Fable 2

Shifty Geezer said:
Google : "Why haven't we been able to [play] co-op in a role-playing game?" asks designer Peter Molyneux of Lionhead at the outset of our Fable 2 meeting at this year's Game Developers Conference. "I'm talking about games like Mass Effect or Fable 1," he clarifies, indicating that he's specifically not including massively multiplayer RPGs (which are often inherently cooperative) or even regular old multiplayer ones (which usually offer some sort of co-op mode). "Why haven't we been able to truly, truly [play] co-op?" he asks. And without wasting time to ponder the subtleties of the genre, Molyneux picks up the controller and launches into the demo of his upcoming game's latest new feature: two player offline co-op. (Online play has yet to be confirmed.)
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Wait, didn't I watch a demo of him playing with somebody online? They could bring their character into the game and take all the money etc that they'd earned back with them to their own game?

If they have offline co-op, that would be pretty sweet too.
 
Scott_Arm said:
Wait, didn't I watch a demo of him playing with somebody online? They could bring their character into the game and take all the money etc that they'd earned back with them to their own game?

If they have offline co-op, that would be pretty sweet too.
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Offline co-op is what was unveiled back at GDC.

Molyneux had another ace up his sleeve for GDC 08: the unveiling of Fable 2's "dynamic" offline cooperative-play system.
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When asked, Molyneux didn't deny that online play will be supported in the finished game, but for the purposes of our demo both players were using a single console. The second player's character's information was retrieved using his Xbox Live gamertag, and we were told that at the end of the co-op session any experience and money earned by the henchman would be taken back to his version of the gameworld.
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http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/fable2/news.html?sid=6186341&mode=all

Nothing has been confirmed for online yet, but...

"There is another big surprise, a very big surprise about co-oping,"
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http://kotaku.com/5008990/fable-2-a-glimpse-at-the-beginning-and-a-co+op-surprise-to-come
 
They'd better have online co-op. I was all excited about playing co-op, but it's never gonna work for me if it's only offline.
 
I'm pretty sure online is intended. The vid I recall had another player enter as a mercenary. You know the one, where the coop buddy killed the Molyneux's wife in front of the kid. The talk was offering players an incentive to join, giving them a share of gold or prestige. This ties in strongly with the idea of online coop between two different games. Offline coop is better suited to two people playing the game all the way through together.

That said, the dangers of online coop in this game are pretty huge. You just know a bunch of wasters will happily slay your family for kicks. You are far less likely to have that problem with people who have to be in the same room as you and in mortal peril for arsing about! Not sure where Molyneux's idea of 'give players options, don't confine them to your way of doing things' fits in with this, as it would be a restriction preventing people from playing with strangers if they wish, but it has to be a concern.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
That said, the dangers of online coop in this game are pretty huge. You just know a bunch of wasters will happily slay your family for kicks. You are far less likely to have that problem with people who have to be in the same room as you and in mortal peril for arsing about! Not sure where Molyneux's idea of 'give players options, don't confine them to your way of doing things' fits in with this, as it would be a restriction preventing people from playing with strangers if they wish, but it has to be a concern.
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True, but if you're playing with "friends" it shouldn't be much of an issue. Playing with randoms would be a pain, and is not something I'm really interested in.
 
The game looks pretty damn good to me. The co-op play if done right will be a like a dream come true for me. I really hope this game kicks ass in sales because I really want to see more co-op RPGs in the future. I am not much for death match stuff but I love co-op. This will probably be my game of the year if it lives up to my expectations.
 
archangelmorph said:
These kind of quotes annoy me a bit..

20-30times larger in terms of what..? the world (in kms)..? the avg. playtime..? the amount of art/code..?

Specifics mean a whole lot more than such a vague & ambiguous bullet point..
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It´s Peter, sadly he has made it his trademark to promise a bit to much..

Any screenshots out there in real size?
 
Gamersyde has some gameplay vids of Fable 2 up with more to come: http://www.gamersyde.com/news_6824_en.html

Looks smooth a lot of the times, but I'm not sure if the intermittent hitching is part of the game or if there were hiccups in the encoding. There does appear to be some LOD pop-in of geometry. Lush looking game though. It seems to be much more free-roaming with more activities than before along with an expanded interactions menu.

As Peter said the game was done, hopefully they'll polish it further in the remaining months (lots of time!)
 
Gamersyde: E3 gameplay of Fable 2

Back from Microsoft's private showroom, we bring you some nifty Fable 2 gameplay, presented and played by Peter "snake charmer" Molyneux himself. The video is cut in two parts, and here is the first one. Some combat sequences, a bit of exploration within gorgeous settings, a little tour of Brownstone city, and a few funny mini games.
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IGN: Fable II Hands-on

The sandbox section of the demo showcases what helps make Fable II a unique RPG. This is a game meant to allow you to create a unique character and a unique world. And running through a village you can see just how much more advanced the AI reactions have become. Towns are more densely populated and everyone has a different view of your hero. Throw a fireball at someone and they may run in fear. Come back a few days later and they may look at you with considerable hatred. Terrorize too many people and the town guard will come at you. Refuse to pay a fine (or accept jail time) and you will become an outlaw in that town forever. Keep this up and you will find the law of chasing you down across all of Albion.

If you aren't too busy being a jerk, there's a lot you can do in and around towns. You can find a sculptor, for example, and pose for a statue. This statue will be placed in town for all to view and admire (or revile if you become hated). And when your friend visits, they can see such tributes to your hero around the world, which is pretty cool.

Fable II is indeed coming in October. Lionhead is not missing that date. And, from what we've played at E3, it's going to be worth the wait.
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[gt]36280[/gt]
 
Beautiful and a very deep game. I really like the Oblivion type art style and the lighting is beautiful. Should be done with this just in time for Gears2.
 
The pop-in is pretty bad, TBH. Otherwise it looks fairly beautiful. Though I'll reserve my judgement on this one, since Molyneux has the very annoying tendency of overpromising and underdelivering.
 
On the 360, I think this is surprisingly becoming my most anticipated title. Maybe it's the hope of once again experiencing something that has the attention to detail and vividness of his early work (Populous, especially the second, one of the best games of all-time). He's always done interesting work, but lost sense of direction before, which is understandable because projects are getting so big it becomes hard for one man to oversee, especially someone so easily lost in details as he is. But this project looks like it may turn out great.
 
I have mixed feelings about this. The game is promising, I prefer this to japanese RPGs, the dog and the coop play all have a lot of potential. The technical part of the graphics looks impressive, and all my friends tell me Fable 1 was a very good game already.

But I don't really dig the art style for starters, and its implementation is pretty far from perfect. The concept art has nice colors and shapes which are somehow tuned into cheesy kitchy bloomy things through the hands of the artists. Lionhead used to have a kickass art team...
 
Well that trailer looks horrible, but those gamersyde videos show some pretty good art for this type of game, imho.
 
Would be nice to have some news from Fran! It's been a while since the last time I read from him :(

Join us Fran! you're welcome :) (if you're not too busy obviously)
 
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