FABLE

Nachokoolaid · #1 05-24-2004, 05:16 AM

I thought I'd be the first to open a thread to discuss the (in my opinion) game that will most likely be remembered as the best game ever for the current next-Gen consoles (X-box, PS2, GC).

Never has a game been met with more anticipation (or more development time, for that matter).

Fable is a ground-breaking role-playing adventure game from Peter Molyneux, in which your every action determines your skills, appearance, and reputation. Create your life story from childhood to death. Grow from an inexperienced adolescent into the most powerful being in the world. Choose the path of righteousness or dedicate your life to evil. Muscles expand with each feat of strength; force of will increases with each work of wit. Obesity follows gluttony, skin tans with exposure to sunlight and bleaches bone-white by moonlight. Earn scars in battle and lines of experience with age. Each person you aid, each flower you crush, each creature you slay, will change this world forever.

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We've seen Fable, the unique Xbox RPG from Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios, on and off for quite some time now. The ambitious game, developed by Lionhead satellite studio Big Blue Box, has seen its release date shift around more than once during its development process. The last time we saw the game--earlier this year at the Game Developers Conference in San Jose--it was much more complete and even playable. At this year's E3, we had the chance to check in on the game again to see how it's shaping up in development.

While Fable's gameplay was originally slated to be a very open-ended experience that had your character aging and developing based on your progress and play style, respectively, the game has since headed in a more-structured direction. Fable uses an action-role-playing game approach in which your character will gain experience levels by accruing experience points. The game will have four main kinds of experience: general, strength, skill, and will. Performing specific tasks will earn you various amounts of general experience, as well as a certain amount of specific experience in either strength, skill, or will. Strength refers to physical prowess, and, as a result, focusing on melee combat will eventually cause your character to become a bigger, bulkier, and slower battle tank. Skill refers to physical agility, so focusing on ranged combat with bows and arrows will cause your character to become leaner and faster. Will specifically applies to the use of magic. Therefore, developing your character's skill with sorcery will make him a powerful wizard--though the study of the arcane arts will take its toll on your character and cause him or her to age more rapidly, thus turning his or her hair white.

You'll develop your character's power and skills further by purchasing advanced abilities with more experience points. Interestingly, though, you can also apply strength, skill, or will experience toward these costs to offset the general experience cost. These skills can include anything from increased strength to spectacular magic spells that let you hurl fireballs or lightning bolts at your enemies. While this system isn't quite as dynamic as it sounded like it was going to be--where your character just naturally morphed based on how you played--we prefer the new, more-hands-on approach.

The experience system features an arcadelike twist thanks to a multiplier that increases the amount of experience you earn. You'll increase this multiplier number by performing uninterrupted combos. However, if you're hit, this multiplier number will go down. Thankfully, it appears that once you reach a specific, set, low multiplier number, a game meter will lock this figure as your base. So, for example, if you get your multiplier up to five, that's as low as it will ever get--no matter how many times you're hit. As you increase the meter, your base will move up as well. While we're not clear on what the maximum base you can end up having will be (since the system is still being tweaked), the feature is a nice touch that keeps combat from being too frustrating.

Your character will gain experience points in four distinct categories as you progress through Fable.
While character development may not have wound up offering quite as many options as it set out to, the actual gameplay certainly has. One of the major components of the game that was originally announced was that you were going to be able to be as good or as evil as you wanted. Unlike most RPGs, which tend to firmly lock you in the roles of virtuous, milk-drinking heroes who save kittens and damsels in distress, Fable gives you the option to instead be a vice-laden, liquor-chugging cad who kills small animals and terrorizes the locals. This flexible system is impressive and offers a very pleasing change of pace from your typical RPG experience.

The E3 demo of the game offered five playable levels--Trader's Escort, Bandit Path, Graveyard, Knothole Glade, and Oakvale--that were all testament to the pros and cons of living the good or bad life. The most notable levels we played were the Trader's Escort (a level that charged us with protecting traveling merchants until they reached a set location) and the Knothole Glade (a level that showed off a new town) ones. What struck us the most about the escort mission was that you had to fight temptation every step of the assignment. Basically, the gentlefolk who entrusted us with their lives could have been hacked up and robbed at pretty much any point during our journey. While we figured most folks would take this responsibility seriously, we were a bit more fickle. We won't go into the gory details, but suffice it to say, if you choose to hack up the traders so that you can rob them, then, well...

Knothole Glade showcased a new town that had a Native American feel to it, which was in good contrast to the more-traditional European towns we've seen previously. Knothole's design featured almost no stone in its structures and streets. The town had a distinctive woodsy feel thanks to log huts, wood carvings, and patterned rugs thrown about various abode interiors. Additionally, the townsfolk were a friendly, reactive bunch, and apparently, their behavior will adapt to your alignment of either good or evil. (FYI for those who choose the evil alignment: If you choose to hack up some or all of the town's population, it appears that the option is there.)

Fable uses the Xbox's graphical muscle to full effect in creating its atmospheric, ethereal world.
The game's graphics have come a long way since we first saw them. The distinctive art style that gave the game a very European look has been polished up considerably and now showcases a varied suite of Xbox special effects. Your character will be a high-poly archetype of virtue or vice, with some nice effects used for the extremes of either one. For example, you'll sport an angelic glow and a halo if you're good, and you'll sport an ominous dark hue, complete with horns and hooves, if you're not. Not only do such touches look cool but also they do a bang-up job of getting a reaction out of the locals. The environments are large and detailed and feature unique atmospheric touches, thanks to the Xbox's graphical muscle. You'll see leaves of all hues (depending on the area), lighting based on the time of day and location, and various filters used to give everything a surreal quality. One of the most striking effects is a soft-focus filter that's used to give the whole presentation a dreamy quality that fits in nicely with the game's fantasy theme. The only hitch to the visuals appears to be inconsistencies in the frame rate when the onscreen action heats up.

The audio is shaping up to be one of the highlights of the game, thanks to Big Blue Box's quirky sense of humor. Tucked into the moody soundtrack and standard assortment of effects used for combat and magic, you'll hear a wealth of sound bites that showcase the varied personalities of the locals you'll be terrorizing or helping in your quests.

We've had the privilege to see Fable in various states of completion over the past two years and have always been struck by its potential. After having seen this latest iteration, we're pleased to say that the game is living up to most of it. While this more-complete version of Fable isn't quite the hyperambitious creation the game was initially proposed to be, what it's morphed into is still an impressive game that will definitely be one to watch when it ships this September. Look for more on Fable in the coming months.

By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot

More FABLE info:

Slim · #2 05-24-2004, 04:36 PM

If Fable lives up to the hype, I might have to finally give in and buy an X-Box. But I doubt it.

Nerdypagan · #3 05-24-2004, 04:46 PM

My little brother got me interested in this game. I liked Morrowind's open ended gameplay. Not sure I like the structured way this is going but oh well. Can you choose the gender of your character. I think i heard you could a year or three ago but all the screens I have seen have shown male characters.

chinton · #4 05-24-2004, 08:37 PM

I dont like the word structured but this is sounding quite good.

Slim you already need to get XBox for the best game out there Kights Of The Old Republic

TheAxeGrinder · #5 05-24-2004, 08:53 PM

I'm actually looking forward to this, as Black & White was a cool (yet flawed) attempt at something new. Hopefully the hype doesn't kill this game.

Slim · #6 05-24-2004, 10:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chinton
Slim you already need to get XBox for the best game out there Kights Of The Old Republic

I played the PC version. It was probably the best game I played last year. I hope Fable doesn't have a similiar fate like Black & White. Ambitious concept, but poorly executed game.

Nachokoolaid · #7 05-25-2004, 05:06 AM

I think this game will be better than the hype.

This is the thing that gets my friend.

You can court, then marry the mayor's daughter. Let her build up an inheritance. Kill the mayor and her, and keep the inheritance for yourself. Now that's open ended gameplay. I really can't wait.

Oh, and you can only be male characters.

Here's another pic just to whet you appetites.

martyds761 · #8 05-25-2004, 11:57 AM

When's it going to be released or is it? That's my question.

chinton · #9 05-25-2004, 09:54 PM

Well see that r eally confuses me. That does sound extremely open-ended but supposedly theyre making more structures. I wonder which one it is?

Nachokoolaid · #10 05-26-2004, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by chinton
Well see that r eally confuses me. That does sound extremely open-ended but supposedly theyre making more structures. I wonder which one it is?

I mean, it's going to be pretty open ended. For example, you cna do pretty much whatever you want. However, there is also structure. Say, you spend too much time off task, making a family, raising them, etc, perhaps you might have a little accident with some theives that murder your entire family to get you back on task. And you have control over whatever you do, and that's open ended. then when you're ready for the structure, you go to the guild, stand on the podium, boast about which mission you'll choose, and how you can do it, without weapons, with out magic, under a certain amount of time, etc. So, you see it's amazingly open ended, moreso than anything out right now, but of course there HAS to be some type of structure to keep it going.

