War

In the 2005 GDC Presentation, Will mentioned that in the Tribal phase, players would send individuals from their tribe to conduct raids against other tribes, as opposed to the Tide pool phase, where you are on your own, and the Creature phase, where you are once again on your own, however you appear able to request assistance from other creatures of your species.

In the Civilization phase, he mentioned that war between civilizations would be conducted through Vehicles. It is not known if other options such as Infantry or Spies will be available.

In the numerous presentations we have seen, the UFO visited many different planets and the creatures that dwell on them. In the situations where the UFO has provoked a negative encounter, the alien cities have retaliated with varying defensive weapons, vehicles and structures, and although the exact nature of the retaliations is unknown, based on our personal understanding the details of offensive weapons we have seen are set out below.

=Planetary= Until the Tribal phase you have to rely on your creatures natural abilities. In the Tribal phase, your creatures appear to be able to gain access to all the tools we would commonly associate with a caveman-like environment, including (but not necessarily limited to) spears. With these weapons firmly grasped in your creatures ‘hands’ (for lack of a better word) your creatures will be able to more effectively defend themselves and the rest of the tribe from attack, or the reverse; more effectively attack other tribes

Planetary war has been witnessed on small scales. In the Civilization phase such battles occur when at least one city on the planet creates vehicles. The exact degree of control you have over the vehicles is unknown, as the few vehicles seen appear to just do what they are designed to do (with the obvious exception of the UFO). Although it is possible to ‘conquer’ your home planet without resorting to violence, there is no guarantee that the other creatures on your planet feel the same way.

In the Civilisation phase you may construct different types of vehicles, including (and again, not necessarily limited to) tank-like, hovering, floating, and flying vehicles. Their in game specifications are not yet known, nor is the limit to which they can be modified or upgraded, what modifications/upgrades are available, or how to acquire the modifications/upgrades (although it is assumed by purchase like most other things).

Like everything else in Spore, the game modifies things depending on the way you play. For those who create mindless killing machine creatures in the Tide pool phase and Creature phase you will have a violent planet on which you must survive. If, on the other hand, you create a creature that seems more diplomatically inclined you may pass through phases with relatively no hostile conflict.

One of the main goals of the Civilisation phase has been said to be unifying the planet you are on, by whatever means you choose (it is worth noting that there appears to be a great deal of people out there who wish to dedicate their lives to genocide in spore). It is unknown to what degree strategy will play in war in Spore, whether it will be a complex real time strategy the likes of Starcraft, or just a dulled down version of a typical RTS, where you options are limited. Spore is not billed as a real time strategy game (although it is mentioned that there are some elements in it), so just how much we can expect to see is not yet known.

There is confirmation that having your creature/tribe/civilization wiped out will not completely end your game, you will simply go back to the previous phase to make changes to your creature and your style of play to prevent your demise. What happens when your microbe dies in the Tide pool phase is unknown, however starting a new game, or restarting as a new game may both be possible options.

Possible Unit/Weapon Types
Ultimately, we know little of how we will conduct war, or if we will even have sophistcated/technologically advanced weapons, other than vehicles, and other things mentioned here (although all is subject to change).

Tribal Hunting Parties
The exact nature of these is unknown, however some things have been mentioned. Will Wright stated there would be no infantry during the civilization stage in his interview with gaming steve (therefore, it can be assumed that war and hunting parties will be limited to more primitive weaponry).

Creatures
It is possible for your creatures to attack, unarmed, other creatures, provided they have been evolved with some form of weapon, such as a spike, or sharp teeth

Weapons
A necessarily open ended title. Being a procedural game it is quite possible that almost anything will be able to be used as a weapon. Some standard things that have been mentioned or shown include spears, clubs and arrows.

As a side note, Will stated that he’s always been “fascinated by the idea of monkeys with guns.” Whether or not this will be worked in is unknown.

Vehicles
Vehicles are the main (possibly only) way of waging planetary war with other cities. They are not the only means of defending your own city. Many have been seen in the various demonstrations, including land, sea and air. They are a lot like your creature in that as the game progresses you can make changes (or upgrades) to them, unlock other vehicle types, unlock new weapons for them, etc., etc.

