Evolution

Evolutionary Theory
Evolution in Spore is assumed to be highly simplified to bypass the complex issues usually associated with the evolution of creatures on Earth. Starting off in the Microbial Stage as a single celled organism you gain energy, untill a point in which you can upgrade yourself using the Microbe Editor to add appendages. For example in the creature stage you have to kill and eat to get evolution points. Once you amass enough you lay an egg and this takes you to the Creature Editor where you can shape your creature and add / remove body parts. As you go own, the view pans out as you enlarge in size. The GDC video lacks footage of the transition between the microbe and the Creature stage, but evidence suggests that there will be a point where you will 'jump' to the next level (See: Saltation). That is you will lay an egg, gain access to the editor, and will be able to access new parts that will allow creatures to exist. For example, the "legs" of a microbe may progress into full fledged fins that allow swimming. The cross from Will Wright's aquatic creature to land creature was done in the same way. The editor did not show any signs of complex things such as lungs, but merely the removal of the fin and addition of legs 'forced' the game to choose a land envrioment. The creature can be seen walking from the ocean on to the land without any other changes made. Although the versions available to us were in an early stage of development, it can be assumed that all issues will be simplified down to the most basic of ideas and theories, complex science being ignored. Although there is no indication of choice about lungs, it seems that there will be a generic atmosphere which may or may not consist of a single type of gas. It is assumed that the air will be compatable for all species. If there will be differnt types of atmospheres, there may be a limited number of types (such as oxygen based, hydrogen based, etc).

Stuff to deal with later:

 * Survival
 * Natural Selection (Gameplay Survival)
 * Stay alive long enough to mate
 * Avoid Death
 * Find Food (Starvation)
 * Avoid Becoming Food (Predation)
 * Accident (Injury)
 * Health (Illness)
 * Natural Causes (Old Age)
 * Mating / Procreation (Pass along genetics)
 * Divine Intervention (Cheats & Mods)
 * Change
 * Mutation ("Random" System-Generated Change)
 * Intelligent Design ("Customizable Creature Editor")