Sweet ;DYes, it does sound pretty cool.
I'm downloading it now. From what I've about Fable 2 so far I'm really anticipating it.
Molyneux also hopes to expand on the property ownership elements in the original Fable in a very big way -- he intends to make nothing short of every building in the entire game world purchasable by your character. Habitations, castles and keeps, even churches will be available for you to own, and each will bring with them unique game elements. If you're lord of a castle, for instance, your subjects will express their fealty to you, quite possibly paying you taxes and showering you with material tributes.Oh man......that sounds pretty sweet. :)
Fable 2 also will deliver a cutscene-free game, Molyneux explained. "Cutscenes are last generation. There will be no cutscenes in Fable 2."
I like a lot of the ideas Molyneux is bring ing up.. But I get the feeling he's never played Bushido Blade or Shenmue :P A lot of the "swords are sharp" stuff he was talking about is pretty much how Bushido Blade handled it: fatal hits and minor wounds all depend on how you hit your opponent.I dunno' about this "one button" idea.
The environment based combat is all situational, but it has to be universal and fast-paced as well. I'm sure they'll manage it without limiting the player to what they think the player should be doing. There have been games with the "one and only action button" and half the time the character does shit I don't want him to do. For example, with the chandalier sequence, what if I didn't want my character to use the chandalier? What if I wanted to lunge at the opponent?
Or what it there was a chair right there too, and I wanted to kick it instead of using the chandalier? I just hate automatic stuff that assumes what I want to do.. Either way I'm sure Molyneux will figure it out. I like his reasoning and his outlook on the combat system.PM sounds like he's on the right track...
It's pretty much what I've been questioning for a while in games.
Except in ninja games which seem to maintain the fact that swords are quite fatal :PHehe.
Fable 2 is playable! ... sorta
Posted Oct 5th 2006 4:20PM by James Ransom-Wiley
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure, RPGs
Xbox 360Word from Lionhead is that Fable 2 has reached the "FP" milestone -- that's dev-speak for "first playable." Don't get too excited, this just means that Microsoft has been sent a few functional areas of the game, so the publisher can be confident its money isn't only being blown on "office refurbishment" and pizza parties.
The FP build also included a never-to-be-released quest, which, according to Lionhead's most recent community update, featured, "a magical potion, some pretty messed-up, dandy-dressed, wizard-types and most importantly such a dramatic outcome of a twisted nature, that it would make Joe Average Jr. freak out." We don't even wanna know ...
'Buying Things'If this does get implemented -- own a whole street? Own a shop??? Even be a shopkeeper?
Peter asks, "Why is it you can only buy swords and clothes? Why can't you buy a house? Or a shop and be a shopkeeper? Why not a whole street? Or a whole city? Or the nearby castle and be Lord of the castle? Why not buy a dungeon?"
Everything that you see in Fable 2 is buyable and when you buy it, you are Lord of the manor / Owner of the dungeon. It adds to your character as you have a feeling of wealth and ownership. It's a new mechanic; money. It can buy you security, power and pretty much anything else.
How does this enhance the experience? Ownership is empowering. It allows the player to 'unlock' content, and it adds to the simulation element.
Regarding the content unlocking, if you own a castle, there will be specific quests relating to owning that castle. "Sire, there are thieves stealing wine from the cellars!" If you own a cathedral, you get different quests - kill the priest or protect him - and so on...
What this also gives you is that when you beat the game, you haven't finished it as there's still content to be found and played through. This was a feature present in the original Fable (if you played through the evil ending and got the big sword and waited out the end credits), but the fact Lionhead is openly aware of it means that perhaps we'll get more bang for the buck this time round.
In Fable 2, the team has focused on making the bad guy unspeakably bad. Peter says, "We want the player to despise him. I warn you however, if you have a family, don't expect them to last very long unless you be very aware of looking after them. As for the main story, we have a main thread, but unbeknown to you, we'll be picking things up and adding them into the story thread based on your personal journey.Ohhhh......that's quite interesting, hehe.
For example, in my story the baddie may have kidnapped your kid, but in your story, he may not have kidnapped him."
Our verdict?Peter has always had big dreams -- I really hope he can bring us everything he is speaking on. B/c what he plans, it just sounds amazing......
Overall, the talk was fascinating and showed Lionhead's genuine passion for innovating and creating engaging experiences for the player.
Fable 2 presently sounds like it's shaping up very nicely, but as with all things, it's probably best that we wait for the finished article before getting too excited, as many things in it do sound too good to be true.
GS: Is Lionhead using middleware to help it make next-generation titles, then?Interesting.
PM: Absolutely – I’m absolutely passionate about that. We’re using quite a lot of stuff – we’re using Havok for physics, we’re using Kynapse for navigation. It’s such a mundane task, but we as a developer have been constrained by navigation for decades. ‘You can’t have the character go up there because we don’t have a navigation map for it.’
We’re also using things like Anark for our user interface. Being able to be dynamic with these things is vital. You would think that moving a health bar from the left hand side of the screen to the right hand should be a 10-minute piece of work. And it normally takes about a week to do [laughs]. It helps to use a third-party tool that allows me as a designer to move things dynamically. We’ll use as much of this stuff as we possibly can.
GS: So what exactly is Lionhead working on right now?No wonder it took so long for B&W2, The Movies, and Fable: TLC to be done -- they were all done in the same year, all being worked on at the same time!!!
PM: Certainly, our immediate focus is on Fable 2, and Fable 2 is for the Xbox 360. I just want to specialize and focus everything on one problem, since we’ve previously been so diluted by focusing on three things [The Movies, Black & White 2, Fable: The Lost Chapters, all completed in late 2005]. Me personally, I’m actually designing properly again for Fable 2, which is cool – it makes people very nervous! [laughs]
We are experimenting with something else, yes. That experiment may lead to another game. But we’re not saying anything else about that.
GS: It seems like a lot of the other British ‘bedroom programmer’ pioneers who came up in the ‘80s either aren’t around anymore, or have a significantly lower profile. Why do you think you’ve continued to be so known and produce such high profile games?I wonder if he'll say the next game he makes after Fable 2 will be what he says he tries to make the greatest game he will ever build is. :P
PM: The place I came from was when I was always a failure. When I was at school, I was just an idiot. And everyone thought I was an idiot, and everyone would always say that I would never do anything or get anywhere. And because of that, I feel I’ve yet to do that game which really makes a difference – that really is the landmark game.
That means that I do push myself – I can look you in the eye and truly say that I’m trying to make Fable 2 the greatest game I will ever build. If you write that, it will get me in an enormous amount of trouble, but that is what I truly believe.
Best RPG Ever, Fable 2, Shows New Feature at GDC
Molyneux lecture will make more Fable-ous promises.
By Luke Smith, 01/09/2007
"[Lionhead] is there to make things in ways that other people don't make them." - Peter Molyneux, Lionhead Studios
We're kidding about the "Best RPG Ever" line, but anyone who's followed Peter Molyneux knows that his mouth tends to run a bit ahead of his development cycle. Gamasutra reports that Molyneux will give a talk at the upcoming Game Developer's Conference (GDC) titled, "Innovations in Fable 2." During that lecture, Molyneux will unveil "a totally unexpected feature." He detailed some of the features that Lionhead is planning for Fable 2 way back at X06, remember?
Two death threats?!?!!? Are you kidding me???!?!!?!?
That's rediculous. So he cut out some features -- big deal. Fable was still a great action-RPG, regardless.
If you decided to loot the camp and kill its inhabitants, on the other hand, the land it occupied would be reclaimed by nature, and 10 years later you'd never even know it was there. Molyneux calls this technology "dynamic regions," and it's one of several features in the game that he seems genuinely excited to talk about.
Among the features that didn't realize their full potential in Fable were the promises that you'd be able to invest in property and have a family. These somewhat gimmicky features of the original game will not only be fleshed out in the sequel, but also have the potential to occupy huge chunks of your time--perhaps even becoming an important part of your Fable 2 storyline. Regardless of whether you choose to play as a male or a female, you'll start out as a street urchin with absolutely nothing to lose.
After meeting the woman or man of your dreams (you can play as a woman, remember), you can marry them and then, if you're so inclined, you can opt to have protected or unprotected sex with them
Although many of these features were talked about as if they are confirmed for Fable 2, we should point out that Molyneux made a disclaimer of sorts at one point when he explained that many of his ideas are still being experimented with.
