Quote:

 

Lionhead Video Diary Episode Four
by Matt Gibbs


Get up close and personal with the Lionhead art and design team members, who are hard at work on the Xbox 360 exclusive Fable 2, the follow up to the Xbox exclusive Fable.

Episode Four introduces gamers to additional personalities at Lionhead: Art Director John McCormack, who hates England, Senior Programmer Guillaume Portes, who describes himself as the modest and sophisticated Frenchman, Senior Designer Ian Wright, Senior Artist Ian Faichnie and JC Taylor, the Bug Warlord.

Through this video, viewers can meet the colorful characters responsible for marrying art and design, from the large-scale environments and open world of Fable 2, to the smallest piece of foliage. Additionally, JC Taylor, explains the studio’s bug blitz process, where the team at Lionhead focuses on ridding the game of bugs and ensuring it meets to quality levels.

As always, Lionhead keeps it light and fun as they offer gamers a sneak peek into the development of Fable 2, which is slated for a 2008 release.

Check out Episode Four at www.lionhead.com and on www.xbox.com, where the sophisticated Frenchman goes on to explain, in detail, not only the design of Fable 2, but also how the weather and food in England just don’t cut it.

B00mer182

Aug 12 2008, 05:49 PM

PMT Warrior, theres no stopping that mate!

Quote:

 

Fable 2 will include such well known actors as Stephen Fry and Zoë Wanamaker providing some of the voices.

Quote:

 

Combat

All combat is context specific, so that, if a player is on top of a tower, pressing a particular button may cause the player to throw an enemy off of the tower rather than attack with a weapon.


Additional features are to be included:

* Positional advantage: if an enemy is above the player such as on stairs, they have a tactical advantage
* Skill increases: better combos and flourishes become unlocked as the character progresses
* Weapon specific attacks: the character's combat style will change according to the kind of weapon they are using.
* Ranged weapon targeting: while using a gun, the player can aim more accurately by using a crosshair.
* Unlike the first game, Fable 2 will not have a mana bar. Instead, each individual spell will have an on-screen recharge time after usage.
* If the player presses and holds the X button he will block, and holding down the button while moving the analog stick will unleash a flourish.

Weapons include: guns, axes, swords, hammers, pole arms and maces. Longbows will not be in Fable II due to the appearance of guns in Albion, however, crossbows will still be available.

Dog

Early on in the game (approx 45 minutes real time) the player will encounter a pet dog that will stay with him or her for the rest of the game. Every dog will be unique in some way and will change appearance and personality depending on a variety of factors, including the player's alignment. Obeying three built-in laws (do not irritate the player, unconditionally love the player and self-preservation), the dog features advanced AI. Behavior is context-specific; the dog will stay much closer in towns or when the player is hurt in battle, and if the player goes to a shop the dog will wait outside until the player leaves the shop. It is, to a degree, trainable using expressions.

The dog will assist the player by performing a variety of tasks, for example:

* The dog can alert the player to threats without alerting enemies of the player's presence; as such the dog has replaced the mini-map which was present in Fable.
* The dog attacks whichever enemy the player is most vulnerable to. If there are two enemies ahead, one with a gun and one with a sword, a player wielding a sword would be vulnerable to the enemy with the gun, so the dog would attack the gunman.
* The dog also uses many different barks, growls and whines each informing the player of something of particular interest or importance.
* The dog will be programmed with advanced AI so it can gradually learn different behaviors. For example it will eventually know how to call the player's attention in a time of threat or to let the player know of any hidden treasures.

Some of the interactions players can have with their dog include buying toys, playing fetch, rewarding or punishing their dogs for their actions, and hiding from it.

Death

The initial design was that if the player's character died, then the character's children would take over as being playable (if they had any). This did not work, however, as play-testers harvested children as dozens of extra lives, prompting Lionhead developers to create another new "death" system.

The second design was that the player's character would not die at all; rather, he or she would fall unconscious instead. The enemies would then injure the character while they were unconscious by beating, kicking or stabbing them, leaving permanent and humiliating scars. Falling unconscious could be avoided with one of three sacrifices: gold, reputation or experience.

