With the pending release of Spore, Will Wright and Maxis have given us a taste of things to come with Spore Creature Creator.  Spore Creature Creator is not a game but is a glimpse of what the actual creator can do for you within the game. The game itself resolves around your creature and the environment that it lives in. Creature Creator is the first step towards really delving into the creation of your creature. It’s like something out of Dr Frankenstein’s Freaky Labs.

To begin you are presented with two options which are to load a creature or create a creature. If you need inspiration, check out the load a creature option. There are some amazing creatures which have been pre-created. You can use the pre-created creatures as a gallery or you can actually take these creates and edit them as you wish.  If you want to go the whole hog and do your own thing, just load up the ‘create a creature’ option.

With this option you can really start to feel how epic Spore is going to be. Will this be Will Wright’s next masterpiece?  I think so. The amount of detail you can put into your creature is amazing.  The fact you can choose over 20 different types of eyes is the tip of a gigantic creative iceberg.  Once you have started creating your creature, you can alter the backbone, by extending it or shortening it. Imagine a creature with more than one mouth! The possibilities are endless; and no creature will be the same. If you want longer arms and legs on your creature, you can do this and so much more.

The basis of Spore Creature Creator is simple, you are given a DNA budget to work with that acts like a bank account. An ear costs 25 while a basic foot costs 100 DNA points.  The budget is quite large so you can go a little crazy. Then there is the complexity level, you can’t make your creatures too complex otherwise you have to stop and take parts off your creature. Once you are done, the next step is to paint your creature by choosing a pattern.  And the final step is to test drive your creature. You can only move your creature around a small area but using the action buttons, you have the option to see your creature doing a back flip, dancing and doing a multitude of other crazy things. Whatever you create using the Creature Creator you will be able to import into the game when it releases in September. You can also share your creations with your friends!