Readme for Spore(tm)
(c)2008 Electronic Arts Inc. All Rights Reserved.

MAXIS(tm) 9/01/08
Version 1.0

== Table of Contents ==
General
System Requirements
Known Hardware Issues
Performance Tips
Notes
Controls and Shortcuts
Compatibility Notes


GENERAL
=======

Welcome to Spore! We hope you'll have a lot of fun with it. 
For the latest up-to-date information on the game and
associated products, please visit

                 http://www.spore.com


System Requirements
===================

Spore requires at least the following:

FOR WINDOWS XP
 * 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
 * 512 MB RAM
 * A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 
 * The latest version of DirectX 9.0c
 * Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 1
 * At least 4 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB 
   additional space for creations

FOR WINDOWS VISTA
 * 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent
 * 768 MB RAM
 * A 128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0  
 * At least 4 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB 
   additional space for creations.

For computers using built-in graphics chipsets under Windows, 
the game requires at least:
 * Intel Integrated Chipset, 945GM or above.
 * 2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU, or 1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo, or equivalent.
 * 768 MB RAM

FOR MAC OS X
 * Mac OS X 10.5.3 Leopard or higher
 * Intel Core Duo Processor
 * 1024 MB RAM
 * ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or
   Intel Integrated GMA X3100.
 * At least 4 GB of hard drive space, with at least 1 GB 
   additional space for creations.

This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems, or 
the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards.


Supported Video Cards
---------------------

NVIDIA GeForce series
   FX 5900, FX 5950
   6200, 6500, 6600, 6800,
   7200, 7300, 7600, 7800, 7900, 7950
   8400, 8500, 8600, 8800
   9600, 9800, GTX 260, GTX 280

ATI Radeon(TM) series
  9500, 9600, 9800
  X300, X600, X700, X800, X850
  X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950
  2400, 2600, 2900,
  3450, 3650, 3850, 3870,
  4850 

Intel(R) Extreme Graphics
  Windows: GMA 950, GMA 3x00 series
  Mac OS X: GMA X3100
  
Laptop versions of these chipsets may work, but may run
comparatively slower. Standalone cards that are installed in
vanilla PCI slots (not PCIe or PCIx or AGP), such as some
GeForce FX variants, will perform poorly. Intel integrated
chipsets featuring underclocked parts, such as the 945GU, GML,
and GMS, will not perform adequately.

Integrated chipsets such as the ATI Xpress and the NVIDIA
TurboCache variants will have low settings selected, but
should run satisfactorily.

Please note that attempting to play the game using video 
hardware that isn’t listed above may result in reduced 
performance, graphical issues or cause the game to not 
run at all.

The NVIDIA GeForce FX series is unsupported under Vista.


Known Hardware Issues
=====================

The game may become unresponsive while painting your creature,
or after switching between fullscreen and windowed. To fix
this, update your graphics drivers from the vendor website.

When changing the display size, in some situations the 
monitor may not respond to a resolution it claims to support,
showing a black or distorted display. If this occurs switch 
to windowed mode, and then change the resolution and 
refresh rate back to smaller values.

Audio hardware acceleration is unsupported.

Windows Vista:
When launching the game, some Microsoft Vista users may 
receive a warning about running out of address space along 
with a link to the Microsoft Knowledge Base. If you see this 
message, it is recommended that you follow the instructions 
and go to the website listed in the message to update 
your system.

Turtle Beach Montego DDL - Surround 5.1 is not supported. 
This mode is available in the options, but sound will be 
in Stereo (2 Channel) for all speakers.

Mac OS X:
On Mac OS X systems that have NVIDIA cards with less than 
256 MB of VRAM, you may need to reduce the graphics quality 
through the methods described in General Troubleshooting 
for improved graphics quality.

If running the game on a Mac Book Pro with display mirroring 
turned on, ensure that you select a resolution which is 
supported by both the internal and external displays. 
A workaround for this issue is to ensure that the internal 
LCD is the main system monitor before turning on display 
mirroring, and you will be presented with the proper 
resolutions.

Occasionally the game audio will stop playing when headphones 
are connected after the game is started.  In order to prevent 
this from occurring, please ensure that your headphones are 
connected to your Mac before starting the game.

If you experience frame rate issues while running on ATI X1600
or X1900 cards, reduce your Lighting Quality setting to low.


