Darkspore

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Darkspore

Developers
	Maxis
Publishers
	Electronic Arts
Release dates
Windows	April 26, 2011

Warnings

This game requires a constant internet connection for all game modes.

Spore
Spore	2008
Darkspore	2011

Key points

Persistent internet connection required to play.

Major bug, Error 73003, prevents random accounts from playing with no known fix.

As of August 23, 2013, no longer purchasable at retail and de-listed from digital download platforms.

General information

Official website

Official forums

EA Answer HQ

Steam Community Discussions

Steam Users' Forums

Availability

This game is no longer digitaly sold on Steam and Origin.

Version differences

Limited Edition

Retail editions of the game. Contains special pre-order items along with unique in-game content.

Digital Deluxe Edition

Digital edition of the game distributed by EA. Contains the same unique items as the limited edition along with an unique special hero called Meditron.

Essential improvements

Installing mods

Instructions

Modding Darkspore is against the terms of the Darkspore End User License Agreement.

Demo

Download Darkspore from http://darkspore.com/download, once fully installed, log in using your Origin account (you will need to create one if you do not have one).

Attempting to log into Darkspore without a Darkspore retail key registered to your Origin account will launch the demo.

All demo progress carries over to the full game.

Progress is limited to the first 6 levels (up to level 2-2) and a player level of 9, no other features are restricted.

The full game must be downloaded to play the demo.

The behaviour when upgrading from the demo to the Limited Edition is unknown.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

Template:Game data/row

System	Location
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/99890/pfx/

Save game data location

All save game data is stored online on Maxis/EA's servers.

Video settings

In-game video settings.

Brightness can only be set while in fullscreen.

Custom resolution

Instructions

Input settings

In-game keybindings.

Audio settings

In-game audio settings.

Localizations

A re-install is required to change localisation.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
French
German
Polish
Russian

Issues fixed

Darkspore not available for play. Try again during a scheduled play test

Instructions

Patcher Error [102]

This occurs when Darkspore is installed into a directory that your user account cannot modify.

Instructions

Instructions

Login Error [4001000]

This occurs when there is something invalid with your account details, likely an invalid date of birth.

Instructions

Most Graphical Glitches/Bugs

A lot of forced graphics settings do not play nice with Darkspore and can mess with Darkspore's graphics. Known graphical glitches include:

• Green outlines around everything.
• Massively distorted 3D models.
• Missing text/icons.
• Very brightly glowing heroes.

Instructions

Ingame reg row key consumption widget is temporarily unavailable

Originally, logging into Darkspore with an account that does not have a Darkspore retail key registered to it, would open an in-game web browser displaying a page where you could activate your retail key or cancel. This page is no longer available.

Instructions

Instructions

Other information

Error 73003

Effect

Affected users will find that they can start up Darkspore, but attempting to log into their account will fail, displaying error code 73003.

Brief History

• Error 73003 is a long standing, login issue with Darkspore that affects only specific users and has resisted multiple fix attempts by Maxis.
• The exact cause is unknown though the Error Code's description as provided by Maxis to the Official Darkspore Forums' Community Moderators is "Unable to login to sporenet".
• The error has been fixed for some users in the past following server updates, but at the same time, others users have found themselves become affected by it.

Attempting to determine the cause

All testing by the community so far leads to the issue being account side on EA/Maxis' end.
Known to have no effect:

• Uninstalling Darkspore, removing all user data and then reinstalling it.
• Attempting to log in on a different computer on the same network.
• Attempting to log in on a different computer on a different internet connection.

Possible workaround for players yet to purchase Darkspore

Assuming that Error 73003 can affect players attempting to play the demo, players should download the Demo before purchasing Darkspore and should check that they can play the demo on their account. If they cannot, they should create a new Origin account and attempt to log into Darkspore with that account when playing Darkspore. This process should be repeated until an account is not affected by Error 73003. The player should then purchase Darkspore for this account.

Contacting EA if you are affected

A number of players have talked about how they have contacted an EA Game Advisor complaining about being affected by this error. A lot claim to have received money off of other games and in some cases, full games of similar value when trying to obtain a refund for their purchase. These claims cannot be confirmed however.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	XP SP3, Vista, 7
Processor (CPU)	Intel Pentium IV 3.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)
Hard disk drive (HDD)	10 GB
Video card (GPU)	256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support

A persistent internet connection is required at all times.