http://www.nowgamer.com/news/1080/gamescom-09-peter-molyneux-qampa
The Lionhead and Microsoft guru speaks exclusively to NowGamer.com about Fable III and Natal
A little bird tells us you’re due to make a major announcement at gamescom. Do tell.
PM: Well, I don’t think anyone’s going to fall off their seat to find that we’re making Fable III. It’s not the greatest announcement of all time by any means, but what I’m hoping is that people will come away from the press conference thinking, ‘Wow, I didn’t really expect that in Fable III’.
“I'm hoping people think 'Wow, I really didn't expect that in Fable III'”
It’s slightly frustrating… I mean, in the old world of making games I would reveal slightly more maybe, but we’re focusing on how we can tell a dramatic story, and what it would be about that story that would be exciting and fresh and original and different. I always want Fable to be slightly unexpected, but still for people to be surprised.
How much freedom do you feel you have to depart from the universe you created in the previous games?
PM: I think we should have a fair amount of freedom, actually. In Fable you were one of many heroes, in a guild of heroes, and some of which were better than you and some of which weren’t. You had characters like Thunder and Whisper, there was a Guild Master, and it all felt cosy and comfy and a little bit like Hogwarts, I suppose. In Fable II we decided to have a big gap of 500 years so that all the heroes were gone, and your job was to be the only hero in the world, and to find other people who maybe could be heroes, which was very different.
That’s where we made the leap. Why don’t we make a huge part of this game about you being a rebel, and this rebel is fighting against the regime, and part way through the game you will overthrow the current ruler and become King or Queen. You will rule Albion, and what Albion will be, and who will be rich and who will be poor, and who will be happy and who will be sad will be your choices. The choices that you make will not have consequences for yourself and your family, but for a whole nation.
So will there be more strategic elements once you become ruler?
PM: No, don’t think of it that way. Just because someone becomes president or king doesn’t mean they start poring over spreadsheets. They’re inspirational, they’re leaders, and a lot of it is deciding where you are. Are you going to be leading people into battle? Are you going to be helping the poor farmers of Oakfield, for example?
And this is exactly what happened in Victorian England, and in Henry VIII’s time, and countless other times. Queen Victoria used to go up to Scotland and down to Cornwall and all over the place. It’s where you are. It doesn’t mean that it will turn into an RTS and you’re moving troops around. We’ve got this fantastic game mechanic, which I can’t tell you anything about, but it allows you to be personally involved in judgements of what is right and wrong, and what is good and bad. Just like the rulers of old, some of those are very personal judgements, and heart-rending situations.
But one of the strengths of the series is how simple it is to engage with, and how complex the results of that engagement can be. How have you approached retaining that simplicity?
PM: The whole point is I want you to feel powerful. There’s that saying, “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” And that is accomplished with very, very simple game mechanics. This is so frustrating because I’m not allowed to tell you what they are, but as soon as I unveil that you’ll completely understand where we’re going with it. This mechanic allows it to still be very personal. It’s still you, and you’re looking at the people you’re judging in the face.
In real-world politics, decisions made with the very best of intentions often lead to negative consequences in unforeseen ways. Will you be embracing that in Fable III?
PM: Completely. I want those moments of people thinking, ‘Oh shit, what have I done!’ (laughs) God, I’d love to give you specific examples because there are some great ones. As soon as we thought about this and started debating it, we realised that this would be a really big thing for the Fable franchise. Sometimes you’re really gonna regret your decisions, sometimes your decisions are really gonna make you laugh – to realise what has actually happened because you’ve done something with complete innocence. That’s a great thing, and it keeps the whole world fresh and different.
Are you looking at implementing Project Natal in Fable III?
PM: That’s very, very, very much, ‘No comment’.
But what can you tell us about Natal on the whole?
PM: For me, as a designer, it’s a very, very big thing. It’s not trivial. It allows you to do things that are completely unimagined before in gaming, but it also means that there are some things that you can’t do. It changes an awful lot, and that’s why you’re getting this polarised reaction. People are asking – quite rightly, in a way – how’s it going to work, and they’re being a little bit sceptical. All of the stuff I’m involved with for Natal is really exciting and really challenging.
It’s terrifying, in a way. A lot of the time you have to sit down and slap yourself round the face and say, “Look, I’ve got to stop now,” because at some point you have to actually make the thing you’re getting excited about. That’s a challenge in itself.
Pete seems like such a cool guy. Very candid in his responses. Interesting to see him acknowledge the Natal criticisms somewhat. Interesting that Fable 3 will involve players being a leader but it will not be the usual strategic command type game. Wonder what game mechanics he keeps referring to. Should be an intriguing game.
