This article is about an upcoming video game that is currently in development. The information here is subject to change as more details are released.
Fable III is the third game in the Fable series of games.
In 2009 Lionhead Studios, developer of Fable and Fable II, announced that they are planning on continuing the Fable series with Fable III. The game has since been in confirmed pre-production. Unlike Fable II it will be released on PC. It will also be the first game in the series where the Hero will be able to talk.
During the Microsoft Press Conference at Gamescon 2009, Peter Molyneux announced that the game would be released in late 2010, and presented a trailer with the voiceover saying "The kingdom of Albion is changing. The race for the crown has begun." It will feature the Hero of Bowerstone's child on a quest to become king or queen of Albion.
At the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Fable III was given a release date of 26th October in North America and 29th October in Europe for the Xbox 360 versions. The PC edition is expected to follow shortly after[1].
thumb|The revolution begins with an unlikely Hero in the Fable III Opening Cinematic [2]
Set 50 years after the events of Fable II, the continent of Albion, where the Fable series is set, is under the control of Logan, a tyrant king and the Hero's older brother[3]. The player's character, the "Hero", is forced into a quest to become a revolutionary leader to defeat the king after an "injustice" happens to their parent, believed to be at the hands of the tyrant. Over the course of the first half of the game, the Hero will overthrow Logan and become ruler of Albion themselves. During the second half of the game, a foreign nation, called Aurora, will threaten Albion and the player has to decide how to react to it.
Gameplay
Players can migrate their save games from Fable II to Fable III. This allows the player's actions from Fable II to impact on the world of Fable III as their parent in the third game is the Hero from the second game. This was hinted at in the Fable IIdownloadable contentSee the Future.
While the player is attempting to overthrow the current king of Albion, they need to gather support from the people. However, depending on the amount of control the tyrant exerts over a region, initial support can be hard to gather. To encourage citizens to join the revolution, the player must make promises to improve their lives when they have the throne. These promises can affect anything from a single individual's life to affecting the entire population or a class group within it. After the player has gained control of the crown, they have the opportunity to carry out or ignore the promises they made that allowed them to achieve their position.
As Peter Molyneux, Lionhead's Creative Director, explains:
“
The really strange thing about leadership is that there's a common thread that has existed for centuries in all cultures. Whenever politicians, rebels or juntas are climbing to power they make promises, and very often these promises are not delivered on. We want to give a sense of that, so as you're building up your forces, as you're being a rebel, you will find this opportunity to promise things to get more power. Then after you've become leader, the opportunity to live on those promises has real consequences.
”
When queried over how the game would work after the player had assumed control of Albion, Molyneux was quick to deny that the game would become a Theme Park-style management game and that Lionhead would not be returning to its roots making strategy games.
Molyneux explained a new mechanic called "judgements", started when the player grants their subjects an audience to hear their problems. Often these problems will be disputes with "muddied moral waters". If the player is impatient, they can make a quick decision to lock one party of the dispute in their dungeons, do nothing or reward one party with gold. If the player wants to become more informed, they can choose to journey to the scene of the crime itself and make a just (or purposefully unjust) decision on the matter. In addition to this, players have to make decisions about what promises they made in the early stages of the game they need to keep and give their full attention and what promises should be ignored. Molyneux's intention is to show that the great revolutionary heroes that have become mythologized aren't necessarily good rulers themselves. He asks, "If someone comes to you and begs for mercy, are you going to be the sort of tyrant who picks them up and throws them in the dungeon? Or are you going to be the sort who grabs them by the shoulders and gives them a big hug and shoves ten gold pieces in their hand?"
Hero of Fable III
There are rewards for being a self-serving ruler, including a treasury filled with gold piles that grow or diminish based on the player's wealth. The player's in-game family will attempt to pressure the player into selfishly taking money from Albion to maintain and upgrade their castle.
The player is also tasked with dealing with how their society works on a day-to-day basis, such as how to handle crime, poverty and taxation. Another example is the choice to go to war. While Albion is only a single continent in a much-larger world, Fable III is the first game in the series to expand the playable areas beyond Albion's borders.
