GDC 2007: Fable 2 Preview


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GDC 2007: Fable 2 Preview (Xbox 360)

By: Dale Nardozzi - "Legba"

March 8th, 2007

?Groundbreaking,? ?innovative? and ?genre-changing? were a few of the terms tossed around the tech-laden GDC air from people already privy to the closed-doors Fable 2 demo.

Hmm, what could this feature be? A few things that ran through our head before the unveiling:

Acorns that turn into trees and eventually paper? on which treatises are penned?

A warp portal that sends your hero into the future to battle John Shepard?

A ?bodily fluids? algorithm to one up the farting dynamic in the original Fable?

No matter how outlandish our guesses may seem, the real answer to the Fable 2 mystery may seem every bit as eccentric. If you guessed that there?s a canine component in Fable 2, you deserve more than a medal?you deserve a guest spot on Oprah as the ?Gaming Psychic.?

Yes, you read that right, RPG crazies. You?ll be palling around with man?s best friend in Fable 2. And, believe us, Peter Molyneux isn?t taking this human/canine relationship lightly. A pooch pal is being touted as an integral part of one of the main features in Fable 2. Uh-huh, Pete literally gushed about the idea of falling ?in love? with something. For as we know, the L- word is, as Molyneux continued, ?an emotion worth talking about.?

The relationship between man or woman (yes, you can play as a woman in Fable 2) and four-legged friend is unmistakable in today?s society. The fact that pet meds can be shipped to your door and the existence of dog shrinks will attest to that. Thusly, in Fable 2, LionHead truly felt as though a canine companion was the absolute best way of putting emotion into this sequel of a game (Fable) that Molyneux admitted lacked the ability to really tug on the heart strings.

Sure, you will have the ability to have offspring in Fable 2. In fact, you can play as a pregnant woman, if you so desire, but the idea of bringing kiddies into battle was a big no-no for obvious reasons. Also, keep in mind that even loyal parents fail to receive the love they deserve from their spoiled little brats. But dogs? Well, merely feed your Spot (or Penny as Pete has named his buddy) and he will love you unconditionally, creating a bond that sets up emotion-filled journeys all throughout this magical world.

The very early in-game demo illustrated doggie love quite well, as the dev team created a Nintendog on steroids. Complete with the ability to morph as the hero changes in composure, and possessing both a playful and Shadow Dancer side, the dog component of Fable 2 is hardly a novelty. For instance, we saw Molyneux?s neutral character purchase a ball for his mate for a game of toss; a simple gesture to some, but a serous act for those pet lovers that would honestly go to the grave for their less-evolved companions.

It?s interesting to see how the dog was reactive to the hero?s movements, running ahead while he jogged, or spinning gleefully around when the hero was relaxed and merely plodding. But it wasn?t until the idea of a threatened hero was introduced that we realized that having a dog in Fable 2 made sense. The demo pooch went wild as three enemies were spotted ahead, like any animal with feral senses would?a move that helps to illustrate that the gamer will rely less on mini-maps and more on a mammal?s intuition in Fable 2 as well. It was also revealed that in attack situations, the dog will react to the weapon chosen by the hero, almost as if it was trained to attack foes with certain weapons drawn. For example, when Molyneux pulled out his blade to match up against an enemy with a similar weapon (a mace, e.g. another melee weapon), the dog immediately went after the chap with the rifle (yes, there are guns in Fable 2). A bad match-up for sure, but it illustrated the point that your dog in Fable 2 will be intuitive and, above all, loyal; even to the death.

So how did that doggie in the window fare against the flintlock? Not well, unfortunately. The high-decibel yelp told the audience that something went wrong, which instantly illustrated some of that emotional response that Molyneux is seeking in Fable 2. A few ?awwws? made their way out of the crowd, as the loyal companion limped its way back toward its master. We genuinely felt bad for this beast, as the emotional bond between man and man?s best friend was made early on in the demo?with a little help from Molyneux?s crafty rhetoric, of course.

The make-or-break moment (or WOW moment) of the Fable 2 demo? Molyneux planted the seed that he could just walk away from his trusty companion, basically leaving it for dead after the ferocious battle. Yes, the mutt loves you unconditionally, but rational thinking allows the hero to walk away, if he so desires.

Of course, there are ramifications to leaving a pet?which became incapacitated defending you?for dead. The townspeople will know you as inhumane as the dog comes limping back indefinitely, but it?s really that seed of guilt that would grow with each step away from the ailing dog that will force all but the most evil anti-heroes from casting a healing spell on Rover.

Peter Molyneux?s not evil. His compassionate nature was revealed as the spell was cast that brought the dog back to life. The playful pooch fetching the ball early in the demo is what the audience wanted to see, as the audience now cared about the well being of the dog.

With heartstrings niftily tugged, Peter Molyneux?s Fable 2 demo ended. The emotional mission of the seemingly impossible was 100% complete. Yes, we now care about a digital dog.