An amusing example of a feature that won't be making the cut, for example, was the idea that you would assume the role of your offspring if you died. The reason why this won't be in the finished game? Testers at Lionhead started procreating like bunnies in the game, because every child was essentially like an extra life.
I just watched the keynote video on Gamespot w/ PM's keynote, to see what this last tidbit G-Spot mentioned really is all about and driving towards actually is all about -- with one "action" key.
Looks like PM wants the game's fight scenes to look and play out more like a "movie" would -- where in the movies, they use all of the pieces of the environment to their own advantage. Your swing of a sword would be different in a small corridor as opposed to a big corridor. And fighting on the stairs would be different, too. And your sword can get stuck in the bannister of a staircase, if you miss the swing. If you're near a bottle, you use that as a weapon. You can use the chandelier to swing and attack, if you're near it and hit the "action" key. If you are near a chair, which is standing, hit "action" and he'll pick it up and swing it or throw it -- depending on how close or far away the enemy is. If a chair is down, and you hit "action," he'll kick it at the enemy.
And, his other point was he wants combat to be realistic -- that if you swing a sword and it actually connects, it'll hurt someone big time, where body parts can even possibly be chopped off in actual battle. He even uses Kill Bill Volume 1's Crazy 88 scene as the example, saying that death should and can be reached with ONE swing in combat. And he said w/ "boss fights," the point of it won't be to hit that boss 500 times, but to actually get through their parry and defenses somehow....like they do in the movies....
Fable 2 also will deliver a cutscene-free game, Molyneux explained. "Cutscenes are last generation. There will be no cutscenes in Fable 2."
'Buying Things'
Peter asks, "Why is it you can only buy swords and clothes? Why can't you buy a house? Or a shop and be a shopkeeper? Why not a whole street? Or a whole city? Or the nearby castle and be Lord of the castle? Why not buy a dungeon?"
Everything that you see in Fable 2 is buyable and when you buy it, you are Lord of the manor / Owner of the dungeon. It adds to your character as you have a feeling of wealth and ownership. It's a new mechanic; money. It can buy you security, power and pretty much anything else.
How does this enhance the experience? Ownership is empowering. It allows the player to 'unlock' content, and it adds to the simulation element.
Regarding the content unlocking, if you own a castle, there will be specific quests relating to owning that castle. "Sire, there are thieves stealing wine from the cellars!" If you own a cathedral, you get different quests - kill the priest or protect him - and so on...
What this also gives you is that when you beat the game, you haven't finished it as there's still content to be found and played through. This was a feature present in the original Fable (if you played through the evil ending and got the big sword and waited out the end credits), but the fact Lionhead is openly aware of it means that perhaps we'll get more bang for the buck this time round.
Our verdict?
Overall, the talk was fascinating and showed Lionhead's genuine passion for innovating and creating engaging experiences for the player.
Fable 2 presently sounds like it's shaping up very nicely, but as with all things, it's probably best that we wait for the finished article before getting too excited, as many things in it do sound too good to be true.
I wonder if he'll say the next game he makes after Fable 2 will be what he says he tries to make the greatest game he will ever build is.
Oooh a Pirate/Gypsy chiquita! Count me in!
Peter Molyneux Shows Off Fable 2A dog for a companion?
By Greg Orlando Print | Send to a friend | Email the editor
"I want you to get into my mind," Peter Molyneux told his audience during his GDC speech. Woah fella. We hardly know each other.
Image Molyneux's speech was titled "Innovations in Fable 2," and it was interesting to note that someone had thought to make a little joke. When the title was displayed on a giant screen before the speech, it was accompanied by a subtitle in teeny, tiny letters. "Or: How to Keep Promises," the subtitle read.
For Fable 2, Molyneux promised three innovations, but vowed only to reveal one. It was the same innovation he'd showed two days ago at a Microsoft-sponsored press event, a dog companion that every player in the action-heavy role-playing game will have.
The dog, of course, is both a gameplay tool and companion. For Molyneux, it's also a means to an end. That end, of course, is love and real human emotion. "I don't mean rumpy-pumpy love," he said, although he noted that it will be possible for two people in Fable 2 to have sex and, possibly, produce children. Instead, Molyneux was referring to a simple emotional response.Okay.
"If I can get you to care about something," he said, "I've got you."Hehe....that's interesting.....
The dog will love the player unconditionally. It will morph to reflect the player's alignment, and the first rule of its behavior is to never become a nuisance. It will respond to a player's actions, playing dead, say, after the hero has let loose a fart of unimaginable proportions. Further, it can be trained and, Molyneux hinted it will possible for two dog owners to meet, most probably over Xbox 360 Live.
Most of all, the dog will evoke an emotional response. At one point, the crowd booed when Molyneux directed the hero to run away from the injured dog as it bravely attempted to hobble back to his side after a battle. The dog, Molyneux said, will attempt to follow his master even under such conditions, suggesting that the hero might be at some pub chatting up a woman when the injured dog finally arrives scratching at the door.LOL!
"I want you to feel something, man, when you play the game," Molyneux said.Interesting, I must say....
Probably one of the better PA's in a while.
(http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2007/20070307.jpg)
Yeah, that's awesome.
I don't know about this. I'm just not really looking that forward to it. I have no doubt it'll be fun and cool, as I enjoyed Fable quite a bit for what it was, but... for some reason I'm just not excited.
If not programmed right, I can see how a dog following you around and getting killed can be annoying. If done right it can be really good.X360 version is ONLY in the works, right now.
Just a question. Is Fable 2 going to be a simultaneous launch or will the PC gamers have to wait?
I think the delay in release between the two platforms is usually about 2 years in cases like this. Usually.
Loinhead.net: So - Fable 2. Yes. One-button proximity-based combat. Can you tell us about it?So, hmmmmm....what does Peter have planned to do w/ death in Fable 2?
Molyneux: God, there’s so much I can tell you about it. I’d love, I’m gonna talk publicly about this for longer almost than I talked about any other game feature. It was - the only thing I can say about it - it was an experiment, that we tried, it was an experiment that we didn’t need to try, because the combat in Fable 1 wasn’t bad, at all, no-one said it was bad, quite a lot of people said it was good, and it’s an experiment that has really, really worked. Really worked. Not nearly worked.
Loinhead.net:You’re talking about this later, does that mean it’s one of the BIG 3 features?
Molyneux: I wouldn’t say it was one of the big three features, what I’m saying is that it’s worthy of, you know - if I could sit down with you now, which I’d love to do, I’d love to show you - in fact, we might do this in the communities, is to, well, considering the idea of publishing to the communities the prototype engines that we used to try and prove it, and those are all in what we call whitebox, so they don’t look particularly nice but they play well, and see what the communities think of all that stuff. But you know, as I said it was a risky thing, there’s more bits of that combat that come together than I am talking about. I’ve talked about proximity-based context-based combat, confined combat, I think I’ve talked about one-button combat and one-blow kills, I haven’t in any way talked about … and this is something that no-one has ever heard, this word, there’s one thing about combat I haven’t spoken about which is a very interesting area - and, one word? - One word. And it’s death. Death. Think about it. Think about death. Think about what computer games do with death. What have they done with death? What does every game do, what does just about every game do with death?
Loinhead.net: Try to ignore it, simplify it?
Molyneux: Well, it’s even worse than that, you die, and you go back in time twenty minutes to do the same thing over again. That’s fine if I’m playing a platformer, not so fine if you’re doing an RPG game. So I haven’t talked about death, there’s another thing which I haven’t talked at all about which is another word that you’re gonna hear me use - which I’m not gonna talk about - it’s another big thing.
So, I just got out of my Fable 2 meeting. To the delight of the very small audience (about a few of us game journalists), the game was presented by Peter Molyneux, the head of the Lionhead Studios (the well-known development team behind the project).Timing and rhythm w/ one button presses....
First of all, Peter seems like an interesting guy. In the very short time I talked to him and listened to him, he's almost like this wonder kid trapped in the body of a 40-something year old guy. I can now fully understand how the press would exploit this side of the guy. On top of being extremely analytical and someone who is studying human character, the guy is like a kid who absolutely loves talking about his games and, yes, even bragging.
