Fable 2 - GDC Preview @ Next Gen

Next Gen has some info on Fable 2 based on a presentation by Molyneux at GDC. It looks like Black & White's creature is going to impact on Fable 2's design:

For Fable 2, Molyneux promised three innovations, but vowed only to reveal one. It was the same innovation he'd showed two days ago at a Microsoft-sponsored press event, a dog companion that every player in the action-heavy role-playing game will have.

The dog, of course, is both a gameplay tool and companion. For Molyneux, it's also a means to an end. That end, of course, is love and real human emotion. "I don't mean rumpy-pumpy love," he said, although he noted that it will be possible for two people in Fable 2 to have sex and, possibly, produce children. Instead, Molyneux was referring to a simple emotional response.

More information.

How about if PM would focus on making a good game for a change, instead of a vehicle for good gimmicks?

Is this going to be like the pet in Fate

Molyneux promised three innovations, but vowed only to reveal one…

…and actually implement none.

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
How about if PM would focus on making a good game for a change, instead of a vehicle for [gimmicks]?

Amen, and to think that this guy's name used to be a byword for innovative gameplay. Populous, Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper… happy days.

rumpy-pumpy??

his earlier works were brilliant (populous/syndicate/dungeon keeper), but we all know brilliance doesn't sell these days, if it doesn't start with "sims" or ends with a year, forget it.

I actually enjoyed Fable, and will most likely play Fable 2 as well. Pets tend to be useful, such as the dog in Arcanum, various pets in Titan Quest and so on, but I doubt I'll get very attached to it - I'm just not a dog person.

Molyneux is a pretty good game designer but he seems to rely on quirky stuff to create anticipation for his game. Which is not really a bad thing if executed properly. Well, we'll just have to wait and see…

I'm also more of a cat person than a dog person

Sidenote: I wonder if it will take 1 or 2 years for Fable 2 to be ported to the PC?

Fallout or Fallout 2 had a pet, can't recall atm.
Like Maylander, I enjoyed Fable.
Since I am not into consoles at all, I never got caught up in the hype so I just expected a game with some off beat humor.
Of course there are some very annoying console itis but we have gotten used to some of that crap to some degree, so I will give it a go.

You gotta be kidding. This guy must've lost his marble. Is it just me or is Molly making wilder and more idiotic nonsense out of his ass?Lionhead's rank must be filled with YES men. Somebody should've get up and say this is one of the dumbest idea, ever.

I want to ask this moron, are you making games for 10 yrs old or what? I sure don't wanna play pokeman and trade my doggy companion pictures with other chumps over the internet.

Molyneux's rampant idealism and the large gaps between what he says and what he does make him an easy target for criticism (much of which is deserved), but I think his heart is in the right place. If he one day succeeds in his goal of creating a game that truly engages players' emotions, then it will tower far above all his previous accomplishments.

I´ll prefer a Peter Molyneux to a Sid Meyer all the time. Molyneux still aims high while Meyer has stopped making meaningful games ~10 years ago.

Originally Posted by Gorath
I´ll prefer a Peter Molyneux to a Sid Meyer all the time. Molyneux still aims high while Meyer has stopped making meaningful games ~10 years ago.

That's what I thought until I played Civ 4. It's as great for today as Civ 1 was back in the late '80's and it's a huge step forward over all of the previous Civ games. I highly recommend it.

Molyneaux, on the other hand, is still living off of his hype from the 1990's. Kind of like Warren Spector. This just isn't a business where one or two idealists can make a difference anymore. Not with games that require 100+ man years and $8 Million+ budgets.

civ iv was a good game with lots of improvements but overall that type of game is much easier to make since a)its not a 'living' world with interactions like objects and npcs and b)it has no story, characters, or emotion that you will remember long after you have put the game back on your shelf. i've played all the civ games but to me they are much like blizzard games: refined, nearly bugfree, and load of fun, but laking in both depth(not related to gameplay) and innovation. but to me they are different ballparks anyhow: there's strategy/city builders/simulation games and then everything else. managing a world can't really ever have the same elements as managing one to a handful of characters.

Civ 4 is Soren Johnson's game, not Sid Meir's.

nor was he at the helm of alpha centauri (my favourite of the civ universe).
and he can't be that 'relevent' of a developer since no one [here] remembers how to spell his name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_Meier

Video here.

Edit:

You'll notice that something's missing from the screen. And what is it? It is — it used to be here — the minimap. God I hate that thing. I hate the fact that in Fable 1 you could play the whole of Fable 1 in the minimap. The millions of pounds and hundreds of hours of work we put into 3D were worth NOTHING because you can play the whole thing in the minimap. Can we get rid of that minimap?

AMEN.