Creature Creator



The creature editor is a feature in Spore which allows players to create and modify creatures. Creatures consist of a malleable body with an underlying spine, which can be sculpted in a variety of ways. Any of 228 functional parts can then be added onto the body, and be reshaped themselves.

The creature editor is very flexible, and is one of the more popular and impressive elements of the game.

In an article on GameSpy, Will Wright has this to say about the creature Editor:

''"To build the creatures, you are starting out with parts. We have seven part categories -- feet, mouth, weapons… Each category has four columns of parts, and each column has eight or nine choices. As your brain level increases, you unlock more columns. All in all we have about 400 creature parts. Each of these parts also has morphs." ''

{| width="100%" =Interface= The interface of the Creature Editor is organized into three portions:
 * 1) The Main or Editing screen, where the creature is sculpted and functional parts can be attached
 * 2) The Texturing screen, where the creature is colored and textured by the computer according to the player's choices
 * 3) The Testing screen, where the creature's in-game animations can be previewed

Status Bars
In the current version of the editor, the various stats of the creature are displayed as icons on the right side of the screen with numbers indicating the skill in that field.

Abilities 0-23 General abilities such as Sight or Call.
 * [[Image:SCCSight.png]]Sight 0-1
 * Use eyes to see the world around you.
 * Sneak 0-5
 * Move about undetected with camouflage.
 * Jump 0-5
 * Wings and some feet let you jump.
 * Glide 0-5
 * Wings give a limited form of flight.
 * Graspers 0-1
 * Hands allow creatures to pick up objects in the world.
 * [[Image:SCCMatingCall.png]]Mating Call 0-1
 * Alert potential mates - and predators - to your location. Granted By all mouths.
 * [[Image:SCCSprint5.png]]Sprint 0-5
 * Lets you run extra-fast for a short amount of time.

Attack 0-20 Aggressive actions meant to harm other creatures.
 * [[Image:SCCBite5.png]]Bite 0-5
 * An average-strength attack with a short cooldown, granted by all mouths.
 * Spit 0-5
 * The only ranged option, it has a medium cooldown and low damage over time. It is provided by certain weapons.
 * [[Image:SCCCharge5.png]]Charge 0-5
 * A weak attack that stuns an enemy. It has a long cooldown. Most feet, especially hoofs, as well as horn like weapons upgrade this attack.
 * Strike 0-5
 * Hands and spikes make for a powerful attack with long cooldown, the only distinguishing feature is that it can hit more then one target at a time

Socialize 0-20 Various social interactions for communicating with creatures. Species get along better if they share the same interactions.
 * Charm 0-5
 * Fur, feathers and other accessories.
 * Dance 0-5
 * More feet/specialized feet = better dancer.
 * Sing 0-5
 * Any mouth lets you sing, but some are more vocal than others.
 * Pose 0-5
 * Adding hands to your creatures lets them pose.

Speed 0-5 Adding feet increases a creatures speed. Note: 0 Speed does not mean No Speed, a creature without legs can still move, albeit somewhat slower.

Health 40-50 Plates and spines increase a creatures health.

Diet Carnivore, Herbivore or Omnivore.

Creature Parts
To the left of the Editing screen are the seven palettes (categories) containing the functional parts that can be attached to a creature. Each palette contains up to four columns with eight or nine parts in each. Columns are unlocked by buying more advanced brains. As noted on the quote at the top of this page, the creature editor has roughly 400 parts. The parts listed here account for only about 60% of these parts. Either the estimate given was an early estimate that has since been revised downwards or there are other creature parts that are not found within the version of the editor used in the demos. Evidence for this can be found in the GDC demo featuring the creation of the Willosaur; the Willosaur's tail grabber as well as the parts in the creature editor screen while the proto-Willosaur was still aquatic (including a crab/lobster like claw) are not to be found in the land-based creature editor demo. Either these show an unfinished design or certain items can only be added to creatures in certain biomes but can be retained after leaving them (hence the Willosaur keeping its grabber that is not found in the traditional creature creation editor). There will be more parts in expansion packs.

