Topic: Bars in the upper left corner

[Tarious]

maybe when u spend your points on your brain power maybe more of the bar fills up.
Or maybe as your creature learns more it levels up.
Or its a timed bar that gains u a point when full for ur creature.

To many possibilities.

[Athul]

maybe when u spend your points on your brain power maybe more of the bar fills up.

That is possible, as it will prevent you from making your creature sentient while you don't like its current form.
But that could be also just be visible in the editor......

[Tarious]

Well I didn't mean that'd be the only way to get points. That'd be boring waiting.

[Gil]

in this screen it is very clear that the bottom bar is money. I think the top one is amount of buildings, and the middle one is amount of creatures

[Stromko]

in this screen it is very clear that the bottom bar is money. I think the top one is amount of buildings, and the middle one is amount of creatures

Huh, that's very interesting.. I never even thought about the bars in the city part of the game. I can see that suspected 'money' one does look VERY much like the Simolean symbol from the Sims, could be something else too but it's too tempting to say that the designer didn't want to change something that wasn't broke; so, money it is, most likely. One may also notice that the bars have either dark blue inverted triangles to perhaps show certain 'thresholds', and the lower bar seems to be partially depleted judging by the dark blue coming from the right.

If all your guesses on the function of the bars are right, perhaps population crosses certain thresholds, maybe to unlock different features or to allow the city to be upgraded in some way? but that hasn't been done yet so the bar has gone past that threshold a bit.. But I'm probably totally wrong The money one being partially depleted might perhaps display the cost of a recent purchase, or.. well I really can't guess. Also, as you can see from pixel 739,420, Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. Maybe I'm overthinking this pic though.

[krjal]

Money could be calculated as a sort of total inherent energy within the system, therefore the bar would represent the percentage of the total energy available to the player for use 'creating'...or whatever.

[BobFromReboot]

Old topics are fun! This is purely guessing by using the official screenshots. I'm also commenting on the icon.

Cellular

Icon: A little tadpole, representing your small size.
Food: The percentage that your creature is full, when this runs out, your health might slowly dimminish, or you'll just die.
Health: When it runs out, the creature dies.

Evolution

Icon: A naked humanoid.
Attack power: Your creature does more damage the higher this meter is. It's possible the hunger might influence your attack (if your hungry, you won't fight as well).
Food: Same as cellular. The percentage that your creature is full, when this runs out, your health might slowly dimminish, or you'll just die.
Health: When it runs out, the creature dies.

Tribal

Icon: Some of those Humanoids from the Evolution icon. They are holding spears.
Population: The population of your tribe. The bar is about 3/4 full, saying that the maximum population has almost been reached.
Food: The tribes total food.
Money: The games currency, its the same symbol used in The Sims meaning we will probably be dealing with simoleons. You buy stuff with it.

City

Icon: A building that is built from primitive shapes.
Population: The same as tribal.
Happiness: How happy your city is, the happier the better, just like Sim City.
Money: Once again, its the games currency for buying things and upgrading your technology.

Conclusion

What are the bars in the editor?
Are the bars in the underwater stage the same as the evolution stage?
Are the underwater stage and evolution stage the same thing?
Are these the final bars (Will Wright said they might not be final)?

[syphonbyte]

(Note that these are taken from the higher-res screenshots at spore's official site)

Cell Stage:

Both of these bars are obviously food and health.

Land Stage:

I can't tell what the top bar is, it's clearly a sort of spiky ball or explosion or something. The other two are food and health again.

Tribal Stage:

These bars are: population, food, money.

City Stage:

These bars are: population, happiness, money.

All of the pictures were pretty clear to me except the one from the land stage. It could have to do with attack or endurance, but why wouldn't it be in the cell stage, then? I don't have any pictures from the sea stage on me to see if it has that same bar as in the land stage or not. If it is there, that could help pinpoint what it is.

[Deep Lee]

I think the top one in the land stage is energy, like for running and jumping.
I don't think cells suffer from fatigue, which is why it's not there too.
I think when food hits 100%, you evolve more. If it hits 0%, you probably become fatigued then subsequently die.

[duke_nemmerle]

I think the top one in the land stage is energy, like for running and jumping.
I don't think cells suffer from fatigue, which is why it's not there too.
I think when food hits 100%, you evolve more. If it hits 0%, you probably become fatigued then subsequently die.

Just judging by what I read about the various features of different stage I'll offer my suggestion that the top icon in the land stage has something ot do with mating?  Most species come 'in season' for mating.  Maybe this is the percentage or measure of likely one is to score?

[syphonbyte]

I think it might have to do with mating, too, since no other sections of the game have that icon, and no other sections involve mating to reproduce. I don't think it's attack power, because they'd have it in the other parts if that were so. And apologies for my post being basically the same as the one above it...

[BobFromReboot]

I think it might have to do with mating, too, since no other sections of the game have that icon, and no other sections involve mating to reproduce. I don't think it's attack power, because they'd have it in the other parts if that were so. And apologies for my post being basically the same as the one above it...

It's definately energy.

Like at the creature level it’s going to be your hunger, your energy, and your health.

[Deep Lee]

booyah.

[syphonbyte]

Heh, well, energy is pretty inspecific. What do you need energy for? Sprinting? Mating? Fighting? Why wouldn't you need energy in, say, the microbe stage?

[MrBlueDragon]

i would think that energy is used for doing various activities, like fighting or sprinting

every attack uses energy, no energy means no attack(or weaker attack)

if your being chased and you run out of energy, you slow down becuase your exhausted and probably get eaten

i also think that energy should recharge quickly by standing still(resting), or gradually over time