How to recover lost creatures!

Deandria · 25-06-2008, 11:38 AM

So many people have had this problem, this workaround is official and listed HERE:

Quote:

Q: Several creatures are in My Spore Creations\Creatures folder, but aren't available for loading in the game. How can I publish these and make them available?
A: This may be the result of the game not shutting down properly. As we look into a fix, you can follow these steps to restore your creatures.

1. Go to the Spore application data directory:
Vista users: C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\SPORE Creature Creator\
XP users: C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\SPORE Creature Creator\
Mac users: Users\\Library\Preferences\SPORE Creature Creator Preferences\p_drive\User\Application Data\SporeCreatureCreator\
2. Delete these two files: GraphicsCache.Package and ServerCache.Package
3. Run the game. You should see your lost creatures restored in the Sporepedia under “Everything”
4. To share them, open them in the editor and make any small change. Save and publish.

The bold part of step 4 is very important, if you don't do it your creatures will NOT be listed in 'My Creations'.

Asmayus · 25-06-2008, 12:08 PM

brilliant! Thanks!

/votes for sticky!

Remora Wraith · 25-06-2008, 12:34 PM

It's worth pointing out this doesn't work if your creature was lost due to the creature data being corrupted or invalid. This is most common when you create a creature of the absolute max complexity or about the max allowed complexity using cheats.

Zambaku · 26-06-2008, 08:24 AM

This dosn't work for me. I don't have an "Application data" in my Documents and Settings, only "All users" and a map with my name and Spore creature creator is not in any of them, I've even done a search on my computer for the GraphicsCache.Package and ServerCache.Package files but came up empty.

Deandria · 26-06-2008, 09:24 AM

The gap in the path is meant to be filled by the name of your user account for that computer...
XP users: C:\Documents and Settings\Your user name here\Application Data\SPORE Creature Creator\

Zambaku · 26-06-2008, 09:36 AM

Ah, I understand^^

Still, can't find the Application Data in that folder. I have: Desktop, Start-Menu, and WINDOWS in there, that's it. =/

Deandria · 26-06-2008, 09:45 AM

Just give me a sec to boot up my other computer so I can check it out (I have Vista not XP).

I think it might be a hidden folder so I need to check it out myself so I can give you instructions on how to make it visible (assuming you don't know).

Deandria · 26-06-2008, 09:54 AM

Right ok, Application Data IS a hidden folder... to make it visible you need to go to 'Tools' on the menu bar and select 'Folder Options...' This will bring up a window with options and tabs along the top, select the tab named 'View' and under the advanced settings there should be a folder that says 'Hidden files and folders' under this there should be 2 options, click the one that says 'Show hidden files and folders' then 'Apply'. The folder should appear.

After you sort this you might want to set it back to 'Do not show hidden files and folders' because some of the files that should be hidden can mess things up if you don't know what you're doing.

Zambaku · 26-06-2008, 10:16 AM

Many thanks for clearing that one out for me, Deandria, you are a lifesaver! =)

tumbleweed · 26-06-2008, 05:15 PM

Thankyou very much this helped loads and loads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stryx · 26-06-2008, 09:18 PM

Thanks for this.

~Stryx

MrEccentric · 27-06-2008, 03:00 AM

When my copy crashes some of my creatures dissapre from the "My creatures" section. They turn up in "Everything". they still have my name on them but it's as if they are downloads. Any thoughts on how to fix/prevent this?

Deandria · 27-06-2008, 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrEccentric

When my copy crashes some of my creatures dissapre from the "My creatures" section. They turn up in "Everything". they still have my name on them but it's as if they are downloads. Any thoughts on how to fix/prevent this?

Just use the last step of my instructions, step 4... it works for that too.

xtitan77 · 28-06-2008, 09:39 AM

Sorry for bothering but: I have Windows Vista. And when I go to my spore folder with : Data, Support and sporebin , there are no files in there called GraphicsCache.Package and ServerCache.Package...
I enabled to see hidden folders but it's still not there . And my directory for spore is C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\SPORE ... When I type in the other one. It can't find it.
What should I do ?

PS : In '' My creations '' It shows that ive done 8 ( which I have done ) but only shows 4 of them

Simsarmy · 28-06-2008, 01:28 PM

This is very useful, I'm going to do my best to spread this to all the fansites.

nickwyatt · 03-07-2008, 08:57 AM

I'm very glad people are on the ball here with solutions to some problems. First I couldn't get SCC to work because of the download manager and then the next time I loaded SCC my creatures had vanished! I've got them back now (I hope, we'll see what happens when I get home) but now the My Spore page is showing two lots of the creatures I made. Is this just a side effect of the problem?

