Fable 2 - No Plans for PC Version

Dhruin

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I think we figured by now there'd be no Fable II for PC but Beefjack has some comments on the reason from Senior Designer Mike West:
“With Fable III the team and time was right to create a PC version,” he told BeefJack. “Once the game went to submission the content creators started working on DLC and therefore the coders were free to start on the PC version.
“Unfortunately for Fable II fans, those same coders are already working on new projects and going back to a Fable II conversion isn’t a priority I’m afraid.”
"Not a priority" is the important bit, I think.
More information.
 
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Fable2 will never come to PC, OMG, can't believe this!
Poor PC players will never enjoy that masterpiece and will be miserable till the rest of their pathetic lives. It's the end of the world!

Someone should send a message to Microsoft regarding their keeping nonPC "pet" out of PC:
Ask us if we care.
 
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Someone in charge of such things let slip in a previous interview (forget who and when, sorry, but I believe it was a producer-type, not a designer) why Fable 2 didn't come to pc and, by extension, why Fable 3 has been so thoroughly delayed.

They've decided, rightly or wrongly, that piracy on the pc side is so widespread as to make profitability a question mark. Furthermore, they know a good portion of serious gamers have both a pc and xbox 360. By either not releasing a pc version (Fable 2) or delaying the hell out of it (Fable 3) they can push consumers toward the xbox route, which nearly guarantees an actual sale.

I don't like it at all. However, I believe they are essentially correct with their numbers. Xbox games can be pirated, but it requires much, much more of a commitment (financial: pay for mod chip, risk damage to xbox, risk banning from xbox live; also, time/effort/competence required to install mod chip, and to stay ahead of Microsoft updates). In their position I would probably do something similar.
 
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It would require an absolutely minimal effort to convert Fable 2 to PC, considering they converted Fable 3. They run on nearly identical engines - and it wouldn't require much planning to include the previous game in the process.

At least, I don't see how it could.

No matter how widespread piracy is - there's no way Fable 2 wouldn't sell enough to compensate them for the relatively trivial effort of converting two very similar games, instead of just one.

So, the only explanation I can come up with - is that they're idiots, or that it's part of some contract of exclusivity that they can't reveal.
 
It would require an absolutely minimal effort to convert Fable 2 to PC, considering they converted Fable 3. They run on nearly identical engines - and it wouldn't require much planning to include the previous game in the process.

At least, I don't see how it could.

No matter how widespread piracy is - there's no way Fable 2 wouldn't sell enough to compensate them for the relatively trivial effort of converting two very similar games, instead of just one.

So, the only explanation I can come up with - is that they're idiots, or that it's part of some contract of exclusivity that they can't reveal.

There was an interview were they claimed it was a new engine developed for the 360 and couldn't be ported. Well we all know bullshit when its uttered and engines can be ported.
 
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There was an interview were they claimed it was a new engine developed for the 360 and couldn't be ported. Well we all know bullshit when its uttered and engines can be ported.

Definitely bullshit :)
 
I would have bought and played the game had it come out on PC, but like Halo 3 and Gears of War 2 it's not really breaking my heart that I missed it. Of those three I guess I would take Halo 3 first, just to finish the trilogy we got parts one and two of on PC.

Anyway, it does suck I will have Fable and Fable 3 on my shelf with no Fable 2. OCD VIOLATION!
 
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Yeah, OK. Fair enough. It's also not a priority for me to buy their crappy console game.
 
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What will there excuse be when Fable 3 is a failure? Oh I forgot it will be the usual piracy excuse instead of the actuality which is not releasing Fable 2, making crappy games, and releasing it on the same day as other better games.
 
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I was thinking about getting this for the 360 (i did enjoy Fable 2), but after researching it seems that the only thing that is better in Fable 3 is the graphics, everything else including story and combat is worse in F3. Anyone seen a list of fixes (if any) for the PC version?
 
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There was an interview were they claimed it was a new engine developed for the 360 and couldn't be ported. Well we all know bullshit when its uttered and engines can be ported.

Definitely not bullshit. The portability of code is greatly dependent on the way it is written, i.e. with portability in mind. That said, they could reimplement the whole deal and make it work, but would that be cost-effective. Moreover, you want the same programmers/designers working on it, as it's their code and it would cost you a lot more to throw a new team on it.

