Space Stage

Once the player conquers or merges with all opposing cities and leaves the civilization stage, he/she enters the space stage. In this stage, the player has built a spaceship capable of traveling throughout their local star system in order to visit other planets within the system and ultimately to other star systems in the galaxy. When they do, the player's spaceship will be able to explore and meet up with other civilizations, now called empires, on distant worlds. These civilizations are copies of other players' worlds, or some of the pre-generated worlds that come with the game. This mode is generally referred to as a giant sandbox or the stellar zoo, as the player has near complete control of anything and everything. Many commonly touted features, such as terraforming planets outside your star system, planetary zoos, alliances with other empires, and interstellar warfare exist in game. One interesting feature that many people look forward to is the possibility of altering space-time to create black holes and other cosmic things such as stars and planets through the possible inclusion of the galactic editor in the future.

Overall, this stage is heavily based on sci-fi stories and various celestial phenomena that are visible from Earth, like black holes (although,in real life no one can visually see a black hole.) and supernovae. Players gain spaceship upgrades by completing different game objectives called badges. But even after gaining access to upgrades, the player still has to spend Sporebucks to buy it. Sporebucks are gained by trading Spice between planets or civilizations, gathering and selling ancient items, completing quests that are given by their own or different civilizations, or even looting the cash from lost spaceships and cities.

Easter Eggs and other rare items
In Spore, there are plenty of Easter eggs in the Galaxy and rare objects such as the Sol system, Cocoons, Crop Circles, storybook planets and natural landmarks. Hidden items can also be found with a purpose later in the game.


 * Sol system, Earth. Gives you the Manifest Destiny achievement for finding.


 * White spice. A glitch where a gas giant has spice.


 * Rares. Scattered on planets, worth some Sporebucks.


 * Galactic Objects. Items such as Binary Star Systems, the Galactic Core etc.


 * Hidden achievements and badges


 * Easter eggs. There are lots of easter eggs in Spore including things like Will Wrights head appearing in speech bubbles when creatures are talking to each other ect. See the Milky Way page for more easter eggs.

Planets
During your exploration of space, you'll come across many planets. There are three main categories for planets, and three subcategories, listed below:

Barren planets/Dead planets
 * Ice planet - A cold planet with an extreme amount of Ice on its surface.
 * Lava planet - A hot planet where Lava and Fiery Clouds have formed on its surface.
 * Rocky planet - A dry planet with nothing but rock and dirt on its surface.
 * Water planet - A humid planet with an extreme amount of water on the surface.
 * Flurry planet - A cold planet with no Ice on the surface, which is primarily rock.
 * Arid planet - A hot planet with no Liquid Water, and sand covering the surface.
 * Boiling planet - A planet that still has Liquid Water, but which is starting to Boil.
 * Melting planet - A planet that has ice on its surface, but which has patches of Liquid Water.
 * Gas giant - A planet that cannot be colonized, but that usually has moons.
 * Planet threats - Things that can damage your spacecraft on Barren planets.

Habitable planets
 * Homeworld - The planet in which you developed in the previous stages.
 * Category-1 planet - A planet with a little life, acceptable atmosphere and temperature.
 * Category-2 planet - A planet with a good amount of life, good atmosphere and temperature.
 * Category-3 planet - A planet just flourishing with life, perfect atmosphere and temperature.

Other Types
 * Cube planet - A cube-shaped planet added in Patch 1.02
 * Storybook Planets - A specially sculpted planet, ten are scattered around the Galaxy.
 * Crater planet - A weird planet with an astonishing amount of Craters.
 * Ruined Planet - Found on your second mission, a few piles of rubble found on the surface.
 * Saved Game - Another Spore Game of yours.
 * Unnatural planets- Strange rare planet with impossible geology such as super mountains ect.
 * Moons, asteroids and comets - Other planetary bodies in most star systems.
 * Destroyed planets - These planets were destroyed by a planet buster and they fade away over time.



Rare Galactic Formations
In the Galaxy, there are many rare Galactic Objects. You can earn extra points for finding one. Each of the two letters in the binary systems represents a different type of star, i.e. Main Sequence stars, Red Dwarfs, Blue Giants. The Galactic Objects or rares are randomly placed in the Galaxy. Also see the Galactic topography. There is stellar evolution to some degree such as protostars forming normal stars, blue giants and supergiants going supernova ect.

