Fable 2 Development

Note: It is not a trailer

Sam — Wed, 14 May 2008 21:33:00 GMT

Last night, after a long day at the Showcase Event, we found out that Kotaku had posted a video showing Fable 2. This is not a trailer and it was never intended to be released in its entirity on the internet. Kotaku has dissapointed me, yes Mike and Brian you have. Sadly enough, it did happen and the snowball effect (other sites doing what Kotaku did) was inevitable at that point. The video was intended for broadcast media to edit into filmed interviews with Peter Molyneux. It was clearly marked as such on the Microsoft PR ftp.

Let me make this clear: we decided to be honest with everyone, to show Fable 2 as it is right now, including the 5000+ bugs that are currently being fixed by the development team. The press have reacted positively to our decision to show our game warts and all. To then see this video being released with the comments from editors (like Mike) and readers ranging from downright negative to so-so, is rather dissapointing and totally out of context.

Please understand that it represents work in progress and see it for what it is: how the game looked on 7th May 2008. We promise to release a real trailer in due course. It will be interesting to compare them...

Fable 2 in San Fran!

Woody — Tue, 13 May 2008 20:00:00 GMT

Sam has been keeping us up-to-date on Microsoft's Showcase event in San Francisco. The 'big-ish' thing we mentioned a couple of days ago is now known; Fable 2 has an official box! This is how you'll see it the shops:

Last week we had some visitors in our offices; two big groups of European jounralists got to see Fable 2 up-close and personal. They'll be publishing their findings in the upcoming days including the 7 new screenshots which can already be found here.

And here are some of the previews we found already, we'll keep the list updated as the day goes on. Even if you can't understand what they're saying, some of the previews are worth having a look at just for the pictures or the video:
http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/fable-2/873857p1.html (Fable 2 Preview, English)
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/873/873866p1.html (English)
http://www.xboxlife.dk/sneak/57/Fable2.html (Danish)
http://www.gry-online.pl/S013.asp?ID=40918 (Polish)
http://plaza.fi/edome/artikkelit/pelit/fable-2... (Finish)
http://www.gameswelt.de/articles/previews/4949-Fable_2/index.html (German)
http://www.fz.se/artiklar/20080513/fable-2/ (Swedish) + PICTURES
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=188692 (English)
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/873/873600p1.html (English)
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/fable2/news... (English)
http://www.totalvideogames.com/articles/Fable_2_-_Spring_Show (English)
http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1967/Fable-2/p1/ (English)
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_New_Fable_Game_Comes (English)
http://www.gbase.ch/XBOX/specials/Fable+2%3a+angespielt+in+England (German)
http://kotaku.com/5008990/fable-2-a-glimpse (English)

We've also updated all our websites with the brand new Fable 2 logo.

Showcase

Sam — Tue, 13 May 2008 18:49:00 GMT

So...most of you have probably figured it out by now; we're in San Francisco for the Microsoft Xbox360 Showcase Event (or gamers days as it's also called). The coverage that is starting to appear with the screenshots is from a press event we organized last week in Guildford but expect more to come out of the time we're spending in San Francisco right now!

Plus, that's not all, the big-ish thing I mentioned in an earlier entry should be appearing (on our site amongst many) in the next couple of hours. It's not the release date and it's not the video diary. Just wait and see. We're nearly there!

Lost my teeth!

Sam — Tue, 06 May 2008 20:10:00 GMT

Right...firstly I'd like to thank everyone who wished me well, dropped me an email to tell me what to expect (or what not) and anyone else I might be forgetting. The surgery went fine, the anesthetics were pleasant and the tranquilizers against the pain even more so! I'm still in pain right now but the doctors tell me it will last for about a week.

I also came into work on Monday (yesterday, which was a bank holiday) with about 70 other people and today is just a normal working day. A lot is happening, if you are anxious to find out something new about Fable 2, I suggest you make sure you've got access to the internet, next week! Yes we are planning something (quite) big-ish.

Looking for gossip?

Sam — Thu, 01 May 2008 19:22:00 GMT

This blog could start about GTA IV and how Fable 2 is now delayed due to all the developers calling in sick because Liberty City is calling their name. Only kidding of course, we are fully focussed and in full crunch...

As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry this week Lionhead Video Diary Six is finished and I'm submitting it to the lovely Microsoft people (the ones who control Xbox Live Marketplace) so that we can get it out in time. Don't expect it to come out this week and just to be on the safe side not even next week. I've learned my lesson and have decided I'm no longer telling you a date when it'll arrive, rest assured it's processing and will be out pretty soon. In case you are not familiar with the diaries, you can see all of them here.

Development of Fable 2 is going strong, it's not without pain (obviously) but man (and woman) this game looks . I've been playing it a lot, mostly with Dene and Peter during their playthrough design meetings, what a life! Playing Fable 2 during the day in the office, GTA IV in the evening at home.

Tomorrow I need to go to the hospital to have my wisdom teeth removed, needless to say I'm nervous like a rabbit on steroids.

