Chris Hecker on the technology behind Spore GameSpy: Did any specific parts of the editor give you a lot of trouble? Was there (for instance) some particular creature part that frustrated the programmers for months? Chris Hecker: Once you give the player control, all bets are off. There are a million ways to break the animation system, but one of Will’s game development mantras is “if you’re going to fail, fail funny,” and we tried to adhere to that as much as possible. The other thing that really works in our favor is the player’s inherent love and appreciation for their own creations…we might generate an animation for a truly wacky creature that’s completely lame by Pixar-quality standards, but because the player created the creature him or herself, they love it because nobody thinks their own kids are ugly! The first time you see something you made come to life, it’s pure magic, even if it’s just a purple blob with a mouth and no eyes. GameSpy - Chris Hecker on the Technology of Spore
