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: (This information was obtained from the TED video.)
 * Attack (Earlier known as Strength/Power)=Weapons
 * Speed=Body, Legs, Feet
 * Stealth=Body, Legs, Feet
 * Defense=Body, Mouths, Feet,
 * Herbivore=Mouths
 * Carnivore=Mouths
 * Sense=Eyes, Noses, Ears, ect.
 * Social=Eyes, Mouths, Hands
 * Cuteness=Unknown

It also seems that changing the body shape of the creature changes its stats, notably, stealth and defense were changed when the body became thinner or fatter.

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.


 * The stats Sense, Carnivore, and Herbivore seem to be placed as icons under the status bar now.

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).

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 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.

=Part speculation=
 * Trunks - It is unknown as to whether trunks will be availiable for creatures. However, it is feasible that it would be possible to make an appendage and put a nose on the end or trunks do exist since Aawkwaard(see below) seems to have a trunk like nose.

=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 creature that haven't been seen before in the screen shots.

http://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Arts-15864-Creature-Creator/dp/B0017KWJ56/ref=wl_itt_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=IQ8QGUSFJN3FF&colid=20OHVNL8W67LF

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

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


 * Creature Editor 3.0 Fan-made creature editor(2D).