Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, Fablefans of all ages, the first Lionhead Video Diary is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. You can also grab it from Lionhead's website. Of course, if you're not too picky about fancy res-molutions, you can watch it right here in this post. If you kept track of Fable 2 during GDC, then you won't find too much new information here, although you will get a few cursory glances at the game in development and a high resolution fly-through of some of the environments. Give it a watch and tell us what you think.
Note to Lionhead: let's put more gameplay into the next video diary, hmm?
Super Lionhead Studios fansite Loinhead scored an exclusive interview with the creative mastermind behind Fable 2 Peter Molyneux. And in the interview Molyneux talks a little bit about his past failures (Black and White 2), in-game combat, and hints at one of Fable 2's next big announcements ... death. Molyneux doesn't give any specifics to how death will be incorporated into Fable 2, but goes on to say that in other games when you die "you go back in time twenty minutes to do the same thing over again. That's fine if I'm playing a platformer, not so fine if you're doing an RPG game". So, traditional ways of dealing with death will not be good enough for Fable 2. But we've already known that Lionhead doesn't plan on taking the traditional path with the sequel (dog anyone?).
Check out more of Molyneux's candid discussion in Loinhead's complete video interview posted after the break.
A new community update for Fable 2 has been deployed, with a handful of new concept sketches to go with it. The art is mostly some different character designs, but it also includes the super spooky image you see above. It makes us think of vampires and werewolves and people with thick accents. The update doesn't contain much in the way of new information. Basically, everything is going according to plan (designers are designing, planners are planning, etc.). The update concludes by letting us know that the Lionhead Video Diary is still on the way. We can't wait. Hit the "read" link for the update.
Lionhead Studios, the geniuses behind Fable 2, just released the March edition of their online paper, the Lionhead Times. In this month's edition they talk about the big GDC announcement, what the development team thought, and a recap of everyone's reactions to it. Let's just say Peter Molyneux and that little dog put a lot of stress on the team, but everyone survived. Also, more interesting, is that Lionhead promises to release a monthly(ish) video blog looking at Fable 2's development process, current events, and whatever the heck else they want called the Lionhead Video Diary. They hope to be putting out the first episode in the next few weeks both online and on the XBLM, so watch for it. Make the jump and get your very own copy of the Lionhead Times.
As we slowly recover from GDC jet-lag, we thought it would be best to post some of the other features that Peter Molyneux confirmed for Fable 2. After all, a dog can't be the only new feature in Fable 2. There really is quite a bit to consider, so we'll just dole out the info in bite sized bits via a handy bulleted list. Everyone likes lists.
Players can pick a male or female hero
Players can choose to have protected or unprotected sex (and yes, there are STDs)
Female heroes can get pregnant
Players can have children
The world responds to your "hero-ness"
Two new character morphs (besides Good/Evil): cruelty/kindness and wealth/poverty
Xboxygen posted a few new concept art images from Fable 2, which include that mysterious (yet revolutionary) dog. We now know why Lionhead Studios didn't release these images until after the big announcement, otherwise they'd have spilled the beans on the whole puppy thing and left people wondering "what the heck is that furry thing doing in my Fable 2 artwork?" So, go ahead and take a look, digest the recent Fable 2 news, pet your dog, and come back with a refreshed face and an optimistic outlook on life.
The French folks over at Xboygen posted pictures of a new "character" in Fable 2. It's a dog! Your own personal dog to play with, train, and love while exploring the lush green world that Fable offers. In one picture, Peter Molyneux is pointing to our furry little companion and probably explaining how to get your dog to attack on command ... or so that's what we want to believe. And of course these screen grabs beg the question to whether or not this is the big Fable 2 announcement or just one interesting addition to the game. Only time will tell, but we'll find out soon as our very own Richard Mitchell will be getting the complete dish on Fable 2 during his coverage of GDC: 07. Stay tuned.
GamePro recently had an interview with Peter Molyneux, president of Lionhead Studios, about Fable 2 wherein he used jujitsu to dodge some hard hitting questions. That being said, what he didn't say was definitely a lot. When asked about the Xbox 360's untapped potential, he brought up Xbox Live and its applications in a game like Fable 2, saying that four people going through a quest together in a self-contained environment as opposed to an open ended one hasn't been exploited yet. Unfortunately, he couldn't say explicitly how that pertains to Fable 2 and its online capabilities, if any. Still, it's interesting to hear how fascinated he is with the concept, and we can only imagine how it'd play out if it were true. Fable 2 co-op, eh? How do you like the sound ofthat?