BenVdd · 03-07-2008, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickwyatt

I'm very glad people are on the ball here with solutions to some problems. First I couldn't get SCC to work because of the download manager and then the next time I loaded SCC my creatures had vanished! I've got them back now (I hope, we'll see what happens when I get home) but now the My Spore page is showing two lots of the creatures I made. Is this just a side effect of the problem?

just go to the USA spore site and delete the duplicates :-)

nickwyatt · 03-07-2008, 10:15 AM

Aaah, thanks very much. Why can't the UK version do this? It's very odd.

BenVdd · 03-07-2008, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickwyatt

Aaah, thanks very much. Why can't the UK version do this? It's very odd.

hmm no idea , go to the US site and DL your creatures from there =)

Spore-G · 03-07-2008, 05:35 PM

Thanks for this!

xtitan77 · 05-07-2008, 09:58 PM

Sorry for bothering but: I have Windows Vista. And when I go to my spore folder with : Data, Support and sporebin , there are no files in there called GraphicsCache.Package and ServerCache.Package...
I enabled to see hidden folders but it's still not there . And my directory for spore is C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\SPORE ... When I type in the other one. It can't find it.
What should I do ?

PS : In '' My creations '' It shows that ive done 8 ( which I have done ) but only shows 4 of them

Wishbone77 · 06-07-2008, 12:30 AM

xtitan77: On Vista, the folder you're looking for is C:\Users\[Your windows user name]\AppData\Roaming\SPORE Creature Creator

Hope that helps

xtitan77 · 06-07-2008, 08:48 AM

Okay, Thanks Alot. Now I understand. Thank you all so much.

charles9 · 11-07-2008, 05:12 PM

the help worked great but now every creature i've ever deleted is there (i let my six year old brother try it out and he saved about 50 in the 10 minutes he played) as well as creatures i had changed or edited, meaning when i saved half way through or went back and changed them those old saved creatures are there now too. So basically i started with about 36 "finished", "good" creatures and ended up with 150... now my question is: is that suppossed to happen and is there an easier way of deleting the ones i don't want other than one by one in the sporepedia?

Ateyate · 18-07-2008, 03:23 AM

^Good question, who has the answer? :P

25-06-2008, 12:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
Remora Wraith Forum Junkie Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Somewhere Age: 23 Posts: 4,714	It's worth pointing out this doesn't work if your creature was lost due to the creature data being corrupted or invalid. This is most common when you create a creature of the absolute max complexity or about the max allowed complexity using cheats. __________________ We are sorry in the most sarcastic sense of the word.

26-06-2008, 09:24 AM	#5 (permalink)
Deandria Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: United Kingdom Age: 25 Gender: Female Posts: 154	The gap in the path is meant to be filled by the name of your user account for that computer... XP users: C:\Documents and Settings\Your user name here\Application Data\SPORE Creature Creator\ __________________ Deandria Dragonflame View My Spore Page

26-06-2008, 09:36 AM	#6 (permalink)
Zambaku Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Sweden Age: 23 Posts: 11	Ah, I understand^^ Still, can't find the Application Data in that folder. I have: Desktop, Start-Menu, and WINDOWS in there, that's it. =/ __________________ Release the mechanical housecats with self-destruct devices!

26-06-2008, 09:45 AM	#7 (permalink)
Deandria Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: United Kingdom Age: 25 Gender: Female Posts: 154	Just give me a sec to boot up my other computer so I can check it out (I have Vista not XP). I think it might be a hidden folder so I need to check it out myself so I can give you instructions on how to make it visible (assuming you don't know). __________________ Deandria Dragonflame View My Spore Page

26-06-2008, 09:54 AM	#8 (permalink)
Deandria Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: United Kingdom Age: 25 Gender: Female Posts: 154	Right ok, Application Data IS a hidden folder... to make it visible you need to go to 'Tools' on the menu bar and select 'Folder Options...' This will bring up a window with options and tabs along the top, select the tab named 'View' and under the advanced settings there should be a folder that says 'Hidden files and folders' under this there should be 2 options, click the one that says 'Show hidden files and folders' then 'Apply'. The folder should appear. After you sort this you might want to set it back to 'Do not show hidden files and folders' because some of the files that should be hidden can mess things up if you don't know what you're doing. __________________ Deandria Dragonflame View My Spore Page

25-06-2008, 12:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
Asmayus Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 11	brilliant! Thanks! /votes for sticky!