Other GUI Elements
The editing interface also includes, in the bottom left, an indicator of the amount of evolutionary credits (DNA points) currently available to the player for use in creature editing. All creature parts have an associated cost, which reflects their efficiency and effect on the creature's rating. The further to the right a creature part appears in the list that opens on clicking a category button, the more expensive it is to buy.

Lastly, in the bottom right we can see the buttons for Undo, Redo and Exit, and the name of the creature in the top right, next to the ranking.

Also, there is a button for having symmetric parts on or off. Where this button is located is currently unknown. However, such a feature has not appeared in the Creature Creator, so it was most likely scrapped, but there is an exploit and a mod to make asymmetrical creatures.

Keyboard Control

 * Holding down ALT/Option while clicking on a part will copy it.
 * Rollover any part and hold down the 'i' key to display part statistics when you are in Build mode.
 * Holding down CTRL will let you delete a node in a leg. A new limb can then be attached to the end.
 * Holding the TAB key while selecting a part will display more rotation rings to better position it.

Texturing
The texturing tool is an integral part of the creature editor and operates on the simple premise of selecting a color and texture, which the computer will then procedurally apply to the creature. In addition to the basic texture, three levels of overlay are available for things such as body markings, stripes, and so on.

Testing
The Testing area is a small arena in which the edited creature is brought to life. Here the player can preview animations for Roar (which also demonstrates the sound the creature will make), Attack, Play and React. The new testing area contains cartoon-like trees and grasses.

=Robots/Robotic Parts= This post mentions that Will Wright would like to have robotic parts in the creature editor after attaining the UFO, possibly as a result of 'research' in the game.

There is also a species of bionic creatures called the Grox, which have robotic parts. However, these parts are impossible to put on normally, and creatures using them cannot be saved.

=Part speculation=
 * Trunks - While featured in some mouths (see Aawkwaard and grumpsnout below), it is unknown as to whether trunks will be availiable for creatures as a separate part. However, it is feasible that it would be possible to make an appendage and put a nose on the end. In the creature creator, there is a mouth called "Laardvark" wich features a trunk (see Aawkwaard and grumpsnout below.)

=Example Creatures=
 * ''See also category:creature images.

Here are a few examples of creatures that have been made in the editor, showing the incredible range of styles that are available to the player.

=Prerelease Demo= The creature editor impressed fans so much that many petitions have begun to spring up, including this one from Petition Online. The concept of releasing a module from a game to serve as its demo, sometimes months ahead of its release, is not unknown. Peter Molyneux's   The Movies' Starmaker and Wright's own The Sims 2's Body Shop modules are both example of such a demo release.


 * A demo has been announced as of the interview with ign shortly after the start of E3 07.


 * According to Amazon.com a pre-release version of the creature editor, called SPORE Creature Creator: Complete, it will cost $10 and be released on June 17, 2008. Below is a link to the web page where you can pre-order it.  it also has some creatures that haven't been seen before in the screen shots.

Spore Creature Creator at Amazon.com On 17th of June 2008 the creature creator was released at around $10.99. A demo version is available from spore.com, but it only contains around 25% of the parts from the full version. The creatures made with the pre-release module can later be downloaded into the actual game when it comes out in September 2008.

=Part Packs= It has been confirmed that there will be new creature parts in post-release Add-ons. One has been confirmed so far, named Creepy and Cute. Hence the name, it will have two themes: Cute and Creepy.

=See Also=
 * Creature Creator
 * Creature
 * User Created Content
 * Creature database
 * Figurines

=External Links=
 * Get the Creature Creator demo from Spore.com
 * Bamzooki - A free downloadable game which is similar to the creature editor.
 * Creature Editor 3.0 Fan-made creature editor(2D).

=Creator Resources=
 * Wikipedia article detailing various aspects of terrestrial locomotion
 * DeviantART, a good place to find Photoshop tools and backgrounds for fan art (please observe their rules for use)

Fan made video about building realistic bipeds

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