Rare Galactic Formations

 * Black Hole/Wormhole - A portal to another part of the Galaxy
 * BinaryOO - A type of Binary Star system
 * BinaryOM - A type of Binary Star system
 * BinaryMM - A type of Binary Star system
 * BinaryOG - A type of Binary Star system
 * BinaryGG - A type of Binary Star system
 * BinaryGM - A type of Binary Star system
 * The Galactic Core - A extreme Black Hole found at the Center of the Galaxy
 * Proto-Planetary Disk - A forming Star, may in time become a Star.
 * Talked to Steve - Found after reaching The Galactic Core

Normal Galactic Formations
There are many more astronomical phenomena, but these only serve as eye candy such as pulsars, supernovae and nebulae. There is also several kinds of star.
 * Nebulae - A decoration, cannot be visited
 * Supernovae - Also a decoration, cannot be visited
 * Nearby Galaxies - Other galaxies in the background that cannot be visited
 * Stars - Luminous balls of plasma
 * Planets - Objects mostly made of rock or gas orbiting a star
 * Bright flashes - Often bright flashes can be seen, perhaps a reference to gamma-ray bursts or supernovae, they are just decorations

My Collections
When you are exploring the galaxy, when you are in the Stellar View you may see that some planets have yellow waves that look like radio waves emitting from them. If you zoom into the Planet View, you will see your radar pointing towards something. Sometimes you have to fly around a little before your radar picks up any items. It could be a Rare or Planet/Water/Atmosphere Painting/Sculpting Tool, although sometimes it is a trap formed by a Pirate fleet. You can sell rare items for Sporebucks, and Planet Painting or Planet Sculpting Tools will help you beautify a planet. See Rares or Artifacts for further info.

Badges
A Badge is a certificate of appreciation. You can earn badges by creating alliances to starting wars, buying star systems to doing missions, etc. 1-10 Badge Points are earned for completing a badge. There are five levels on each badge (except Captain's, Joker, Dance With the Devil, and Badge Outta Heck Badges, since they can only be done once per game). Each level will get harder each time you complete the predecessor, but will give more Badge Points. Most badges cap at the fifth level. I.E. One Alliance with give you one star, making Twenty would give you the fifth star. See Badges page for further info.

Galactic Promotions
By accumulating badge levels and earning Badge Points, you will receive the Promotions called Master Badges below. They are tracked through the progress bar in Space stage. As you earn greater promotions, your Command Control and neighbouring Empires will call you according to those titles. But your homeworld will always refer to you as Captain *species name*, even if you have reached the rank of Omnipotent.


 * Cadet- The first Mission tutorials.
 * Captain - Granted when you accomplish the spaceflight tutorial and receive the Captain's Badge.
 * Commander - Granted when you reach 5 total badge levels.
 * Commodore - 15 total badge levels.
 * Admiral - 30 total badge levels.
 * The Celebrated - 50 total badge levels.
 * The Renowned - 75 total badge levels.
 * The Great - 105 total badge levels.
 * The Legendary - 140 total badge levels.
 * All-Powerful - 180 total badge levels.
 * Ultimate Being - 225 total badge levels.
 * Omnipotent - 275 total badge levels.

Other Alien Species
There are a lot of Alien Empires in Spore. You can either start a war and destroy them, or create an alliance and have them help you. There are many ways to do this, through a type of scoring called Relations Bonuses. See Relation Bonus page.

Known Powers in Space stage

 * The player may terraform and colonize uninhabitable planets with special tools that are purchased with Sporebucks (comet tool, volcano tool, etc.) The ultimate power in that area would be a technology which is called the Staff of Life, which has the ability to transform a dead world into a planet capable of sustaining life in a matter of minutes, but can only be used limited times. Players may colonize hostile worlds, but may not build structures there until the planet is at least semi-habitable.


 * During the 2007 TED conference, Wright showed off the planetary effects the UFO can have, such as pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to increase the amount of greenhouse gas/gases, which over time caused the oceans to rise and flood coastal cities, and eventually evaporate and transform the world into an arid desert planet, then a molten rock in space similar to Venus. Wright semi-jokingly called it "a sequel to An Inconvenient Truth. "


 * The player can try to conquer the galaxy by different means: beginning an interstellar war, diplomatically creating an interstellar union, buying every single star system, etc.


 * The player can run the mouse over other star systems and their individual planets to try to pick up radio static or noise that can indicate intelligent life.


 * The player may abduct creatures (familiar or unfamiliar) and transport them to other planets. Players can do this to test a planet's inhabitants to see if they are friendly or not, or to merely test a planet's habitability. The abduction tool can also be used to throw creatures into orbit.


 * The player may cause icy comets or burning meteors to crash into a planet which will make the planet hotter or cooler, creating water.


 * The player may place a "monolith" (à la 2001: A Space Odyssey) on a planet, triggering evolution of intelligent life, then come back later to see what has evolved.


 * The player may also be able to find the Sol system, or the Galactic Core.


 * The player may possibly in future expansions achieve the Galactic editor.


 * The player may use a blackhole for "wormhole-travel" which allows the player to travel distances the UFO would require hours to cover in seconds.


 * The player may use a Planet Buster to completely destroy a planet (similar to the capabilities of the Death Star from the Star Wars saga).


 * The player may scan content and add the information to a database designed like a card game called the Sporepedia.


