[2022] My experience getting Spore to work online on Steam

[Nephthanthropic]

I went through all of the shenanigans in the popular Spore registration/Online guides yesterday, here are my key takeaways and my process:

There are 2 problems at play here:
the lack of a CD Key anywhere (I have everything working now, but everything in my registry is still "%CDKEY%" so there is some magic going on that nobody has actually disclosed)
"An unknown error occurred during registration. Please try again." in-game - from my rough understanding, this seems to imply that your EA Account registration information was correct, but the server is not convinced that your device legally owns Spore (which is obviously stupid).

There is also another misleading error message you might get in-game: "There was an error connecting to the Spore servers. Your computer might be offline..." - this seems to appear even when your connection is FINE, but you entered the wrong EA Account info during registration OR the game doesn't detect a CD Key. The bottom-line is, this means the server said "no, not even considering it". The error message you want (if any) is the above "An unknown error occurred.

My process is not perfect, but here it is:
Buy everything on Steam in bundle (game + DLC) - just don't download it
Link my Steam account to Origin (the consensus is we think this helps, nobody is certain)
Realise I have no CD Key - go to EA Support Live Chat, explain that my Steam version isn't working because it has no CD Key, prove my purchase with privacy-invasion screenshots, and they add an Origin version to my EA Account (I downloaded the Origin app for this ofc) and then I installed the Origin version.

Here's what a lot of people aren't mentioning and find out after getting their free version - this version ALSO doesn't let you register a new Spore account, despite the fact that it has a CD Key when you right-click it in Origin. The version they gave me had its CD Key already activated, because well, they gave it to me so why wouldn't it be activated? (I attempted to activate it manually but it told me that is was already redeemed)

Nothing in the guides fixed my problem entirely, even having a legit Spore on Origin with an activated key DID NOT WORK and I know I'm not alone in that experience. So I caved-in and bought Spore Creature Creator on Origin - it's cheap but still an annoying thing to have to buy - just buy, don't install
Launch the Origin version, enter the correct EA Account Details (I also made my Spore name the same as my Origin display name idk if that helps), and it works.
Once you're registered, set "auto-sign in" and change the important settings like screen resolution.

So yes, from my experience, owning Spore Creature Creator on Origin does actually do magic and suddenly allow you to register for a Spore account if you details are correct. This sounds like a licensing issue, maybe Spore licences and Creature Creator licences were reversed? It certainly feels that way. You buy the base game and the game doesn't think you own it, so you buy the utility too and suddenly the base game is happy??

Uninstall the Origin version, then install the Steam version and run it - your automatic sign-in information and settings should remain! If they don't then something is wrong, but if all is good then it's time for DLC (close the game)...
Install Creepy&Cute and run it, then close it, and re-open the base game Spore - Creepy&Cute should be there - this DLC actually plays very nicely, just run it once and it seems to work.
Install Galactic Adventures - this one is weird, even after running this once, it doesn't appear when I launch the base game, for some reason I need to actually launch Galactic Adventures directly for that content to show - but that's a whole other issue - you probably already realised that this "DLC" is not actually considered "DLC" to Steam, they appear just like full games annoyingly, so it's poorly integrated.

[TheSharkBuster ita]

perfect, if you want see my creations subscribe to my sporecast "Fauna of multiverse"

[dysaster]

this actually worked thank you ♥, it's kinda sad that you have to buy another thing from ea for this to work, even when it was only 2.49 (I didn't have to choose the same display name that I have on my origin btw)

[Nephthanthropic]

Originally posted by 2CoxInTheFox:

this actually worked thank you ♥, it's kinda sad that you have to buy another thing from ea for this to work, even when it was only 2.49 (I didn't have to choose the same display name that I have on my origin btw)

Glad it helped

[RHACODRACO]

This is insane. I just got spore on steam but can't believe the hoops you're expected to go through to just play the game.. it's weird if they're bothering to run the servers..

[Nephthanthropic]

Originally posted by RHACODRACO:

This is insane. I just got spore on steam but can't believe the hoops you're expected to go through to just play the game.. it's weird if they're bothering to run the servers..

Agreed

[LostLemurs]

I see that EA has a different app than Origins now, so before I spend any more money, does the Creature Creator thing with it still work? If not, guess I'll just play the offline version, it's too bad because I really wanted to see user-created content in the game.

[Nephthanthropic]

Originally posted by LostLemurs:

I see that EA has a different app than Origins now, so before I spend any more money, does the Creature Creator thing with it still work? If not, guess I'll just play the offline version, it's too bad because I really wanted to see user-created content in the game.

It seems like a local licensing mystery to me, so I'm not sure. My money is on: yes, the licencing should remain the same regardless of the vendor if it's still part of EA, as long as both SPORE and Creature Creator are both available in whatever "store" it is. Especially considering that the game has been completely untouched for so long.

Again not certain though, so I would only pursue it if you can afford the risk of purchasing Creature Creator. My exhaustive exploration months ago found that was the only working solution to getting online.

[Kentos^:]

it's best to just download from origin.

[lord_space_33]

It worked, thank you!

[Nephthanthropic]

Originally posted by Kentos^::

it's best to just download from origin.

If you want to use Origin instead of Steam as your launcher then sure.

[Nephthanthropic]

Originally posted by lord_space_33:

It worked, thank you!

yey

[dj unbezahlte überstunden]

So here's my experience summed up: I got the EA support to give me a new license on my origin account but that didn't work out either. When I saw it was in sale at EA for 3€ I just thought I'd try by just buying it on a new account, so I did. I launched it via EA App and was able to create a new account on there and connect to the servers.

Now I am able to use that account to also connect to servers when launching Spore via steam. I just log in with the EA account. So that also works and depending on if Spore is on sale on EA or not even cheaper

[Nephthanthropic]

Originally posted by Der Biermann:

When I saw it was in sale at EA for 3€ I just thought I'd try by just buying it on a new account, so I did. I launched it via EA App and was able to create a new account on there and connect to the servers.

The main game for £3? That's a great deal. Then it let you create a spore account without doing anything else?

[dj unbezahlte überstunden]

Originally posted by Nepthanthropic:

The main game for £3? That's a great deal. Then it let you create a spore account without doing anything else?

Yes, I could just create an account in the main game. Also I can now login on my steam version with that account

[Nephthanthropic]

Originally posted by Der Biermann:

Originally posted by Nepthanthropic:

The main game for £3? That's a great deal. Then it let you create a spore account without doing anything else?

Yes, I could just create an account in the main game. Also I can now login on my steam version with that account

Oh sweet. If you don't have to purchase Creature Creator by going the EA App route, then that's probably the new ultimate solution