Creature Creator



The creature editor has been described as a mix of Mr. Potato Head, Erector sets and clay. Creatures consist of a malleable body with an underlying spine, which can be sculpted in a variety of ways. 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
On the editing screen, status bars on the right side of the screen show a star-based ranking ranging from zero to five stars in the following categories: (The last two are not shown in the screenshots made available at the E3, but are clearly visible in the demo videos.)
 * Power (Earlier known as Strength)
 * Speed
 * Stealth
 * Herbivore
 * Carnivore
 * Sense
 * Social

In addition, the top right corner of the editing screen shows the creature's current level of sapience, ostensibly measured in four levels, from Basic to Advanced.

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.
 * Mouths
 * Determines the creature's diet (as shown by the Herbivore/Carnivore stats), as well as the sounds it will emit in the game. The mouth may also be used as a weapon, with each mouth being more or less efficient at doing damage.


 * Sensory Organs
 * Eyes, ears, noses, and other organs which determine the creature's ranking in the Sense stat.


 * Limbs
 * Contains a selection of differently shaped arms and legs.


 * Feet
 * Determines a creature's Speed stat. Possibly a category for all parts that let the creature move, though no winged or finned creatures were shown at the E3 '06. Notable, however, is that wings are shown in very old shots of the editor under this category.


 * Unknown
 * Possibly weapon parts, such as spikes. May also be a category of wings/fins.


 * Hands
 * Contains a variety of graspers and manipulators that contribute to a creature's Power stat.


 * Accessories
 * Feathers, horns, et cetera that do not fall into any of the other categories.



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.

Texturing
The texturing tool is an integral part of the creature cditor 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.

=Clothing= The Spore team is or was debating whether to design a clothing editor. If clothing is included in the game, it will be simple things like hats, shoes, and other accesories (which may or may not be editable) that will be "tacked on" the creature.

None of the E3 demonstrations contained any reference to clothing, so the feature may not have made the cut, or may still be being worked on.

=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.

=Example Creatures= 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.

=See Also=
 * Creature
 * User Created Content
 * Creature Database

=External Links=
 * Bamzooki - A free downloadable game which is sort of like the creature editor.