This meeting, however, was a little subdued as the PR person was sitting watchfully behind us as Peter was talking.
So what we saw of Fable 2 was a build that's roughly a year away from completion at the moment. As Peter explained, they have "a whole year to polish the product, but most of the structure, the story and the game world is already in place." Encouraging news, certainly (I for one, am pleased with it. Looking forward to this game. – Vader).
Peter took control of the main character, who was, judging by his appearance, still in the early stages of character progression. He took the hero through the streets of Albion, where he'd fight some bandits.
Now this is the interesting bit.
The first topic of the demonstration was combat. And as it usually goes with Peter's crazy ideas, this one sounded ludicrous as we heard it. The entire combat (melee anyway) is centered around one single button – the blue X button on the controller. That's right.
The guiding idea for this was that Peter is actively trying to merge two different camps of the Fable audience if you will – the hardcore and the casual gamers. So, for the casual gamers, obviously, the idea is that it's pretty easy to simply button-mash the X and get through a fight. However, if you are more of a hardcore player, you will soon see that there is more to the X button idea than meets the eye. The skill-based factor (which is something important for bragging rights) was introduced through the power moves in combination with getting the right rhythm and most importantly getting the timing right as you attack our counter-attack against a bad guy. Amazingly, the idea seems to be working, and what's more, it's extremely accessible. The hardcore guys who get very good at this sort of combat will receive more experience points and obviously some other forms of bragging rights.
In addition to the one-button combat system, Peter introduced some other cool ideas. As the fights get more dramatic and filled with more enemies, the rhythm of the music will actually correspond to your actions on screen. This in itself adds more dramatics to the combat – for example, you execute a powerful finishing move, the drums will pick up at the exact moment you impale your opponent, adding a very nice cinematic effect to the experience.Cool.
Another interesting thing that Peter introduced in the demo is the death system in the game. He compared it to your typical situation in one of the Rocky movies. Instead of simply dying, you will fall to the ground and the camera will center on you as the bad guys around you continue to hit and kick you as you are down. Now get this, as they are doing this, you will receive scars and the longer you stay down, the more scars you're gonna have on your body. Very cool feature, and it ties in to another feature and that is that you will be able to get up really quickly at the expense of either experience points or gold (Hey, I rather like that moment. Sweet! – Vader).Sounds like your character won't die, but will go unconscious or something...
As you can see, the focus on skill-based combat and accessibility at the entry level, the ideas for the death system point to the fact that Fable 2 will almost certainly have multiplayer mode, and you can sort of see some traces of Blizzard logic as well as their motto "easy to get into, hard to master," creeping their way into Lionhead's design philosophy.Okay.
When I asked about the multiplayer, Peter paused for a second and his eyes lit up slightly. I'm pretty sure he was waiting for someone to ask him that. However, under the watchful eye of the PR lady in the back, Peter wasn't able to give a direct answer (The PR guy probably had a gun under his jacket. – Ed.).
Take this as you will. All I know is, the crazy-ass Brit is setting a highly ambitious goal once again for himself and we wish him the best of luck, as some of us are indeed big fans of the original game here.
I've watched a couple of the E3 videos on Fable 2, and it looks like PM is really pleased with how it's shaping up. I like some of the ideas, and the way it's dealing with "death" seems interesting but I wonder how that will affect the "health bar."It seems like we won't have to worry about the "reload" screen, which can be a good thing! :)
From what I understood, when you overwhelmed you're knocked down and enemies will keep hacking at you (as mentioned). But I don't understand what happens in these cases:Good questions, X.
1) does your health go back to 100%?
2) Have they eliminated the health bar idea altogether?
3) What happens if you have no gold or experience to spend? Do you just get up much later scarred as hell?
We'll just have to wait and see I guess.
"Like it or not, combat is at least half of a role-playing experience, probably more like 70%. So if I want to get into that landmark status, I've got to innovate combat. And the problem is an enormous number of games you see are totally unplayable for the vast majority of the population. Give Halo 3 or Call of Duty to a casual gamer and they will just run away screaming, they wouldn't have the first chance. But, hardcore gamers are getting so demanding now, they're requiring ultimate balance, enormous depth, and love experimenting throughout the whole of the game. Those are polar opposites, on one side accessibility, and on the other, depth. How can I create a combat system that combines both together?"We'll see how well Molyneux will make that work....
Molyneux said that the controller, which he referred to as an "old jalopy" that looks "a bit dated these days", has often forced a lot of the action on games to focus on pressing the four buttons in the right combination. "This really does piss a lot of casual gamers off", he claimed, revealing that his combat-orientated demo of Fable 2 used just one button. "It's one-button combat. It has been tried before, but usually really sucked. I am going to try and make it not suck."
Initiating a fight in the game, Peter starts with some 'button mashing' - hitting the button without any coordination or rhythm, involving little skill. "You would think button mashing would be one thing I'd want to get rid of, but I don't. For some people, it's what they want to do." The idea, he explained, is that the depth comes from getting more out of doing cooler things. "I'm just going to make it so that in fights, button mashers will need to bang a lot longer, and get less of a score - which means less experience and power ups if you button mash. So I'm not punishing you for button mashing; I'm rewarding you for not button mashing, and that is a really big distinction."Ah, so it'll be more like a timing thing -- kind of like what The Witcher might do w/ the timing of attacks and all.
Rhythm produces more attacks, holding down and 'charging' gives you a special move that gives double the experience points. "And another thing we've got is counter moves, for much more experienced players," says Molyneux. "If they're really good they can wait for an attack and counter it, flip him around, and do a killing blow. That is much more skill based, and again you'll get double the experience."Interesting.
Another advanced attack is to use the environment; you can actually break someone's neck on some railing during combat. It could be a spike on a fence or a solid brick wall, and you'll get increased experience for that as well." And all this, using the same button: "If I am using the attack button it means I want to do something aggressive to the nearest target!"Oooooh....those kind of kills sound pretty cool!
But Lionhead knows it is not enough of a reward, for players who do the combat 'right' to simply get a better score. "How can I reinforce that?" he ponders. "With another new thing, which is using music, and effects, and camera cuts. I want you to think of the sword as a conductor's baton. As you're fighting, we'll be introducing different musical elements, the more successful you are. And we'll be upping the tempo of the music, the more abilities that you unlock. So you not only get more of a score, you get a cooler soundtrack. This is literally unlocking different musical instruments that are in there, which makes me feel more engaged with the combat."Well, that's quite....different....
Molyneux, somewhat unexpectedly, then allowed us to play Fable 2, the first time media had ever been able to play it, so that we could really get a feel of this combat system ourselves. As seasoned players of traditional 2D and 3D fighting games, we were keen to see if his claims had any chance of becoming reality.Okay....
All the drums are under your control," he advises, "and if you're successful in your attacks, you hear the music start to ramp up." He told us to play just by doing whatever felt natural. And it seemed to work immediately.
A very low pitched, bassy hum created impressive tension from the very moment he handed me the controller, and after a few seconds of successive attacks and enemies closing in, a fast clicky sort of snare rhythm kicks in, which actually gives a release of adrenaline as the pace picks up. Perhaps the combat already felt more engaging, or perhaps we were frightened of messing it up in front of the game's own creator.
But as more colour came into the screen, reinforcing how well the player is supposedly doing, our confidence started to pick up. The rhythm 'subconsciously' tells us what the attack rhythm should be, we're advised, and rewards us with different sounds coming in, to form the unique music. Deeper bass sounds boomed in, like a thumping heart beat. We tried to vary our attacks a bit more, moving the character to create better space from the many enemies that were surrounding us, and experimenting with this single attack button. "Ah, you're a charger-upper," realises Molyneux as we charge attacks up to see what happens. "I am as well, but if I were a button masher, this music would sound completely different. It's procedurally generated music generated by your combat style."
He added: "Remember, this is a role playing game; all the different weapons have different music sounds and give a very individual feel to the combat." A few extra tips later (if you get your opponent against a wall they're in trouble; loose objects in the environment can also be used as weapons) and the battle is nearing its conclusion. After a short while, a more orchestral sound of glory kicks as we're on the way to victory.Interesting.
Molyneux also went on to discuss the concept of 'death' in the game for the first time, and why it needs to be different to other games.Yuh, I hate being sent backwards quite a deal, to a checkpoint or whatever -- especially if I can't quicksave at anytime.