Performance Tips
================

When you run Spore for the first time, the game will 
automatically select the most appropriate options for your 
graphics card, CPU, and audio card. To improve performance, 
use the options control panel to  lower settings to 
"medium" or "low".

You can also improve the performance of the game by
lowering the resolution the game runs at, to 1024 x 768
or 800 x 600. It is not recommended that you run at
fullscreen resolution if your monitor resolution has a
height or width of 1600 or larger.

Spore is a real-time 3D game that requires the majority of 
your computer's processing power. Other programs operating in 
the background may slow it down or cause hitches. For best 
results, be sure to close any background applications while 
playing Spore.

Fullscreen performance is generally better than windowed 
performance.


Notes
=====

Spore Error Messages
--------------------

Below are some error and warning messages you may see from the 
game, along with suggestions for fixing them.

1000:  Another instance of Spore is already running. Please 
       quit or kill it first.

1001:  The game cannot find any valid display modes. Please 
       ensure your display is set to 32 bits.

1002:  Direct X is not installed. Please install it, or reinstall
       the game.
       
1004:  The game cannot find its data directory. Please reinstall
       the game.

1010   It is recommended that you update your graphics card 
       drivers to avoid compatibility issues. Generally you can
       do this by going to the website of the hardware manufacturer
       for your card. The sites for NVIDIA, ATI, and Intel are:
       
         http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp
         http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html
         http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/

1011:  It is required that you upgrade your graphics card drivers
       to avoid serious issues with the game. Please see above.

1012:  The game has issues with this card in multi GPU mode. Please
       either update your drivers, or disable multi GPU mode from
       the vendor's control panel.

2001:  The system is below our min spec, and we cannot run at all.

2002:  The system is below our min spec, and you may experience
       graphical, performance, or audio issues.
       
2003:  You are running a version of Vista that has issues with
       graphics cards with large amounts of VRAM. Please either
       update to SP1, or install the corresponding fix from

         http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/940105



Online Help
-----------

The Electronic Arts Customer Support site is located at 

  http://support.ea.com 

for North American users or 

  http://eusupport.ea.com 
  
for European users. 

Use the search tools to find the information you need. The 
Knowledge Base is updated as new information becomes available, 
so check back for the latest news and information.


Installing the Game
-------------------

Windows (disc users):
 * Insert the disc into your disc drive and follow the on-screen instructions.
 * Once the game has installed you can launch it by locating the game 
   through the Start menu. 
 * Games on Windows Vista™ are located in the Start > Games menu and on 
   earlier versions of Windows™ in the Start > Programs (or All Programs) menu.

Windows (EA Store users):
 * Once the game has been downloaded by EA Download Manager, click the install 
   icon that appears and follow the on-screen instructions.
 * Launch the game (once it is installed) directly from the EA Download Manager.

In Windows Vista Classic Start menu style, games are located in the 
Start > Programs > Games > Games Explorer menu.

Mac OS X:
 * Insert the game disc into your CD/DVD-ROM drive. A CD icon 
   representing the game disc appears on your desktop. Double-
   click the icon to open the game’s launcher.
 * Select the game’s installer icon at the bottom of the 
   launcher to prompt the installation menu. 
 * Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the 
   installation.


Digital Retail Installation
---------------------------

Please contact the digital retailer through whom you purchased 
this game for instructions on how to install the game or how 
to download and reinstall another copy of the game.

Note: If you’d like additional information about your game as 
well as tips and patches please visit http://www.ea.com or 
http://www.eastore.com.


Uninstalling the Game
---------------------

Windows XP:
 * Open Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel.
 * Click on Change or Remove Programs.
 * Click on the SPORE program entry.
 * Click on the Remove button. 
 * Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the 
   uninstallation.

Windows Vista:
 * Open the Programs and Features control panel. 
 * Click on the SPORE program entry. 
 * Click on the Uninstall button. 
 * Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the 
   uninstallation.

Mac OS X:
 * Ensure you are logged in using an account which has 
   Administrative privileges.
 * Delete the SPORE folder from your Applications folder.
 * Additional files can be found in 
   /Users/<Username>/Library/Preferences/Spore Preferences
 * To remove the content created by Spore, remove the folder
   /Users/<Username>/Documents/My Spore Creations

Locations On Disk
-----------------

Spore keeps your creatures, movies, pictures, 
and animated avatars in a folder called "My Spore Creations".
The location of this folder depends on your OS:

Windows XP:
* "My Spore Creations" is located in your "My Documents" folder. 

