Spore the Next Level Retrospective: The Could've Been Better

Here we are onto Part 2 of this belated series, where I look back at the past 6 years and decide what's been great, what could've been better, and WHY OH WHY DID I DO THAT CRAP. As you might be able to guess, this part will focus on aspects that could've been better and in what ways. Note that this will be only for the old series, though some of these issues have been or will be resolved in Rebirth.

The unused logo/title card for the
special. 

1. The Zombie Arc: You might be asking "What zombie arc?", and for a good reason: it never happened! The Zombie Arc was a massive story arc thought up be eme12 and myself for our respective series of Badass and STNL². Here, the zombie virus introduced in that series would spread to several planets thanks to the efforts of an insane and supersized Natas. Epindol would've been one of those planets, and Jercy would help a small band of survivors and crewmembers fight off both the infected and rival teams. Has this arc been allowed to be, it would've made STNL² great again with such things as the deaths of several characters (including Zeela and Tressha... more on those two in a bit), the introduction of a Tyleturantula character named Jelima W'Hels with an interesting development, and several lingering effects that would reshape the politics of STNL's region of the galaxy. Originally scheduled for 2015, the SPORE Maintenance of Doom™ put a wrench through those plans and delayed it. While I help out hope in early 2016 that it could be done, everything changed when eme12 cancelled Badass just as the stage was getting set for the arc; afterwards, STNL² was left to linger until we put it out of its misery on Christmas. Perhaps the new leaf of the reboot will make things different...
2. Zeela Vordav: Originally meant to fill a void once occupied by She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, Zeela somehow grew on me (because she's hot) and I decided to take her a bit further by making her Jercy's love interest. Over time, however, my like for her and her sister Tressha slowly disappeared, and now I feel her arc was rather "meh". It does seem rather odd for a space mermaid (while on the topic, her "I'm not a mermaid" running joke was fun at first, but then got old) to fall in love with a green monkey-creature with bulging eyes and arms misplaced on his head to start off with, and Cannabeth would've made a more established and logical love interest, since they were supposedly involved already (why'd I forget?!) and they're both of the same species. Looking back on it now, I probably should've had Cannabeth die earlier on (since she was never interesting) and have Zeela come in and start helping Jercy get over his loss. While Zeela will be among the old characters returning in the reboot, expect her development and romance to be more interesting.
3. Siranians: Zeela's race are also something I never was quite happy with. The concept of an ancient race of mermaids who long ago visited Earth is certainly an interesting one, but for various reasons was never made that interesting in the series. Perhaps it's due to Spore's limits on depicting ancient technology and ruins, or perhaps it's just my lack of experience at the time, but I feel they eventually ended up seeming like just another race and not one special in any way. Their culture wasn't given much thought either, and it seemed odd that they'd just use their alluring songs on passersby for fun and sport. To be fair, I don't think the Sirens of Greek mythology were elaborated on either, so I didn't have a lot to work with. Their sister species, the Suckulants, were also never interesting either, but their existence is fungus3's fault. Finally, their unusually human appearance was an anomaly, even more so because it wasn't even discussed. These days, I've put some more thought into their culture and history, especially since the Fallen Empires of Stellaris have been providing me some inspiration. When the Siranians return in Rebirth, they won't be just another race in the galaxy...
4. Kleekoonanonis: As many of you know, the Kleekoonanonis turned out both ugly and boring.

   

   Compared to the Kleekoonians we have now, these guys look noobish...

