The first part began our first foray into the land of Albion. In the second part to deepen in the family and sentimental elements of what it means to be a hero and the cost of decisions. In the third part, the player can become king of this land It opens a new dimension in which your actions will have far reaching consequences among the inhabitants of your kingdom. Peter Molyneux receives us in his suite at the St Regis hotel in San Francico, to put on the table the bold changes that make Fable III.
Peter Molyneux is not satisfied with the growth of Lionhead's most popular series, not that the game has sold three million discreetly for the first half and three million and a half for second-but not enough for the founder of the study who wants to level the series at large, to reach the five million who seems to have become the border of any title that aims to become a real phenomenon. But to get there, so the design team has not only raised the trajectory of the series, but the essence of what a roleplaying game and its impact among the public. The major source of frustration is given by the finding that despite the multitude of the previous Fable posibilidaes offered to players, many of them did not know or did not use more than 50% of these systems, which is not very efficient.
So one of the challenges for the third part is to focus on the most important and highlight them, make them more tangible and more accessible. One example that exposes Molyneux himself is the new shift system What to wear. In Fable II, to change the character's outfit had to access a 2D menu and navigate to select component parts or use predefined combinations, something very natural for anyone who plays video games, but perhaps a very attractive idea for users more experienced. Therefore, to make the idea more tangible, has enabled a 3D camera with a series of sets that will be proposed to the player, helped by the invaluable help of a "camera helpers" that gives birth to nothing less than The brilliant John Cleese, one of the members of Monty Python, so you can expect to convey his wit and sarcasm that character.
Of course, for those who want to dress as they wish, the option of combining parts always available, but with the new system is to allow the players to wear and sin interested in this aspect of the game. For example, if a player has a diplomatic dinner with a foreign delegation, the valet will offer different sets of tags suitable for the occasion, but then the player decide what to wear, whether appropriate or not. To access this or other cameras just have to pause the game, allowing fast access, but that otherwise does not break the natural setting of the game analogy is being done with GTA and its system of What to wear, but with more possibilities.
In fact, personalization is one of the key elements of the series and something that ought to strengthen in different ways, but especially in the aspect of exposing more and make it more attractive. The best example is the customization of weapons, a new system allowing the player to feel his arms as his own, as they "mutate" according to the use made of them. A sword that kills innocent people will not look like a sword to slay monsters, and depending on certain actions, weapons change depending on them. For example, a weapon that kills innocent people will look dirty and bloodied, while another who fight for the good it will look shiny and worthwhile. These are only examples, but there are many variables that can affect the shape of arms.
In general, morphing aspect of the game has undergone a ffurther revision, in what is one more in the series. Watch as your character and the overall environment has become ever ragos one of the personality of the series, but now is to ensure that these changes are more gradual and less caricatured, looking for something more natural in character. Based on that principle, any action the player makes will have a gradual effect on the body of the protagonist. Continued use of melee weapons that the character will have the most developed and muscular arms, the use of weapons continues to shape a character more thin and tall, while the use of magic has its own effects, of course, eating and other actions outside of combat will also have its effects, so that it maintains the idea that actions are reflected to some extent in the body of the avatar.
ut for this new sequel, perhaps the component will be the star player's reign over the lands of Albion. Although at first the character is a stranger without power, as the story develops combat objective becomes the ruling power, for what must look for allies and make promises. However, in stories, films and other stories, only one reaches the climax and then uses the "ate partridges" to avoid what happens when the villain of the day disappears from the scene "are things really better? that is the Machiavellian approach that will make Fable III, the other half of the game will be with the player as regent chained by the promises made to rise to power would you really can deliver what it promised? To make matters worse, the third part will be seen beyond the boundaries of Albion and view the neighbor and rival, the land known as Aurora, which pose their own challenges to a monarch who will face rebellions, internal problems crucial decisions for the future of their land.
Another aspect that Molyneux is putting considerable emphasis is on what he calls "play" the character. Asked about the lack of personality of the NPCs in Fable II, the author brought up the principle that prevail in the third part: the NPCs will be more interesting if we relate more with them. So instead of everyone to share more or less the same IA and have similar behavior, what will happen in Fable III is that as you interact with a particular character, it displays a more elaborate behavior. It is thus crucial to the concept of "touching" a term that has as inspiration ICO and take this matter of Yordan's hand to guide it, absolutely brilliant touch from an emotional standpoint seeks and mechanical capture and develop in this project. The clearest example would hold hands and take it to an NPC to a nasty site, as factory slaves, as the character realizes where we took, will attempt to show strength and we took him escape while dragging. With that it is intended that such interactions are interesting and have a most powerful moral resonance to decide to do good or evil with the push of a button.
In our chat with Lionhead founder not resist asking us about what to expect from the combat system for this release and in what sense can we expect improvements on the system of a single button on the second part. To do this, Josh Atkins, primarily responsible for the combat systems of the game, we mapped out what to expect and improvements on the system, designed to improve the feel of the previous game but with a little extra to try to please the two extremes: those who want to show and know how to get it, and those who simply want to drop swords and do not want or can not complicate your life with combos and other technicalities. Return the system only has one button for each type of action, but the difference is that now there will be many more transitions, so there will be more marked differences between using keystroke rhythms diferents press like mad or hold the button, so will more combinations, which may also be mixed with ranged weapons and magic, creating a more elaborate system for those who want to use it. What else is it will become magic system to better adapt the system of a single button and do better combining with other systems, but details will have to wait.
One aspect that was required was the question of systems concerning the system of monarchy and how it will govern Albion player once he is crowned. Unfortunately, this is a letter that Molyneux does not want to reveal yet, and we gave notice to future E3 to talk more about this system and decision-making system for an entire country. What I saw is a very beautiful custom map which could determine the boundaries of Albion and the different territories, but little else. Fable III will feature some quite elaborate systems to enhance the player with power through his subjects, as a system based on those supporters who are in the circle of the protagonist is not the same be on good terms with pawns with the nobility, each has its own advantages and disadvantages and often incompatible, so the balance of power will always be present.
That balance of power also serves to reflect the actual Fable III, in which Molyneux attempts to strike a perfect balance between accessibility and complexity of a game full of possibilities. The idea is to find the elements that make possible a rich and complex game full of customization and important decisions, but at the same time be easy and natural for any player, regardless of their level of experience. It is a complex challenge and you could see in Fable II that sometimes both ambitions collide and hinder their goals. But Lionhead is still iterating on a formula that is clearly unique and each delivery is still evolving, so it's best to wait and see if the third part, the different pieces of the puzzle are fitted more naturally and is achieved improve the already very remarkable work in the series so far.
