Spore: Space Age Too Hard?

Well I started a game in spore and found out that the game is incredibly easy ...up until the space stage. cell stage is like playing a 3d pacman, creature, tribe, and civ stage is all extremely easy it gets booring. Then I get the space age and it's just crazy hard! And I have no idea what the hell I'm doing! Youd think there'd be some tutorial. All the terrascore, spices ,colonizations and invaders confuse me. But the worst this is is that my colonies are constantly under attack and I have to run and defend them all then i die cause i only got 2 ships and they die super quick. and then moving anywhere around to other stars i always get attacked. and spice build so slow. The games so aggrevating. I respawn and die over and over and over. In an hour of play i must die over 100 times. What am i supposed to do? Despite all the other stages being way too easy like creature stage. They were at least fun for a while.Spore: Space Age Too Hard?
first of all this is not an answer, this is my sympathy. because i'm experiencing exactly all of the things that you described here.

unfortunately you're absolutely right. at this stage with just 2 ships it's like i'm getting nowhere! i don't understand how come my colonies can't defend themselves and why should they get attacked every 1 to 3 minutes?! and i really feel the need for a list of stars so that i could find my way back to a specific system whenever necessary without having to go through a lot of trouble and headache!

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found this a minute ago, haven't tried it yet though

it's a mod which claims to "reduce the frequency of all space event for the purpose of allowing people to enjoy their universe"

check it out:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/genmessage.php?board=926714%26amp;topic=45393817Spore: Space Age Too Hard?
Don't use the modify code. It gives you the Joker emblem as it knows you've changed it from what I've heard Don't advance after 3 colonies until they are built up with numerous turrets. Get trade routes between a few nearby aliens.

What is ridiculous is the complete inbalance in the space age. It's like a poor mans Railway Tycoon.

I found the game to be an interesting experiment, but would have loved to have seen it before Will Wright sold out and produced another cash cow for EA.

What I do hope happens is this game is a stepping stone for a developer who sees Spore's potential and makes a simulation for a smaller portion of the gamer population. Blade Runner as opposed to Independance Day.Spore: Space Age Too Hard?
Hi, I have a few tips that should help you. I'm currently playing on Hard so they will definitely work



1. Take your time! My first game frustrated me so much because I was constantly dumping colonies and capturing new ones, you have to take it slow and beware of spreading your resources too thin. Aim for a few colonies for each colour of spice, but don't go above 8 colonies for the first few hours you are playing.



2. Ally with as many races as possible, try to create buffer zones where possible. rather than spending 1mil+ on a new colony, you can get the same results by simply doing a couple of missions with a nearby race



3. Uber-Turrets are your best friend! After around 4 hours of play you should unlock this, make sure you buy them from allies in order to keep the expense down. Buy them as much as you can, and systematically put one on every colony you own. Then you can concentrate on building up colonies productivity/turret levels, as any time you are alerted to an attack, you can simply ignore it, I have never lost a planet with an uber-turret attatched.



4. After about 5-8 hours of game-time, your fully upgraded colonies are basically a license to print money. You will have learnt where is best to sell each resource type. Whenever you are short on cash, simply do a trading tour of your empire. At this stage in the game I am able to turn a barren planet into a 3-colony resource mill with every colonisation extra in a few minutes with money to spare.



Just remember, the first few hours of this game are like slowly freeing your hands from being tied around your back, once you have succeeded the universe stops becoming a grind and starts becoming really fun. It's a shame the game was designed like this, but I think it's worth doing regardless.
I think the easiest way to figure things out is the Spore Game Guide. Click the Spore Menu (the swirly round button on the bottom-left) and the Spore Guide is there. It really is helpful and informative on your first tentative steps into the galaxy and beyond.

Here are a few of my own tips:

Info about Terrascores, etc. can easily be found in the Spore Guide.



An important step early on is to make alliances. More allies means less enemies. Make an extra effort to befriend the empires that are close to your home and colony worlds. This way you surround yourself in "safe space", or space owned by your allies. This will allow you to move relatively freely in the areas around your home.

The reason you get attacked when you move to other stars probably means you are inside the territory of an enemy, and this probably means you aren't in friendly space, which means you need to make alliances. Allies, allies, allies. You can kill them all later when you're more powerful.

Your spice productivity is probably low because the cities aren't at peak productivity. Zoom in onto the cities and make sure that they produce at least 1.00 spice every hour. If not, add more factories (but don't forget your lessons in the city planner about happiness). Don't forget to sell the spice to other planets, too! Some empires will pay more for a certain spice than others.

Usually they give extra information about the star system when you're on missions. Click on the long blue button with dots on it. A screen should pop-up, giving you more detailed instructions. e.g. "The Goober system is located near the red star Flunkus."



I hope this helps!