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[ENG] Spore NEXT — Complete graphics and visual overhaul

By franz

¡Welcome! The purpose of this guide is to enhance your Spore experience with high-resolution textures, visual improvements, and gameplay optimizations — including unlocking 60 FPS.

Award

Created by

franz
Offline

Category: Modding or Configuration

Languages: English

Posted

Updated

17 Jun, 2021 @ 5:06pm

20 Jul @ 7:44pm

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225	Current Favorites

Guide Index

Overview

Introduction

1. Downloading Spore NEXT

2. Installing the mod pack

3. NVIDIA control panel. (NVIDIA users)

4. Comparison & Screenshots

5. Special thanks

Comments

Introduction

In short, I wrote this guide a few years ago, but over time it became quite outdated and some of the mods are now obsolete. Since then, I started studying programming, so I decided to revamp the guide and developed a custom launcher to automate and simplify the download and installation of these mods.
To use everything covered in this tutorial, you'll need a computer with a 64-bit operating system — ideally Windows 10 or newer — 4GB of RAM, and a graphics card with at least 2GB of VRAM to prevent crashes or stuttering while playing.
And of course, a legitimate copy of Spore or Spore: Galactic Adventures (via Steam or the EA App).

There's also an Spanish version of this guide here.

1. Downloading Spore NEXT

Spore NEXT is the name of my project — a collection of community-made mods, along with some of my own, aimed at enhancing and modernizing the look and feel of Spore. I plan to keep the project regularly updated and will continue adding new features over time. Be sure to check the project's GitHub repository to stay up to date with the latest changes.

Download the latest version of the launcher from the Releases[github.com] section.
Install the launcher and open it. If your game paths aren't detected automatically, you'll need to set them manually.

2. Installing the mod pack

Now that we’ve confirmed the paths are correct:

Click the Install button and select the game you want to install the mods for — either Spore or Spore: Galactic Adventures.
The launcher will begin downloading and installing the mod pack. This process should take around 2-3 minutes.
That’s it! Launch the game and enjoy Spore with enhanced HD visuals and 60fps. You can launch the game directly from the launcher or through Steam as usual — it’s completely optional.

3. NVIDIA control panel. (NVIDIA users)

Details: To get the best possible quality, users with an Nvidia videocard can configure the control panel as shown here:

Go to Manage 3D settings -> Program settings and select SporeApp.exe. (Do not confuse the Spore (Vanilla) executable with the Spore (Galactic Adventures) executable.
Settings:

4. Comparison & Screenshots

Modded (←) - Vanilla (→)
Comparison of textures in Creature Creator.

Modded (↑) - Vanilla (↓)
Background texture comparison of each empire. (Space Stage)

5. Special thanks

• Thanks to EMD for keeping spore modding alive.
• Thanks to paranoid_modder, for inspiring me to make this guide and my launcher.
• Thanks to Mrs. White, for making the graphical mods and screenshots.
• Thanks to Insane grox for developing the high resolution textures mod.
• Thanks to Nutyo for developing the mod that replaces vanilla textures/models with higher quality assets.

60 Comments

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Deejie 15 Sep @ 4:20pm

does this work with spore modapi? https://launcherkit.sporecommunity.com/

Rorito 31 Aug @ 9:02am

Hey! When trying to install the mod inside the launcher, it s}says that the path is incorrect. I´m sure it is correct. Any suggestions?

franz [author] 20 Aug @ 7:45pm

Hi! In the next few days I’ll be releasing version 1.0 of the launcher, which will completely rework it and add new features and fixes that could potentially improve the game performance.
That said, the issues you mentioned aren’t normal and shouldn’t be happening. At least in my case, and for many friends who helped me test it, we didn’t run into any performance problems or crashes.
Feel free to join the Discord server and report any issues or bugs you come across, it really helps me track things down and fix them.

Slayaz12 20 Aug @ 6:58pm

Game looks so much better now. tysm for making this. I am having issues loading into adventures. It often crashes and closes the game during the loading screen. Seems like more complex adventures are less likely to successfully load. Any ideas for a workaround?

Slayaz12 16 Aug @ 8:10pm

Cool! Do online features/sharing still work with this mod?

Abyssgard 15 Aug @ 8:20pm

@franz Hello! I didn't get any error message so far so I can confirm the launcher can read my game and also I left it running for an hour or so already and there was progress! but the download progress is only about 10% i think

franz [author] 15 Aug @ 8:10pm

@Abyssgard Hey there! is your game installation folder located correctly in the settings tab? where is your game installed?

Abyssgard 15 Aug @ 6:58pm

once I click Install on either Spore or GA it says Downloading mods but the progress bar is not moving... I'm currently using v0.9 do I need to do anything else before installing this?

Rayochampi2 2 Aug @ 1:12pm

It works now :]

franz [author] 2 Aug @ 12:14pm

// Fixed in the new update v0.8, everything should be working fine now.

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