GDC '07 - Fable 2 Impressions
 

GameSpot has a GDC preview of Fable 2 as well as a video to go with it showing one of its suprisingly awesome new features...

Spoiler:

a dog! :D Man, the way it's going to be implemented sounds awesome!

Even though the engine isn't done it still looks pretty damn impressive so far!

:D Woof!

EDIT: Just finished watching it. If you can get over Molyneux's earnest yet melodramatic pimping, it sounds like quite a feature. The dog is your HUD, pointing out new areas of interest, maintaining your sense of bearing, perceived threats, fight alongside you, and acting as a general barometer of the world. Emotionally there should no way ever to completely sever yourself from doogie. He gives unlimited, undying, unconditional love and loyalty (if only real world relationships did that). Your life can be saved by him and he could take a blade or bullet, and you couldn't care less whether he lives or dies, but he will limp along and follow you. You're probably better off healing him and keeping him - remember what I said about him replacing your HUD?

Too bad the dogs days are numbered. They won't be able to resist playing the emotion card and killing it. :( Either way, I enjoyed the first Fable so I'm up for this too!

But what if I don't want to play with some dog following me all the time? I'm a cat person!

When I first heard about the feature, I let out a hearty laugh. I love Molyneux and his crazy antics. Nowadays the man just makes me smile whenever he opens his mouth. It gets progressively funnier over the years. It won't be long before Fumpkin really rears its unfathomable head.

:shifty: So is this gonna turn into another Molyneux bashing thread, Flux? You know, a variation on the 'we already hate your game' theme?

Of course not. Do you see any hatred in my post? Have we lost all sense of humour? In his defence, I think the idea for a living HUD is pretty nouveau, as are most of his other ideas. However, I genuinely laughed when I read the news. That wasn't some pitiable attempt at a scoff. And I think I'll take Molyneux words always with a grain of salt, which I believe to be the right context.

That said, I will always applaud innovative ideas, this being no exception. So lower your guard; you're way too anxious to see someone barge in and bash the guy, which isn't the case right now :)

Well he had a video with him this time, so he's proven that he's actually got something to implement - something that looks pretty damn impressive. My only problem with Fable was the lack of interaction with the NPCs and the limited quest objectives.

My reaction was a genuine defense of Monlyneux. I'm sick of people not giving the man enough credit for his progressive thinking. I have many of the same complaints about him as most others (search me here for Fable and Black & White), but I can still respect him for being true and genuine in his search for new experiences in games. Which is far, far more than I can say about many other developers and all other genres. Including adventure games.

Sorry I snapped at you.

No, it's okay. Molyneux simply comes with an instruction manual. Follow his contagious enthusiasm too much and you may end up disappointed, as has happened to all of us, I believe. But downright cynism isn't the answer. I've found a spot where I'm very comfortable regarding him now. I can follow his new ideas and plans and be thrilled by them, but at the same time not actually expect anything from it; thus appreciating the man on more of an academic level than simply as hype. It works for me, and at the same time I don't get the idea that I'm either not taking him seriously, or disrespecting him. It's just, Molyneux. The exception to all rules.

Real world human-dog relationships do, haven't you ever had one, Trepsus?

This reminds me of Dogmeat following you around in Fallout. I loved that doggy, but at some point I just couldn't continue without him getting killed. It was a sad moment, but the plentiful loot helped me heal my emotional wounds. :D

After watching the video, I absolutely love the idea! While I'm not sure if it will revolutionize the world, I am confident it will turn out to be a very good game. Fable 1 was good as well, but this sounds even better.

Now I want to play Fable, how does it look on the X360, I wonder?

Amen.

I'm convinced that people that have such elevated levels of scorn and derision towards Molyneux actually know the LEAST about the man, and thats what is so infuriating.

As I too have said here and on other forums, we're looking at a completely geuine developer that LOVES games. To treat him as any less than a brilliant designer is insulting, and its just depressing that the world is filled with more ignorant, simply intolerable people than not.

Perspective is simply one of the most important words of all.


Trep...say hi to me goddamnit when you're on Live!... :pan:


:D

OH! and yea...I'm REALLY excited about my wittle puppy interactions...I think its brilliant simply because it isn't revolutionary, its just a very obvious mechanism used only once to great success, ICO, and it works very well. Give me ICO and more, and it will be priceless...

...and guys, how about the last minutes of the video with the fly-through of some of the game-world, all in-game? Bowestone (the City) looks absolutely stunning...especially coupled with what he said about it...marvelous.

It's still downloading here. For some reason GameSpot's servers seem to be terribly slow at the moment.

You know how protective Beddie is over Xbox 360 games. ;)

I love the idea! I'm not sure about the claims of 100% utter uniqueness, as elements of this idea have been used successfully before. You can tame animals in Gothic 3 and keep them as pets that follow you around and aid you in battle (World of Warcraft I believe does a similar thing) and let's not forget Nintendogs...

But I do believe this is a first for putting all these things together into quite such a cohesive whole. I hope it comes to PC eventually. If not I may end up getting that washing machine after all.

Watched it, can't wait to see how it turns out. Peter is such a nice and inspiring guy, even though he just spoiled the ending of ICO for me.

I hear there was also quite a bond between you and your horse Agro in Shadow of the Colossus.

I am one of the people who did not enjoy Fable 1 or Black and White for that matter. So much so that I bought it when it first came out (because of the hype) and am yet to finish it. I am in no way a Molyneux basher (I love his old work like Syndicate and Dungeon keeper), and I respect him for his innovation and risk taking in design, but I just don't find his new games fun to play.

Molyneux is a brave and nice man who always tries to invent something fun and new.

It might seem strange but I see a lot of same qualities in him as in John Romero. These guys are filled with awesome and crazy ideas most of the time and they really want to create the most superb game ever everytime they start working on a game.

But it's true that they are the kind of guys that need someone higher up to control them and sort out the craziness out and just leave the good ideas.

Just like Bullfrog years and id Software years were for these two. :)

:P You first, stud.

:D I could say the same about Will Wright (and I should). However, he has nothing on Molyneux (or Warren Spector for that matter) in terms of humanism in the gameplay experience. That's what I respond to, not so much innovation in gameplay itself, but more its value to me as a person who looks for these things. And thank god he's designing for the 360!