"Death in computer games, it's been the same since we invented them. What death is in most games is: you die, the screen goes black, and you go back to the last checkpoint, go through the same story bit, fight the same little fodder, and do the same boss fight. That is rubbish. It makes me feel bored and it's tedious. We've got to think of another way to make combat feel like it means something. What we historically do in a boss battle to make you feel more tense, is send you back further, which is even more frustrating. We've been thinking about how we can address that."
"As we saw in Fable 1, the world reacts to what you're like; if you walk down the street and look heroic, people will greet you, but if you look evil they'll run away. And this is our answer to death. Very simply put, when you're fighting anybody and you see your hit points go down to nothing, your hero collapses, but instead of the screen going black, we keep the camera on the hero. The baddies will come in and start laying in to you - kicking him, punching him, slashing with a sword - and it's quite an emotional thing to see that with everybody laying into you.That's different.
"What actually happens is your hero is getting permanently scarred all over his body. And those scars will never go away. The more times you die, the more you get scarred, the more ugly and disfigured you will look, and the more the world will react. We tested with loads of kids, and most people loathe looking like it, and the interesting thing is how that makes you feel. If you're willing to pay 500 experience, you can get up immediately and not be scarred at all, and continue the battle from where it was. The longer you wait, the cheaper it costs to get up.
He concludes: "That actually works; it makes combat so much more impactful, because the cost is not tedium any more; the cost is your look and how cool you are as a player, and that coolness is very important."I wonder how many will actually load an earlier saved game instead of taking the experience penalty to "get up", just so they ain't scarred so much! :P
But what if you're so scarred that there's less to lose and maybe no pay off at all? "The whole of your body, except for your private parts, can be scarred. You are clothed most of the time, but not in front of your wife, and not when you swim, either. Don't forget, it's the emotion of being scarred. I promise, just try. It is like when we lay down this whole good/evil thing [in Fable 1], the fact is, 80% of the people were good. And the remaining 20%, half of them converted to good within the first hour, so only 10% went down the evil path!"Okay.
I challenged Peter about whether he's suggesting that the combat system I had just played is something that casual gamers can really approach easily.Okie.
"I am certainly suggesting that a good proportion of those people can't even control a character, and get stuck, and we're spending a lot of time getting that right. I could say draw your sword and they wouldn't even have a clue what we're talking about. But if you say push forward and just push the button more, they could get through the whole game like that. It would take them a lot longer, and the hero would look atrocious by the end of it, and wouldn't be nearly as powered up as 'your' hero, but they could finish it. And I want to do that, because I want more people to play the game."
A few other details came out of this latest meeting. One companion you'll have throughout the whole of Fable 2, is a dog, which Peter described as "the most amazing piece of AI that we have ever produced and I've ever seen in the industry." Secondly, you have a lookout key (LB) that will show you the most interesting thing on the screen at that time - which was how our first battle was initiated earlier. Finally, cut scenes will be interactive: "I never want to take control away from you, I want you to feel like you are in the world, and I never want you to put down the controller and 'watch' something. You have the ability to modify the story as you go along, which I'll talk about next time."Cool.
Molyneux put his ultimate goal with Fable 2 another way: "When you go and do your hateful lists of the Top Ten Games of All Time, then just maybe, just maybe we've got a chance of getting in that list. Because that's what I really care about! I've always been obsessed with this. When you see a magazine or website with the top 100 greatest games of all time, you just feel suicidal as you work your way down the list, and it really matters to me that I deliver a game that makes a difference."
Lionhead is at least a year away from completing Fable 2, and there is of course a lot of balancing and polishing to do, but it works today, and from what we played of the game, it already works very well indeed.
Interesting to see that I had no interest in this in January... but enough time has gone by now that I could play and enjoy a good Fable 2. I hope it turns out well. Some of the ideas will be wonderful if pulled off right. Even with Fable being a little more standard than we'd hoped, it turned out to be a good game that I don't regret purchasing and playing.I really enjoyed Fable: TLC, myself.
April 5th, 2008 by MarvellousGAlerting you to enemies, sniffing out quests, and treasures....hmmm, that's interesting.
Fable 1
When the first Fable was released on the original Xbox, it won over many fans with its interesting good/evil mechanic. Critics received it well and large numbers were sold. But what annoyed many who followed the game before its release, was the fact that Peter Molyneux promised so many features that did not make it. It was hard to criticise him much because he expressed himself so enthusiastic. But only half the ideas he revealed that had a chance of making it into the game, made it.
Now, four years later, the Xbox 360 is enjoying a great wealth of good RPGs, both Western and Japanese. Molyneux still believes his Fable series has the chance to be the best role player out there.
Innovations
Fable 2 certainly has enough innovations to support this lofty claim thus far. The first one is the dog. Whereas most Role Playing Games rely on radars and journals to point you in the right direction, Fable 2 decides to ditch this. Instead they simply give you a dog. According to Molyneux, the dog will have the best AI ever seen in a videogame. Demonstrations thus far have shown it to be intelligent, if not award winningly so. AI aside, the dog will bark to alert you of enemies, sniff out hidden treasure and side quests, and trot merrily along towards your goal in an area.
It all sounds well and good, but I’m still unsure whether or not this will end up being a frustrating gimmick, leaving players wishing for a good old fashioned journal screen. However, what has been shown so far -has- been promising. What also seems interesting about this trusty canine figure is that he will change his looks according to the player’s actions. Be good and so will your dog. Be bad, and you’ll have a yapping rottweiler as company. This seems a nice elaboration of Fable’s behaviour mechanic, and will make for an interesting man and his best friend duo that differs for every player.I can see it now...
CombatOkay.
In combat lies the second innovation. Apparently it is ‘simple yet deep’. Your controls are X for melee attack, Y for ranged attacks and B for magic. These are all context sensitive, so going through an area full of enemies via a different route might lead to seeing many different animations each time. However, could this simply be making the classic error of mistaking ‘accessible’ for ‘shallow’? It seems not, as players will be able to upgrade their powers as they see fit, to build whatever character class you want. You could unlock more combos, better weapons or more powerful spells, and a wealth of other abilities.
Co-opMan, you know, that would be bad-ass if that could be over Xbox Live.
The third innovation Molyneux announced is co-op. At any point in your game, a friend can turn on his wireless controller, press start, and he’s in. This jump-in jump-out play, reminiscent of Lego Star Wars, has never really been tried in an RPG before but it looks it will work extremely well. You and your friend can run around each other’s game worlds, killing each other’s families if you so choose (come one, you know you will), and generally wreaking two times the amount of havoc you would experience on your own.
One thing that’s been dropped from the cooperative play is the dog, so you won’t be able to see whose pup can fetch the best. Lionhead says this is due to the frame rate hit the game would take. Co-op was a feature planned for the original Fable, and was playable at one point. It is good to see all of the best ideas that didn’t make it into the original finding their way into this game.Dammit, it would've been cool to see two heroes and two dogs fighting it out...
LoveSounds like there will be more expansion on the "Sims" side of stuff here than the original Fable, which laid out a pretty good foundation for what could come in a sequel.
The fourth and final innovation revealed so far is love, simple as that. What, you cry? Love? Well, yes. At some point in your game you will find a lady friend, and have the routine that we have in real life: appear pleasant, go out on dates, become close, and then hopefully marriage. And then, hopefully children. Yes, there is sex in Fable 2. No, you don’t get to see it, but you will see the results. When that mini-you pops out, you’ve got your very own virtual family to take care of. Joy.
Your child will then, much in the same way as your dog (stay with me), emulate how you yourself behave in the game. Be good, and little Sam or Samantha will be coming home with good grades and praise from all of the teachers at their school. Be bad, and you’ll be getting letters home asking for your ray of sunshine to ‘please leave our esteemed educational facility’. Maybe it won’t happen quite like that, but your family sure will take after you. Molyneux also talks of Fable 2 forcing you to make decisions that may linger with you after you stop playing, much in the same fashion as Mass Effect so triumphantly succeeded in doing.Let's hope out it turns out as good as it sounds.