If you never deviate from the missions, they say there's 30+ hours of gameplay, which is amazingly large. Plus, since you can go back and play again, and one decision will change things, each time you play should be different, so the replay value is enormous, incalculable really.

And the release date is September 21, 2004, only for X-BOX. Also release at an unconfirmed later date for PC.

And as I've been nice with providing pics to keep you Schmoes informed, here's another.

I'm especially fond of this pic, 1) for it's etheral quality, and 2) because there's a bad guy on the left giving our hero "the finger." AWESOME.

chinton · #11 05-26-2004, 09:27 PM

Wow this sounds amazing. I have a feeling this game will be ground-breaking.

Nachokoolaid · #12 05-26-2004, 11:45 PM

Here's something that's not exactly new news, but some of you may not have noticed this.

Danny Elfman writing Fable theme

Famed musician will pen the anthem for the upcoming Xbox RPG.

Already famous for his soundtrack work on film and television, composer Danny Elfman is now expanding into games. Microsoft Game Studios has announced that the creator of the Spider-Man, Batman, and The Simpsons themes will write the title song for the Xbox-exclusive role-playing game Fable. According to MGS, Elfman personally selected the orchestra to record the Fable theme in full 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound. Developed by UK-based Big Blue Box and Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios, Fable is perhaps 2004's most-anticipated role-playing game. Like in Knights of the Old Republic, the actions players take will lead them down different narrative paths. However, in Fable, the effects of players' actions will be far greater.

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot

Also, FABLE was up for several E3 awards from several different websites, critics, etc. They include:

Nominee, Best Role Playing Game – E3 Game Critics Awards
No. 16, Editor's Choice – GameSpy
No. 1, Best RPG Title – Team Xbox
Best Games of E3 List – Xbox Evolved
Nominee, Best Xbox Game – 1up.com

And as always, here's more pics.

Nachokoolaid · #13 05-26-2004, 11:50 PM

I just saw that the release date for FABLE got moved up to 8/30/04.

source= Gamespot.com

Nachokoolaid · #14 05-28-2004, 02:21 AM

- The problem with a high-concept game is that, if a developer doesn't meet all those lofty promises, people will be disappointed. That (and the fact Peter Molyneux promised it would be "the greatest RPG ever") puts some hefty weight on Fable, the massive RPG that could. A game that has been in development since your grandmother road dinosaurs, Fable tells the story of a young lad who goes out on an errand only to return to find his parents missing and his dog nailed to the front door. The high-concept is that the world is fully reactive to our hero and that everything is completely organic. So many, many, many words have been written about Fable -- in fact, it's been written about so much, it's hard to remember when this game was once known as Project Ego.

Microsoft is focusing mostly on the combat system at E3, but the RPG elements shouldn't be overlooked. You can walk into your village, or at least I could in our private demo, and see the reactions of the people. Taking a total badass (who's sprouted horns has tats up his arms, and looks darker than Vader) into a town causes people to run and scream in terror. In his own home town, they likely revere him, like the home town crowd would revere Genghis Khan.
Citizens truly are reactive and from what little I saw in the town, it appears the team at Big Blue Box is delivering on that end of the promise. Personally, I can't wait to see how my deeds and acts translate into the regular game. What you have to remember, when you read all of these previews of Fable from various sites, is that it's pretty hard to demonstrate in ten minutes how an interactive community functions across 30 plus hours of gameplay. It's gonna take some serious play time to get that one done, so we'll have to wait and see.

I don't know how to really judge a game that's trying to do so much after only playing it for 15 minutes, but I will say that one aspect of the game that was originally highly touted has been simplified a bit. The original idea, as told to us long ago, was that how you played the game dictated the type of character you became. There were basically three factors of Strength, Skill, and Will (aka magic). This is no longer a hidden feature, where by playing it heavy-handed you suddenly get stronger. Instead, you earn general experience points and then points in any of the three specific attribute types mentioned above. So if you use your bow a lot, you'll earn more XP in the Skill category, for example.

The attributes have subsets, where you can distribute the points from that specific attribute. XP earned in Strength can be distributed to Toughness, Health, or Physique and those in Skill can be used for Speed, Accuracy, and Guile. Will points are used to unlock new Will powers or to upgrade existing ones. And let me tell you, it's a long, long list there. The big change here is that this was all once going to be very subtle and basically "behind the scenes" increase and now it's more like a typical RPG. That doesn't mean anything bad, but I would have liked to have seen an RPG with less menus and it does drop the uniqueness of Fable by the slightest notch.

There's a bit of an arcade twist to combat when it comes to XP. First, let me say that combat is easy, intuitive, and a lot of fun once you look past the framerate (which has never seemed to be smooth in any showing of Fable). X is a straight move, B is a spread move, and Y blocks. It's that easy. Of course, various combos of X, X, Y and the like create different combos. Better combos increase an ever-present multiplier which feeds your XP, but if you get hit or don't nail anyone for a while, the multiplier decreases. This adds extra incentive for cracking wise with a lot of enemies in short order.

Combat's a blast and there appear to be numerous areas where you'll need to battle your way through. Those using the bow is a bit clumsy, the Will powers are very cool with some really nice effects, including one Will power that has our hero slam his fist into the ground and cause a sudden spike of energy to erupt and hit enemies.

On its surface, the combat interface is almost simplistic, but it's been slightly toned down for E3. Where you have only three Will slots to use (hold down the Left Trigger and select the appropriate face button), in the full game you can create multiple pallets, each with three Will spells. You can then cycle through the palettes with the Y button (when the Left Trigger is pressed). It's easy stuff and allows for a lot of customization to match personal preference.

Outlook
Add these 800+ words to the tens of thousands we've written in the past two-and-a-half years. We're running out of stuff to say without having the game in our hands for some prolonged gameplay sessions. Hopefully soon. Fable is looking like it may come close to its promise and may even fulfill it. It's hard to tell at a quick-impression event like E3, but I have high hopes. So should you.

-- Hilary Goldstein

Nachokoolaid · #15 05-28-2004, 04:50 AM

UPDATE:
As of 5/28/04, Fable's ship date was pushed back 15 days, and is now expected on September 13, 2004.

Source: Gamespot.com

Here's another pic to satisfy all the FABLE fans out there.

Creepy!

Cronos · #16 06-03-2004, 02:39 PM

i hope this lives upto my expectations, it looks like itll be great

Nachokoolaid · #17 06-08-2004, 05:21 AM

Here's the latest preview and update of FABLE. This one comes from gamerankings.com

This game really seems to be living up to the hype of "greatest RPG ever."

I also posted several new pics to keep all of you Schmoes interested.
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Fable is a ground-breaking role-playing adventure game from Peter Molyneux, in which your every action determines your skills, appearance, and reputation.

Create your life story from childhood to death. Grow from an inexperienced adolescent into the most powerful being in the world. Choose the path of righteousness or dedicate your life to evil.

Muscles expand with each feat of strength; force of will increases with each work of wit. Obesity follows gluttony, skin tans with exposure to sunlight and bleaches bone-white by moonlight.

Earn scars in battle and lines of experience with age. Each person you aid, each flower you crush, each creature you slay, will change this world forever.

Fable: Who will you be?

That passage is from Microsoft's press kit. When you read it, it makes you wonder about the validity of the statements made. A lot of games have made grand claims only to end up falling short. Despite Peter Molyneux's credentials as the creator of Black & White and Populous, delays in the game's release date and the lack of a solid playable build left a lot of people skeptical. Most figured that even if it saw the light of day it would be another case of developers putting so much emphasis on all the things you can do in a game that they forgot to build a game around those things that is actually fun to play. At best, most people figured we'd see a game like The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind where you had all the open-ended gameplay and flexibility in the world, but the combat system fell far short of the rest of the game. At worst, we'd have developers who tried to do too much and caused the game to collapse within itself. Just another dream that wouldn't see the light of day.

Fable showed up at E3, however, and it was the belle of the ball. Is it really as open and broad as they say? Yes. Does it manage that at the expense of everything else, particularily gameplay? Not that we could tell.

In Fable, you're in complete control. Everything that you do has consequences, and they follow you throughout the game. Kill a villager, and guards in that town will always pursue you and other villagers will always be afraid of you - unless you pay for your crime in cash. The same goes for other crimes, like pickpocketing or stealing from someone. These actions will also affect what kind of person you become, either good or evil, and your appearance will change with it, from a shiny attractive, princely character with butterflies and a halo circling his head to a demonic looking fellow, complete with red eyes, horns, and encircling flies.

