Topic: Sexual Dimorphism and Alternate Reproduction

[LobsterMobster]

Anyone happen to know if the devs are planning any sort of sexual dimorphism?  That's when the male and the female of a species look different, for you laymen out there.    We've also seen that lots of things in Spore lay eggs but is that the only means of procreation?  Any placentals, marsupials, or mitotics?

[Caltrop]

For eggs, I imagine that is just a handy icon to click on... Unless you want to click on pregnant bellies or unicellular buds to open the critter editor? I suppose eggs are probably the easiest. And, since you don't see them giving birth after evo pase (probably) you can imagine they give birth however you want.

I suppose this would be interesting to see, although I'd much rather see breed differences for those in different tribes/cities...

[LobsterMobster]

I was thinking more about the benefits of different methods of procreation rather than simply imagining (seeing?) the process.  That's.. kind of messy, no? 

And maybe an embryo icon? 

[Daxx]

Wouldn't it be simpler to stay with the eggs? I mean, it's really only an abstract symbol for calling up the editor, not representative of the method of reproduction. Besides which, the actual method of reproduction wouldn't provide loads of advantages without a lot of extra detail which the devs could do without. I dunno, that's just what I think. Now differentiation between the sexes can just be a cosmetic change - that's simpler, and much more doable.

[SimEarth Freak]

It would be cool if you could evolve creatures like spiders, where the female eats the male after mating.  Or how about praying mantises?  Where the female decapitates that male after mating.  Cool!  :-P

[Oviraptor]

I think once you mate (and get an egg or whatever) you immediately lose control of your previous creature. You then become the "egg" and make changes and then you "hatch" and you now control that creature.

[Azriel]

Yea, I was thinking of something like this earlier.  These are aliens/different species, you  would assume there would be different reproductive methods.  Like to be able to paralyze and implant an egg in an enemy to grow out of that body (like certain wasps do with other insects and small creatures.)  Or perhaps it takes 3 or more of the species to reproduce, or perhaps something else.  Anyway, I doubt anything like this will apear in Spore but perhaps an expansion?

[Hydromancerx]

Yeha if they don't and somone makes a human they will all look like guys or all look like girls.

This would create for some preaty freaky wars where you have a planet of all guys looking humans vs the infamious "Phallus of Doom". 

[Tarious]

I've thought about this once.

Why eggs?
Might be in an x-pack to choose something different

[Haddeen Sol]

[rant] GODDAMNIT! I have had it up to here with your expansion pack talk. This game is coming out in fifteen-something months, and now you people start talking about expansion packs? Not only that but Will Wright himself, the head honcho, said that they probably won't add any new features, but move parts to different systems, and you people keep saying "Oooh, we don't have this. Expansion pack later." Dear Father Nurgle![/rant]

[Jecrell]

... Personally I see absolutely no reason not to include the feature, and I've already argued the spider's mating rituals in detail in previous threads...

Previous threads where everyone argued against it..
...
Except maybe one guy --

*salutes the one guy*

[Azriel]

Yea, because we know will wright NEVER makes expansion packs for his games..oh..wait.    I Think it depends on how well the game sells, I am pretty sure the game is going to sell good.  If it sales REALLY good then there will be a lot of pressure from fans and the publishers to add new stuff to it, just like the sims.  Still, the game hasn't even been released so it is way to early to tell, but it doesn't hurt to dream does it?  Besides, it keeps the boards alive and gives us something to kill the time until the game is released. 

[Haddeen Sol]

Sure, it doesn't hurt to dream, but it does hurt to keep hearing about it until your ears bleed pus. Most people didn't think you could have underwater civilizations. Maybe in an expansion pack. The very mention of expansion packs is what makes me angry. Maybe it'll be in, maybe it won't. But as one might see, Spore isn't exactly an expansion pack sort of thing. It's a game, as some might've said, that's actually meant to be modded. The players create the new content, and there isn't an awful lot one can add in except these new enviroments, such as underground and whatnot. But what really boils my bollocks is that people want to add something which is completely useless and impractical for no damn reason. Nobody's trying to make this game complex, it's supposed to be lighthearted and a light gaming experience.

Secondly, people keep mentioning giant freudian compensators so much and complaining about them in advance that I'm going to make one myself, since nobody seems to care to shut up about it.

Thirdly, you can easily have spider rituals by having your creature just kill the other one after mating. Easy as pi.

[LobsterMobster]

Secondly, people keep mentioning giant freudian compensators so much and complaining about them in advance that I'm going to make one myself, since nobody seems to care to shut up about it.

Yeah, I'm starting to get the feeling that that's the sort of person you are, Haddeen.  Y'know, no one's forcing you to read any of these messages.  If you're just going to be nasty and rant at people for expressing their thoughts and opinions, maybe you ought to take it elsewhere.  It isn't productive, it isn't terribly nice, and I don't see anything that gives you the right or authority to do so.

It DOESN'T hurt to dream.  It doesn't hurt to speculate.  So chillax a bit.  If your ears are bleeding pus, go see a doctor.  Ours aren't, and I'm pretty sure most of us don't read and write here with your desires specifically in mind.

[Jaleho]

Spore isn't exactly an expansion pack sort of thing. It's a game, as some might've said, that's actually meant to be modded. The players create the new content, and there isn't an awful lot one can add in except these new enviroments, such as underground and whatnot. But what really boils my bollocks is that people want to add something which is completely useless and impractical for no damn reason. Nobody's trying to make this game complex, it's supposed to be lighthearted and a light gaming experience.

A simulation can only be modded so far until you hit a boundary, at which point a hard-core creator-type will say "oh, I guess I can't do that in this game" and go back to REALITY.

Useless and impractical? It's a video game - the entire concept of most video games are useless and impractical! Name one thing in any video game you play that is useful and practical to REAL LIFE. Now, name some pieces of software that ARE practical and useful. I don't know about the others here , but I know for me I'd like to see some USEFUL things in Spore that assure it will exist longer than the next video game gimmick out there.

The Japanese have the Earth Simulator - a supercomputer that simulates the planet's climate to better predict weather changes. The military had the makers of There recreate the Earth topographically so they could do virtual training. The Make-A-Wish Foundation and a LucasArts developer made a game to help kids with Leukemia feel empowered over their illnesses. My company sells professional chemistry, physics, mathematics and technology simulators. The robot we import has a 3d simulator to test out artificial intelligence programs before importing them into the real robot. SETI and The Cancer Foundation both used screensavers to allow regular people to use their computers to benefit their research.

Will and Maxis have found a way to harness this long-lost technology to simulate an entire galaxy, and some people seem intent on simply using that technology to blow up aliens. There's a real world out there, outside video games. Finding a way to show videogames have value besides entertaining unemployed college potheads with too much free time seems, to me, a valuable use of energy.