Set in a Dickensian world of top hats, industry, and gaslight, Fable III dumps Fable II’s Expression wheel and even its experience system, replacing them with new mechanics which Peter reckons are ‘real game-changers’. Well, he would, wouldn’t he?
So this is a new Peter Molyneux – still a softly spoken walking quote machine, but these days more measured in his promises. He’s not out to make you feel like God: for Fable III, it’s enough for you to feel like the King.
Around halfway through Fable III you’ll lead a revolt which will see the King overthrown and yourself placed in power. Fable’s new experience system is powered by Followers – the more popular you are with the people, the more powerful you become. Along the way to the throne you’ll make promises to sway those followers, signing guarantees to close workhouses and send children to school; but it’s not easy being King, and keeping those promises might be the death of you.
Fable III will make you choose between what’s right and what’s possible, and every decision will become a literal hands-on choice made by reaching out and touching the world. Fable III’s new ‘Touch’ system lets you take any character by the hand and lead them to safety, danger, or just to the other side of town. You can take a tramp by the hand and lead him to your home for a meal or the workhouse and near-slavery, or lead a child to safety or abandon them right in the middle of nowhere. Every choice is made with your own hands, but if that sounds like it could well be a job for Natal, Peter is keeping quiet. Not that quiet, mind you…
Touch, Peter? Natal, surely?
I am absolutely forbidden to talk about Natal... Only that I’d say it’s a great device for a designer that makes you think in a very, very different way, and that there are unique things in Fable and it would be lovely to marry those two things together, would it not? But that’s not a confession that we have Natal functionality. I can tell you that the primary way to play Fable will be with the controller. I could spend many hours telling you about Natal and Fable...
What mistakes did you make with the first Fables?
I think the first mistake in Fable 1 was that I really mistook the idea of game features as goodness. I didn’t think about the mechanics of those game features or how to explain them to people or how to exploit them in the story.
There was this amazing moment when this piece of research came back – more than half the people that played Fable II understood and used less than half the features of the game. And you think, “oh my God, what a talentless bastard I really am,” because how can I have made a game in which the players understand less than half of its mechanics? It’s like making a film where people are like, “that was cool... I don’t know what the hell was going on, but it was quite cool.”
You know, that seems wrong, so I think Fable III is all about using mechanics, exploiting mechanics, giving gameplay reasons for things. Like Expressions, for example. They were cool in Fable II, but they were really just a way of doing a fart joke over and over again. Let’s be honest about it. That’s what they were. They needed to have an overhaul, and the way you overhaul them is to make them simpler so that more people can use them. Striving for simplicity and accessibility is giving true depth. You want 100 percent of the people to understand 100 percent of the game.
Are you afraid people will think you’ve dumbed the game down?
No. You can design a game around ten percent of your audience if you want to but you’re probably being a bit lazy about it, and you know what? The world moves on, man.
Some people getting really upset if I remove experience and health bars and move leveling from a 2D to a 3D interface isn’t a reason not to do it, it’s actually a reason to do it. I know some people are gonna miss health bars and experience but their total number is getting smaller and smaller.
I like Expressions and I like the ability to emote but there’s just no reason for me to do that, but then you start to introduce the Touch system and the Follower system and you’re like “of course!” Now it fits in, now it’s part of the game, now there’s a reason for me to do that. There’s a consequence to me doing that and it all adds up.
Around halfway through Fable III you’ll lead a revolt which will see the King overthrown and yourself placed in power. Fable’s new experience system is powered by Followers – the more popular you are with the people, the more powerful you become. Along the way to the throne you’ll make promises to sway those followers, signing guarantees to close workhouses and send children to school; but it’s not easy being King, and keeping those promises might be the death of you.
Fable III will make you choose between what’s right and what’s possible, and every decision will become a literal hands-on choice made by reaching out and touching the world. Fable III’s new ‘Touch’ system lets you take any character by the hand and lead them to safety, danger, or just to the other side of town. You can take a tramp by the hand and lead him to your home for a meal or the workhouse and near-slavery, or lead a child to safety or abandon them right in the middle of nowhere. Every choice is made with your own hands, but if that sounds like it could well be a job for Natal, Peter is keeping quiet. Not that quiet, mind you…
Touch, Peter? Natal, surely?
What mistakes did you make with the first Fables?
I think the first mistake in Fable 1 was that I really mistook the idea of game features as goodness. I didn’t think about the mechanics of those game features or how to explain them to people or how to exploit them in the story.
There was this amazing moment when this piece of research came back – more than half the people that played Fable II understood and used less than half the features of the game. And you think, “oh my God, what a talentless bastard I really am,” because how can I have made a game in which the players understand less than half of its mechanics? It’s like making a film where people are like, “that was cool... I don’t know what the hell was going on, but it was quite cool.”
Are you afraid people will think you’ve dumbed the game down?
No. You can design a game around ten percent of your audience if you want to but you’re probably being a bit lazy about it, and you know what? The world moves on, man.