To end with a bit of news, here is a brand new screenshot of Fable 2, taken only a couple of days ago. Can you dig it?

Video Diary and machinima

Sam — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:53:00 GMT

The video diary is finished from my point of view and the rendering of the 'encodes' is happening as we speak; they're the files that will eventually be released after we've submitted them.

Woody described it as being 'slightly interesting' for which I gave him grief one entire afternoon. The poor man probably got so annoyed with me he sabotaged my chair. Or that's what my little investigation (aka guessing) leads to. I've seen him watching me and today when one of our junior office managers (aka a girl) asked me if my chair was broken, it dawned on me: this was a set-up! They might even have been doing the norty... *

It's the longest video diary so far, you'll have to judge for yourself what you think of it and your comments are - as always - appreciated. It wasn't so hard to make this one, planning obviously does pay of bucket loads in the end and most importantly it was a subject that really fits: Art and the Fable 2 hero.

The last couple of days I've been trying my luck with some machinima per request of [censor]** and [censor]**: pretty hard to make if you ask me! For a start, camera work without an actual camera with a lens and Fs and exposure and shutter speeds is not something I'm that familiar with: the controls are just so different! The game lends itself for it, and there are beautiful stories to be told so with the right practice it should be possible. Who knows, we'll see what happens next.

Everyone on the Fable 2 floor is working like a donkey now (or well...almost everyone) and you can see it in people's eyes. Guess what I'm saying is that we're all very busy as the date is moving closer and closer. I'm happy and then other days realise I've got some work left to d on my list, but that's what any job is like. It's fun for sure!

You'll probably ask me about two dates after reading this: one for the next video diary (within a couple of working weeks) and one for Fable 2 (shhht). Nothing to report!

* this is not an accurate portrayal of the truth

** names removed for no reason by 1 vote against 10

Work continues...

Sam — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 23:43:00 GMT

Work continues here at the Lionhead Tower on a multitude of things! Obviously Fable 2, with the team now really digging, hammering and screwing away on the latest version. Today I had the pleasure to (briefly) spend some time with Peter, Dene and Mark during one of their play through sessions and can clearly see the mood changing; the game itself is coming along very nicely and while we've still got some time to go, that date some time later this year (with all the brown leaves and all that), but anyone who would start playing the game right now would get absorbed in the world, characters and all that jazz. The Fable 2 team rocks. I saw the golden acorn today.

Work on the next video diary (6) also continues, today I've been changing the order, cutting, cutting and more cutting after feedback from several people including Andy. It's getting to the final stages now and next week Friday we're doing the final work on it (that doesn't mean releasing it!). There's also some other video work in the pipeline one of which for an event next week. It's a close call but hopefully we got the time to get it all ready.

The IVCA evening was a rather impressive night, with all the men in tuxedo and the women in gorgeous evening dresses. The drinks were so freaking expensive and the food was under average. The entertainment, venue and entire show were just terrific! I didn't take home any award, in one category "Beijing Foreign Cultural Exchanges Centre" (Olympics) took the gold, "The Football Foundation" (silver), "Ministry of Justice" (bronze) and in the other category "Rio Tinto - Global Mining" (gold), "ArcelorMittal" (silver), "Ministry of Defence" (bronze). Still a great selection to be up against. Their videos were absolutely amazing (with shots from helicopters and of elephants), ours might just have been a bit too geeky (diary 1 + 3). A couple of snapshots coming soon!

C2C

Sam — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 20:16:00 GMT

It's Sunday and it's been snowing in Guildford! Sadly we don't have any pictures available but to make up for that I inform you that the webcams are still up and running. How the developers made their way into the office is a mistery to me, but some of them did and that's all that matters. A lot is happening it seems. (Can you feel the tension?)

There are webcams here and here (there are a few extra ones coming soon hopefully).

Lionhead Video Diary Episode Five

Sam — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:44:00 GMT

The next installment is here; Lionhead and Microsoft Game Studios Release Episode 5 in the Light-hearted Video Diary Series . Go behind-the-scenes with Peter Molyneux and Lionhead Studios as they prepare to unveil offline multiplayer in “Fable 2” at the Game Developer’s Conference

It was hard work, filming in San Francisco at the Game Developers Conference, dark spaces, security people telling you you're not allowed to film... Two hours of footage turned into a small piece in this video diary. I'm sure all that footage will come in use one day.

"Meet the team at Lionhead, hard at work on the Xbox 360 exclusive Fable 2, the highly-anticipated follow up to the best-selling Xbox exclusive Fable."

"In Episode Five, you will see exclusive footage of Peter Molyneux rehearsing for the Microsoft keynote at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco."

Check out Episode Five at http://www.lionhead.com/diaries and on Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Work on Episode Six has already started (about Art and Heroes) and I promise you it'll be longer!