Your appearance, right down to the clothes you wear, will also affect how people interact with you in the game. A good person in fine armor will inspire respect and wide renown, while an evil person in a dress will inspire fear or laughter. The amount of different clothing available is already staggering, and yes, there are dresses. If that's not enough customization for you, you can also buy a tattoo at a local shop or get your character into a lot of melee battles, which will leave him scarred.

Speaking of battles, the combat system is coming along nicely. What we've seen so far is some standard hack-and- slash melee combat, ranged combat, and of course, magic. The combat is very well balanced, with ranged weapons like the bow useless in close combat. Since the yew has to be pulled back to do any real damage, trying to use it while in close won't do much except get you killed. You're also able to zoom in to a first-person view with the bow, allowing you to hit enemies with decapitating arrow shots from some distance away.

The kind of combat you engage in also affects the rest of the game. As I mentioned, melee fighting gets you scarred, but it also builds muscles, while stealth play builds accuracy and reflexes. Magicians will start to see their fingertips crackle with magic. Even the way you heal yourself will change your appearance. Using potions and the like won't do much to you, but if you use too many pies and that sort of thing to regain health, you'll notice your character becoming fatter and slower, which may or may not kill your chances of finding a wife, which is just one more thing you can do in the living world of Fable.

And alive it is. Your character isn't just going to run into the same people who say the same things every time. Everything you've done up to each point in the game will change how you're interacted with. Your reputation can earn you not only respect, but also followers, allies, and enemies. All of the prestige in the world isn't going to win you a woman's heart, though, so you'd better invest in a ring and a home. For all you Morrowind fans who, like me, spent an insane amount of time decorating your house and doing odd things like spelling your name in front of your home in candles, Fable is going to own your life. You can buy houses all over the world and decorate them however you like - like a scarred, tattooed Martha Stewart.

With an expected release of September 2004, Xbox owners will have something to keep them busy right up until Halo 2 comes out. And if Lionhead and Big Blue Box can keep Fable living up to it's potential, it might keep you occupied well past the release of Xbox's second big game - if it doesn't become Xbox's second big game.

I hope you all enjoy all the updates. This game looks very promising. What do you all think?

Nachokoolaid · #18 06-08-2004, 05:28 AM

I removed this concept art from the other post and placed it here because it made that article from IGN much to difficult to read. So here again is the art.

This concept art represents that different POSSIBLE (there are many other) looks of your hero, depending on the path YOU take in the game. Enjoy.

Nachokoolaid · #19 06-19-2004, 02:05 AM

From an article on Gamespot.com...

Fable's story line will allow for gay marriage.

Source: A brief mention in the Lionhead Times, the official newsletter of the Xbox RPG's developer.

The official story: "Gay marriage hasn't been dropped."--LHT article.

What we heard: Besides saying the mammoth RPG will have four different endings, include 22,000 lines of dialogue, and sport soccer games with severed heads, the LHT article mentions the gay-marriage option has been retained. That's right, gay marriage. A quick explanation: Since Fable follows a character from cradle to the grave, marriage has always been one aspect of the epic RPG. Apparently Peter Molyneux and the rest of the Lionhead crew thought it would add depth to allow for same-sex coupling--although it's unclear how, er, explicit martial relations will be depicted in the M-rated game. There's also a chance that it might not make it into the final version. "In these final stages the team has to make difficult decisions about certain features and if certain bits are left in as they are or completely cancelled," said the LHT article.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus--unless the Lionhead guys are having a laugh with an election-year, hot-potato issue.

And of course, here the obligatory photo to keep all you guys interested. What do you think all of this gay marriage talk?

badberry · #20 06-19-2004, 03:25 AM

Seems a bit odd to have gay marriage in a game that appears to be based in a medievil\fantasy type era, but whatever....if they want to put it in, fine, I won't be checking out that option

By the way, this game looks totally badass. I'm gonna be fucked when school starts in September

chasingbanky · #21 06-19-2004, 01:45 PM

So wait time the fuck out......Is it coming out on Gamecube or not? Cuz those fuckers at IGN and Gamespot don't have shit for a gc version.

Nachokoolaid · #22 06-19-2004, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chasingbanky
So wait time the fuck out......Is it coming out on Gamecube or not? Cuz those fuckers at IGN and Gamespot don't have shit for a gc version.

Sorry. It's an X-BOX exclusive title, which means if you want to play this groundbreaking game, you'll have to pick up an X-BOX, which isn't a bad idea, considering the awesome line-up of upcoming games. (FABLE, HALO 2, CONKER, JADE EMPIRE, etc.)

Not to mention all the cool X-BOX LIVE stuff, including EA's involvement (MADDEN, and other sports titles).

chasingbanky · #23 06-20-2004, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Nachokoolaid
Sorry. It's an X-BOX exclusive title, which means if you want to play this groundbreaking game, you'll have to pick up an X-BOX, which isn't a bad idea, considering the awesome line-up of upcoming games. (FABLE, HALO 2, CONKER, JADE EMPIRE, etc.)

Not to mention all the cool X-BOX LIVE stuff, including EA's involvement (MADDEN, and other sports titles).

Nacho you're one sneaky batmanmask wearing schmoe....First you get me thinking ps2 and gc were cool again, and now you're selling me an xbox.....Tricky you are.....Very underhanded sales hustle.....I like it. This also could just be a horrible conspiracy I made up in my own head to justify my lack of literacy.........hmmm wonedr wich........

Ps: Jade Emipire?

Nachokoolaid · #24 06-20-2004, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by chasingbanky
Nacho you're one sneaky batmanmask wearing schmoe....First you get me thinking ps2 and gc were cool again, and now you're selling me an xbox.....Tricky you are.....Very underhanded sales hustle.....I like it. This also could just be a horrible conspiracy I made up in my own head to justify my lack of literacy.........hmmm wonedr wich........

Ps: Jade Emipire?

If you have to choose a gaming system, I'd say go with an X-BOX, definitely. Especially with the cool ass titles coming up.

As for Jade Empire, just click HERE for a ton of info and screens, videos, etc.

Jade Empire is a really kick ass RPG for the X-BOX. It's supposed to be released in December. Supposedly it's supposed to rival FABLE as the best RPG ever. Do I think it will be better than FABLE? No, but it will probably be the 2nd best RPG ever.

And for all the people looking for more FABLE updates, I found a couple of new articles. I'll post them soon.

Nachokoolaid · #25 06-21-2004, 06:18 PM

As promised, here's a new FABLE article, from xbox.com

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First Encounter:
Ambition Meets Reality

By Alex McLain

Hearing about some newfangled "reinvent the wheel" game set to blow the socks off the competition is starting to become old hat. The hype machine has been running overtime on undeserving games for years, but while the hamster is tired, it doesn't appear ready to stop anytime soon. Getting excited about newly announced games becomes harder and harder as successive discs of over-hyped mediocrity don't live up to their own lofty standards.

That being said, occasionally there comes a title that can make me froth to know more. Fable is one of these games. Not only does the theory and overall thrust of the game sound oh so tasty, but Fable is also being developed under the guidance of one of the gaming industry's few superstars: Peter Molyneux. Molyneux's track record more than speaks for itself, and it's his presence, along with a very talented and determined team, that lends concrete credibility to his now famous boast that Fable will be "the greatest roleplaying game of all time."

Fable is indeed a roleplaying game, and you could probably accurately add "fantasy" as an appropriate prefix to that. Does it have an epic story? Yes. Does it have sword fighting, wicked wizards, and damsels in distress? You'd better believe it. These are standards of the genre, but instead of using these elements as the focus of the game, Fable uses them as garnish and spice for its massively interactive world, a world that lives, breathes, watches, and—depending on your actions—holds a grudge.

At its heart, Fable is about living the path of heroics or notoriety. This game gives you the tools, the motivation, and the world to become a hero or villain of legend. Bards may sing with awe about your character in taverns across the land, or people may only speak of you in hushed tones as your name carries the weight of thunderous fear. It's up to you and the decisions that you make. It's this very freedom of decision, as well as the consequences (oh yes, there are repercussions for your actions) of those decisions, that make this game so utterly original. There is so much to experience and do in Fable, it would be impossible to try and quantify it all; here, though, are a few scenarios, features, and interactions you can expect to find in Fable. (Note: The names and places in the following example have been changed to protect the innocent.)

A Quest's Moral Dichotomy
Your hero—we'll call him Braticus the Bold—has heard tell of an insidious gang of bandits who have been steadily raiding a local diamond mine. This, understandably, has sparked the ire of the local diamond baron, who has been forced to start selling ruby and emerald engagement rings. This won't do at all, and so, the baron is pleading for help in disposing of the pesky bandits.