   They were ugly because of the most well-known blunder I ever made in creature design: putting their arms on their heads. Not only did it look silly, it also made the Kleekoonanonis look highly unrealistic even by SPORE standards. Their culture wasn't much better; it turned out to be highly bland and uninteresting, with a rather uninspired and straightfoward democracy that was too rooted in the real world and not imaginative enough. Worst of all was their bizarre naming scheme that came about due to laziness; had I simply mashed the random button, I could've come up with something okay. But no, I had to lazily jumble the first letters of real-world names and leave it at that. Not only was it dumb, it also made adding and naming family members (such as Jercy's seldom-seen brother and Lobert's child) weird and unnecessarily complicated. Their sole redeeming value is the FORM A GROUP curse that was entertaining for a while, as well as their popularity as interactive series protagonists. Also, their backstory with the Kraygans was somewhat interesting, even For the reboot, all of these problems are no more: The Kleekoonanonis (now Kleekoonians) have an improved appearance, we at least got to decide their culture (even if it turned out like the original, but oh well), and their names are suitably alien and different (except for Jercy and Zeerois; they were fine to begin with).
5. Jercy Packson: While on the subject of Kleekoonanonis, let's take a moment to discuss the most notable of these, Jercy Packson. I feel that I should've developed him more and put him through more stress than he ultimately ended up experiencing. Other than the end of Bloodlust, he didn't go through a lot of experiences that ended up changing him and his personality for better or worse. He was also pretty bland before then; unable and possibly unwilling to break from the cliched mold of a generic starship captain in charge of a crew. Afterwards, he turned into a much more interesting Nemletneg-hating maniac prone to instability. I probably won't do that for the reboot (since his opinions were mine to an extent; today I think the Nemletnegs would be more interesting if they weren't all like fungus3's bimbos), but expect Jercy to be a different character in STNL:R's final season (whenever that is). 
6. The Experimenters: I feel the Experimenters had potential to be great, but weren't for various reasons. Sure, they were a pastiche of Star Trek: DS9's Dominion and simply there to explain the OPness of the Garadreads (which will be hopefully toned down for the reboot), but they certainly were an interesting concept. Their usage of genetic engineering set them apart, and had fungus3 not decided to kill them off (though I did almost decide to undo it), they could've been used as an allegory on our current debates with such technology (for the record, I'm okay with it as long as it isn't used to make KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN a thing). Although the Experimenters won't be in the reboot due to changes to the Garadraed backstory and the nerfing of their intelligence, I might make a species with similar usage of genetic engineering. 
7. Humans: I've never been happy with how humanity has been depicted in the original series; they were a rather odd mish-mash of Star Trek's utopian ideals with our current-day politics and ethos. In addition, there's the whole alternate history and retconning that ended up causing more problems than it solved for STNL²'s last days. Finally, it never made sense why they'd colonize Epindol despite them apparently knowing sapient life was already there. I wish I'd had a more concrete backstory and vision for our future in the Revolution universe. Thankfully, exactly this will be in the reboot, though I don't think I can exactly say what they're like and what their motives are...
8. Khrelan Galagat: She may have one of the best names of any STNL character (according to eme12, who's been known to say her name out loud to bug people), but I was never quite happy with some parts of how she was handled. The idea of her being an Eftievirus shapeshifter was interesting, but was rarely used due to various limits with SPORE and complexity. As I recall, it was explained that shapeshifting tired her out, which was okay but rather uncreative. I also think her backstory and the "mystery" of her existence could've been handled a bit better, especially since it tied into the abysmal Gavalantari/[CENSORED] thing early on in STNL². If I were to do it again, I'd tone down her enigmatic-ness and make her a bit more straightforward, and maybe not even make her a shapeshifter. Thankfully, I'm going to do just that in the reboot.

This is only a very small selection of things I felt could've been improved throughout the original run of STNL and STNL². It was actually pretty hard narrowing down the list since there's a lot that could've been better, including my handling of characters and developing them. In the next part of this series (whenever that is), we delve into forbidden knowledge from early STNL and ask ourselves, "WHY DID YOU DO DAT WILLIEZK?!"

Spore the Next Level: Rebirth, S1E8 Released!

After a bit under three months, Episode 8 is finally here! In this (possibly) exciting episode, we land on a new continent and meet its familiar inhabitants... though not all of them will be friendly. Could we discover our first antagonist species?

A sauropod-esque Miraken... drinks water?
(Also notice the flying Epics in the background. I wish they wouldn't
do that; also, that they'd only breathe fire if they had Spit).

Jercy looks on as a pack of Albekas descend upon a lone and presumably confused Coletten.

Is this a preview of what's to come? Probably...

In a miniature city, someone's pet Talvin relaxes in the sunlight.

In other news, I've become a bit more active on SPORE as you can notice, so I hope to make new parts a but more frequently and not take multi-month hiatuses.

Spore the Next Level Retrospective: The Good

For the first (rather late) lookback at STNL over the last six years, I thought I'd start with everything I've liked about the series, both in the canon and in real life. Without further ado, let's start!
(Bold titles will be for the old series, and normal will be for both series or the reboot).

1. eme12: For many years now, eme12 has been my closest SPORE buddy and éminence grise. For those like me who don't know a lot of French, an éminence grise is a highly-powerful decision maker/adviser who operates unofficially yet still contributes much to their ruler's plans. This is a very fitting epithet for someone who has done by creating the Garadreads and Jonterops and today effectively gives me all the ideas for STNL:R. Though we've had a few disagreements, by and large we remain very close.
2. Jercy Packson: Despite his lousy name (more on that later) and poor development early on, Jercy was interesting character in my mind. While I'll list some of the more "meh" aspects of his plotline later, I will say that making him into a one-handed, Nemletneg-hating maniac was one of the better things I've done and made him more than just a stereotypical "starship-commanding hero" character.
3. T'Rons: One of many ideas for STNL² suggested by eme12, the T'Rons were a far more interesting antagonist species than the bland Gavalantari. They were formidable warriors who had been introduced in the original STNL, when they attempted to ignite a war between the humans and their ancestors, the Toriins. They also had an alliance of several new races, although we only saw the Eldirari and Kaerans if I'm not mistaken. This and their devotion to
   
   war made them un-trite and worthy adversaries of the Kleekoonanonis and their allies. The war arc was also an interesting idea, since it felt more like a prolonged and bloody war rather than skirmishes with antagonist species. My one regret is we never saw it play out until the end.
4. Wildlife: In STNL:R, the wildlife of Epindol has been given a lot of thought and deliberation. Integrating real evolutionary concepts and realistic appearances/colors makes the creatures of Zhenauri unique and memorable. My favorites are the Nepoxes, who travel in large herds with their young and are simply amazing and awe-inspiring to watch. I've had several
   
   characters so far comment on how they, too, enjoy the random wanderings of the gentle giants.
5. Holly Jenkins: This badass cyborg mercenary girl is easily my favorite character in the entire canon, mostly because she's a badass and a strong female character. She also happens to be a part of the Parent Club along with
   
