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Fable Developer Chat

Xbox

5th December 2003, 11:43am
Yes, I woke up at 4:30 am only to find out the chat started at 5:30 am (stupid Windows clock telling me I lived at +10 GMT). For anyone who wants to read through the entire transcript of the chat it has been logged here.

I've tried to cut out most of the garbage and answers to questions that have been answered a million odd times and so here are a few quotes that are left (subtly bolded at the most opportune times as well as small comments from me in [brackets]). Each paragraph is a new topic, I only add peoples names where I felt it necessary. Enjoy:

We won't comment on the release date of Fable, it's done when it's done! :p [Damn!]

We're concentrating only on Fable on the XBox at the moment. I don't have the mental capacity to think about anything else yet![Meaning no PC Version of Fable is planned - go buy an Xbox now if you don't already have one!!]

Simon Carter: I personally intend to be the only person in the world to have killed 200 balverines while wearing a skirt.[Who else wants to help me try and ensure Simon isn't the only one...?]

I was trying to impress a woman by doing cartwheels on the ground in front of her, but failing and having her just laugh at me because she thought I was a fool :-)

Regarding the story - the end goal is the same for everyone, but your motivations and the decisions you make along the way will be very different.

Ok, on recognition of feats, every single villager in the world of Albion maintains a multidimensional opinion of the hero, which is continually being influenced by many many actions the player can take, and also feeds into a shared opinion of the hero maintained by each village. These opinions influence subsequent reactions of villagers to the player's behaviour

On the subject of being a local hero, yes you can - the people of one village may hate you due to evil deeds perpetrated there, but you may have charmed people elsewhere into thinking you're a saint

Someone asked about whether world has a day and night system: the world has a day night system, with the villager behaviours reacting appropriately. Villages go to bed at night, wake up and go to work in the morning, go to the pub after work and get drunk, then stagger back to bed. Children go to school during the day, play tag and hopscotch out of school hours [cool!]. Families get together for meals, everything mediated by time of day.

Yes, the game engine does simulate wind. And rain. And snow. And the sun moving around the planet. And fog.

Or you could chop off their heads when they're off balance.

You won't be able to make your own food in Fable, but you will need to gain food for sustenance. You could always get your wife to cook for you. [... and hopefully a beer ;)]

Fatty foods like pies will increase your gut size. An apple a day keeps the healer away!

Regarding voices in Fable... There's not a single unspoken line of dialogue in Fable. We use a mixture of 'characterful' and 'generic' voices depending on the importance of the character.

The packshot recently released on teamxbox is the real packshot, the logo will be added later on yes.

There are non-aggressive creatures. Butterflies, birds, etc

So, there are rewards for timing your hits well, tactical decisions you have to make based on your enemy's current actions. If you button bash you'll probably eventually succeed, but it's a bit like trying to tunnel to work with a spoon. Or something.

If you commit a crime and you're seen by a villager then that villager will try and alert the town guards. If they manage it or the town guards see you then you'll be declared a criminal. You can bribe guards and there's the option to apologise for crimes. Failing that you end up in jail. If you kill people before they tell the guards then you can get away with murder :)

We are currently working on a new Lionhead Web project; www.lhtimes.com

Terrain in Fable. We have mountains, grassy fields, a... erm... slushy area (I can't think of a better description), twisted choked dead forest, fire-blasted scree...

Wives will go off you and leave for someone else if you make them unhappy - mistreating your wife is actually a very difficult path if you want to keep her with you while being so nasty to her

The camera system is constrained by the world, so it automatically dips under roofs so you always keep sight of the player, but it's also player controlled so you can get the camera angle you want. We've certainly done our best to make the camera in Fable as friendly as possible. In our efforts to implement the 'perfect' system we believe we've been through just about every possible iteration of camera system and taken bits of all of them. It's been a challenge!

Yes, you can fish, and you can keep the big catches as trophies to show off with.[I'm guessing you'll be able to fish anywhere in the world - that'd be cool]

Mini-games... there are loads of mini-games, in taverns, on quests, they'll be hidden all over the world

Yes, sleeping in Fable is of use

The coop mode is not a Live feature, and not split screen. You all play on the same screen - it's actually really good fun![Even I'm a little tentative about the co-op...]

On trespassing, like all other moral deeds, people react to this in a manner dependent on their opinion of you - if you as a scary powerful evil hero break into a good house at night then they ask in a very frightened voice why you are trespassing. If you're a little squirt with no renown then they properly express their anger ;-)

Currently the day night cycle lasts about 20 minutes, but this may change during testing and the player can always go to sleep if they want to jump ahead in time, but its not advisable [?!? - Why not...?]

Regarding weapons - we have a system whereby you can take any existing weapon and customise it.

Towns throw festivals to celebrate the coming of a truly great hero. You may witness this in the early parts of the game, but ultimately when you achieve true greatness they will hold a festival for YOU when you choose to visit their little town!

Nope - destroying trees and houses is not in, I'm afraid, but you can smash smaller things. There are parts of the world we have to make indestructible, [*cough* children *cough*] but equally there are lots of things you can destroy with your exploding potions, flaming arrows, lightning ability, etc. So go mad if you like. :-)

Next to cutscenes we have also other storytelling devices in place - which I will not go into detail yet :-)

Yes you can take a weapon in two hands. The 2 handed weapons require strength to wield. So you need to bulk up to use those warhammers, great axes and the like...

People have asked about the hero speeking: The hero mimics the words he has heard like "shite" in a french accent

The main focus of the world of Fable is the Guild, and the mysteries that surround it and the heroes who train there. You have the capacity to make people worship you.

No pets this time, but Ghostly Swords come close in terms of cuteness. :-)

Peter Molyneux: We must have the SandGoose [It's an uh... in jokr for B5ers :) - probably the only decent quote I could get from him through the whole chat!

There are a multitude of different villager personalities. Some get scared easy, others start offf finding you ugly but perhaps are easy to chat up, and so on and on. The most extreme example is the bandits, who have a very different moral interpretation of your hero deeds, and who require a very different set of behaviours if you wish to win favour with them.

We have more Easter Eggs than the Easter bunny himself on a particularly eggy day. Fable is all about discovering things nobody else has seen.

Gradius: And remember folks...buy multiple copies of Fable. Please.
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by Vasu Chetty