“There will be a moment six hours into game where you walk into room and someone will ask you to do something and you will have to sacrifice something precious to you as a gamer. You will put down the controller and ask, what am I going to do?” So, what are you going to do? Is Molyneux hinting at maybe killing an innocent to save the world, or something maybe smaller in the scheme of things, but a little closer to home? Will you have to say goodbye to one of your children? It would seem so, and that’s where ‘love’ comes in. Molyneux promises that you will get to know your virtual family as if they were your real one, and that you will truly have deep feelings of affection for all of them. Big claims indeed.
Can’t come soon enoughI hope it turns out well on the X360...and that of course, we get a PC port later on.
If this article seems a little sceptical of Lionhead’s epic, it is because of all the features promised for the original Fable but were never delivered. If anything, I’m simply trying to contain my own excitement by believing everything Molyneux says to be cruel lies. But if even half of what he says makes its way into the game, then we may truly be in for an RPG revolution. Q3 2008 can’t come soon enough!
Cool, I like the dog idea. It's more organic and immersive than a radar I suppose.I guess it'll be one less "Quest Journal" screen for the player to actually look into, to have Lassie/Kujo point you in the right direction, looking around for treasure, et etc.
Fable 2 'content complete,' 3 more Fables planned, Danish site reports
42 Comments by James Ransom-Wiley May 13th 2008 10:58AM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360
Fable 2 is "content complete" with a measly 5,000 bugs to squash before it's completely complete, reports NeoGAF poster "Vinterbird" (aka Mikkel Vinther of Xboxlife.dk). The Danish site published a preview of Lionhead's second try today, based on a visit to the studio's headquarters in Guilford, UK last week. Vinther kindly translated the good parts, highlighting these new details in his post on NeoGAF:
* Mini-map has been replaced with a "bread crumb trail;" a dynamic golden line on the ground that directs you to a destination (read: medieval GPS)
* Magic system is divided into focused, single-foe attacks and ranged attacks; attacks can be built up into five levels using various spell combinations
* Speaking of spells, there'll be just eight (but remember, they can be combined)
* Every house in the game is up for sale; each house will unlock a sidequest, item or skill
* Rough estimation: 20-30 times larger than the first Fable [Microsoft says: "a world 10 times the size of the iconic Xbox game"]
* The gameworld features seasons and dynamic weather
* Cutscenes are interactive; the d-pad can be used to issue certain gestures that will steer conversations
* Sex minigame was canned; instead, screen goes dark and moaning ensues (sex can still be unprotected though! Babies, yes; STDs, unconfirmed)
* Female character was almost canned; almost.
* And finally: Three more Fable sequels are being planned. (Lionhead is currently wrapping up Fable 2 and focusing on an announced project.)
E3E3 2008: Fable 2 Story 12 Hours Long
[Ure "Vader" Paul]
08:24 am EDT @ July 18th, 2008
Filed under: FABLE 2, LIONHEAD STUDIOS
Word reached us via Joystiq, that the main story in Fable II will take approximately 12 hours to complete. Well, glaze my nipples and call be Rita! That sounds short. But hang on, there's more to it.
Fable II appears to focus heavily its side-quests and exploration, as explained by Peter Molyneux during the E3. In fact, the included the dog in the game to sort of drive players towards this.
Also, it's possible to buy almost every building in the game and there's always the aspect of starting families. So, essentially, it could be a lot more than 12 hours if you devote your attention to trying out everything the game offers.
The Fable II E3 '08 trailer can be seen here and the new screenshots here.
Well despite my hatred for the first game the overwritten.net love and faith in the sequel has convinced me to pre-order Fable II.I hope it turns out to at least be good. I think it probably will be.
If I end up not liking the game I will Fedex it to MysterD.Dammit! I don't own a X360. :P
Microsoft Game Studios and Lionhead Studios announced that the highly anticipated action role-playing game Fable II will ship to U.S. retailers on Oct. 21, 2008 and UK retailers on Oct. 24, with subsequent release dates throughout the rest of the world in the coming months.
Developed by Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios, the creators of the critically-acclaimed Fable and Black & White, Fable II offers an infinite amount of choice in an open world environment, allowing gamers to become the most heralded of all heroes or reviled of all villains. Ringing in new heights of innovation for the genre and expanding upon the rich experience of the first title, Fable II immerses players in the expansive world of Albion.
Fable II pioneers a new combat system designed to allow players to truly master hand weapons, ranged combat weapons and magic, each using a different single button on the Xbox 360 controller, making the game approachable and accessible to both casual and hardcore gamers. Players will live out personal and emotional experiences like never before, whether playing solo or co-op together with a friend or over Xbox LIVE, with their constant dog companion by their side.
Fans eager for a head start will have the opportunity to test their luck in the Xbox LIVE Arcade title developed exclusively for Fable II, available on Aug. 13; those who pre-order a copy of Fable II at participating retailers will be given free access to download the Fable II Pub Games, or they can be downloaded without pre-order via Xbox LIVE for 800 Microsoft points. The high-stakes casino-style pub games, titled "Fortune's Tower", "Keystone" and "Spinnerbox" will offer players the opportunity to start earning a bounty of gold and treasures to fund their adventures in Fable II, ahead of the title's release on Oct. 24.
In addition to the standard retail version, Fable II will be offered in a Limited Collector's Edition through participating retailers and will feature:
* Bonus DVD - Includes new 'Making-of Feature' with Peter Molyneux and the team at Lionhead Studios and concept art viewer
* Bonus In-Game Content (Requires LIVE account) - Includes "The Hall of the Dead" Dungeon, "The Wreckager" Legendary Cutlass Weapon and Otherworldly Bonus
* Collectible Hobbe figure with accessories - From the Qee Collection comes this one-of-a-kind Hobbe figure. Nasty, brutish, and short, he roams the countryside, preying on travelers and spiriting away the children of the unwary.
* 48-hour Xbox LIVE Gold Trial Card - With Xbox LIVE Gold, players can show off their individual hero by inviting friends into their unique version of Albion or they can visit their friends' Albion, and earn additional gold, experience and renown to take back into their own.
* Five printed Fate Cards - These five beautiful cards foretell the Hero's great destiny to journey across all of Albion, encountering deadly enemies and enigmatic allies. The path leads to a choice that will change the world forever.
The standard edition Fable II will have an estimated retail price of £44.99 and the Limited Collector's Edition will retail for an estimated price of £49.99. Fable II is rated PEGI 16+.
Hmmmm....So, Fable 2: Collector's gets access to extra content (as long as they have XBLive, probably so they can DL the content).Very likely, or they'll just make it downloadable. I hope they do it like F:TLC.
I wonder for those who buy the Standard Ed, I wonder if they can get that content to purchase from XBLive.
I really would be interested to see what they do w/ all this Fable 2 content, if ported to the PC -- probably put all the extra straight in the box, like they did w/ Fable: TLC.
OXM: So with the second game in the can now, you're satisfied with everything? There's nothing you'd add or change?
Peter Molyneux: Um, there's low spots in the game and it's no one's fault that these low spots are there, it's just there's a lot to this game. You've got to remember that we're not building a corridor game here where you can say "right, in one hour fifteen minutes, someone's going see that light and we're going make that light like this."
I think the lip-sync is pretty bad, you know, the quality of the animation falls off, you know, quite a lot, I think the navigation can be a bit dodgy sometimes, I think the dog can... get a bit fractured sometimes. But those are sideline issues, you're not going care about those, they're technical issues, and I wish we'd had time to polish every single tiny second of the game.
But you don't want me to do that, you want an experience, and what I'm most happy with is the experience that people are getting when they play through this game. And the only people that have played through this game is the team that's worked on it, and they're the ones that normally turn round to me and say, "What the **** were you playing at!?" And they're the ones now in Fable 2 and everybody at Lionhead said Fable is different to any other game they've played before, it's a unique experience and it's better. The game is actually better than they thought it would be.
The syncing for the original Fable was pretty bad.True, what little of it there was. But it wasn't gamestoppingly bad.
I wonder what PM means by "the dog can... get a bit fractured sometimes."Path-finding issues maybe?
You think the MGS games had good lip-syncing? I loved the games but I specifically remember MGS2 got pretty bad with that, its almost more like their lips never moved at all.I've only ever played MGS2 on PC and it was pretty good lip-syncing especially considering when it came out. MGS4 is basically movie! Arguably some of the best graphics and lip-syncing yet!