Those crafty folk at Lionhead Studios must have taken a break from developing Fable 2. Why, you ask? Because they had time to come up with a nice Valentine for us all to share on this capitalist romantic holiday. It's not any ordinary Valentine either. Oh, no, this one is special. We won't spoil the surprise, save to say that this particular Valentine is unique. Check it out after the break. Don't say we didn't warn you, though.
Wow, even more Fable 2 goodness this month, Lionhead has released the above piece of concept art. Yeah, we know, concept art isn't exactly the most exciting thing in the world, but this particular piece comes with a promise. The Fable 2 team reminds us of three things. One, it's a castle (duh). Two, Fable 2 allows players to own any piece of property. Three, this castle is located in a city -- in other words, this is only part of a larger city. We have to say, that's fargin' awesome. Another point of interest, we're really digging the verticalness of this location. Fable was pretty flat, so it's good to see Fable 2 getting some much needed height.
Hmmm ... maybe you get an achievement for owning this castle? (10 points.)
The latest issue of the Lionhead Times is out, and this month it brings us the first in engine screen shots of Fable 2. As you may have guessed, the shot you see above is not representative of the final game (like at all). Still, Lionhead proclaims to be making lots of progress in development. In fact, the shots released today aren't indicative of the current build, which is apparently looking "beautiful." Still, we would be remiss not to share even the slightest bit of Fable related information. Another new tidbit, water has made it into the game. Not only that, but Lionhead claims that we will be able to do things with this water. Given the piratical nature of the character art released so far, we'd say it's a safe bet you can sail on it. But what other possibilities could there be? Swimming? Deep see diving? Mermaid adventures? We're keeping our fingers crossed for that last one (and we just might hear more about it when Peter Molyneux lectures at GDC). Follow the "read" link for the latest info and a screen shot of the soon to be infamous "crotch cam."
GDC 07 (Game Developers Conference) is set to begin in March, and speakers are already being announced. Among these scheduled speakers is Peter Molyneux, the man behind Fable and its upcoming sequel, Fable 2. Molyneux will be at the conference to perform a lecture entitled, "Innovations in Fable 2." The lecture will discuss how elements from Fable have been changed and made better for Fable 2. Furthermore, Molyneux promises to reveal a new and "totally unexpected" feature in the game. What could it be? We have no idea, and after the amazing amount of hype built around the first Fable, perhaps its best if we don't get carried away.
Our readers (that's you), on the other hand, can get as carried away as they like. Do you have any ideas for a great new feature in Fable 2?
IGN reports that Lionhead Studios has adopted the Havok physics engine for use in the upcoming Fable 2. Peter Molyneux, the man behind the Fable series, hopes that Havok will simplify and streamline the development process, allowing designers to bypass physics calculation and instead focus on creating the game world itself. Frankly, we don't really care what sort of physics the game employs as long as it makes it out before 2008.
Hey, Lionhead, how about throwing us some in game footage? We need something to obsess about, and conceptart just isn't cutting it anymore.
The latest Fable 2 community update went live on Friday -- factoring in the international time change, that's technically next Tuesday -- and we're left with ... not much. Unfortunately, we still have virtually no gameplay details to give you. What we do have is this lovely drawing of a street corner. There are a few tiny details to give. The first of which is that the game looks "stunning." According to the update, the game is leaps and bounds ahead of the teaser trailer that was released at E3. Also, Fable 2 will feature new vertical elements that were absent from Fable. For example, water levels could rise, giving you access to higher areas, or you can jump down a hole to enter a subterranean dungeon. It's a simple idea, but it could add a lot to Fable 2's overall geography -- Fable was pretty flat when you think about it. The only other tidbit revealed is that development is proceeding on schedule, which doesn't help us if we don't have an actual release date with which to gauge Lionhead's progress. Still, this is the last community update this year, so we'll have to take what we can get.
The question is, with only the odd piece of artwork now and again to keep you going, are you still excited for Fable 2?
Microsoft sent out some new Fable 2 concept art today. You can't tell from this environment sketch, but the characters lead us to believe that Fable 2 will have a very heavy piratical element (and possibly gypsies). The characters practically swing out of the picture (on a chandelier, natch) yelling obscenities and obscure nautical terms. Sure, we haven't seen any actual screenshots yet, but we love the darker, grittier feel than the original. We also relish the idea of sailing the seas and visiting new continents. Hopefully, we'll hear more on the game's development soon. Check out the scurvy ridden character art after the break.
