Fable 2 - Interview @ Loinhead

Dhruin

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Fansite Loinhead has an interview with Peter Molyneux about Fable 2. I don't know the details of this specific feature but it sounds like the original was too hard, so they've simplified the controls:
So - Fable 2. Yes. One-button proximity-based combat. Can you tell us about it?
God, there’s so much I can tell you about it. I’d love, I’m gonna talk publicly about this for longer almost than I talked about any other game feature. It was - the only thing I can say about it - it was an experiment, that we tried, it was an experiment that we didn’t need to try, because the combat in Fable 1 wasn’t bad, at all, no-one said it was bad, quite a lot of people said it was good, and it’s an experiment that has really, really worked. Really worked. Not nearly worked.
*click*. I won!
More information.
 
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1 botton proxinity based compat nice. I like. Peter Molinoe right: more then 1 botton not good. I fight, I hit botton with hand. Not becumming confused witch hand I use for witch botton. I like Peter.

P.S.:
Q: Anything failed - Oh yeah - like what?
A: Ermm — there was a lot of experiments with fluids, which didn’t pan out. [...]

Did anyone else watch Dr. Strangelove? I really hope General Ripper never reads this interview.
 
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Haha, well spotted Role-Player. I guess Dhruin expresses disdain for some newsbits by subliminal methods as well. :p
 
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Nope, thats the name of the fan site for lionhead. Click the link.
 
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I don't get it. Fable was a console game. The controls were simple. Why would anyone feel the need to dumb them down for the sequel?

Oh my god! That is the link isn't it....Loinhead.....Oh that's rich!!
LMAO :rotfl: :clap: :rotfl:
 
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:lol:
Great name for a fansite!

This feature really does seem to dumb-down combat but I think it's premature to make that accusation. We'll just have to wait for Mr. M to elaborate on it.
 
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I don't know the details of this specific feature but it sounds like the original was too hard, so they've simplified the controls:

*click*. I won!
OLOLOL. Good one. Molyneux describes it here.
 
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Relating to the bar fight scene shown in the video demonstration: it looks really cool, but what is the challenge there if all you have to do is press this one button, look whether your character executes some fancy move, relocate to a position close to some usable object and repeat. This sounds incredibly boring to me.

I hope they do not ruin the game by adhering stubbornly to the one button combat concept.
 
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The PC gets knocked down at the end of the scene because an opponent has closed with him, but he hasn't recovered from his last attack. Challenge will come from the number and placement of enemies. If the player can always escape to a position of safety - as he could in the first game - then yes, there'll be no challenge, and it'll be boring. As it was in the first game.

I'd like to try this. I certainly don't need any more of Fable's combat.
 
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If the combat's result is determined a priori by the number and placement of the enemies, and all the player can do is advance the fancy animation by clicking a button, there are no decisions left to the player. The challenge of choosing the correct move is replaced by the combat AI choosing the best action for you. If there is no tangible influence of the player on the result of the fight like it looks to me from the demonstration, the combat will be boring, and since the fighting will most likely be an integral part of the game, this can well ruin in.

I believe that in the end, the player gets knocked down, but uses telekinesis to throw an object at the enemy and thus wins the fight. This is all very fine and looks really impressive, but I mainly wonder whether the player has to think fast and come up with the idea: "Let's use telekinesis and throw something at this brute!", or whether he is relegated to pressing his finger on the same button he used throughout and watch what happens. I hope for the former but fear the latter.

P.S.: Of course I might see things too black and white here. It is possible that the player chooses the next action by clicking on some object and "throwing" it around, which could be fun, and there are conventional skills in addition to the one button affair. There is little information to base any speculations on.
 
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Does it choose the best action, or the one that's available from where you're standing? Because the latter is what I understand by "proximity based" attacks. The game will be in predicting which attack your character will execute from different locations and how that'll affect the tactical situation. If I attack from here, I'll swing on the chandelier, but that'll leave me with opponents on either side. Over there are chairs to throw, but I'm backed into a corner.

As I say, the challenge will depend on whether there's any weight at all to those decisions, whether getting surrounded is actually dangerous or if you'll once again be able to roll out of harm's way. It's a gamble, but Fable's combat was a mindless spamfest, and I'm not sorry to see it go. Who used more than one button anyway?
 
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If the action is choosen only according to the character's location it might introduce a great deal of ambiguity. Imagine a small table under a chandelier with a stack of cards on top: which of those does the character interact with? While a great deal of uncertainty is expected to be part of a fight, it should not be in the actions of the character itself, or tactical decision will become impossible in such a situation. Also, I would imagine it to be quite frustrating when you try to swing over the table, only to find your character picking up the stack of cards and throwing it at the approaching villain.

Otherwise, I agree with what you are saying, abbaon.
 
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Ambiguity could be a problem. Hopefully they'll highlight the object you're "targeting" through your proximity.
 
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P.S.:
Q: Anything failed - Oh yeah - like what?
A: Ermm — there was a lot of experiments with fluids, which didn’t pan out. [...]

Did anyone else watch Dr. Strangelove? I really hope General Ripper never reads this interview.

Yeah, I read the same thing ... love that, one of those lifelong references ...
 
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