Galactic Civilization 3 spore like custom races

from GalCiv2 Forums
First of all Galactic Civilization 2 is great and TA looks like it will make it even better. But one issue this sort of game has always had is making a visually distinct custom race, complete with diplomatic animations, etc is beyond the scope of most users requiring 3D rendering software.

Also Galactic Civilization 2 doesn’t show you a scientist of your race when presenting technology which would be nice. As would some more personalized invasion movies, etc. Obviously though Stardoc have limited time and resources in their art department and the number of different renders you would need would be to great.

So I suggest a Spore like race editor for GC3 that allows the user to combine body parts and textures and can then procedurally generate different animations for them at the start of the game for later use. Unlike spore form and function need not be linked as you would still have the race picks.

This system could also be used as technology develops to procedurally add various weapons and battle armour to your troops for example melding things to their body shape and to change the look of your scientists and diplomats as your technology develops.

The procedurally generated animations could be combined with scripts to create ground battle scenes between races, randomisation could make these always unique.

I think this could really help bring custom races to life in a way no 4x strategy game ever has. I’d be interested to know what thoughts anyone at Stardoc or any other fans have on this idea.

Would anyone else love to see this?
11,958 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The main part of Spore are the editors, they are all basically the same editor. They have taken 5 years to perfect. The editors are a game in themselves, useless it becomes easy to does, a spore like editor would be expensive and time consuming to do. But if by the time Gal Civ III come out it is easy to make. Why not!
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Indeed I know developing a spore like editor is far from easy or quick, but of course once you did you could use it in all sorts of future games so the investment could be worth it. That’s why I don’t suggest it for a GC2 add on.

I also think that the cost of development will come down in the future as people in the industry start becoming familiar with the techniques involved and GC3 is probably still a long way off.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
An editor like that would probably be more interesting in a game like Stardocks upcoming fantasy TBS. Especially if races could be shared among users, like they plan for Spore.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
It would be good there too, the point is once you code it it's a re-usable asset that could be applied to all sorts of games which is why it could be a worthwhile investment.

You just need to include parts suitable to the game and decide which animations you need it to be able to generate. then how you use those animations in a game is up to the game, it could be for little ad-hoc movies of your race in GC3 or for animating characters in gameplay in a fantasy TBS.

I actually think some company will come up with a middleware editor for this, probably the developers of spore. That sort of custom content and animation tool has all sorts of potential in all sorts of games.



Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top

I would like to see them also take the entire galaxy map.  I would love to try to take over the galaxy that looks right.  As far as the looks go.  I would like custom races similar to spore, but with a better way to make their outfits. I had one of the best human looking creatures on spore.  I was featured as well.