You, Braticus, have a choice. The first and obvious one is to puff out your chest in angry indignation, grab your sword (named Two Bit Punk Killah), and set off to teach those lawless bandit punks a lesson. Option two is to think, "Hey, I need to put some scratch together for a down payment on a house. Why not join the fun and raid the diamond mine too?" The choice is yours, but remember, evil (and even good) acts are not without consequences of some kind. Choose wisely.

Interactions and Reactions
The world of Fable is set up to be as living a creation as any world in a video game can be. This includes the environment itself, as well as the world's inhabitants. For example:

If you get deeply slashed in battle, a scar will develop and stay with you for the duration of the game.
Buy a shop in a town that worships your heroic deeds, and your profit margin will grow much larger than it will for a shop you own in a town that doesn't care for you.
Compete with living, active heroes in the land who will attempt to thwart your quests and take actions to compromise your path to legendary status.
Lay the beat down on some poor soul in a small hamlet. Come back later, and see if they don't hold a grudge against you.
Marry some sweet lass, then watch to see if she doesn't nag you about being gone too long from home, or appreciate her warm reaction to a well-received gift.
It's the reactions of the world and its people, as well as your own character's reactions to your actions, that give life to Fable. There's infinitely more to talk about, and that, in part, is what makes this game so hard to wait for! You and I will have to wait to hear and see more. Check back as Fable nears its release for more details.

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This seems to be sounding better and better as the ship date nears. Feel free to discuss. (Suddenly I feel like Linda Richman.

).

Nachokoolaid · #26 06-21-2004, 07:16 PM

To save myself the trouble of answering a lot of questions, I thought I'd offer you all this helpful FAQ about FABLE. It's pretty thorough. Enjoy.

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What format will Fable be released for?
Fable will be released on DVD for the Xbox® video game system.

Will Fable come out for PC?
Currently Fable is set to be an Xbox exclusive title.

Any famous names working on this game?
Apart from some well known people from Lionhead Studios, music celebrity Danny Elfman has composed the theme for the upcoming Xbox roleplaying adventure Fable.

When will it be out? updated 2nd June
Fable will be out in September 2004 in all NTSC (USA) territories and in October 2004 for PAL (EUROPE) territories.

How many lines of spoken text are there in Fable? added 19th June
Currently there are more then 22'000 lines of spoken text in Fable; and we might add a few thousand more before the release!

Where can I find more information? updated 19th June
You can find more info on the official game sites at www.fablegame.com and www.xbox.com/fable, also at www.bigbluebox.com, www.lionhead.com and www.lhtimes.com. The biggest fansite for Fable is probably www.alter-ego.net.

What is the goal of this game?
The whole point of Fable is that you play the type of character you want to be, you are a real hero – you can become famous and as you do so you morph into anything from a barbaric fighter to the most powerful mage. There are other heroes around, in fact, heroism plays a major part. You can choose to play through the story and find out more about yourself, or just experience the incredible Artificial Intelligence of the simulated world of Albion! Fable is an ingenious mixture between a RPG and an Action/Adventure game.

How do you mean simulated?
Most of the time, worlds in RPG’s are pre-defined, which means events and reactions are pre-scripted and you can’t disrupt people and their actions in any possible way. Fable is set in a simulated world, that is linked to non-linear gameplay, but there still has to be a central story-based core that is linear. The simulation is done by the AI team working at Lionhead Studios, who are famous (and awarded) for the work they’ve done in the past on AI and simulations of worlds.

Ok, I understand I will be part of a simulated world, but to what extent is the world simulated?
The towns, and the whole Fable world, have a complete lifecycle, a full daylight cycle, people go off to work, and kids go to school. This breaks down to the point where in some places, a ship will come into port laden with certain goods, these are distributed around the neighbourhood, prices are affected - a whole supply and demand mechanic! You as a player can be part of this, and start trading yourself, for example read this article.
A full commerce system manages all the trading and pricing of everything commercially available throughout the game world as supply and demand fluctuates.

What can you tell me about this story?
Nothing, as that would spoil the fun of experiencing the game when you start to play it! Let’s just say you are supposed to become the most powerful hero in the world. But there is plenty of opportunity to be Good, Evil and in-between.

How open ended will it be then?
Fable is going to be as open-ended as people want it to be. You can stop along the way, amass wealth, buy shops, interact with people in the town, go and visit schools if you want. You can do anything you like along the way and after you’ve completed the story, you can continue to live in the world of Albion as a hero…

Will there be loading times?
Well, there is only one big loading time in the beginning of the game, and because the locations and regions in the world are so detailed and dressed up, and enemies have to be generated, there are smaller transition times between those locations. You could compare it to Halo, for example – where between regions you had a short waiting time for the next region to load. Such a location could be bigger then the biggest city and we are trying to keep the transition times as small as possible.

What is the sandgoose?
No one knows what the sandgoose is! Will there be one in Fable; who knows?! Peter Molyneux expressed the wish to have this – but we can’t know for sure.

How will multiplayer work in Fable?
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, we will not be including the Multiplayer feature in Fable. There simply isn’t enough time to polish it to the standard we feel would be required to match that of the rest of the game. Instead we have decided to focus our resources on fine-tuning the single-player experience to ensure it is of the highest possible quality.

In the recent release video footage I saw a big eye and a number, what is this for?
This is what we call the Awareness Eye. It indicates the number of things that are aware of you, and whether they are Unaware, Semi-Aware or Aware. This is especially useful for stealth and committing crimes. Committing a crime, for example, will only be noticed if there are witnesses - so make sure no one is aware of you when you are about to break the law.

What's the point of digging?
Digging is related to some of the Quests you undertake and if done at the right spot, you may find an item which is of interest.

Who'd win in a guitar duel God or Eddie Van halen?
Trick question!! Halen is God! - PRSrulez

How does Fable deal with looting?
Money for example can be gotten from looting corpses but also other items such as weapons and other random items. When creatures die, some of them leave behind a bag in which can be found any items they were carrying.

What affect will the consumption of food and drink have?
Your character can get fat by eating and drinking too much, but will get thinner due to exercise and energy expenditure. Every type of food and drink has an associated ‘calorific value’ – each gives a set amount of energy (health) and fat. The general purpose of food is to increase your health. But any fat will be added to your character’s overall fat value, as will any excess energy (e.g. if you already have full health).

Will we have an automatic game journal, to help us remember current tasks, missions etc?
There is a Hero ‘journal’ in Fable, showing you exactly what Quests you are presently involved in, along with their status and any extra information. You will also be able to see the Quests you have been involved in before, and what you achieved. As well as these quest reviews, you can read your logbook of the story so far, and look up any tutorials that have taken place.

Will there be a mini map? added 19th June
Yes, a simple click of the Right Thumbstick will toggle the mini map display. The map reveals where you are, the area you are in, and the locations that you need to go to for your current Quests. There are various other useful things marked on your map, to remind you where things are, and also to entice you off the beaten track…

Will the central plot, and/or random exploration, reveal more about Albion's storied history? added 19th June
Yes, definitely!

TO BE CONTINUED...

Nachokoolaid · #27 06-21-2004, 07:18 PM

How ‘unique’ will my hero be?
The Hero changes and develops according to the way you play the game; and this culminates both physically and in terms of your attributes. He evolves according to the way you play the game; by the quests you undertake, by the experience you get, by the type of weapons that you use, by the people you talk to, and by the other friends and heroes he interacts with. Everything you do as a player will influence your hero.

How does the character customization work?
The key to Fable is leading the life you want to lead, being who you want to be - developing your character, and seeing how the world reacts to this. The looks of your hero can be completely changed; you can choose the clothes your hero is wearing, get battle scars, grow facial hair or get another haircut, and play around with different weapons, tattoos and so much more to have your own customised Hero. People have also asked in the past if it will be possible to have helmets and hats; we are happy we can answer with a "yes" to that question; there are a number of hats and helmets in Fable that you can wear!

Why can't I name my Hero? Or can I?
Because your parents gave you a name when you were born. But that doesn’t stop you from acquiring a *nickname* – every Hero needs one, of course! Just find your nearest Hero Title Vendor, pick the title you desire, and he’ll do the rest of the work - informing the world of your new name!

Will my hero age?
Your hero will age and morph in real time, and the same goes for important NPC’s such as your wife. But no to the point where you become decrepit.

How will I know how great I am as a hero then?
Towns applaud the arrival of a truly great hero. You may witness this in the early parts of the game, but ultimately if you achieve true greatness they will celebrate YOUR arrival in town. The reactions extend to all facets of the game. For example, wear inappropriate clothing and they might start laughing at you, unless you have a lot of renown. Wander into a town after some courageous exploits, and people will come up to you, applauding your bravery and saying “hey, you’re fantastic!” If you’re evil, people may initially boo and jeer, but after you have confirmed your ruthlessness they will cower before you. But the worst thing is when you wander into a town and no one does anything… You are nothing.