Then you have games like The Sims 2 and SPORE where the characters lip-sync really well to jibberish.How hard would it be to lip-sync undecipherable jibberish? :P
How hard would it be to lip-sync undecipherable jibberish? :PHehe it's a nice touch. Makes it seem like they are speaking an actual language we don't understand.
And would anyone even care? :P
Molyneux's Xbox 360 RPG to lack promised feature out of box; Microsoft aiming to add with launch week update.
Lionhead Studios' Peter Molyneux has a reputation for promising features for his games that don't always make it into the final product that ships to retailers. Today in a post on GamerScoreBlog, Microsoft that confirmed that will happen once more with Fable II.
When Fable II arrives in stores, it will lack the online co-op multiplayer mode Molyneux touted at a 2008 Game Developers Conference presentation.. On the bright side, Microsoft is promising that the feature will be added in a downloadable update, possibly within the game's first week on North American shelves. For those who can't wait for a patch to adventure with friends, the game will include local co-op play out of the box.
However, the game won't be entirely offline when it ships. Players will see gamers on their friends list as glowing orbs in-game, and will be able to chat or trade with them.
Fable II is expected to arrive in stores October 21. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.
So why don't they just delay the release? It'll give it more testing time to iron out any bugs and give them a chance to release a "complete" product.
You quoted the wrong post, and I answered your question at the start of my comment with "Not that I'd ever use it anyway since it'll probably require someone else over Xbox Live".But, really -- if you don't have XBox Live, how the hell you gonna do Online Co-Op mode even if it does comes in the game box? :P
You quoted the wrong post, and I answered your question at the start of my comment with "Not that I'd ever use it anyway since it'll probably require someone else over Xbox Live".
I think the X360 -- especially since so many users adopted Xbox Live -- have pretty much adopted the PC philosophy of "Release the game now, patch the game later."The patching system is supposed to be "just in case" as "in case shit happens here's a fix!" It's not supposed to be an excuse to release half-baked games.
But, really -- if you don't have XBox Live, how the hell you gonna do Online Co-Op mode even if it does comes in the game box? :P
Though, I'm sure it'd be nice to have this feature right in the gamebox, in case you decide to join XBox Live so you don't have to patch yourself up to the newest update.
The patching system is supposed to be "just in case" as "in case shit happens here's a fix!" It's not supposed to be an excuse to release half-baked games.Agreed.
I hope there will be a way to download such files (patches, add-ons, etc.) via PC and transfer to the console (whether it be X360 or PS3).That would be a great idea -- for those who got PC's and Net access; which is many of people in the world.
Molyneux: No announcement on Fable 2 PC 'just yet'
By Wesley Yin-Poole - 01/10/2008 - 2:38pm GMT
Molyneux gets into an enormous amount of trouble over these things.
Lionhead boss and Fable II creator Peter Molyneux has refused to confirm whether a PC version of the hotly anticipated Xbox 360 exclusive RPG will be coming out.
In an giant interview with VideoGamer.com, the second part of which is due to be published later this week, Molyneux said there was no announcement "either positive or negative" on a PC version "just yet".
He said: "If you recall we didn't release a PC version of Fable immediately. I don't think we even announced it immediately. There's no announcement either positive or negative on a PC version just yet."
When asked if it might be the case that a PC version will turn up later, Molyneux replied: "You see you said all the maybes and mights there, I'll leave that with you! But these are the sorts of things as you can imagine I get into an enormous amount of trouble for. I have to be very careful!"
Feel free to speculate as to what that means readers! You can check out the first part of our Peter Molyneux interview right here. (http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/fable_2/preview-1288.html) Fable II is due out exclusively for Xbox 360 on October 24.
hahahaha did you guys hear? They took a lot of the cool stuff out of the Fable 2 CE at the last minute and then chopped off the price by $10...
The funny thing is that this is just Molyeneux's games. :)
I just find it hilarious.
hahahaha did you guys hear? They took a lot of the cool stuff out of the Fable 2 CE at the last minute and then chopped off the price by $10...
The funny thing is that this is just Molyeneux's games. :)
I just find it hilarious.
Yeah, I read about it yesterday.
I also find it hilarious b/c it's another plan of Molyneux's that has been basically Fable'd -- AKA original plans cut from the final version.
Plus, they're kinda making up for it by offering a free soundtrack download on October 6That's cool. :)
None of this is Molyneux's fault though. This is specifically a supply issue. Plus, they're kinda making up for it by offering a free soundtrack download on October 6
We have recently contacted you regarding a marketwide problem with the Fable II Collectors Edition. We have since been informed by Microsoft that there has been a further complication.
They have advised us that the developer diary and soundtrack are no longer going to be available on the bonus DVD.
I'm beginning to suspect that games are going to turn into digital distribution only and "Collector's Edition" will mean you get a physical disc.. in an envelope.. with no manual.I think digital distribution will be the way many publishers will go, in due time.
I'm beginning to suspect that games are going to turn into digital distribution only and "Collector's Edition" will mean you get a physical disc.. in an envelope.. with no manual.
Fable Collection Mini-Soundtrack
(Fable 1 and 2)
1. Fable II Theme
- Fable 2 Soundtrack
2. Oakvale
- Fable 1 Soundtrack
3. Witchwood
- Fable 1 Soundtrack
4. Wraithmarsh
- Fable 2 Soundtrack
5. Summer Fields
- Fable 1 Soundtrack
6. Westcliff
- Fable 2 Soundtrack
Composers:
Danny Elfman and Russell Shaw
Thanks.Welcome. :)
Molyneux: We'd be pretty dumb not to plan Fable 2 DLC
By Wesley Yin-Poole - 07/10/2008 - 2:08pm GMT
Wants it to be 'more tangible than new weapons and armour'. Doesn't want you to wait 'months and months'.
Downloadable content for upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive RPG Fable II looks likely following comments from Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux that the developer would be "pretty dumb" not to plan it.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com in a giant wide-ranging interview, the third part of which is due to be published later this week, the outspoken Molyneux stopped short of outright confirming DLC for the hotly anticipated Fable II, but did let slip some details on what it might include, as well as when it might be available.
He said: "Without any official announcements, I would say that we'd be pretty dumb not to plan it. What I would say, if we're going to do DLC then I definitely don't want it to be just a whole load of new weapons and armour. I just don't want it to be that. It needs to be something a bit more tangible and it would be nice if you didn't have to wait months and months for it as well."
We'll have more from Molyneux throughout the week, as well as the final part of our interview with the PC gaming legend, where he answers VideoGamer.com readers' Fable II questions!
Molyneux asks for special review consideration; we ask 'what would other industries do?'
69 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Oct 7th 2008 5:30PM
Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action
Reviewers received Fable 2 this week and found within the package a letter from developer Peter Molyneux asking for a few things. Variety explains one of the first things the letter asks (using the word "please" five times) is that the reviewers let a person who doesn't play games try out Fable 2 and to gauge their experience. Two paragraphs are also devoted by the designer to the game's well publicized and initially missing online co-op.
Molyneux apparently details the online co-op feature in the letter, which will be added soon after launch. Variety ponders if publications should wait until the feature comes out before reviewers write their pieces, or if outlets should make a note saying this important feature couldn't be tested at the time? So, we asked Variety (well known for its movie and music reviews): what would one of its film or music critics do if they were asked to review an unfinished product? Find out the answer after the break.
Variety's video game reporter, Ben Fritz, explained to Joystiq: (http://weblogs.variety.com/the_cut_scene/2008/10/peter-moores-re.html)
"I talked to one of our film critics and he said we usually do review the earliest available print, even if it's not the final version. If they're showing it at a festival to the public, for instance, we often review it. Even with the understanding that it may be re-cut or altered if/when it is released commercially. When that commercial release occurs we usually don't write a new review, unless it has been hugely changed. Sometimes we actually talk about the fact that it may be changed before commercial release. Check out our review of "Che" from the Cannes film festival, where the first sentence of the review starts "No doubt it will be back to the drawing board..."
The basic rule is: If they are showing it to the public in any way shape or form, we feel justified in reviewing it. The only time we wouldn't is if they are explicitly showing a "work in progress," like a test screening or a series of clips shown to exhibitors or something like that. That would be like running a review based on an E3 demo. Another relevant analogy I thought of is that we do review Broadway-bound shows when they are doing a "tryout" in another city. However, in that case, we usually review it again once it opens on Broadway.