Like the character-morphing that defines the series, where the player's character changes appearance based on his or her actions, growing beautiful or ugly based on good and evil actions respectively, Fable III expands that to location-morphing. If the player taxes a region heavily, the people will become visibly poorer, their buildings will start to fall into disrepair and the player will encounter hostility from them if he passes through the area. The example Lionhead gave was the town of Bowerstone: in the time since Fable II Albion has undergone the industrial revolution and Bowerstone has become "a mass of Victorian-era inspired churning industry," with the skyline being hugely affected by this. During the technological upheaval, however, crime, injustice and poverty have grown and the player can choose to eradicate it or let it continue unchecked, and Bowerstone will change to reflect their choices.
Hero of Fable III
Molyneux has promised to remove a traditional RPG mechanic from Fable III, the emphasis being on removing "clunkiness" and making the game more accessible. At Microsoft's X10 event in San Francisco, he revealed that the traditional health bar, the experience points system for levelling up, and the HUD in general, would be removed. The game also introduces two related systems known as "Expression Touch" and "Dynamic Touch". Expression Touch turns romantic relationships into a subtle journey that involves the player and their chosen partner becoming physically closer, rather than using the simplistic Expressions of the first two games. The system also applies to general interaction, such as embracing the player character's family or refusing to shake someone's hand. Dynamic Touch allows the player to lead someone by the hand to a location. Molyneux gave an example of a child trapped in a burning building. The player could go into the house and comfort the child with Expression Touch before using Dynamic Touch to carry them to safety. At X10, he gave a new example in which a beggar asks for money. Taking him by the hand, Molyneux proceeds to lead him around the town, which the beggar is initially excited about. As they near a factory, however, the beggar begins to hold back and drag his heels along the ground. Instead of leading him, Molyneux was now dragging the beggar to the factory, where he was to be sold.
Development
At the beginning of the Gamescon announcement of Fable III, Molyneux stated that the game was taking a different theme compared to the others as he believes the third game in a series to be hard to do correctly. "If all the rules have been established and all you offer is a new story and a handful of locations, people will start to lose interest."
In an interview with OXM UK, he spoke about how Fable was at risk of becoming a generic game where the player started off underpowered and weak but slowly got more powerful after they met the bad guy. After the player killed the bad guy, the credits would roll. Believing that is the formula that applies to many games, he asked why games "end at potentially the most excited bit?" It was this that formed the basis of Fable III, where the player can overthrow the tyrant before becoming ruler themselves. He stated that it was when the player was ruler that the consequences of "who you are going to be, are you going to be good or evil, cruel or kind" stopped applying only to the player, but affected the entire country.
Molyneux hinted that there may be drawbacks to leaving your castle too often to investigate crimes or fight wars, asking "Are you going to be a king that is the equivalent to Picard in Star Trek? Quite honestly, if the captain of the ship was going down to planets and getting involved in battles I'd be worried because I think he should stay in his chair. But if he chooses to go down and get involved, that's the freedom we give you as a king."
Talking about the inspiration for Fable III, Molyneux said "if in Fable I the inspiration was folklore and in Fable II the inspiration was King Arthur and Robin Hood, then Fable III is definitely the rebels and monarchs – both modern-day and historic."
“
What's so interesting about that is you look at it and you realize that, "Gee, these people who ruled our land up until very recently were actually very creative with their power and abused it and use it in many evil ways." Take Henry VIII, let's just go through some of the things this guy did. Rather than say, "Hey, this marriage is not working out so well," he just decided to completely kill off his wives. Not only did he do that, but to do the deed he just got rid of religion and replaced it with a new one. He also took five percent of the entire tax income – the equivalent of billions of pounds in today's world – and spent on his personal wine cellar, while many people within the country were suffering from starvation and plague. This guy definitely wasn't that nice a guy, and if you write that down he sounds really evil. Does history paint him as being really evil? Not really, it paints him as being a bit of a jolly chap who was quite infatuated with six women. That's fascinating inspiration and we really want to give you the power to be that colourful when you're ruler.