At the Game Developers Conference in 2008, Peter Molyneux indicated that the design for death had changed due to player feedback during play testing. It was found that players would rather turn off their console than subject their character to permanent disfigurement. In the new design, upon losing all health, the hero falls and loses an unspecified amount of experience; this experience is exchanged for a 'burst' of energy, allowing one last 'Heroic Struggle' in which the player rises to their feet and knocks all enemies away, leaving the player momentarily safe from harm.

Co-op

Online

On July 14 2008 at E3 2008 lead designer Peter Molyneux demonstrated 'Albion Orbs'. These orbs show where other players are in their worlds and allow you to, at the press of a button, bring them into your world to co-op with. The actions of visiting players are permanent in the game, unless the safety feature is activated. Sean Michael Ryan was the first to speculate that if a character runs around their friend's orb, their friend will have an orb circling them. Players will be able to give items to visitors. The players' dogs will not accompany them into another player's game.

The mode of co-op is somewhat similar to that of Lego Star Wars: The Video Game; in that players will be able to drop in and out of other player's games at will. The host player can set certain rules; eg. how loot gained is split between the players and if friendly fire is active or not.

On September 26 2008 it was reported that Fable II will not ship with online-coop stating that it will have to be patched in at a later date, reportedly as there are still kinks to work out. Although it was stated that the player will still be able to see their friends' Albion orbs, meaning players may still chat and trade with each other, though other players will not be able to team up until the patch has been installed. On October 9th 2008, Peter Molyneux announced this update will be available at launch on both the European/American release.

Offline

While on the same console, a second player with their own account can drop in and out as a "henchman" to the first player. If the second player on the same console does not have an account of their own, the henchman is made in a brief create screen that pauses the game. Henchmen created this way are not saved into the main player's game. The first player also decides how much bounty the henchman will obtain, e.g. gold and renown. The second player will also be able to port any experience, renown and gold to their own Fable II Hero via a memory card if they have imported their character and not created the henchmen from scratch.

Features

Family

The family aspect of the Fable series will be further built upon. It will be possible to get married and have children.

The sex aspect, relatively unimportant in the first game, has also been built upon significantly. Players will be able to choose to have protected or unprotected sex, and by extension choose whether or not to have a child. Female player characters will become pregnant, and they will undergo the relevant physical changes. Sex will, however, fade to black as in Fable. Same-sex marriages, as in the first game, will be possible.

The player's child or children will look upon the player as an example and will also follow their alignment, looks, etc. A player's family can be killed by a co-op player but only if friendly fire is made active by the host player. If the player's spouse is killed the player's child will go to the orphanage.

Fable II will also feature sexually transmitted diseases (the player can choose whether to employ safe sex), and adultery will be "fully supported". Divorces will also be possible, as in the first game, but this time the former spouses will take half of the player's possessions, and Molyneux confirmed that it would be cheaper if the players murdered their spouses instead. Polygamy is still also possible.

Character morphing

Fable II enhances the system of morphing one's character based on their actions introduced in Fable. Character morphing revolves around two main alignments: Good and Evil. New aspects of the character alignment system include:

* Purity & Corruption
* Kindness & Cruelty
* Wealth & Poverty
* Slim or Fat
* Young or Old

The hero's Skill, Will, and Strength attributes will play a key-role in character morphing. These alignments will enhance or degrade a character's features. The player can be good but cruel, or be evil yet kind, etc.

Content

According to an IGN preview, Albion will be about ten times the size it was in the previous Fable title. While Molyneux has stated that the player can complete the main story in 12 hours if they rush through it, it would take 100+ hours to complete everything in the game. Molyneux has stated that it will cost about 100 million gold to buy every item in the game.

Jobs

Peter Molyneux has stated that unlike Fable the player will not get money through doing quests but instead doing jobs around the town e.g. Blacksmith, woodsman and others. Doing a job becomes a mini-game, relying on timing by hitting a certain button as a bar on the screen moves. As the player becomes more experienced in the jobs, they will make more money from each one for the same amount of time (a master blacksmith can make 1000 gold per sword he makes).