 * The player may also find strange objects with unknown purposes to be used later on, possibly adding tools for the UFO.

Philosophy
Philosophy in Spore is the attribute given to your species in the Space stage. There are 10 kinds of philosophy in Spore. archetypes are determined based on the number of each "color" (green/social, blue/balanced, red/aggressive) you went through evolving. Some Philosophies (Knight, Bard, Ecologist) can only be gained if you started at the Cell stage.

If you start from the Civilization stage or complete each stage with a different colour then you will start the Space stage as either Shaman, Warrior or Trader depending on how this stage was completed ( green ,  red  or  blue  respectively).

Space stage Achievements
General
 * Bio Engineer - Edit 25 creatures with the Creature Tweaker.


 * Careless Parent - Lose 5 planets.


 * Civil Engineer - Promote 20 alien tribes to civilizations.


 * Conquistador - Capture 15 star systems.


 * Empire Builder - Maximize colonies on 10 planets.


 * Gunner - Destroy at least 500 other spaceships.


 * Identity Crisis - Forge an alliance between two space-faring races of your own creation.


 * Manifest Destiny - Find Earth.


 * Maxis Scout - Earn 100 Badges in the Space stage.


 * Palm Greaser - Pay 50 bribes in the Space stage.


 * Quest Master - Complete 150 missions in the Space stage.


 * Quietus Star - Destroy 20 planets.


 * Super Pilot - Spend at least 40 hours piloting your spaceship.


 * Thief - Steal 50 crates of spice in the Space stage.


 * Zoo Keeper - Make 15 zoo planets.

Archetypes
 * Bard Passion - Play as Bard.


 * Diplomat Passion - Play as Diplomat.


 * Ecologist Passion - Play as Ecologist.


 * Knight Passion - Play as Knight.


 * Scientist Passion - Play as Scientist.


 * Shaman Passion - Play as Shaman.


 * Trader Passion - Play as Trader.


 * Wanderer Passion - Play as Wanderer.


 * Warrior Passion - Play as Warrior.


 * Zealot Passion - Play as Zealot.


 * Split Personality - Complete a "Change Archetype" mission.


 * Alter Ego - Played Space as all 10 archetypes.


 * Bard Hero - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as Bard.


 * Diplomat Hero - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as Diplomat.


 * Ecologist Hero - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as Ecologist.


 * Knight Hero - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as Knight.


 * Scientist Hero - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as Scientist.


 * Shaman Hero - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as Shaman.


 * Trader Hero - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as Trader.


 * Wanderer Hero - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as Wanderer.


 * Warrior Hero - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as Warrior.


 * Zealot Hero - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as Zealot.


 * Alter Ego's Alter Ego - Achieved Master Badge Level 10 as all archetypes.

The Core
 * 42 - Find the center of the Galaxy (Warning: Spoiler).

Secret Achievements


 * Oh the Humanity! - Destroy Earth with a Planet Buster.

Starship Tools

 * Most tools are enabled through gaining Badges and bought from your own Empire or other neighbouring Empires.
 * Some of those tools are bought once and they spend your starship's energy bar when you use them. Others work as a one-shot tool and should be bought as many times as you want to use them.
 * Planet Sculpting Tools past Terra Lava Flow and all Planet Coloring Tools are gained by finding them on planets randomly. Radar signs from planets in the star system view may alert you that they contain any of those tools.

Superstructures

 * It is "confirmed" in this thread that Dyson Spheres, RingWorlds, other superstructures, and space stations will not be in the initial version of Spore; however, some people doubt the authenticity of the emails. They were not included in the initial release of the game.

Single-Player

 * Like other content in Spore, a player who chooses to opt-out of downloading material from the Internet (or has no Internet connection) will have worlds populated with both sapient and nonsapient creatures straight from the disc provided to them, much like those provided to populate the ecosystem of the player's home planet.

Multiplayer

 * Spore has been called a Massively Single Player game as, unlike traditional massively multi player games Spore is very much a single player game - It can be played with no network connection at all. The massive "multiplayer" nature of spore comes from its concept of pollinated content. All creations - creatures, buildings and vehicles - are automatically shared with the online Sporepedia. When Spore needs to pollinate a game with content, e.g. to populate a planet with with creatures or even tribes or civilizations, it will use its settings to download content: Preference is given to subscribed Sporecasts, content created by buddies and so on.

Spice FAQ

 * Please see the Spice page for more details.


 * Does the change of prices of spice follow any rules?

If a colony produces spice of certain color, the price of that particular spice is always lower there. Other than this, apparently prices of each colonies are random and change slowly with time, unrelated to whether you sell or buy spices there. However, each type of spice has a possible maximum price:

Yes, the buying price is ALWAYS lower than the maximum possible selling price. Just make sure you keep the spice until you find a colony that will buy the spice for a price close to the maximum.
 * Do I always get profit from buying spice from computer's colonies and selling it later?

