Friday, September 12, 2008
Revolutionary game
evolutionary art
Bv Kvan Koser
oris I’ililor
CtlllO I IIM" pslU’tlll
Create. Fvolve. Cxplore.
Share. From the creator of I hr
Sims, Will Wright brings \ou
Spore. Featuring a simple \et
diverse drag-and-drop creation
tool. Spore grants you the oppor
tunity to create sour o\\ n spee ics
from scratch.
You'll take vour creation
through five stages, from a
straightforward cell floating m
the primordial soup-esque "talc
pool" phase anil onto land n
evolve, form tribes, dominate
the landscape: and fiunlb. m
take of
galaxy.
What makes this such a m>.
alive outlet for art Ms i-. quit,
possibly the best perk ul ti k
game: the abil
ity to share
your creations
online. You
can download
user content
and vise versa.
even to take
someone else's
hard work for a
You start the
game as a mere
cell with eyes,
a mouth, a fla
gella and your
choice of being
a carnivore or
an herbivore
Quite simpi
the cell phase is , n „
Cilt Ol' he spu\ul [is i:11;'u <]■
lake lo ill. -! i
The fact that xou'rc a --mall
fish in a hie pond is port nixed
verv well, with much lat eat
species swimming out ot Incus
in the background to gixe die
illusion that you're too small t.
be seen. Exentuallx. as tui gn m
in si/e and advance sour etc
ation with extra pints, you'll
notice other creatures running to
escape from your attention while
others will dart in vour direction
to eat you
To make any chances to xour
creation, and thus "e\ol\c. you
have to find a mate. Sound
waves will point the wax to a
suitable candidate and thereat tei
you'll haxe access to the Spore
Creator application. Here, the
player can spend l)N.\ points,
gained by eating and completing
challenges, to add unlocked
parts to your creature.
After the cell phase, you enter
the creature phase, which is
basically a three-dimensional
version of the same thing except
now-' you haxe a nest. \\ lien you
die. that is where you're reborn.
As an herbivore, you can only
eat the plant life, and you're
tasked with befriending as many
species as possible. As a enrni
vorc. you simply kill and eat the
spoils. The omnixore is the dil
ficult choice, as you re tasked
with doing either ol the alore
mentioned things.
Artistic, creative or ambitious?
E-mail Evan Koser at emksllo@psu.edu
It'-. V . Hll clloiee io kill Ol
befriend. c.i! mcai 'M aai !i uH
111.' nil.'. lll.'ll M.'Ullk'lll
I >iume
earli speed
beli'icnd can musaei eMia pails
to add I" \oui me,mire W hile il
U ould liar e hecn iikc I" see a
more fleshed •ml \ arnini <>l I Ins
m the li'ihal iini ( i\ i 1 1 /.ita m
phases, all -a ih
come iiiiloeked -o the work is
ih'lk' In Vi Hi
I Ik
imimo ,1. vmi i uiU'l iniuh
in In in - ■-! ~ n. n i i!\p| n\|)Oi k’lk'
> i'til i'-'.il• I, .iihi inn, l:
i' UK .in*' ■ mini■ >ivs i ivnhaikics
i> i i n.!
!.i'' : M ii,ninl \\ l! 1 1 !I in
piuxci ..a
lullx i.
!w ax . a ‘ccima ol heme
■ n-.lied .in.! .id: up! h i eiituided to
i;,i i x i hi . Hii'i: ,i . et i.im 'action
I he I ic.anie o.iee is a pi ime
sample im this because, ill
i adci 'o ".mu ill. hi l l l \ souehl
tile I I)\ \ in 'nits. \. hi hax c to
cal. kill oi Ivi i leih I: iinloi lunate
ix. as a eaiu'i.nic. the onlx thine
to do is kill, e it. kili. icpeal and
thus the ph.i'L comes to an
abrupt end bach I)\ \ point
allied liiilhci s xour exohilion
arx progiess and once the bar is
lull there s little else to do to pul
ol I adx am me.
Til ba I and ( i\ 1 1 1 /a 1 1 oi i staees
icpuirc xoll lo make peace oi
x\at ejiiicklx Ivloic the opposi
tion Ivcoincs 100 siione atul
w ipes xou out. and all too ollen
lltex ’ll lv the ones ins adine first
1 liese stares arc siniplx a cjties
lion ol how i.jtiickly you can
make peace w uli or destroy your
neighbors
Idle Spiiia Creator tool is
where Spore truix shines
You're gixen an innumerable
amount ol options. \\ lule the
lx pcs ol mouths xi .a can use are
limited to xour diet, xou can
choose between a number of dif
ferent leg. arm and other bodx
structures as the creator tuxes
Write for the ARTS page of
The Behrcmi Beacon
\on the option of resi/ing and
repositioning everything down
to e\er\ joint in the appendages.
.Aside I'mni this, the option of at
least 30 \er\ different hands and
leet are available, as well as sets
\ ■ 'll ilnlnnl or
of eves. ears, noses, antennae,
antlers, horns, spikes and armor,
ami ain thing else aesthetie you
eould imagine. It's your goal as
the artist to deeide what looks
eood and what doesn't.
siiioi pans
It's apparent that the develop
ers ol Spore knew how to begin,
with its Pae-man-esque cell
phase, and how it the game
would end. The problem must
have been eonnecting the dots
fluentlv. Thai Spore cannot fit
o !i ml loi 1 u'l
i :>i i!,: j,-i ;i >t \. l ll
!! ,■ 'A 111 k'
encompasses the Real-lime
Straleev. the loner Aetion-
( i>\ l Kim 11 I) I’llOK)
i!! d'lsl ihc iktllit' I Like'
l nlortunatelx. for a game that
boasts crealixe developmental
Irccdom. it seems a shame that
S/iori glosses oxer such cultural
aspects as religion, politics and
m. tmics lorcc
die lex el
legal standings to prexenl you
I rout truly tlel ining your race.