So, the short answer is, if Fable II were a movie or play, we would absolutely review it the day it opened, even in its "incomplete" form. Which is why I have decided I will do the same with this game. Luckily in the age of blogs, however, I can update my thoughts when online co-op becomes available."
Is it just me or is Molyneux getting more and more scared towards the release of his new game.I really don't know why he sent that letter. I mean, if it's not in the box, a reviewer really can't review it.
I really don't know why he sent that letter. I mean, if it's not in the box, a reviewer really can't review it.
If anything, the value/replay value/lasting appeals scores might go down b/c there's not enough SP content to make the reviewer happy enough. If it's a good SP game and people can get some replay out of the game, who's really gonna complain?
Oh, right....The X-Box Live gamers will complain. But, still, they'll be getting the patch with the Co-Op Mode, anyways...and it looks like pretty quickly, too -- even better. Of course, one could also argue that Lionhead and Microsoft could've waited a month or so and shipped the game w/ that mode included in the box -- but probably, around that time, too many other games will be jumping on the shelves.
I mean, the real big releases that I see for this month of October are basically Fallout 3, Dead Space, and Fable 2. (Did I miss anything?) November's got a lot planned already lined-up; Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, Gears of War 2 for the X360 only, console versions of Mirror's Edge, and GTA4 PC; that's just to name a few here that Fable 2 would be fighting with.
As far as competing with other games go, it's the 4th quarter. A quality game will sell and a sub par game will not. There's plenty of dollars to go around.I wish it was that way. But, not always, in this world.
Looks like Day One Patch
Published Thursday, October 09, 2008 12:48 PM by Sam
Remember a couple of days ago (or was it a week) where on a blog it was mentioned that Fable II would be shipping 'without' Online Co-op? And remember we said we were busting our balls to get it ready in time for a 'Day One' release? Well - G o o d [Good] news folks! It looks like we've done it...for all of you who are connected to Xbox Live, when starting up your copy of Fable II (on 21st October in USA, 24th October in Europe and 18th December in Japan). So all of you getting upset and all, you wouldn't even have noticed... Sort of. Well done to the team.
Taken into account we don't fail certification!
That is so asanine. SO they couldn't have waited a few days after Fable 2 officially went gold??I guess not.
I thought it was so problematic that they needed the extra time to get the patch done, like a month down the road, but they released the game in an incomplete state over a few days?! If the online co-op was missing from the review copy they had sent out that's understandable but this is pretty stupid.I wonder how bogged down XB Live servers will be, Day 1 of Fable's release b/c everyone will be going after that CoOp Mode Patch.
The very first review of Lionhead Studios' Fable II is an exclusive for The Official Xbox Magazine. They give it a 9.5/10 and praise it up and down. Here are some quotes from the review:
It's said that dogs take on the personality traits of their owners. So it's only fitting that Fable II - a role-playing opus that features a canine as your primary ally - mimics the charming nature of its creator, Lionhead's Peter Molyneux. Affable and well-spoken, Molyneux's likeability transfers directly into Fable II, arguably the finest game in his distinguished career and one that fulfills all of the surface-scratching potential that the original Xbox game showed. In many ways, it exceeds that first game, catapulting Fable II into the upper echelon of both the 360's impressive RPG arsenal and its entire library.
(...)
Right out of the gate, the townsfolk are quick to exhibit examples of Fable II's stellar script and voice acting; their dialogue is equally funny in both its writing and its delivery. Each nails the cheeky British quirkiness to a "T" without being over-the-top, Monthy Python-style hammer. Better still, you're made to feel like a part of Fable II's sprawling, lively world by the way your fellow citizens comment on your appearance.
(...)
Forget the first Fable's fenced-in roads and tiny towns. The opening section in Bowerstone hints at a larger, grander scope for the sequel's version of Albion, and the moment you're set loose as an adult at Bower Lake, you're presented with a magnificent view of a valley that looks like it could contain all of the original game. It is, in fact, an overwhelming sensory event not unlike your first steps above ground in Oblivion or Fallout 3. The sense of scale and wonder never ceases. Towns bustle with vocal citizens who have daily routines; dynamic weather and day/night cycles give the world a pulse. And those pesky fences that leashed you to a path in the first Fable? Now you can easily hope over them.
(...)
Though it's great fun to bash or kick enemies off ledges to their doom, combat is the only overall area where the game notably stumbles. Often, you'll target a foe other than the one you intend, and finishing off downed foes seems to be random even if you're locked onto them. While not frustrating, it is annoying. The rhythm-based button presses do their job just fine, however, allowing to you to heroically chain attacks together. Fortunately, not all of the gameplay is combat. Many of the quests involve interacting with people, and those are in face some of the most memorable.
(...)
Fable II really is everything Molyneux promised the first time around. It's funny, deep, emotional epic, and, yes, wildly charming. We're already eager for a second playthrough, and we're betting a lot of you will have exactly the same reaction.
+ Living, breathing, charming world in which you and your actions matter.
+ Impeccable presentation.
+ The dog's implementation is genius.
? Why aren't there any other pooches in Albion?
I hope the rest of world of Fable fucking ages with the main character!That was annoying. What was more annoying was that my character seemed to suffer from a rapid aging condition worse than Old Snake. 1 hour equaled 1 year of my character's age!! All my wives were still young flowers while I was a decrepit piece of battle-scarred flesh, rotting away, and mysteriously getting whiter.
The first Fable almost felt creepy because of that. The middle-aged people I had known as a child were the exact same age when I was a frail old man.
That was annoying.Yeah, rest of the world not aging was very odd. What are they? Vampires or found the Fountain of Youth or something? :P
What was more annoying was that my character seemed to suffer from a rapid aging condition worse than Old Snake. 1 hour equaled 1 year of my character's age!!LOL.
All my wives were still young flowers while I was a decrepit piece of battle-scarred flesh, rotting away, and mysteriously getting whiter.My dude was as old as he could get, finishing off the final boss in the extra TLC portion of the game. Even though at the game's max -- was it 65 or so? -- my career in Fable felt complete after finishing it, which was a nice touch, being such an old bastard of a hero with this huge white beard.
Oh and I hope I can at least choose my skin tone in Fable 2! At first it was cool that my character's complexion rivaled Casper but then it became more of a cause for health concern. Why won't he tan no matter how much time he spends in the brightly sun-lit patches of Albion?LOL!
Damn this day 1 patch thing sucks. I just find it unacceptable for a console title.Remember we talked about this a year back or so (maybe more)? When consoles went online and we saw one of the first patches our first reaction was "Oh God, this is gonna be another excuse for publishers to pump out half-baked console games.. Crap."
Yea the 360 is getting some fine titles lately, and I'm glad I bought one a few months ago.So far the only upside I'm seeing to the 360 over the PS3 is the gamelist.. It's a big factor but I ultimately chose the PS3. I deliberately intended on getting only 1 console. I think the PS3 will pick up soon enough.
So far the only upside I'm seeing to the 360 over the PS3 is the gamelist.. It's a big factor but I ultimately chose the PS3. I deliberately intended on getting only 1 console. I think the PS3 will pick up soon enough.
My heart still belongs to PC though.
The problem is that Sony should be trouncing Microsoft's ass right now. They have superior (and more futureproof) hardware and the design. Their major problem is an innate inability to tie it all together like Microsoft has done with XBL and the community. Everything feels seamless and integrated on 360, and disjointed and convoluted on PS3. Home is looking like more and more of a joke every day.Yeah, I can appreciate how well-embedded XBL is on the X360. It's not too bad on the PS3 but it is basically like opening a separate app.
Until this is resolved, I don't think the PS3 will pick up significantly. Games like LBP and Resistance 2 will really help push the console and online play, but it'll never approach a level of success that Microsoft has had with their implementation of XBL and the OS.
I guess it all boils down to Sony really knowing hardware and being complete dumbasses when it comes to software and vice versa for Microsoft.If they can work together then maybe... No, the future would be bleak. Nintendo would be our only droplet of hope.
Plus the recent price cut has really pushed the 360 ahead. It is outselling the PS3 in Japan of all places... and has been for months. This is an incredible development in a part of the world where you were more likely to see a black Japanese person than an Xbox.Hey, Levrett is a Black/Japanese dude! Not sure if you rememeber him from uni.. He actually looks like he's right out of an anime.