Apparently all the prices are purely random and independent of your location in the galaxy. You cannot trade with Grox even if you ally with them.
 * Does spice price change according to your location in the galaxy? Do the Grox follow the same prices?

Difficulty Level

 * Made Empires in Easy and Normal modes demand reasonable amounts of money in exchange for peace and adjust the level of punishment if the player doesn't pay
 * Made disasters less likely to occur in Easy and Normal modes and increased the time between each attack from the enemy empire when the player is at war.

If you have Predator Consequence in Creature stage (Prime Specimen) your spaceship's health will increase

Easy

 * Spaceship base health is 1500

Normal

 * Spaceship base health is 1000

Hard

 * Spaceship base health is 300
 * Increased pirate attack frequency.
 * Increased attack frequency when at war.
 * Warrior and Zealot nations demand more unreasonable quantities of money in exchange for peace.

Space stage Strategies

 * Before advancing to Space stage, make sure all your cities have an optimal building layout and all their Turrets. This way, you don't have to spend money later on building them, and since you start with 100k Sporebucks in the Space stage no matter what, well, it speaks for itself. It may be worth building nothing but Houses since these are the most expensive and you can make money from replacing them with Factories or Entertainment.


 * If planning to start a new game directly in space, consider using a creature you already played as at any stage. Any creature in the My Creations section that has its consequence traits visible in the creature preview will retain these consequence traits if you start a new game with them.


 * During the first space mission that sends you to a neighboring star system, your ship's energy will NOT drain. Use this to your advantage to click between this system and your home system very quickly to get your Frequent Flyer badges without having to reload on a planet.  You don't even have to fly all the way to one star system before clicking on the one you were just on, so this is only limited by how quickly you can alternatively click the two systems.


 * When going to war or allying with other Empires, consider their star rank, which can be seen by mousing over one of their star systems. A 1 or 2-star Empire will be very easy to conquer, with low health ships and few systems, while a 5-star Empire will be very hard to conquer, but can lend you very powerful allying ships.
 * You also seem to get more valuable salvage from the larger empires.


 * Ally ships of small Empires will die too quickly and are barely worth recruiting into your fleet. If you find your ally ships die too often, try to get ships from 4 or 5-star Empires.


 * If there is room, edge backwards with the down arrow key whilst firing missiles at enemy UFOs to stay out of their range. Alternately, circling by holding both up and left/right key also causes most of their missiles to miss.


 * When approaching colonies that possess Turrets, stay low to increase the range of your weapons and edge closer to take out one Turret at a time. The Laser works best for this.


 * The Pulse weapon can also work very effectively on Turrets but may have a shorter range. Therefore using it with a Shield is ideal.


 * When the Shield is active, time is of the essence so rather than shoot another Pulse to finish off a little bit of a Turret's health, it may be worth quickly switching to the Laser.


 * After all, if all you want is capturing/destroying the colonies ASAP, you do not need to bother about the Turrets. Just lower your ship and bomb the colony. If done correctly, you should have it down within 5 seconds. Keep circling above the colony during the process can make most of the enemy ships' missiles miss you.


 * In fast paced combat, pausing can be an invaluable tool for locating targets or switching weapons.


 * When attacking an enemy homeworld, you can terraform their planet to reduce the number of cities you'll have to fight. Swoop in, fly to a spot as far away from their ships as you can get, and fire a few teraforming tools, like the Ice Storm or Asteroid Call, for example. Fly away, attend to some business, and go back later. You should find that the planet's T-Score has dropped to Zero, and thus only one city will remain.
 * Note that this will mean you won't be able to capture that planet though. Use sparingly, or if in desperate times.


 * Destroying a building or two in a city will make the city be captured/destroyed quicker, at the cost of having one less building there if you manage to capture it. Generally only for new goes, as the advanced weapons are powerful enough to take the place in two seconds flat.


 * Take out weak star systems on the outskirts of enemy territory to establish a base to respawn from and get back to the battlefield swiftly.


 * Empires that have only one planet are good targets, as their ships are very weak and there's no threat of getting counterattacked for going to war with them.


 * Form a trade route with ally's homeworlds first, you'll get a T3 colony planet immediately.


 * Avoid breaking the Galactic Code in densely populated areas of the Galaxy or particularly areas within 10pc from your homeworld.


 * You can capture a city with one antimatter bomb by firing it to one side of the city hall, though this is tricky and often results it the city's destruction.


 * The Asteroid Call Button, if directed at a city, does physical damage (somewhere just greater than a Mega Bomb) as well as meddling with the T-score.


 * When you terraform a planet by placing plant and animal species they only have to land on the surface of the planet to become part of the ecosystem. Since you can immediately re-abduct them you can make a handful of each species last indefinitely.