”
Video Diaries
The first of Lionhead's new season of video diaries, detailing Fable III development, is available now at lionhead.com
Lionhead Studios Video Diary Episode Two: The Interface and Funny Walks:
New Features
Peter Molyneux has confirmed that the game will have many new features, including:
Episodes: There will be 2 episodes featured in the game. The first is to campaign to remove the king from the throne. The second is ruling Albion after you receive the crown.
Judgements: As ruler of Albion, you will be able to determine if and how to respond to the requests of your citizens, such as punishing criminals.
Touch: The simple expression system has greatly evolved. Now, "You can shake someone's hand, and then that might turn into a hug. You can then turn that into an embrace, and then into a full-on snog."[4]
Example of holding hands using the touch system
Strong Consequences: There will be much more far reaching consequences for your actions than in the past two games due to at least part of the game taking place with the character as a monarch.
Peter Molyneux has stated that it won't just be Albion, but has yet to give more information. Clues from the end of Fable II lead to Reaver and Garth in Samarkand. In the quest The Vision from the DLCSee the Future, Theresa clearly states that the unborn child will change the fate of Albion and Aurora. Aurora has since been revealed to be an entirely new setting in Fable III. In Reaver's Diary (from Fable 2) he talks about discovering a land to the south that was hot and desert-like with a very blue sea. According to Reaver he would have stayed there if not for the "monkey incident".
The previous saves from Fable II will be featured in Fable III. This means choices of your old hero will affect your new hero in Fable III. Choices from the two DLCs, Knothole Island and See the Future, will also correlate.
Co-op impregnation and marriage will be possible
Once all stats are maxed out, not all characters will be big and bulky like in the previous games.
At Microsoft's X10 event in San Francisco [5], Molyneux announced some more new features:
Weapon Morphing: Depending on your alignment and the way you use the weapons, they will change accordingly. You can then trade your weapon online.
Dog: Man's best friend will return in the new release and is less well behaved. Your furry companion will now chase rabbits and can also follow scents. In the limited edition it was announced that there will be a new dog breed; the Boxer.
RPG Elements: The health bar, experience orbs/XP points and the HUD in general are to be scrapped.
Aurora: GameSpot report that Arora [sic] is to be a new continent.
Project Natal: "[Molyneux] stated that Fable III is being designed for the regular Xbox 360 controller first and foremost, but that some Natal surprises are coming."
Extreme Morphing: An expression that allows the Hero to show their "true character" by sprouting a pair of wings (and horns, if they are evil.) The wings will match the Hero's alignment - if good, they are white and pristine, but if evil, they are darker.
Example of (good) morality wings, for extreme morphing
Also, wing size is based on the amount of followers your character has. If you have few followers, wing size is small and if you have many followers, wing size is large.
Fable III will have an improved camera for co-op.
The ability to use your custom character and dog for co-op.
Followers: Peter Molyneux has said on varius occasions that there will be a system where players may amass "followers". These followers are used to determine experience, among other things. It has been stated that marriage and doing well in combat will give you followers.
Also there is a character in the game named the Captain. It's unknown what role he is going to play.
At the Game Developer's Conference [6], Molyneux' focus was on Fable III's new GUI:
Interactive Pause Menu: When you pause the game your character will appear in the "Sanctuary" (known as the Guild Chambers before E3), a collection of rooms from which you can do everything you could normally do in the traditional menu.
Map Room: The Sanctuary will feature a fully interactive map of Albion and Aurora which can be zoomed in on, allowing for manipulation of troops and tactical strategising for battles.
Wardrobe: A room in the Sanctuary containing all your clothes, some on display mannequins.
Armoury: A chamber containing all your weapons.
Treasury: Instead of a number telling you how much gold you have, you will be able to enter this room to see, and pick up, your gold reserves.
Butler: You will have your own butler, named Jasper, in the Sanctuary. He will make clothing and weaponry recommendations based on your current situation, and will be voiced by John Cleese.
The Lionhead Studios team went to E3 2010 to show off Fable III. During the Microsoft Keynote, they revealed a new trailer.