Yeah, I can appreciate how well-embedded XBL is on the X360. It's not too bad on the PS3 but it is basically like opening a separate app.
If they can work together then maybe... No, the future would be bleak. Nintendo would be our only droplet of hope.
The problem is that Sony should be trouncing Microsoft's ass right now. They have superior (and more futureproof) hardware and the design. Their major problem is an innate inability to tie it all together like Microsoft has done with XBL and the community. Everything feels seamless and integrated on 360, and disjointed and convoluted on PS3. Home is looking like more and more of a joke every day.
Until this is resolved, I don't think the PS3 will pick up significantly. Games like LBP and Resistance 2 will really help push the console and online play, but it'll never approach a level of success that Microsoft has had with their implementation of XBL and the OS.
I guess it all boils down to Sony really knowing hardware and being complete dumbasses when it comes to software and vice versa for Microsoft.
I guess the Wii is more a of a party-favour by comparison. I think it's great for non-gamers, people who don't usually play videogames. I can totally see my mom or sister playing with one.
So I read the CVG review, then I read the Eurogamer reivew, and then I finally read the IGN review.He? Hilary is a dude's name?
Hilary Goldstein has to be one of the worst videogame writers on the planet. I mean he is just terrible.
The other reviews were pretty good though.
And they already found an inexcusable nasty bug. Inexcusable because it's not hard at all to trigger. All you have to do is walk out on a conversation before it's done. After that, the game is broken. Haha. Way to go. Patch on the way, of course.
Check out the Fable 2 boards here. Namely this thread here is about how pretty much many people don't like the Co-Op Mode.
Namely, it's b/c you can't bring your (exact) own hero into the game and they don't care for the camera angles involved in this mode. (http://community.lionhead.com/forums/1/3144263/ShowThread.aspx)
Yeah, you're basically a hired henchman when you enter someone else's world.Which storyline-wise, would make sense -- that the 2nd player is a sidekick and all.
I can see why people would want to be able to import their own hero, but at the same time I can understand the design choice.As a design choice, I can understand why -- b/c an already easy game would probably be EVEN MORE TOO easy for two uber-heros, if they don't adjust the number of enemies and/or difficulty to the game.
Rumor has it we might see Fable 2 on the PC as soon as mid-Feb 2009. (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/29/rumor-fable-2-coming-to-pc-in-february/)That would be sweetness.
If it's true -- wow, that'd be a quick turnaround for a PC port...
GDC: New Fable II DLC within weeks News
News by Rob Purchese
Today 08:47
Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux has said that more Fable II downloadable content will be released within weeks.
"The next DLC comes out in the spring. We're in the spring now so don't think months, think more like weeks," Molyneux told Kotaku at GDC. "It's called See the Future."
"[Knothole Island] was done very close to Fable II and the team was tired and we sort of pushed ourselves to get something out early for the fans. This time we've taken a little bit more time on it, it's a little bit more story driven.
"It answers some of the questions if you're a real fan of Fable," he added. "It's going to test you a little bit emotionally as well. But I think the real unique thing here is it starts to tease and hint at what it starting to happen in the world of Albion and what is happening in the future."
And that future, Molyneux hinted, may extend past Fable II, which is hardly a surprise, after funny-man Jonathan Ross blurted that he had been offered a voice role in Fable III.
Peter Molyneux returns to the GDC stage this evening at 9.30pm GMT to deliver his talk on "Lionhead Experiments Reveal". We won't be reporting live from this session, but will cover any important news such as more details on See the Future.
Molyneux, however, has already announced that he won't be talking about the "unbelievably ambitious" project in development at Lionhead.
GDC had once been poised as the time and place for the reveal, although Molyneux said Microsoft wants sufficient "shock and awe" when the wraps finally do come off.
Fable II expanded back in January with the Knothole Island DLC. There's no set price for See the Future yet, but a copycat price of 800 MSP (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60) makes sense.
See the Future of Albion With the Much Anticipated Second Game Add-on, available this May on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in May for 560 MS Points for the premium content package!
See The Future
Players will be given the chance to heed the call for a hero to restore color and balance to the world, or let Albion fall to the wayside. Those who emerge victorious will receive the ultimate reward: a quest that provides a vision of Albion's future and what lies ahead for those born into the heroic bloodline. The fantastical new quests in "See the Future" will bring players face-to-face with new characters, creatures, events and legendary artifacts!
Murgo is back
Having first met him during the childhood sequence of Fable II Murgo returns to Bowerstone Market to bring an amazing array of new wares, including potions that can transform canine companions into new breeds.
The Ghosts of the Snowglobe Quest
Holding a disturbing secret, the small model village inside it was once a real town in Albion. The people who once inhabited it are now ghosts condemned to endless torment until the shadowy threat that cursed them is defeated.
The Cursed Knight Quest
Forever banished to a land beyond the dead, the Cursed Knight awaits a hero who has the strength and will to dress up in convincing costumes, even imitating a hobbe or balverine, to save him from his fate.
In addition, "See the Future" offers free unique items to all, including Welley's soldier helmet and other clothing, a braided ponytail and other hairstyles, psycho Jester make-up, a new hero expression, the back flip trick for canine companions, and a collectible Murgo the Trader gold statue.
The "Fable II" "See the Future" game add-on will be available for download exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace in May for 560 MS Points for the premium content package. "Fable II" is available exclusively on Xbox 360 and is rated "M" for Mature by the ESRB and PEGI 16 +.
I really hope Fable 2 finds its way to PC.
I think it is about time someone told you this K-Man.
You look a lot like that dude from Watchmen.
I really hope Fable 2 finds its way to PC.
So $40 for episodes 2-5.Right. Episode 1 is free.
Or you could buy the whole game for $30 from Amazon.Correct.
That's actually a pretty good way to do the episodic thing. The game has been bought by those who were going to, and now it is time to tempt everyone else. And since it is free, they can just look at Ep1 as a demo, and then buy the whole game from Amazon for $30 if need arises.
At the tail end of our GDC interview with Lionhead's Peter Molyneux, we remembered one more question we simply had to know: How well did Fable 2's episodic experiment go? We'll refresh your memory: Last August, Molyneux announced plans to release Fable 2 as a series of five downloadable "episodes," with the first one given away and the subsequent four priced at $10 each.
Molyneux's response: "That was hugely successful. There were something like over half a million. I think it was 600,000 downloads of the first episode, which was very, very cool." Of course, the first episode was free so how was the conversion rate? "It was a much higher than a normal conversion rate," Molyneux smiled. "Massively, massively successful, and I really love this relationship, which is much more sliced into episodes with consumers."
Of course, knowing where we were going with this particular line of questioning, Molyneux preemptively offered an answer. "But we're not announcing whether that's coming out in this release," he said, tossing a smile towards the attentive PR people behind me.
Molyneus at GDC 10 says how successful Episodic releases of Fable 2 went over XBL. (http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/13/fable-2-episodic-experiment-deemed-massively-successful-by-mol/)
Because buying the game for $40 without a box, disc or manual is so much better than buying it with a box, disc and manual for $30.
When the world is full of suckers, value is a non-issue.Hehe...But Que, those who bought All 5 chapters of F2 online from XBL (for $40) get to be one of the "cool" kids who got to download the game to their HDD and not go out the house to get a cheaper version on disc w/ a manual. ;)
We'll bet even Theresa didn't see this one coming.
The downloadable version of Fable 2 has been removed from Xbox Live Marketplace, both via Xbox.com or the console itself. The news comes courtesy of a GameSpot tipster, and we have confirmed that Fable 2 has been pulled from Xbox Live in both its episodic and Games on Demand forms.
Associated Fable 2 content, including DLC, trailers and avatar items, is still available for download.
Furthermore, both the original Fable and Fable 3 remain available to download.
We've put word into Microsoft to see what's up. It's too early to be certain, but we suspect Hobbes were involved.
As I understand it, even people who bought it can't download it. That has to be an error of some sort. I can't imagine XBL would want to cut their own throats like that. Who would trust them when they say your games are secure as digital downloads after that? Since Fable 1 & 3 are still up, it's not likely to be a licensing issue either. No, it has to be a goof. I'd bet it goes back up soon. We shall see.