How will NPC’s react to my hero exactly?
Every single villager in the world of Albion maintains a multidimensional opinion of the hero, which is continually being influenced by 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.

Does that mean I can’t be a hero in one town and a bandit in another town?
No, 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.

So I choose to be evil or good?
The player does not have to be 'good' in Fable; their actions determine their path through the game. Also, what the hero does determines how they look, and how proficient they are at various tasks. It is, for example, possible to become legendary in the world. Fable has a renown system, in where you are competing with other heroes for fame. We also have a hero title system!

You'll always know how you're doing with regard to good/evilness. Not only will it affect the appearance of the Hero quite dramatically, you can always look it up in your stats.

How will I be able to tell what my alignment is? updated 19th June
Alignment is a reflection of player’s actions in the world. Good characters will – over a long period of time and very gradually – develop a soft halo and when they are standing still for a few moments attract butterflies. Evil characters will grow little horns, get flaming eyes and their hairline will begin to recede, and when they stand still attract flies. Horns and Halos will only start to develop once you get to the very extremes of the alignment – you will only reach these extremes through consistently performing good or evil deeds.

What’s best, being evil or good?
It's not all about cheating on wives, beating people up, etc. - you're quite able to do nice things for people, which they will be thankful for, plus your wife in particular has many ways to be kept happy - also there are many rewards for the good path as well as the bad. It’s really up to you as a player and what you want.

How is dialogue being dealt with?
There's not a single unspoken line of dialogue in Fable.

What are the mechanics of the dialogue?
The villagers will react to your greeting or the expressions you use, sometimes telling you something useful to drive the story or a quest forward. Conversations will be linked to the simulation and story, to make them interesting and useful. NPC's react to you as a player and your actions or expressions... They do not respond to pre-defined sentences that you select from a menu when you want to interact with a NPC, which to our knowledge is how the majority of RPG’s work. So we think this is a gaming first!!! There are still plenty of choices in conversations. For instance: take the bribe, or reject it and uphold justice? And, of course, with the expressions system, dialogue is no longer the only form of communication…

Does dialogue change based upon a person’s opinion of you?
The way people react to you changes according to their opinion of you, and this is expressed through the wide variety of dialogue in the game.

So do I have to care about skills and experience and … ?
There are three main attributes to think about in Fable, three topics that will make your hero unique. There's Strength: how hard you hit somebody, and there are some flourishes in there. There's Skill: like using bows and arrows or ranged attacks, steal etc. and there's the Magic System, which we call ‘Will’. And the more you use each one, the more you will evolve in this attribute. Players earn various different types of ‘Experience’ and these can be used to ‘buy’ different levels and abilities: some are passive (like the ability to wear heavier armour) and some are far more active (like the ability to Battle Charge or Berserk).

How does Strength work?
Visually, Strength gives you size and other related character morphs. On one of the interface screens you can see your Strength bar, which is broken up into chunks – the first notch is level one, the next level two, etc. When you level-up, you’ll see your muscles pop as you go through a full strength morph.

How does Skill work?
Skill makes you lither, and is particularly useful for those who favour ranged combat. It’s also of interest for those who wish to specialize in things like – for example -trading, stealth and stealing…

How long will it take me to complete this game?
Fable - including the many side quests and things - will keep you playing for 100+ hours. You will need around 30 hours to complete the main story, if you know your way around, taking the fastest way possible and only speaking to those relevant to the quest. This would mean you didn’t explore the world of Albion, interact with the NPC’s or do anything whatsoever different from what the story requires to complete.

Will it be possible to mount a horse? updated 19th June
The world is big enough to explore. Horses didn't make it in the game, but there are other forms of transportation to aid those who hate to waste their shoe leather… Such as teleportation.

Will you be able to swim in Fable?
There is no need to swim in Fable.

Will we be able to wade in the water?
You are able to wet your feet and yes - you can wade in water like rivers and pools. Swimming is just something completely different but yes, you can wade.

Can I drink or even get drunk? added 19th June
Yes, drinking beer will get you drunk and even to the point you start vomiting! You can also get other people drunk by buying them beers. Watch out for that beer-belly!

There is a rumour going around I can get married, this is not true, right?
It will be possible to get married in Fable, or even have different women living in different towns in different houses. You can even have kids but don't get too attached to them as you are supposed to be a hero and not a friendly family guy! This is optional of course, you don’t have to get married.

Where will my hero be living?
On the streets, in the beginning! You will also be able to buy a house, or even a whole city, if you manage to find out how to…

Can I fish?
Yes, you can fish, and you can keep the big catches as trophies to show off with.

And I can get a house and a wife and …?
You can indeed buy your own house. Or indeed, houses, and you can even rent them out to other people or you can live there yourself and if you manage to acquire a wife then she can live there and will expect you to visit her and keep her happy!

Can I put items and belongings in my houses?
You can enhance your house with new furniture, and you can even hang your old Quest Trophies on the walls.

Would sleeping be of any use?
Yes, sleeping in Fable is of use.

I want to play as a laaaady!
Sadly enough, you can't be female. It doubled all the work we had to do on the hero, clothing and morphing. We were really unhappy about it. However, you can team up and compete with heroes (or mercenaries, henchmen) and, as some heroes are female you may find yourself on a quest with a female hero at your side, or at your throat! It's a nice way to meet (virtual) girls… or – if you really wanted too - you could always dress as a woman!

Any sign of having a pet on your side?
No - no pet animals, I'm afraid. The things we found took longest were the AI and the animation. Our creatures and people do a *lot*. We couldn't just have pets doing four animations and a 'home in and kill' AI. There are ghostly swords that you can conjure, though, and you can summon creatures to fight alongside you. You might also find yourself chasing the odd chicken around town…

How do henchmen work in Fable? added 19th June
You basically tell them to follow you with an expression; they will then follow you wherever you go. By using the "wait" expression these henchmen or mercenaries will stop and wait where they are, to continue their journey with you once you've told them to follow you again.

Can I choose my own haircut or facial hair? added 19th June
Yes, definitely!

How do I change my haircut? Or my facial hair? added 19th June
There are a multitude of Hairstyle-Cards across the land that can be found. When you go to a Barber, any such Hairstyle-Cards in your inventory are included in the list of available haircuts, beards or moustaches. Through this you can preview and acquire new hairstyles.

Can I get scars? Even in my face? added 19th June
Yes, definitely!

How do I get scars and such? added 19th June
Your character can become scarred – and in some cases this is permanent. Facial scars will be visible much more often, and hence will add a lot to the unique look of your character. Scarring takes place when you are hit by a very powerful attack (i.e. when a lot of damage is caused). The location of scars will be an approximation based upon the location of the hit/attack that caused it (e.g. whether it hit you in the head, body, legs, arms, etc).

Can I have a tattoo? Or even several tattoos? added 19th June
Yes, definitely! Some are considered scary, some attractive, and some plain ugly. You can combine different tattoos in whatever way you choose!

How do I get tattoos? added 19th June
Tattoo-Cards, similar to those for hairstyles and beards, become available throughout the game. At Tattoo Parlours, your character can be tattooed with any of the available Tattoos.

Can I choose my own clothing? added 19th June
Yes, the Hero can be clothed in a huge range of different clothing and armour. The clothes you wear will even affect the way people perceive you.

So what can you tell me about Albion?
The land of Albion is an amazing place; full of magical locations, living towns and villages, interesting dungeons and other amazing settings. It is set in a world that has no relation to Britain in terms of size or geography/geology/geewhizzery and it is a single land mass. The world of Albion is organic and lush; exploring Albion is supposed to be a real pleasure!

What does it look like, Albion?
The world of Fable has numerous ravines, forests, mountains, hills, coasts and misty ruins. Sometimes you will be harassed by creatures that live there and sometimes - indeed - by the surroundings themselves.

Is Albion an island?
Yes, Albion is an island.

Can I go anywhere?
There are no 'backgrounds' in Fable, like we’ve seen in many games so far. There are areas you can't get to due to their severe topography, just like the real world. Most of the time you will be walking on roads or secret paths, but you can still wander off if the region allows it! But you won’t find yourself in an area devoid of things to do; the world has been whittled down to remove such areas, ensuring that there is always something to do.

What does the world of Albion mean to me as a Hero?
You’ve been living in this world for quite some time now, and you will find many places that are of huge interest to finish the game or work on your character in becoming the most powerful hero! There is just too much going on; Albion is one big living and breathing world!

What about weather conditions?
The game engine does simulate wind. And rain. And snow. And the sun moving around the planet. And fog.

Will there be cities as well?
Of course there will be cities! There will also be trading posts, settlements and other places of village life. Here are some of the town's names in the game; Bowerstone, Knothole Glade, Oak Vale, and Hook Coast.

