Fable III Interview

G4 had the chance to sit down for a four-hour, hands-on demonstration of Fable III at GamesCom, after which they quizzed Lionhead’s Peter Molyneux about some of what they saw.

G4: The emotive aspect of the game in terms of gaining followers and befriending random townsfolk…Was there a temptation to make that the only way to gain experience?

Molyneux: How far did you get in your four hours?

G4: Around Brightwall. Where you start doing random quests for townsfolk.

Molyneux: Where you can dress up as a chicken?

G4: Yes, yes. I definitely did that.

Molyneux: We had this idea fairly late on: (If people can craft their own weapons, and people can craft their own hero, why don’t we let people craft their Fable game?) So we have this leveling-up system which, as you go through each level, you are able to decide which features in the game you really want. So, if you want to just get followers from making friends and getting married, you absolutely can. What you probably didn’t realize is that every single NPC in the world is a quest-giver. If you can get the relationship to a certain level, every single person will give you quests. You can take that person by the hand on the quest with you if you want and that person will give you followers.

So, absolutely, a lot of your followers come from building relationships, being a great landlord and doing odd jobs. But you still have to do the combat. You still have to fight the king; there’s no way around that.

So we have this leveling system which allows you to completely customize your game, whether that means upgrading your combat skills and spells, or spending experience on dyes for your clothes and different ways to interact with NPCs. And it’s all done through the Road to Rule. It’s a very simple thing. I never want you to feel like you leave the world.

I actually really seriously thought of eliminating the concept of pause. That’s an incredibly powerful feature. It really aggravates me that in every game now, like in Red Dead Redemption, you press pause and a 2D screen pops up showing the map and all the rest. I go there so often, I just don’t feel like I’m part of that world. Everything’s abstracted. But in Fable III, as everything feels like you’re still in the world and there’s this visual metaphor on the Road to Rule of (you’re going to be king, you’re going to be king,) it all fits.