The exact extent of upgradeability is unknown, but land-based vehicles (tanks) have been seen firing at cities or the UFO of the player using both lasers and shells.

Cities
Cities have what appears to be a wide range of defensive (and possibly offensive) weaponry to choose from. Amongst these we have seen many forms (i.e. colours) of lasers being shot from what can only be assumed to be defensive structures. It might also be possible that creatures were firing as well.

The image in the Wired 14.04 Spore article shows what appears to be building defences in [[Media:Wired cycle full.jpg|the 4th "slice"]].

It is not known what the building editor will be capable of in relation to weapons and war, however like the creature editor it is possible that at least the durability of your buildings can be modified in here.

Missiles
Observing the GDC 2007 video, at between 2.29 and ~2.33, missiles can clearly be seen rising from city defense points, targeting the UFO. So, there are strong hints of missile implementation in the final game - at least as city defenses.

If the missiles are implemented, it is also possible that cities will be able to attack each other directly, dependent on distance and what technological upgrades the city stage will allow.

Lasers
There are few (if any) videos that do not show lasers being used. Apparently it's a big draw card, and who could blame them? As stated above, lasers come in many different colors and sizes (relating to their width). There would also be different ranges. They are most often seen firing from a city at a UFO, and visa versa, although it appears that out of the two the UFO will be capable of obtaining the more powerful lasers (see UFO for more information on its tools).

Lasers also seem to be exceedingly inexpensive, easy to construct, and a simple technology to reach, as whenever lasers are shown it’s usually as a massive light show of light going everywhere. This may be changed later in development.

Robotics/Cybernetics
It has been mentioned that there will be some form of robotics in the game, unlocked in the later stages. The exact end result of this is unknown, however, possibilities include cybernetic enhancements, for colonization of uninhabitable worlds, etc., etc. Obviously, there is also speculation on their uses in war.

Not Included
There are some things that have been confirmed not to be in the game come release, the known ones are listed below. Like everything else, this may change.

Biological
It is unclear what alternative types of warfare will be available in the game, but Will Wright has said that the team doesn't want to have "things like bacterial infections in Spore." Unfortunately, this is a vague statement and can be interpreted to fit nearly any opinion.

Spies
Those who practice the art of espionage. It is currently unclear as to whether they will be featured in Spore, but they will not be found in the Civilization phase (there are no forms of infantry, as stated above), and it might be considered to be too advanced for the Tribal phase, so at the moment it looks like this will not be a unit feature.

There is always the possibility that some form of technological spying will be made available in the later stages, though this in turn would be dependent on the use of such technology, as you can (currently) see the entire planet at all times, and as such view all opposing cities as well.

=Galactic / Interstellar War = This type of conflict has been witnessed. In a demonstrational video, a UFO attacked (and possibly destroyed) a low-developed city on a planet. After leaving the planet, the UFO receives a message which makes it apparent that the city it attacked was only a colony, and that other planets or species in Spore can (or are set to) form alliances with eachother. The colony was not on the main planet of the species.

The message, although not fully understood or explained, was basically a declaration of war - "Enemy! We Greevils will repay your aggression. You better run home to defend YOUR homeworld." You’ve killed our people, now we’ll kill yours (or along these lines). Will Wright then went on to say that it means he will have to rush back to his own home planet to protect it (though this doesn’t happen) - "Help - our homeworld is under attack! And they say WE started it. Please respond immediately, we can't hold out much longer."

This occurred at E3, where Will showed the comlink messages involving declaration of war and requests for help in war (which would then lead to alliances).

How this will affect the overall game play is assumed to run along the same lines as planetary conflicts in the Tribal and Civilization phase in that how you decide to play changes how other creatures will react to you or your actions.

When engaging in a galactic or interstellar war, combat, such as it is, revolves around the use of the UFO and it’s many functions. These conflicts will often have many elements of planetary war since it will be almost impossible to achieve without a habitable planet as a base of operations from which your own (and of course your target’s) creatures can develop from.

In the Gaming Steve Interview with Will Wright, Will stated that "[Galactic war] actually is a simple thing for us to do. So that is really more of a game design question." Further details on galactic war are unknown at the moment.

= Aftermath and Ruins = After a battle, it seems that ruins will be created. These ruins seem to still be visible after a battle has ended.