And will it, for example, be possible to break into houses?
Doors are often breakable, so you can bash them down and explore inside. During the night, for example, you can ambush the inhabitants! Others may prefer to picklock the door, which is also possible.

I keep hearing stuff about time, is there such a thing in Fable?
Someone asked about whether the world has a day and night system: the world has a day night system, with the villager behaviour reacting appropriately. Villagers 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. Families get together for meals, everything mediated by time of day.

What is the Old Kingdom I keep hearing about?
What? You know something about the Old Kingdom? Tell us please!

Will there be different ethnicities in Fable? added 19th June
Yes there is a variety in Albion’s ethnicities

Are there items in the world that we can target and pick up/steal? added 19th June
Yes, stealable items can be found in the shops for example. To attempt to steal them, you can target the item, and then use the ‘shoplift’ Expression!

Will there be people traveling between cities and regions? added 19th June
There will be numerous trade-routes across the land; such as between towns, paths through forests, etc... People, such as bandits, traders or guards will be wandering along these routes.

How do I fight in Fable?
Combat is very simple to take up - being similar to a hack and slash. Yet as you get more experienced with a certain weapon or magic, you will be unlocking different moves and abilities (‘flourishing’ ) which apart from looking really nice, will also inflict much more damage! There is such a thing as a combat multiplier in Fable and you can mix up magic, missiles and melee combat at the same time, all in real time!

So is it real time or turn based?
Okay - it's real time.

Is Fable a button bashing game?
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 like that.

How do combos work?
In melee combat, you can perform special ‘flourishing’ moves using the [B] button on your controller. These stylish moves cause more damage, but must be built up first. When your Combat Multiplier increases, linked to the number of successive hits you achieve, a Flourish becomes available.

Which weapons can I wield?
There is a huge list of weapons for you to (ab)use; over 50 different sorts of swords, axes, hammers, cleavers, bows, crossbows etc... There is also a system whereby you can take any existing weapon and customise it.
You can also take a weapon in two hands but these weapons require strength to wield. So you need to bulk up to use those warhammers, great axes and the like...

What kind of ranged weapons can we expect? added 19th June
Without getting in to much detail; there are different types of bows and crossbows, each one of them with unique stats and options. Some examples of bows are the Ebony Longbow or the Yew Crossbow. There are certain skills and spells that will enhance ranged combat, like the multi-arrow spell. Getting your Skill attributes up will also have an effect on your expertise in ranged combat.

Do you have unlimited arrows for your bows and crossbows? added 19th June
Yes, you luckily don't need to worry about running out of arrows during combat. Arrows do stick in walls and doors; you can even go for a very skilled headshot! Watch the spurts of blood pump out as the heads fall to the ground...

Will I be able to kill children in Fable? added 19th June
You won't be able to kill the children in Albion, but bullying them is surely a good alternative!

What else can you tell me about magic?
Magic, also called ‘Will’, is a particularly potent force that many players will be keen to harness the powers of. By focusing your magic energies you can invoke all manner of different spells and abilities – even in the heat of battle the system is quick and easy to use. At first, you will only have the most basic spell, but through practice you can develop magic experience, which in turn can be used to acquire new spells, and improve those you already have in your repertoire.

How many spells will there be? updated 19th June
There are currently 16 spells in Fable - each of which has four levels.

Only 16 spells, isn't that too few for a game this size?
If you consider all these 16 spells are completely unique and different from each other and they all come with four-seven different levels per spell - no. And you can always combine spells together.

Could I change time with magic?
You can indeed cast magic to slow down time. The more will you have, the slower time becomes.

What if I was about to commit a crime in Fable?
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 apologize 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.

Can I die?
Sure, you can die, but far worse is the loss of renown when you screw up. You're usually dragged back to the Guild by someone and laughed at for a good long time. It's far more painful than death.

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Sounds pretty cool. I hope this answers some of your questions. I'll be posting some new articles and developer interviews as soon as I can. Discuss, and enjoy!

Nachokoolaid · #28 06-23-2004, 08:35 PM

Here's a new FABLE update from xbox.com

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First Encounter:
The Fable Factor: Inside the RPG

By Jim W. Gettys

PC gamers have long been spoiled by designer Peter Molyneux’s ambitious titles. His past projects have included the critically acclaimed Black & White and Populous—both “god games” in which players control the fates of many. Now, this influential designer is teaming up with studio Big Blue Box to craft the next great roleplaying game (RPG) for Xbox®, titled Fable. Whereas games like Populous allowed gamers to play god, Fable puts them in control of their own destiny.

When the story starts out, our hero’s village is being ransacked by invaders. The hero is then separated from his family and left to the mercy of barbarians. Now, he’s an orphan and without spoiling the story ends up at the Heroes Guild where he becomes a warrior in training. Though his clothing matches those of his fellow students, something is strangely different about our hero. He masters combat training and spell casting far more quickly than the other students, and his mentors take notice. Over the course of his life, a deeper meaning to his existence is revealed through the choices he makes in the process of completing quest after quest. Does he choose the path of good or evil? The choice is yours; however, with every action comes a consequence.

At this point, you might be thinking that this sounds like a fairly standard RPG story. “What’s all the fuss about?” you might be asking. Well, we had a chance to sit down with an early build of the game, and for starters, Fable is not about a single quest. It charts one man’s entire life. The decisions he makes in the course of that life affect not only his performance in battle, but also his reputation and even his outward appearance. As we played the game, the numerous quests and side-quests forced us to make moral choices, and over time, this shaped our hero as a person.

When we took the path of violence, betrayal, and cruelty, our character slowly transformed from an innocent young boy into a grotesque, evil aberration. Passers-by knew from word of mouth that we were not to be trusted and responded to our character with cautious distance. (It’s lonely when you’re bad.) On the flipside, when our hero followed a righteous life, he radiated kindness and beauty and was well met in his travels. This gameplay feature alone created an immersion factor that sets Fable apart from similar titles—but that’s just the beginning of the game’s many innovations.

The combat system of Fable is action-based. Confrontations occur in real-time and allow the player to choose from a variety of attacks, spells, and weaponry to dispatch his foes. As you pile up experience points, you can allocate them across a wide variety of disciplines. Fans of hack-and-slash games can bone up on their melee attacks and archery skills, while those more drawn to the occult can dabble in a host of mystic powers. To keep combat fluid, the developers have provided a helpful targeting system to assist in thinning out crowds of attackers, whether they walk, crawl, slither, or fly. We found this particularly useful for ranged attacks and used it to make short work of bandits, while preserving our character’s health. If you’re going to be using ranged weapons, though, make sure to allocate some experience points to accuracy. Otherwise, your salvos will miss their mark more often than not.

The game’s rich and beautiful environments include some fantastic locales, both indoor and out. From the soft beams of sunlight streaming through tree limbs to falling leaves and gently swaying branches, it’s evident that the developers have paid lots of attention to detail. During some of the more sinister encounters, we found ourselves in inhospitable locations where ghostly apparitions and other-worldly demons lurked in the darkness. Our travels through distant lands took place during day and night, since the world of Fable is as dynamic as the story—it even changes as you play! And, playing the game felt nothing like the forced “dungeon crawl” monotony of some RPGs of the past; instead, it’s more like you have an alternate life, to be spent in a vital world all its own.

Boasting a healthy list of gameplay innovations, Fable is shaping up to be a promising addition to the growing list of RPGs for Xbox. We’ll keep you posted with more peeks into the game as its release date draws nearer.

Nachokoolaid · #29 06-23-2004, 08:50 PM

Nachokoolaid · #30 06-27-2004, 02:17 PM

Click the link to play the FABLE web game. It's really fun, and gives the palyer a clue as to what to expect as far as choices in the game are concerned. Enjoy.

CLICK HERE for FABLE

Nachokoolaid · #31 07-03-2004, 02:19 AM

No one really comented on the previous post about the online FABLE web game. It's a fun little distraction, so check it out and tell me what you think. I especially like shooting that annoying singing bard full of arrows.

But that's not why this post exists. IGN has just posted a new article and video on FABLE, which I beleive will be the greatest game ever.

Check it out HERE

or simply read it reprinted here. Enjoy.

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Fable: A Tale of Evil
Tour the dark side of Albion with new details, screens, and movie.

July 02, 2004 - RPGs have been evolving over the past few years to allow gamers greater control of the lives of their characters. No longer do you simply have to scroll through endless text on your way to completing a linear journey, now you can decide the actions of your hero. On Xbox, it began with Morrowind, which offered a completely open world where the main quest could actually be ignored for the most part. You could go anywhere, do just about anything, and be the type of miscreant or Godsend that you wanted to be. Play the hero, play the villain, play it your way. Then came Knights of the Old Republic, where your choice of dialogue responses and actions set you on the Dark or Light Side path. In September, Big Blue Box looks to show those two games up as Fable hits store shelves, offering the deepest morality engine to ever grace a console game.