Windows Vista:
* "My Spore Creations" is located in your “Documents” folder.

Mac OS X:
* "My Spore Creations" is located in your “Documents” folder.

Spore also keeps a cache of the graphics assets for pollinated
content you have downloaded. If you are short on disk space, 
try reducing the size of that cache in the graphics options.


Controls and Shortcuts
======================

- Creature Creator -

Left Click to select and move parts.

Left Click to move the arrow-shaped handles on the currently
selected part, which changes its shape.

Left Click and drag parts off the creature to sell them back.

Mouse over a part or a spine segment and use the mousewheel to 
scale the size. Or, select the part, and use the up and down 
arrow keys.

Hold Alt while clicking and dragging a part to copy it.  On 
Mac systems, use Option instead of Alt.

Left Click and drag directly on the spine to change the spine 
shape. Use the arrows to length or shorten the spine.

Left Click on the torso skin (not the spine) to move it.

Hold Control while dragging a limb segment to attach it to 
another limb.

Hold Tab when a part is selected to reveal additional rotation 
handles.


- Building Creator -

To move a part vertically, press and hold Control while you click 
a part and reposition it with your mouse.

To move a part across the surface of the dais, press and hold 
Shift while you click a part and reposition it with your mouse.


- Vehicle Creator -

Body and cockpit parts automatically align down the center of the vehicle.

There are limits to the height and width of any vehicle. 

To move the entire vehicle, press and hold Shift while moving the mouse. 


- Camera -

Left Click on the background moves the camera around.

In test drive, mousewheel zooms the camera in and out.

In build and paint modes, shift and mousewheel zooms the
camera in and out. 

< and >     Rotates the camera
+ and -     Zooms in or out

- General -

Control-N    Start New
Control-Y    Redo
Control-Z    Undo
Control-S    Save
Control-H    Toggle whether the UI is hidden
H or ?       Bring up or close the Spore Guide
B            Bring up the Sporepedia™

Windows:
Alt-Enter    Toggle between windowed and fullscreen modes.

Mac OS X:
Command-Return  Toggle between windowed and fullscreen modes.
Command-Tab 	 Minimize the game when in fullscreen mode.

Note that when the game is minimized, it will not pause, 
but will continue running in the background.


- Right Mouse Button Functionality on Mac OS X -

This game contains features that require a right mouse button.
If you have an Apple Mighty Mouse, you can enable the Right 
Mouse Button in System Preferences->Keyboard and Mouse. Change 
the "Right Click" drop down to Secondary Button.

To emulate the clicking of both buttons simultaneously using the 
Apple Mighty Mouse, hold down the scroll button or click the left 
mouse button while holding down the Command and Option keys.

As well, most PC USB mice are supported on the Macintosh. 
The Left and Right mouse buttons are detected and work 
correctly on these mice when first plugged in.

If you have an Apple legacy single button mouse, or a MacBook 
Pro with a Track Pad, you can emulate a right mouse button 
click by holding down the Command key while clicking the mouse 
button.

To emulate the clicking of both buttons simultaneously using a 
single button mouse, hold down the Command and Option keys while 
clicking the mouse button.

Command Line Options
--------------------

The following command-line options are supported:
  -w     Run in windowed mode.
  -f     Run in fullscreen mode.
  -r:<width>x<height> 
         Run at the given resolution.
  -safe  Force a minimum set of configuration options, and
         don't load any optional plugins.


Cheats
------

To enter cheats in the game, first open the command console by 
simultaneously pressing ctrl-shift-c. Press the enter button 
to close the command console. Some of the cheats that can be 
used here are as follows:

help: lists all the cheats in the game.
help [cheatname]: displays specific information about the cheat.
quit: quit game.


Compatibility Notes
===================

Spore is designed to run on Windows XP compatible graphics and 
sound cards. Drivers for these devices are provided by the 
respective card manufacturer and may result in compatibility 
issues beyond our control.

If you are experiencing any issues, it is always recommended 
that you obtain and install the latest drivers for your 
hardware. The majority of hardware vendors have the latest 
drivers available for download via their websites.  


More information on known technical issues is available at
http://www.spore.com.

Thanks for playing Spore!
The 'Spore' Team
MAXIS


