Spore question

[floppybootstomp]

I recently part exchanged some games at a Cex shop and came home with Batman: Arkham Asylum and Spore. Batman is great, been playing that.

However, when I installed Spore and attempted to join the game's online community it told me I had an invalid code number.

This is almost certainly because the previous owner had registered the game with their own online name so the Spore website was reacting to me on the grounds that my code and name didn't match those on their records.

Whilst it doesn't stop me playing single player it is less than satisfactory so I was thinking of selling it back to Cex and buying the game new. It's currently £21.75 at both Amazon & Play.com plus there's an expansion pack at £15.00 and a disk containing creature spare parts for a tenner.

My question is: If I installed a new version would it overwrite the old Spore code number which will probably be left as a registry entry after I've uninstalled the game.

I'm also wondering if that registry entry would be easy to find and if I could manually delete it. I haven't looked yet. I'm using Win 7 Home Premium.

Or, indeed, if it enters the code number as a registry entry at all?

I don't want to lose money selling my current copy and then shell out for a new copy only to find I still have the same problem.

So if anybody has any experience of this I'd be grateful for any info you could offer.

 

[floppybootstomp]

I just uninstalled Spore and it seems to have done a very thorough job, I couldn't find any trace of Spore, Electronic Arts or Maxis in any of the Program Files; All the App Data folders in Users or anywhere else.

On searching for 'Spore' in the registry I found about 30 entries, many of which listed game titles that were not Spore.

So I deleted them all - and on reboot promptly lost my display settings - it was at 800 x 600 and could not be changed.

Which reinforces my view - don't mess with the Registry

So I downloaded latest Nvidia video drivers - 196.21, I had been using 195.62 - rebooted and all is restored. Phew.

So it looks as though there's no trace of Spore left but of course I can't be sure.

 

[TriplexDread]

Ouch registry can be a bit iffy at times mate

Have you tried contacting the publisher/server owner's and asking them nicely if they could reset the account so you are able to play online?

Might be worth a try? If you have serial number then I can't see the problem

 

[floppybootstomp]

I could try but Electronic Arts (the game's publisher) are notorious for non-communication.

It's also possible the former owner kept the game installed and is using a no CD crack and still playing online, in which case I'm stuffed.

Such are the risks in buying games used I suppose, unless the former owner can guarantee it hasn't been registered for online play.

 

[TriplexDread]

He may not have registered online for playing just for offers EA are like that - One of those companies that like to bribe you with offers if you register with them for you only to realise months latee most offers are for residents of the good ole USA

 

[Ian]

If it did leave any traces in the registry you can always use system restore, which will remove any of those settings. It looks like you've done the job now though anyway

The online part of spore is just so that you can share your character with other users and visa versa - so it shouldn't impact gameplay too much IIRC. It's been ages since I've played it, so there could be more to it than that.