But sure, think of it what you will.
 
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There was an interview were they claimed it was a new engine developed for the 360 and couldn't be ported. Well we all know bullshit when its uttered and engines can be ported.

Definitely bullshit :)

Definitely not bullshit. The portability of code is greatly dependent on the way it is written, i.e. with portability in mind. That said, they could reimplement the whole deal and make it work, but would that be cost-effective. Moreover, you want the same programmers/designers working on it, as it's their code and it would cost you a lot more to throw a new team on it.

But sure, think of it what you will.
 
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Definitely not bullshit. The portability of code is greatly dependent on the way it is written, i.e. with portability in mind. That said, they could reimplement the whole deal and make it work, but would that be cost-effective. Moreover, you want the same programmers/designers working on it, as it's their code and it would cost you a lot more to throw a new team on it.

But sure, think of it what you will.

The games look VERY much alike - and if they'd planned for it, it's my claim that it would have been VERY cost-effective.

You see, I played both of them - and I had a very hard time telling them apart in terms of the visuals.

Are you seriously suggesting that they went and rewrote the engine for the third game in a way that changed the basics entirely - and managed to make them look and perform so similarly?

However, at this stage - it would most likely be a lot of work, because as you say - the team from Fable 2 is probably working on something else entirely.

The "idiot" part, is not planning for a conversion from the beginning - so they could combine their effort for both games.

They've just spent a lot of time converting Fable 3 - so why the hell not throw in the second game in that process?

Even with your "portability" argument in mind - why would they suddenly make Fable 3 less exclusive during development and THEN spend so many months getting the PC version out? It smacks of inane planning.

Even ignoring the lost sales of Fable 2 PC - they're also hurting the sales of Fable 3 - because a lot of people won't play a third game without the story of the second one.

I'm afraid I must insist it's utterly stupid not to have included the second game once conversion plans were set in motion.
 
Marketing :

"And now in ONE package - for HALF the price ! :

Fable 1 & 3 !!!"

Kid : "OMG, isn't there something missing ?"
 
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I'm not very familiar with Fable 2 or 3, its graphics or marketing, so I just assumed. I don't know why a developer in this day and age would not develop their game with portability in mind, maybe cost? I don't think it takes that much more planning, just a skilled team. But I suppose, like the text says, the guys who did it have moved on, which is a real problem here.
 
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I'm not very familiar with Fable 2 or 3, its graphics or marketing, so I just assumed. I don't know why a developer in this day and age would not develop their game with portability in mind, maybe cost? I don't think it takes that much more planning, just a skilled team. But I suppose, like the text says, the guys who did it have moved on, which is a real problem here.

Given how (relatively) similar the PC and Xbox 360 platforms are - and the experience of Lionhead with both - it makes no sense to me at all.

I'm not saying the conversion process is trivial - not at all. I'm saying that when you choose to convert the third game - running on similar tech - you'd be a fool not to spend the extra time/effort to get the second game out there.

If they'd have abandoned the PC entirely, it'd make more sense to me.

This decision is just odd - all the way around.
 
I don't know that the PC and Xbox 360 platforms are that similar. Xbox 360 is based on PowerPC tech and a custom video card, but I would assume that Microsoft put some of their own libraries on there, like DirectX. Still, Xbox 360 would require a much keener eye on resource handling and management due to it being more limited. But I don't think Xbox 360 is "just a PC" in a nice box.
 
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I don't know that the PC and Xbox 360 platforms are that similar. Xbox 360 is based on PowerPC tech and a custom video card, but I would assume that Microsoft put some of their own libraries on there, like DirectX. Still, Xbox 360 would require a much keener eye on resource handling and management due to it being more limited. But I don't think Xbox 360 is "just a PC" in a nice box.

No one said it was just a PC in a box.

However limited the Xbox 360 might be, it's pretty irrelevant when the conversion is Xbox -> PC.
 
However limited the Xbox 360 might be, it's pretty irrelevant when the conversion is Xbox -> PC.

Except you might be using tricks that are unavailable to a PC. But these tricks may not be necessary for the PC version; however, it could have been worked deep into the engine for all I know. I'm not a game engine developer.
 
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I believe that many games are being developed on the PC platform, and then compiled to be runnable on the xbox ...
 
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