Willosaur

The Willosaur or Willosaurus was a tripedal, triocular, carnivorous creature showcased by Will Wright at the Game Developers' Conference in 2005. Originally nameless, fans quickly began to refer to the creature thus. The dominant culture of Willosaurs live on their home planet Tamaran, a Dr. Seuss-style city with multi-colored, rounded buildings. They also retained some of their creator's humor in the Space stage, where their old enemies were dropped onto the nearby planet Frore, which has no atmosphere; thus the creature exploded upon lack of atmosphere.

Although the Willosaur was not the first creature ever created in Spore (The first ever was the Debug Squid), it is the first to ever be fully used and go through every stage of the game.

You can track the journey of the Willosaurs by viewing the GDC gameplay video on Google Video here.

The Willosaur has been dubbed by fans as the unofficial mascot of Spore, and prominently "stars" in the first official trailer, seen in the Cell, Creature and Tribal stages.

The Willosaur also appears as a Maxis created creature in the final game by the name Tripod Neuvo.

History


The Willosaur started its microscopic evolution as a seal-looking triocular creature. It quickly evolved into the modern incarnation we know. Its spine shifted up, and a prehensile hand was attached to the end of its tail. The two flippers became legs, and a new front leg appeared on the chest. The creatures eventually developed sapience in the Tribal stage, and were seen performing a "spear-dance" to applause from the GDC audience. The Willosaurs developed UFO technology early, possibly attributable to Will Wright's likely possession of a debugger.

Local Ecosystem
The Willosaur killed a Tamaranian Hopper shortly after coming out of an ocean, showing the procedural generation of animations. It was able to eat a bit, then it was forced to flee when a Splodey came. However, the Willosaur showed off its speed, easily outrunning the Splodey, who may have gave chase.

Technology
The Willosaurs had limited technology except for the UFO, due to the short time allowed for the game's demonstration at the GDC. The only vehicle they employed was a nausicaa-looking flying device, only two of which were made. The flying machines promptly flew away, never to return. Early in the UFO's usage, the Genesis Device was used on a planet dubbed Frore. Frore's eventual fate as a planet is unknown. It was implied by Will that the bubble surrounding the colony due to the hazardous environment was removed.

Links

 * Willosaur "home page" - Fan Site