Some people getting really upset if I remove experience and health bars and move leveling from a 2D to a 3D interface isn’t a reason not to do it, it’s actually a reason to do it. I know some people are gonna miss health bars and experience but their total number is getting smaller and smaller.
Is removing health and leveling removing the RPG from Fable?
I’m not sure I would personally call Fable an RPG. I mean it’s certainly not a 1990s RPG, for sure. In a way you could look at it as an action-adventure, you know – there’s a lot of drama, there’s a lot of story, there’s a lot of emotion in there, but we’re leveling up. And you know, I love that leveling up mechanic; I love RPGs and I love seeing myself and my hero grow and get more powerful, but a lot of the leveling up is just a number at the end of the day. Your leveling up is usually just spending that experience in the equivalent of a DOS screen. You absolutely level up in Fable III... but it’s just different.
I really thought about why you just get experience for combat; it seemed wrong somehow. This game is about expressions and getting married, and doing other things in the world should be as important as fighting. As soon as we said the world ‘Followers’ – just saying the word ‘Followers’... what people think of you means more to the entirety of the game.
How much of Fable III is going to be defined by your Followers and the choices you make?
Everything you do in the game, including what you wear, including the way you fight, including Touch and Expressions can gain and lose you Followers. So for example, if I marry someone in the game, and that was the daughter of someone significant – say, the Mayor of the town – I get more Followers. The more Followers I have, the more powerful I am. Once you get a certain number of Followers you can lead the revolution to takeover. And once you’re King the more Followers you have, the more power you have. So it all flows into one big pot.
And Touch really does change everything. Ever since I played Ico, it was lodged in my mind. It was such an important game for me; an emotional game. In Fable and Fable II and a lot of other games you’re presented with choices – whether you’re going to save someone or not save someone – but in Fable III you have to physically drag someone to their fate and it really does emotionally change it. It’s especially true when – and this is telling you more than I should be telling you anyway – you’re going to execute someone. We make sure there’s enough space between where you’re going to execute them and where you are now that I have time to make you feel just a little bit guilty about doing it.
Crumbs. You have to actually drag people to be executed?
I think it’s very right that I don’t talk too much about what happens after you’re King because there are some real surprises there...
On the day of your Coronation, I definitely want you to feel supremely powerful, but then we’re not going to make life easy for you. I mean, could you point to any King or Queen or Prime Minister in history that’s had an easy life? Obama already looks like he’s aged ten years and he’s only been there a year.
This may be politically incorrect but Obama is a great inspiration to me. This guy is the first person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize without actually doing anything; he won it on a promise. Now, he guaranteed to close Guantanamo Bay in a year. To me, that’s as simple as picking up a phone and saying “close the place. I’m the President.” One year later and it’s still open. What went wrong, man? To me that’s a simple one.
And that’s what makes – and this is a PR line, I’m not going to apologise for it – the story of Fable III relevant today. You’re gonna be idealistic by the time you get on that throne. Most people will wanna close those workhouses and turn them all into schools; they’ll wanna get the beggars off the street, they’ll wanna empty the coffers of their treasury and put it out there with the people, but man… I’m not gonna make it that simple. There must be a reason why Guantanamo Bay is still open and that’s gonna be a great story to tell – but I’ve promised not to say anything more than that!
Mar 24, 2010 (gamesradar.com)
I’m not sure I would personally call Fable an RPG. I mean it’s certainly not a 1990s RPG, for sure. In a way you could look at it as an action-adventure, you know – there’s a lot of drama, there’s a lot of story, there’s a lot of emotion in there, but we’re leveling up. And you know, I love that leveling up mechanic; I love RPGs and I love seeing myself and my hero grow and get more powerful, but a lot of the leveling up is just a number at the end of the day. Your leveling up is usually just spending that experience in the equivalent of a DOS screen. You absolutely level up in Fable III... but it’s just different.
How much of Fable III is going to be defined by your Followers and the choices you make?
Everything you do in the game, including what you wear, including the way you fight, including Touch and Expressions can gain and lose you Followers. So for example, if I marry someone in the game, and that was the daughter of someone significant – say, the Mayor of the town – I get more Followers. The more Followers I have, the more powerful I am. Once you get a certain number of Followers you can lead the revolution to takeover. And once you’re King the more Followers you have, the more power you have. So it all flows into one big pot.
Crumbs. You have to actually drag people to be executed?
I think it’s very right that I don’t talk too much about what happens after you’re King because there are some real surprises there...
This may be politically incorrect but Obama is a great inspiration to me. This guy is the first person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize without actually doing anything; he won it on a promise. Now, he guaranteed to close Guantanamo Bay in a year. To me, that’s as simple as picking up a phone and saying “close the place. I’m the President.” One year later and it’s still open. What went wrong, man? To me that’s a simple one.
Mar 24, 2010 (gamesradar.com)
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