Check out my blog ?DSource:Fable 2? for more details on this innovative feature.

Source: TeamXbox

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Dude that's freakin awesome! I'm rather interested in seeing how they did the audio this go round. In the last Fable I wasn't immensly impressed but in the games industry, us Sound Experts are always forgotten about till the very end of everything. And then we get stomped on because some artist needs an extra 2 megs for a texture that he could have easily made smaller but didn't want to, or for that modeler that decided he needs to put a few more polys in the model. But I'm really interested to see how it comes out last time because even though I wasn't to terribly impressed with the audio, I will say that I could easily tell where they wanted to go with it.

The whole Dog idea is a brilliant ploy for emotions in my opinioin. So I wonder if Spot will help you fight those baddies or if he stands by while you get beaten to death by a brawler! ROFL

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wow, fable 2 has so many new principles in it... a useful pet would be awesome. my only worry is that i'd spend more time trying to keep the dog alive than myself :p

having offspring though? that'd be a bit weird... i know in the last fable you could have sex with some female NPCs (and there was that uber long quest to get into bed with the mayoress) but actually having to live the consequences? that'd be too much like real life...

did they mention anything about the idea that you can buy any building in the game? or has that idea been scrapped?

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wow, fable 2 has so many new principles in it... a useful pet would be awesome. my only worry is that i'd spend more time trying to keep the dog alive than myself :p

having offspring though? that'd be a bit weird... i know in the last fable you could have sex with some female NPCs (and there was that uber long quest to get into bed with the mayoress) but actually having to live the consequences? that'd be too much like real life...

did they mention anything about the idea that you can buy any building in the game? or has that idea been scrapped?

Right I liked being able to buy buildings, but I want to own an entire town! ROFL Then I can become an evil Robber Baron and tax the denizens into penniless excistence! BWHA HA HA HA HA HA!!! Oh wait, I can do that in Sim City, but it's more fun in a game where you can see that old hag in that c****y old house at the end of the block cryin' cause you just evicted her wrinkly, crusty butt! ROFL

See, it's options like that, that bring back the idea to video games as being fantasy, being able to do things like that are part of what makes a game fun. I remember in the original Fable I went to every town and married and bought houses just because i could. Hell I didn't play much of the main quest for awhile cause i was to busy makin' gold and collectin' gold from stores and keepin' my wives happy. It was fun just becasue I could do that!

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Spartan.. Is this what you meant by that "Coming soon.." thread?? If so, I hate to break it to you but.. This isn't much lol.

I would think it wouldn't be posted here but then again I have been known to be wrong, but this doesn't sound like much for MS but more for Fable. I'll wait and see what our producers come back with here at my office or for Spartan to make his big announcement :D

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One of Lionhead's solutions to generate emotion in games is to build a family network for the main character.

"We want you to feel loved. You can have sex and you can have a baby.

"That baby will grow up and will kind of look like you."

Scary :s

source

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Holy!!! Now that puts a new twist to any RPG games, and sequels! If you start off in the first rpg, and end up having a kid (boy or girl, could be random), then that kid could be the main character for the sequel, and so on. I guess this would be pretty interesting.

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Screw having a dog as a companion.

I'd take Puss In Boots from Shrek 2 over a dog any day.

Come on. If you were getting ready to attack a person and saw this:

post-101330-1173447910.jpg

You couldn't help but going "awwww how cute...". Next thing you know the claws are in your jugular :laugh:

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Come on. If you were getting ready to attack a person and saw this:

post-101330-1173447910.jpg

You couldn't help but going "awwww how cute... Jesus! That?s an ugly cat, let's finish his misery!!!".

fixed...:devil:l::whistle:e:

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did they mention anything about the idea that you can buy any building in the game? or has that idea been scrapped?

Yeh they did mention that.. and yes you can :).. i'll try to find a link to the video and post it.

edit: http://au.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/...&pid=927246

Thats the one.. its more so towards the end of the video clip and it is a 30 min clip so yeh :). He first demonstrates all about the dog interaction feature.. talks about a couple of things here and there and he shows you a video clip of a city where he explains how you can purchase the buildings etc etc.

Enjoy :)

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Yeh they did mention that.. and yes you can :).. i'll try to find a link to the video and post it.

edit: http://au.gamespot.com/pages/video_player/...&pid=927246

Thats the one.. its more so towards the end of the video clip and it is a 30 min clip so yeh :). He first demonstrates all about the dog interaction feature.. talks about a couple of things here and there and he shows you a video clip of a city where he explains how you can purchase the buildings etc etc.

Enjoy :)

Yes! My dream of being an evil Robber Baron can finally come true! w00t

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Hawt! Buying buildings, shagging females and maybe haveing kids, heh what next?

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This is ten times better than PlayStation Home! :drool: I can't wait for this game. I loved the first one, and this actually sounds truly groundbreaking. :woot:

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