What kind of hero will you be? Will you choose to play by the rules, help the people, and be an angelic savior or will you take what belongs to you, kill all who question your motives, and strike fear into everyone you meet? Throughout the course of your long adventure in Fable, you will shape your character first-hand through your deeds and actions. So which will it be -- Good or Evil?

Being good is for sissies. Let's just get that out of the way right now. If you want to be a good guy, piss off. You can learn all about the merits (as if there are any) of being good by heading over to GameSpy. There you can laugh at the sad sack images of a "good guy" and learn all about how to spend your time pussy-footing around the world of Albion. If you want to cowboy up and be a real hero, then stick around for A Tale of Evil.

Moral Compass
Morality in Fable is not just a matter of good and evil. There are varying degrees of both and as you make your journey, you may very well fluctuate to either side or even stay relatively neutral. To be truly evil, you'll need to make an effort. In fact, it may be nearly impossible to be 100% full-on prince of darkness evil -- horns and all -- but that's a challenge you'll need to take on for yourself.

Being evil isn't easy. You've got to be a real bastard. Fable doesn't lay things out nicely like KOTOR, where every choice has an obvious good, evil, and neutral option. Instead, Fable is filled with shades of gray, where moral ambiguity is sometimes as real as you find it in life. Not every choice is an obvious choice for doing bad and often just doing the wrong thing isn't enough to send you spiraling towards evil. If you want to be a true bad ass, you are going to have to get creative in how you take advantage of situations. You can choose to be bad or you can find a way to be evil.

Growing Up to be Evil
When you're a youth, you come across a man from town cheating on his wife. He offers you some money not to tell on him. Now, it's obvious that the "good" choice is to refuse the money and run off to tattle to his wife. But what would that get you? The wife gets upset, the man will now despise you, and you don't get a penny for it. So the obvious "bad" choice is to take the money and go on your way. That's fine for amateurs, but if you want to be evil, you'll take the money then go to the wife and tell her anyway. This way, if the wife is giving out rewards, you win twice.

Let's say you come across a town that's being terrorized by bandits. They can't get through a main trade road because bandits keep attacking their caravans. Now you can do the noble thing and wipe out the bandits. But screw that, you are trying to be evil. If you have enough of a bad boy rep, the bandits may actually ask for your assistance. That's right, they have respect for you, even admiration. Why not take on the bandit gig and rob from the rich traders trying to make it along your road? And to be truly evil, wipe out the bandits and rob them as well. Other bandits will respect you for your backstabbing wickedness.

However, there's no truer dastardly deed than simply killing people who annoy you. That's right, if some guy wants to chat you up, gut the bastard and take his cash. Yes, this will have an affect on the overall game, because once someone is dead, well, they won't be coming back again and they may just have had some inside info you needed. It's that kind of thinking, however, that will serve as a roadblock to true evil. If you worry about whom you should or shouldn't kill, you're gonna start turning soft. Play the game as if you were Darth Vader. Did Darth give a flip who he choked? Hell no. Fail him, get in his way, question his wardrobe and you were as good as dead.

A Hero for the Ages
Don't worry about ruining or breaking the game because you're evil. No matter how you play the game, be it good (wuss) or evil (stud), in the end you will still become the greatest hero ever known. It seems like a contradiction, doesn't it? That's because RPGs of the past have forced the idea of a hero as being the good, wholesome guy. Fable takes a different view. Genghis Khan was one bad cat. He was vicious, brutal, and merciless. But he was also a champion of his people. Yes, they feared him, but they also respected him.

When creating Fable, Big Blue Box kept certain heroic archetypes in mind. Your play and character may resemble George Washington, if you are inclined to be one of those "good" people or you could play like Billy the Kid, who, while misguided, had his own bizarre brand of heroism. There are numerous heroes from our history who were hardly good in nature, but they still did great and heroic things. Of course, once you attain your fame and become the greatest hero the world has even known, what you do with it is up to you.

While saving the world and becoming Albion's champion signals the end of the main quest, once the credits stop rolling, the game continues, apparently into infinity. New quests will arise and the world will continue to exist around you. What fun would it be to save the world only to never enjoy the spoils of your victory?

Killer Look
As you approach ultimate evil, your looks will change. Evil beings tend to become a cross between the Emperor (pale skin, dark rings under the eyes) and the Devil (horns and a fiery aura). But there are many steps along the way to becoming the son of Satan. In fact, you have to really work hard to bust out the horn action. You'll know you're on the right path when little bumps appear on your noggin. Once that happens, you'll hopefully become inspired to perform misdeeds in an effort to spring your horns.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Nachokoolaid · #32 07-03-2004, 02:21 AM

IGN FABLE article, Continued....

Horns, however, do not make the villain. Remember that in Fable, you can dress your character any way that you want, give them any hairstyle, and fashion them with tattoos. Horns and a tweed jacket don't exactly inspire fear. You have to dress the part. Perhaps you will want to go bald to show off your horn stubs better or even tattoo your face to accentuate your new growth. Because Fable has such a deep system of renown, being evil isn't always enough to strike fear into the hearts of men. Go ahead, become Darth Vader and then strip down to your jockies in the local town. Thanks to your reputation as a take-no-nonsense type, many may run in fear or avoid you and perhaps be less likely to laugh at Darth Vader in tightie whities, but they won't cringe at your presence -- You won't earn your Imperial March entrance dressed like a buffoon. Dress the part or you might as well not play the part at all.

Know Thy Neighbor
Fable is a living, breathing society where each NPC has different tolerance levels across a variety of categories. As such, you'll find that as your alignment shifts, people react to you differently. A town filled with good-natured people who just want a quiet life will be far less giving to an evil bastard. That's not to say you won't be able to buy goods, get quests, and even have a following, but people will likely be more guarded around you.

That's why most of the evil crew move into the bandit town. Yes, there is an entire town inhabited by the less desirable end of society. The town isn't packed to the rafters with bandits, there are also merchants, children, and single women -- everything you can find in one of the more reputable towns. The difference is, these people congregate because they have an understanding about doing bad things to make a living. You'll have an easier time living here, but that doesn't mean you have to. And just because people have a propensity for doing bad stuff, doesn't mean they will tolerate you slaughtering all the chickens or going Jack the Ripper on the young girls in town.

What Women Want
Avenging your parent's death is certainly high on the priority list, but this is a life you are living, from youth to middle-age. At some point, you may want to get yourself a wife. Or at least get lucky. While bigamy is not supported, you can woo a woman to be your spouse. Women are just as complex as any other NPC, meaning each will have her own set of values. This means that Dr. Evil will find it almost impossible to earn the hand of a pious woman. On the flipside, "good guy" Prince Charming types will have tough luck convincing a brooding dark-hearted chic to hook up with them.

Where all of this becomes interesting is if you change your alignment. Say you spend the first half of the game as a good guy (who knows why you'd wanna do something stupid like that). You win the favor of a good girl and make her your wife. You own a home, she pops out a few kids, and things are just dandy. Then you start leaving home for longer stretches and when you return home, you look different, you act different. You're becoming evil and your wife doesn't like the man she married anymore. She can up and divorce you.

This is good in that it frees you to chase another gal, but remember that your ex-wife lives in a community. Her father may be the town's mayor. Perhaps her brother is a local hero. Since you treated their girl so poorly, you may find yourself unwelcome in the town. It will be almost impossible to pick up another girl in that same town, because they all know about you -- Every last bad deed. Probably even your fetish for women's clothing.

Chapel of Evil
One thing Big Blue Box did not want was for people to play half the game, decide they hated being good, and then restart so they get a proper going of evil. That's why they placed the Chapel of Evil in Albion. Say you've spent 15 hours being good and want to sample evil, you can head to the Chapel of Evil and torture any of six victims for a fast fix. This is a quick way to switch alignment and can help you go from the likes of gallant Lancelot to vitriolic IGNPS2 editor Ivan Sulic in short order.

Once you sample evil, you can choose to stay on that path. And why wouldn't you, it's a fun path to be on. One fun trick is to force yourself to be the nicest guy ever, then head off to the Chapel of Evil to switch to the dark side, return to your home town and run amok with dark deeds.

If this seems a little cheap, don't think of it like walking into the next room and suddenly becoming evil. Instead, think of it like a hero who goes off to do some soul searching only to return having discovered he rather enjoys not having a soul.

Evil Rules
In the end, the choice is yours. Fable has been given a huge amount of hype in the past three years with large promises having been made since its first introduction. While elements of the original concept had to be altered, changed, or dropped altogether, the idea of playing however you want to play is still firmly rooted throughout every inch of Fable.

