Spore Creature Creator now available
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EA has made the Spore Creature Creator trial available for download on both Mac and PC. A while back EA promised simultaneous release for Mac and PC, and they seem to be on track with the Creature Creator which is available for purchase at $9.95.The Spore Creature Creator is a preview and demo for the full Spore game, which is scheduled for release on September 7. As you might expect from the name the Creature Creator allows you to build and customize creatures which you'll later be able to use in gameplay once the full game is released. I've been playing with the trial this morning and it does look very promising.
The Spore Creature Creator is Leopard and Intel Mac only. It requires at least an ATI X1600 or NVidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100. It will apparently not run on computers with the GMA 950 integrated graphics chipset on OS X (though, it will on Windows). The trial version can be downloaded directly from the Spore trial site.
Thanks, Shiraz!
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Djstawberryjam said 1:28PM on 6-17-2008
hmph typical, Wanted to play around with this and because I don't have leopard I cannot play it, That's bloody annoying was really looking forward to playing it now there is no possibility and I don't really see the point of upgrading to Leopard just for a game, Just have to wait till i buy a new mac *shakes fist at EA*
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Elliot said 2:49PM on 6-17-2008
"I don't really see the point of upgrading to Leopard just for a game"
Um, what about all the other stuff you'd get with leopard? It's kind of, you know, a full update to the OS, not just a key to unlock a game. Moreover, you'd better get used to Leopard-only apps, there's tons of 'em and lots more coming. Unless you've got a specific reason (like a hardware audio interface that has old drivers) for not upgrading, I really don't see why you'd hold out.
Djstawberryjam said 4:06PM on 6-17-2008
Think my comment probs came out a bit harsh, I would only upgrade to leopard if a got a new mac as my current one (macbook) is just to old to upgrade so i rather just buy a new system than just buy a new os , I like leopard but im happy with tiger and feel it will just slow my system down :D, I will need to upgrade to leopard when dam starcraft 2 comes out.
Clancy said 1:50PM on 6-17-2008
If you edit the xml file in the installer you can bypass the 950 restriction. I've got it running fine on my Intel C2D Mac Mini.
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jim said 2:14PM on 6-17-2008
could you post instructions on how to do this?
Leo said 3:01PM on 6-17-2008
what exactly do you need to edit to allow a GMA 950 graphics card to work?
please reply!!!
Clancy said 3:14PM on 6-17-2008
1- download trial
2- click show package content
3- open resources folder
4- open tginstall.plist in Property List Editor (Having xcode installed helps)
5- Click the root triangle
6- scroll down to InsufficientRenderers
7- Change Intel GMA 950 OpenGL Engine to Intel GMA 850 OpenGL Engine (or something lower)
8- Save and run the installer
Brian said 5:00PM on 6-17-2008
I'm sorry to sound so foolish, but where is the root triangle in Xcode? I assume clicking it is what lets me save the edit (or do I need to move the installer off the mounted volume first?)
Wiley said 5:08PM on 6-17-2008
I just used TextEdit since I don't have Xcode installed. I'm assuming this is okay? I'm also guessing that it is okay to run the installer from outside the mounted DMG since you can't save into the mounted volume.
Anyways, I changed 950 to 850 as per your instructions, saved, and I'm still having problems. It starts up with the spiral galaxy spinning in the background, and clicking minimizes the application. I'm on a 2.16 C2D Macbook with 2GB of RAM.
connorcam said 5:07PM on 6-17-2008
Brian, you could probably open it in TextEdit.
Brian said 5:15PM on 6-17-2008
Oh well...I changed the plist but I'm having the same issue Wiley is. Dangit >.<
I'm also on a Macbook, that I got last year...
TigerPro said 6:13PM on 6-17-2008
Also, it's worth mentioning that I did delete the previously installed Creature Creator using AppZapper, so it should have removed all of the preferences...
pablo said 1:40AM on 6-18-2008
I'm also having the issue with the spinning galaxy and it minimizing when clicked. It appears that the mouse will light up on certain parts as if hovering over a button, but when clicked the program either minimizes and nothing happens, or safari opens up visiting the spore website.
viewofeverlast said 8:27PM on 6-17-2008
Am I the only one who has had my creatures disappear after relaunching the program? I've made about 7 creatures, only one shows up in my Sporepedia after relaunching the software...
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Brian Arnold said 11:29AM on 6-21-2008
I made one creature on my first launch, and he's not visible. All of my others are. Very odd.
TheWiicast said 9:44PM on 6-17-2008
Hey guys hope this helps. I kept getting "could not verify install" once i changed the data in the .plst file. I switched to using TextWrangler and it worked fine. The problem was that i was trying to edit it in the default window. Hope this helps! Oh, I'm running a mac mini intel dual core.
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Jay said 2:50PM on 7-04-2008
hey TheWiicast could u send me detailed instructions of what you did b/c I'm having the same problem you had and I don't know how to fix it.
Jay said 2:58PM on 7-04-2008
TheWiicast can you please send me detailed instructions of what you did to fix the problem b/c I have the same problem you did and I don't know how to fix it. my e-mail is hulse1016@aim.com
Anthony said 1:20AM on 6-18-2008
Hmm im trying to edit the .plist while its mounted but it doesnt seem to let me edit it. what program should i open it in?
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pablo said 4:51AM on 6-18-2008
Copy the .app to somewhere else first, then edit it and run the copied .app.