Sirunuer still is that xou can
dexien exerxthine about vour
creature, but xou can't choose to
enslaxe your entire population
under a Communist reeime.
W hile Spore does indeed lose
a heaxy amount of creativity in
its Tribal and Civilization phas
es. that outlet is regained upon
entering the galactic Space
phase. Spore just simply doesn't
know when to calm down and
leaxe the player to his or her
oxx n ilex'ices.
Forgoing the negativity. Spore
is still a \erv interesting and
No
pm\ ocalive experience
other game h;is to offer such an
outlet lor creativity. Better still
is how the computer brings your
bi/arre creation to life. Odd
legged beasts have a slight limp
or lioir ami you can see your own
take on Frankenstein's monster
shift weight around with each
step.
With a few clicks of the
mouse and some scrolling on the
mouse w heel, the beauty of the
creation tool is evident when
\our creature "comes to life" on
your computer screen
ae/i
('()N I RIIU I HI) PHOTO
i siuicmeni of truth: rather it
Vl\entuiv ami n even hints at a
little Role-
Has ins: when
it conies to
e\ol v i n e
sour erealure
In the earls
staees uuir
instructions
are simply to
eat or be eaten.
However, the
Tribal and
Civ i I i/at ion
phases
more like
obstacle
slow the name
down, as they
revolve around
economic and
domestic die-
Pineapple Express lights up
audience’s drug awareness
Pineapple Express
stars James Franco as a
pot dealer and Seth
Rotten as his loyal
buyer. Franco and
Rotten's roles arc
reversed in this movie
from other movies
viewers have seen them
in. Rogen. who has
been in hit movies such
as The 40-Year Old
Virgin. Knocked Up.
and Superhad plays the
more responsible
smoker with a job as a
court process server.
Franco, who viewers
have seen as the more
serious character in
films like the three
Spider-Man movies
and Tristan + Isolde,
plays the funny,
spaced-out and stoned
drug dealer. Saul
Silver, trying to make
money to put his grand
ma in a nursing home.
Rogen's character.
Dale Denton, witnesses
a murder while in his
car. He catches a
glimpse that involves a
female cop. Rosie
Pc re/., and the local drug lord
brutally slaving another man. At
the time he saw the murder, he
was smoking the rare weed
called Pineapple Express, but
threw the joint out his car win
dow and sped away when he saw
the killing. One of those
involved in the murder is able to
track him and his dealer. Saul,
thanks to the marijuana burning
in the joint left. at the crime
scene. Things get complicated
and eventually the two find
themselves in a cra/y adventure
fighting for their lives.
Although this movie is labeled
Food For Thought
“One day, someone showed
glass of water that was half
And he said, ‘ls
empty?’
Janet Neff Sample Center
for Manners & Civility
“As an employee of the NFL or a member
club, you are held to a higher standard and
expected to conduct yourself in a way that
is responsible, promotes the values upon
which the league is based and is lawful.”
Bv Bonnie Heyman
contributing writer
AUGUST 2000
C'ONTRIBUTKD PHOTO
This comaly-aclion thriller. Pineapple pyprew. is high on laughs.
its a "stoner movie" it comes
with a heartfelt story and you see
the friendship grow from "dealer
and pot smoker" to best friends.
While Dale and Saul do smoke
weed a lot. they manage to figure
out a lot about themselves and
each other
The action in this movie is
sometimes a little exaggerated.
For example, w hen the character
Red. played by Danny Mcßride,
gets gavely serious wounds and
yet can still drive a car. save his
friends and somehow enjoy
lunch without seeking medical
attention. Another time is when
Ed Begley Jr.'s character thinks
So I drank the
more problem.
Alexander Jodorowsky
Roger Goodell
The Behrend Beacon I
hrhso7ot“ psu.edu
SUPERBSD
it half full or half
that Dale Denton is
high at a family dinner,
gets out his rifle and
starts shooting at him.
Then attain, the
whole movie starts
getting into action
after the had guy. Ted
Jones (Gary Cole),
finds the lit joint out
side of his house,
smokes it. and can tell
what brand of weed it
is and who was smok-
If there w ere a poll
right now whether to
legalize marijuana,
what side would yam
be on? Most who
would agree to legaliz-
ing it or that have no
opinion on the subject
would enjoy this
movie. Most people
that are against the use
of drugs and wouldn't
ever consider the
thought of legalizing
pot should not go see
this movie. It's really
as easy as that.
Most of those who
have alreadv seen
Pineapple Express
loved it and hav e seen it multiple
times. Other people thought it
was a waste of money and time.
There is no right or wrong side,
but the pattern of movie-goers is
that those who don't mind drugs
won't mind this movie and vice
versa. If this movie sounds like a
good one or you are even curious
about it. go sec it. If any thing,
the movie is a good laugh.
If you don't have a car.
Pineapple Express will he lea
tured in the Reed building later
this fall.
me a
full.
water.