   Jercy+Zeela, her love interest and fellow badass Xhoth, and generals Lobert and Hatred Ree. You may have noticed the title is not bolded, yet she'd part of the old series. The answer is she's simply too badass to be excluded from the reboot, so expect to see her return sometime! 
6. Rando'Moss'Itis: As I mentioned in my Good & Bad post, I find the Rando'Moss'Iti species on the whole to be quite successful and entertaining, especially when you find them... randomly. Also notice the lack of bolding for the title...

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. As you can notice, this wasn't exactly a long or exhaustive list, but the other two will probably be; given how low my enthusiam for the original STNL is. Speaking of enthusiasm, I intend to be a bit more on top of things in terms of working on new parts, so hopefully my months-long hiatuses will go away!
(Yes, the next part will be coming very, very soon).

Spore the Next Level: 6 Years and Counting (more or less)

Boy, how time flies! Last year I was celebrating the 5th anniversary of STNL with Quinquennial, and now a year later it's the 6th anniversary. However, I think its significance is diminished this year because:

1. I haven't been as active on SPORE for various reasons 
2. STNL has ended and been replaced with STNL: Rebirth, and 
3. I don't think I can call today National FORM A GROUP Day anymore since we decided that curse is no longer a thing!

As I mentioned, this anniversary year doesn't feel as special since STNL is no more (not that I mind; it sorta needed to be put out of its misery towards the end and my ideas going forward were all horrible) and been replaced with the brand new STNL: Rebirth, which is only half a year old but still lacking in content due to lowered free time. Nevertheless, since STNL was my big thing, I'll still have a little special occasion on this blog. I think it'll look back at STNL as a whole, like my "Rights and Wrongs" series and examine what I liked about it, what could've been better, and what I wish should never have been (i.e. all that Artemis Fowl crap). See you then!

Spore The Next Level: Rebirth, S1E7 Released!

You read that right, I have returned from my two-month hiatus to continue STNL:R right from where we left off! I could talk forever about my hiatus, but suffice to say it was due to a lack of free time (yay workforce) and the fact that the March client update completely broke my C&C and threw me into general disarray.

Regardless, I got my C&C back recently and regained my motivation to continue STNL:R, so I thought I'd celebrate by kicking off a story arc that'll take us to a completely new continent, with surprises and interactions around every corner. Of course, you can't just say "today I will go to another continent" and suddenly sail off on an ironclad; you need to secure supplies and funding. And that's pretty much what happens here!

Of all the aerial screenshots of Kelamar I've taken, this is probably
my favorite.

The squadmates are cheering because STNL is back, baby!

Zonn Tei lounging at the Kleekoonian military base.
More than likely, Zeerois decided to let him stay there for a while.

A herd of Nepoxes carefully watch their young as they stroll
by the Zoolohonian city.

Spore The Next Level: Rebirth, S1E6 Released!

My apologies for how long this took to make. The thing is, real life's been a little hectic and the fact that the SPORE website is down until further notice has sort of sapped my motivation to play the game itself. I did, however, manage to make this episode to finally conclude the Yakomo story arc (that incidentally started off a month ago today... where did the time go?!) and let us move onto bigger and better things!

Rubesa being held hostage by the Yakomos.

Zonn Tei and Zeerois start the battle off with a bang... literally.

Jercy and the gang talking with King Abisettaw III, just like in the last episode.
(I was going to put in a part where you met up with Jercy and talk a bit,
but I scrapped it since it didn't really add anything to the plot).

Sweet jeebus, that's a lot of baby Nepoxes...

Another beautiful shot of Kelamar. You can tell I don't have a lot
to work with in terms of screenshots...

Spore The Next Level: Rebirth, S1E5 Released!

That's much better: four unanimous votes! However, we won't be fighting the Yakomo captors in this part; that'll have to wait for next time. This rather filler-y part is where we conduct official negotiations with the Yakomo's king and see if there's anything we can do to solve their hunger crisis.

King Abisettaw enthusiastically waves at the camera, while
one of his bodyguards seems oddly perturbed by it.

A pack of Chrettoks are on the prowl.

Those random militiamen from the last part fight Zeerois and Zonn Tei.
(Before you ask, this part is supposed to take place near the end of E4, during the
aforementioned fight).

One of the Kleekoonian ironclads moored in port.

♪ In the jungle, the mighty Jungle, the Huails hunts tonight... ♪