26-06-2008, 08:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
Zambaku Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Sweden Age: 23 Posts: 11	This dosn't work for me. I don't have an "Application data" in my Documents and Settings, only "All users" and a map with my name and Spore creature creator is not in any of them, I've even done a search on my computer for the GraphicsCache.Package and ServerCache.Package files but came up empty.

26-06-2008, 10:16 AM	#9 (permalink)
Zambaku Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Sweden Age: 23 Posts: 11	Many thanks for clearing that one out for me, Deandria, you are a lifesaver! =) __________________ Release the mechanical housecats with self-destruct devices!

26-06-2008, 05:15 PM	#10 (permalink)
tumbleweed Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 2	Thankyou very much this helped loads and loads!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

26-06-2008, 09:18 PM	#11 (permalink)
Stryx Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 7	Thanks for this. ~Stryx

27-06-2008, 03:00 AM	#12 (permalink)
MrEccentric Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 17	When my copy crashes some of my creatures dissapre from the "My creatures" section. They turn up in "Everything". they still have my name on them but it's as if they are downloads. Any thoughts on how to fix/prevent this?

28-06-2008, 09:39 AM	#14 (permalink)
xtitan77 Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3	Sorry for bothering but: I have Windows Vista. And when I go to my spore folder with : Data, Support and sporebin , there are no files in there called GraphicsCache.Package and ServerCache.Package... I enabled to see hidden folders but it's still not there . And my directory for spore is C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\SPORE ... When I type in the other one. It can't find it. What should I do ? PS : In '' My creations '' It shows that ive done 8 ( which I have done ) but only shows 4 of them Last edited by xtitan77; 28-06-2008 at 09:41 AM.. Reason: Update

28-06-2008, 01:28 PM	#15 (permalink)
Simsarmy Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 11	This is very useful, I'm going to do my best to spread this to all the fansites.

03-07-2008, 08:57 AM	#16 (permalink)
nickwyatt Rookie Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2	I'm very glad people are on the ball here with solutions to some problems. First I couldn't get SCC to work because of the download manager and then the next time I loaded SCC my creatures had vanished! I've got them back now (I hope, we'll see what happens when I get home) but now the My Spore page is showing two lots of the creatures I made. Is this just a side effect of the problem?

03-07-2008, 10:15 AM	#18 (permalink)
nickwyatt Rookie Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2	Aaah, thanks very much. Why can't the UK version do this? It's very odd.

03-07-2008, 05:35 PM	#20 (permalink)
Spore-G Rookie Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 32	Thanks for this!

05-07-2008, 09:58 PM	#21 (permalink)
xtitan77 Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3	Sorry for bothering but: I have Windows Vista. And when I go to my spore folder with : Data, Support and sporebin , there are no files in there called GraphicsCache.Package and ServerCache.Package... I enabled to see hidden folders but it's still not there . And my directory for spore is C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\SPORE ... When I type in the other one. It can't find it. What should I do ? PS : In '' My creations '' It shows that ive done 8 ( which I have done ) but only shows 4 of them

06-07-2008, 12:30 AM	#22 (permalink)
Wishbone77 Forum Regular Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Denmark Posts: 838	xtitan77: On Vista, the folder you're looking for is C:\Users\[Your windows user name]\AppData\Roaming\SPORE Creature Creator Hope that helps __________________ Here's my Spore profile *Okay, I caved. I'm now buying Spore, but I still do NOT* endorse malware/SecuROM**

06-07-2008, 08:48 AM	#23 (permalink)
xtitan77 Rookie Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 3	Okay, Thanks Alot. Now I understand. Thank you all so much.

11-07-2008, 05:12 PM	#24 (permalink)
charles9 Hi, I'm New! Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1	the help worked great but now every creature i've ever deleted is there (i let my six year old brother try it out and he saved about 50 in the 10 minutes he played) as well as creatures i had changed or edited, meaning when i saved half way through or went back and changed them those old saved creatures are there now too. So basically i started with about 36 "finished", "good" creatures and ended up with 150... now my question is: is that suppossed to happen and is there an easier way of deleting the ones i don't want other than one by one in the sporepedia?

18-07-2008, 03:23 AM	#25 (permalink)
Ateyate Rookie Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 249	^Good question, who has the answer? :P __________________ My Sporepedia