Peter Molyneux warns that most people cannot maintain the "all evil" approach and in the end, characters tend to take the shape of the players controlling them. That means true evil may require extra vigilance, unless, of course, it's in your nature to be evil. Fable is different from Knights of the Old Republic. In KOTOR, there were paths for both good and evil, but your alignment rarely altered how people perceived you and only truly came into play near the end of the game. Choices of good and evil were also more obvious than they will be with Fable. Because there is a wide array of good, evil, and neutral, and because every NPC has different values, each time through Fable will offer a different experience. We can't wait to shake up the world.

Psychocandy · #33 07-03-2004, 04:47 AM

If this gets the amazing reviews that are predicted then I might just finally buckle and buy an X-Box. It looks very wonderful indeed.

CriticalBill6966 · #34 07-04-2004, 03:57 PM

This better not be another Brute Force.

I don't think it will, with the amount of time and effort put into this game. It will be the shit. I'll have a ton of fun with this on....damn I still play Marrowwind and I've had that since its release.

Nachokoolaid · #35 07-05-2004, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CriticalBill6966
This better not be another Brute Force.

I don't think it will, with the amount of time and effort put into this game. It will be the shit. I'll have a ton of fun with this on....damn I still play Marrowwind and I've had that since its release.

I doubt it will be anything like BRUTE FORCE. Like you said, the amount of time spent on this game (4 years!) promises to only work in it's favor. I really don't expect this game to recieve lower than a 9.0/10 in the rating department. From all the info I've seen (a small amount of which I've posted in this thread) I just don't see how it could be bad.

Nachokoolaid · #36 07-10-2004, 04:24 PM

I gave you the tale of evil from IGN, and here's the other side of the coin, the tale of good, from GAMESPY. Enjoy.

Fable: A Tale of Good (Xbox)
Do you consider yourself a good person? If so, have we got a game for you!
By Will Tuttle | July 2, 2004

*************

By now, most gamers know the general story behind Fable, Peter Molyneux's ambitious new RPG for the Xbox. You control a character who is trying to find his missing parents and the SOB who nailed his dog to the front door, though the game is about much more than that. It's all about the choices you make, just like real life. The most basic choice is whether you'll be a good person or a bad guy. We're going to try a little something new today, as we here at GameSpy will be taking a look at what it takes to be a good guy, while our friends over at IGN will focus on the evil that lurks inside the men of Albion. So, read on through, and be sure to check out Hilary's take on the evil side.

What are the benefits of being a good person, you ask? There are quite a few, actually. Like life, much of Fable revolves around how the people in the world perceive you. As a good person, the world is essentially your oyster. Not only will crowds cheer you as you come into their town, but you'll get better deals from traders, and women will be more likely to throw their love at you. And we all know that that leads to good times, right?

Aside from the chance to get a little virtual nookie, doing good deeds can open up new parts of the game to you, including certain quests and side stories. Occasionally, other characters will follow you as you go on quests, and if you impress them enough with your skills, they'll spread the word that you are a true hero of the people, which in turn leads to more renown throughout the world.

While it isn't necessarily harder to become either good or evil, each side poses its own unique challenges. A lot of times, choosing to follow the evil path will make things a lot easier. I mean, it's always easier to simply kill someone than to talk out your differences, right? It's hard work being a good person sometimes, especially when your goal is to gain power. Josh Atkins, Game Design Director of Microsoft, might have summed this view up best when he said, "Maintaining the path of honor when you are trying to become powerful and well known is always difficult." For instance, if you look at our powerful politicians, you know that even the so-called "good" ones have some skeletons in their closets. You simply can't get ahead in life without stepping on a few toes.

Thankfully, even if you "accidentally" kill a few innocents or perform some other evil deeds, you can still turn things around. The developers wanted to make sure that your character was never locked into either side, but making amends for your past mistakes is never easy. The best way to get back in the good graces of society is to help people in need, donate money to the poor folks, and perform charitable deeds. Of course, if you don't have time for all of these niceties, you can simply stroll on over to the Chapel of Light.

See, Fable has some religious fiction included, with good and evil sides. Certain characters worship at the Chapel of Light, while others go to its dark equivalent, the Chapel of Evil. When you come to the Chapel, you'll be mobbed by light followers who are asking from help from the higher power in the game. If you want, you can act as a "hand of God" of sorts, and help these people get what they need. There's no better way to rack up the goodwill in a short period of time, but it's not known yet how many times you'll be able to do this.

So, how do you know if you're good or bad? You can either look at the gauge on the character screen, but it's actually as simple as observing your character. As you become more aligned with the good side, your character's traits and looks will change accordingly. When you start to become more of a goody-two-shoes, your avatar's hair will get lighter, his cheekbones will start to move higher and become more defined, and he'll have more of a perma-smile on his face. In other words, he'll slowly turn into a metrosexual male model.

In a nice touch, once you start to head towards the extreme side of good, your character will have a little halo appear over his head, beautiful little butterflies will circle him, and his skin will have a unnatural (yet healthy) glow to it. There's no word yet on how your character will smell, but I like to imagine that it would be a delicious mix of honey, clean sheets, and kittens.

Once you've traveled the world, performing good deeds and helping the poor and weak, you might want to settle down with a nice woman. As a good guy, it won't be too hard to find a great girl from a powerful family to be your wife. Just like in real life, though, things can change. If you go gallivanting around on quests, leaving your wife at home for long stretches of time, she'll get restless, and might even leave you.

However, if you return home frequently, bearing gifts and trophies, she'll follow suit and shower you with gifts of her own. You have to be careful though: being everyone's hero can lead to great temptation, as many women would love nothing more than to steal you from your wife. If you can manage to resist their advances, your wife will do whatever she can to make her man happy.

Well, now that you've heard about the possibilities of being a good guy in Fable, be sure to head over to IGN to hear about what's involved with being an evil bastard. Thankfully, you have a few months to figure out what kind of person you are deep down inside!

Jim H · #37 07-11-2004, 10:09 PM

Quote:

I thought I'd be the first to open a thread to discuss the (in my opinion) game that will most likely be remembered as the best game ever for the current next-Gen consoles (X-box, PS2, GC).

"Most likely"? That's REALLY jumping the gun considering there haven't been any playable versions of it yet, and the enormous number of great games released this generation.

The game does look very promising, but... A very open ended structure is hard to pull off well. It can destroy a game or make it fantastic. I will wait and see.

bowieee · #38 07-11-2004, 10:55 PM

I seriously want to thank Nacho for his updates on this game. It's been saving me the time of scouring the internet for updates on it. I bought an Xbox for this game a few months back and I was emotionally scarred when they pushed back the release date this summer but once again I feel myself getting hyped up for what looks like maybe the best game I'll ever play. I can't wait!

Nachokoolaid · #39 07-12-2004, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bowieee
I seriously want to thank Nacho for his updates on this game. It's been saving me the time of scouring the internet for updates on it. I bought an Xbox for this game a few months back and I was emotionally scarred when they pushed back the release date this summer but once again I feel myself getting hyped up for what looks like maybe the best game I'll ever play. I can't wait!

No problem. I aim to please. I'm just so excited about this game, that I can barely contain myself. I just want to do my best to spread the word about this game, so as many people as possible can find out about its goodness.

I'd like to read some more comments though as to what you all think of it.

And what did you think of that FABLE web game that I posted a couple of posts up? I thought it was very stylish, and pretty fun.

Nachokoolaid · #40 07-14-2004, 10:52 PM

Microsoft nails down Fable release, offers preorder bonus

Much-anticipated Xbox RPG will ship September 14; early purchasers get a bonus DVD containing a "making of" documentary and demos.

Xbox owners not already anticipating the upcoming release of Fable now have an added reason to book the game before it comes out.

Anyone who preorders the Xbox RPG from EB Games, GameStop, Circuit City, GameRush, GameCrazy, or Trans World will receive a limited-edition DVD with a free "making of" documentary that chronicles the game's development at Lionhead Studios subsidiary Big Blue Box. The as-yet-unnamed doc will sport interviews with Lionhead CEO Peter Molyneux, as well as Big Blue Box cofounders Simon Carter and Ian Lovett.

The disc also includes playable demos of several other Xbox games, including Sudeki, Rallisport Challenge 2, and Top Spin. Several E3 2004 gameplay trailers for MechAssault 2: Lone Wolf, Forza Motorsport, Jade Empire, and Conker: Live and Reloaded will be on the DVD as well.

As part of its preorder announcement, Microsoft nailed down Fable's exact release date. Last month, a post on the official Fable FAQ revealed that it would arrive in "September." Microsoft today officially said that it is "set to hit retail shelves in the United States on September 14."

For more lore on the game formerly known as "Project Ego," check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

By Tor Thorsen -- GameSpot
POSTED: 07/14/04 04:28 PM PST

**********************

This sounds like great news to me. This is my most anticipated game of the year. Although I'm also really excited for HALO 2 and ESPN NFL 2K5.

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