Cutscenes

There will be both interactive and a few non-interactive cutscenes in the game. According to Lionhead, the non-interactive cutscenes will consume less than five minutes of game time.

In the fully interactive cutscenes a player can use their expressions during the dialogue or even run away from the scene, thus skipping it; afterwards you can return to the cutscene location to start it again.

Dynamic world

The world in Fable II will be fully dynamic, interactive and free roaming with no set quest path to take and will include all 4 seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter).

Since the game will take place over a hero's lifetime, many things will change; Molyneux gave an example of a trade camp that the player could either help or destroy. Trading in such camps would increase their profit, resulting in a small town growing around them, while stealing from the camp or massacring the camp will result in the abandonment of the area.

Additionally, every accessible property (properties that can be entered by the player) in the world is ownable, and ownership often unlocks further quests. When stores/property are owned, you will earn Gold every five minutes; this happens even while the Xbox is turned off. Players will be able to furnish the houses with furniture and other items available for sale. In addition, titles will be awarded for buying property; if one were to buy every building and piece of land in a town he may become the mayor of that town; owning more land leads to higher titles such as king, and eventually Emperor of the entire land of Albion.

The environment in Fable II will feature trees with branches and leaves that are individually animated according to their own physics, each tree having roughly 120,000 leaves. There are also around 15 million poppies in Albion.

Peter Molyneux also has revealed the "bread crumb" trail, a feature that shows glowing sparkles in a line in front of you to guide you back to the main story line. Molyneux also said players are free to turn off this feature at any time and venture on their own path to that quest, or just completely ignore the quest and explore more of Albion or partake in a side quest.

In Fable II Pub Games, an unlockable concept art shows a map of a coastline unlike the one from the original game. Whether this is a new area or a revamp of the original is unknown.

Pre-release marketing

Tales of Albion

Lionhead Studios released a section on their website entitled "Tales of Albion", which provides a back-story to Fable, Fable: The Lost Chapters, and Fable II. In "Fragments of the Old Kingdom", it details how the Archon came to power in Albion, and how the Heroes' Guild was founded. "Tales" also chronicles the ruin of the Guild in "Fall of the Heroes", and will describe Albion in Fable II with "Travels in Today's Albion".

Online competitions

Just as Lionhead has done with The Movies, online competitions were made available through Lionhead's forums. One such competition was naming a title to be used in the game, similar to the first game wherein a character was addressed by various titles that the character purchased from a "Title Vendor" Lionhead has stated these titles will be bought but they have to be earned first. They are bought from a town crier in Fable II; the winning title was Lionheart. An "insult the hero" competition is also taking place and the winner is yet to be announced.[citation needed]On May 30th, Lionhead held a competition for artwork that would be used in the game.

Video Diaries

* On May 24, 2007, episode one of The Lionhead Diaries, examining the love and emotion aspect of Fable II was released.

* On July 30, 2007, episode two was released, highlighting the one-button combat system, and featured the Lionhead staff playing a game of football against fellow Microsoft satellite Rare and winning. It also included a professional combat specialist instructing the animation staff.

* On October 8, 2007, episode three was released, going in depth about the Central Technology Group, and featured Lionhead's 10 year Anniversary.

* On January 11, 2008, episode four was released, focusing on how the graphics department made the world of Albion.

* On March 19, 2008, episode five was released, looking at magic, GDC 2008 and co-op.

* On June 24, 2008, episode six "Art and the Hero" was released.

* On October 2, 2008, episode seven "Music and Audio" was released.

* On October 19, 2008, episode eight "Story of the Hero" will be released.

Cast

Fable 2 will include such well known actors as Stephen Fry, Zoë Wanamaker, Bill Nighy, Helena Bonham Carter and Ron Glass providing some of the voices.

Technology

The graphics engine is written in-house, but middleware is integrated for several other parts of the game: Havok is used for a physics engine and Kynapse is used for some AI. Alienbrain 8 is used to track assets such as 3D Models, files, and art.