

Tribal stage are actually my fav stage, cause toteism has also always fascinated me

[@moonielivee4836]

You sound so relaxing as ever, I want moooore

[@XDNighthawkXD]

Well, you're in luck. I'm not going to stop making videos anytime soon.

[@TheKevinNoble]

Loved the science and sociology talks. More in depth dives into real life inspirations behind games would be good.

[@Tubeytime]

Humans aren't a mistake, they're a direct expression of this universe's systems: competition, scarcity, entropy, otherness, etc. It can all be found in humans as well as all other living creature, not just on this planet, but on any planet. We might have evolved on Earth, but we share the universe with any aliens that might be out there.

[@LeDingueDeJeuxVideos]

Criticism: It might be because I am already experienced with the game, but to me this often felt like "here is a thing in Spore that also exists in real life. Here are my thoughts on it (the thing in real life)" ramblings. I had hoped for more game-specific speculation on lore (of which you hinted near the end) or implications of the games mechanics on its world (somewhat like on the evolutionary heritage of diet on behavioral tendencies). I apologize if this is harsh but most of the video had me bored and pressing the x2 speed button. Some moments exempted from that were interesting details that I either didn't know (I had no idea about the effects of the mouth's size on sounds, nor of the antennae and noses/nostrils) or wanted a refresher or completeness (the different "in-universe" uses for spice you succintly listed). I am hopeful about the second entry however. I also hope my comment was understandable and useful

[@XDNighthawkXD]

Thank you, To be honest, I understand what you mean, even I feel like I should have more often taken the game at face value and talked about the in universe implications of things more so than just compare it to the real world equivalent. This is something I will definitely do in part 2. I don't take any offense to the boring comment I know my voice is monotone most of the time. Aside from that, what would you say is the reason for boredom if you could pin down a specific reason?

[@LeDingueDeJeuxVideos]

@@XDNighthawkXD @XDNighthawkXD Thanks for your answer, I think comparisons to the real world can be very interesting, only in this case it felt to me less like comparisons and more like the game prompting you to talk about our real world without much rapport to the game for a while. I'm thinking about how you commented on economy and how we live better than in the past although people have it better than others. And although your analysis wasn't bad and was clever enough to stay in my mind, I just didn't click on the vid for this and I didn't understand what your point was relating to the game. That was the sort of things that had me bored. I wasn't particularly annoyed or bored by your voice, at least not consciously. Explaining the basics of the game had me bored too but it's normal you have to go through it for people unfamiliar with it so that's not something I think you should worry about

[@timlampers8610]

Another thing that I didn't really mention is that you can only command 1 central spaceship in the Space Stage, and that your progression can feel incredibly tedious and repetitive especially when it comes to terraforming planets. As you showed in the video, it is possible to quickly terraform a planet, but even then you would have to set up each indivual city with no real way to make 'city templates'. While each city isn't too bad to set up, doing it over and over just makes it full incredibly tedious. I feel like the game could have benefitted from seperating the Space Age in 2 seperate parts, one where you control just your first ship and upon colonizing like 10-ish planets, you would have the option to transition into an intergalactic empire where you could control multiple ships with autonomous functions like in Stellaris.

[@ameanasaur]

Spore will always hold a special place for me as its the first game I pirated and boy was I disappointed at the end product after all that hype. Fantastic analysis though, I love the way you interspersed the theory of evolution with the flow of the game and how they differed. Lookin forward to part 2

[@Gunthersby]

I remember while listening to this video that at some point you're talking about something oriented towards humanity and real life, then the next sentence is distinctly about Spore again, but the transition was so jarring without a way for me to hear the change, it took me a while to comprehend it. Other than that, it's an excellent video

[@AmberZak83]

I wish they’d make a spore 2, with today’s graphics and computer power. I loved this game.

[@cdubsb3831]

Neat feature is that they planned against the server shutdown by designing a system where you can encode creature data in a jpg generated in game. All it takes to expand your library is a functioning image hosting site and the community can continue to exist long past any of the standard EA complications. Wish more games thought of ways of preservation like this.

[@zestypigeon2729]

You got some good and well balanced insights. Cute bird too.