Fable III Trailer - E3 2010
Lionhead Studios demostrated some combat at the E3:
Fable III Combat - E3 2010
Also judging from the trailer shown at E3 2010 it can be seen that you are able to combine different Will spells, as The Hero was seen combining Shock and Inferno.
It was confirmed in some interviews at E3 that spells will be used through gauntlets, one containing each spell, and the gauntlets are expected to morph like weapons.
There is expected to be around 7 spells used through gauntlets, but "Certain spells could still turn up...not necessarily as actual gauntlets..." according to Lionhead's Gradius1. [1]
The Lionhead team took two gameplay demonstrations to E3:
One featured the village of Brightwall, the nearby region of Mistpeak Valley and the Sanctuary. It focused on the touch NPC interaction feature as well as a couple of small quests. One of these included a demonstration of fighting with a new enemy, Wolves. The Armoury and Wardrobe features of the Sanctuary were also explored, including a look at the new method of dying clothes. This involved choosing a colour from the dye rack and then choosing a shade of that colour from a shade-card.
The other demo was of combat in Aurora and includes a couple of story spoilers. The gameplay here featured fighting in a dungeon and gave the first glimpse of in-game Auroran landscape, the region of Shifting Sands.
Videos of these demonstrations and other features from E3 can be found on the Lionhead Forums thread Fable III Info and Articles.
At the Brighton Develop conference, Peter Molyneux talked about the levelling up system[7] (Article contains spoilers):
As the player accumulates more followers, they will receive 'Guild Seal'-style items which they will use to level up.
Levelling up will be handled in a 3D environment known as the Road to Rule, portrayed as a misty path that leads up towards the castle. Along the road, the player will encounter gates and chests that require a certain number of the Guild Seal items to open. Passing through a gate is a physical interpretation of advancing to a new level, and opening a chest will reward you with new abilities.
Molyneux has stated that Theresa will be your guide on the road.
The Limited Collector’s Edition[8] also offers unique collectibles that true “Fable” fans won’t want to miss, including downloadable content, also available for Windows users, as well as in-box items that come with the Xbox 360 version. Wrapped up in a distinctive box created in the likeness of a book from “Fable III,” the contents include:
A new quest: Uncover the mystery of the haunted forests of Silverpines and earn the legendary sword, Wolfsbane, deadly against wolves and balverines.
Exclusive location: Unlock a new region, ideal for settling down with a family and discovering new treasures.
“Fable III” playing cards: Created by Lionhead, these cards depict every type of character in “Fable III,” including Heroes, royals, rebels and villains from across Albion and beyond.
Guild Seal Coin: The coin features a Good side (blue) and Evil side (red) to assist players in making critical decisions that will impact the fate of the world forever.
A new dog breed: Renowned for its loyalty, the Boxer is a brave canine companion worthy of greatest Queens and Kings.
One unique outfit: Unearth one male and female outfit from the mysterious, faraway land of Aurora, a new destination in your “Fable III” adventures.
Notes
Jonathan Ross accidentally leaked the fact that he would be voicing a character in Fable III.thumb|300px|right|Fable III Debut Teaser Trailer
In the Teaser trailer you can find about seven clues, to name a few the Sparrow, and the Guild Symbol on the crown.
Confirmed voice actors are Simon Pegg, Stephen Fry (resuming his role as Reaver), John Cleese (playing your butler Jasper who also appears in the pause area) and Sir Ben Kingsley (playing as a wizard known as King of Mist Peak)
It has been confirmed that Reaver will be reappearing in Fable III, however it is still unknown if Garth and Hammer will be returning as well. (Due to Fable III being set 50 years after the events of Fable II, Garth and Hammer may have died of old age(although, in Wellspring Cave while guarding Hammer she says she hopes she wont have to carry the urn the in the next golden acorn ritual because she would be an old woman by then, this might hint she'll still be alive) . Reaver, however, would still be alive. As witnessed in Fable II, he sacrificed citizens to keep his own youth and beauty.
The game is set to have up to "47 hours of dialogue", with each NPC having up to 2000 lines personally.[9]
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