Still Alive

Kalev — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:02:00 GMT

Four months. Four months and ten days. I was planning on writing one of these every week, but then the tools team crunch hit. And it’s still hitting, though not quite as hard. But it doesn’t affect me anymore.

A month and a bit ago, I was transferred over to the GUI team. Which means I get to work on actual game code. At first, it was a little hard, as I haven’t really used C++ since college (the tools are done in C#, and I was a scripter on BW2). But I got back into the swing of things just before the big crunch hit. This is the real thing now. Everyone is involved.

So don’t expect another of these posts for another couple of months.

Podcast with Peter and MajorNelson

Sam — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:41:00 GMT

If you're not familiar with MajorNelson you're missing out on something. He's working for Microsoft Game Studios (aka Xbox) as a programming director but in his spare time also manages his blog MajorNelson.com. He got about 30 minutes last week to shoot a few questions in the direction of Peter Molyneux, talking about Fable 2, Lionhead and games in general. It's certainly worth listening to as it's loaded with information. Plus there's a nice plug for the entire Lionhead and Fable 2 community (at about 70 minutes).

Community Call: Episode Six

Sam — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 18:00:00 GMT

A little update on the status of Video Diary 5 and 6 plus a brand new community call!

You'll be happy to know that Lionhead Video Diary Episode Five is finished and gone out for submission to all the appropriate channels. It takes a while to get these things distributed but at least now you all know it's coming! I'm not going to make the same mistake as last time by giving you a date, but I'm hoping it'll be out in the next few weeks (read: this month) but am not counting my chickens just yet. These things take time!

What can you expect from video diary five? Well there will be a few bits of new information, not a lot of new visuals, but also some nice behind-the-scenes stuff from GDC which you won't be able to see anywhere else... I didn't spend a tremendous amount of time on the pre-production of this one, simply because a lot of other (web and video) things were happening at the time. And so for that reason I'm not going to reveal what it's about, you'll see when it gets released and hopefully appreciate it for the few bits of new information.

However, I'll make up for all of this in Lionhead Video Diary Episode Six which will be Fable 2 heavy! The subject will be Art and Heroes in Fable 2 where we take a look at the art department and what goes into creating the visuals (and animations) of Fable 2. Plus, and this is probably the most interesting bit for our community; the Fable 2 Hero. His looks, customization options, morphs, abilities and skills, these things should be of interest to anyone anticipating Fable 2. Which brings me onto the next Community Call; we're looking for your questions for Episode Six! Feel free to post questions about the Art and / or Hero in Fable 2 in the comments.

I'll leave you with two new pieces of concept art from Fable 2. I'm not in a position to use the word which would describe these characters, but I think you'll find it's a nice follow up from some earlier concept art. This one is for all the girls, gaymers (+me) or male gamers who just feel adventurous!

Community Call: Post Your Questions about the Art and Hero in Fable 2 for Lionhead Video Diary Six.

Simon Says.... #3

Sam — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 00:14:00 GMT

The past months we've been posting a "Simon Says..." feature on the blog, it's one of the many emails that are send around the office and team on a daily basis. This one is again from Simon Carter, the technical director on Fable 2. You should know him from co-writing the Fable (project Ego) developer diaries (link). Warning: The following email contains a very British joke (it made me laugh).

From: Simon Carter
Sent: 01 February 2008
To: Fable2 Team
Subject: Day 41

Day 41

The events of Chapped Tuesday are now far behind us, but it seems that we are to be dealt yet more challenges. Soap-free Friday is upon us.

It started weeks ago, initially with the disabled toilets. Unable to wash their hands effectively, the poor blighters couldn’t maintain a proper grip on the wheel rims of their wheelchairs leaving them unable to accelerate or break properly; it was like watching “The Handicapped – On Ice!”. Now the shortage is kicking in for the rest of us, and I fear a repeat of the horrifying events from a few short weeks ago.

Day 43

Since I last wrote the situation has rapidly degenerated. Without any proper washing facilities every man’s hand has effectively become a deadly weapon. The people with the muckiest hands have become the leaders in this new order. “Make my tea or sniff my fart fingers” is a common threat from the artists.

This morning I was mugged. A group of APs led by Berry were patrolling the corridors, looking for easy prey. “Give me your wallet, fatso” he said, wiggling his dung-dangled-digits at me. I paid up and retreated in shame.

Day 45

As you know, here at base-camp we’re almost entirely cut off from civilisation. Even so, we try to keep up with what’s going on in the world. News came through today, and it became clear why we have no soap –it really put things in perspective.

Five days ago, in an unexpected terrorist attack, the entire shipment of liquid-soap for Europe was hijacked – hundreds of lorries diverted towards Paris and their contents spilled over French capital. The scenes were horrifying – millions of Frenchmen who hadn’t washed in decades screaming as they were forcibly cleansed. According to environmentalists, without the benefit of years of unwashed pheromones the one thing that made French men sexually attractive has been eradicated - the sex drive of that entire nation could be wiped out, leading to infertility.

Day 46

After yesterday, I didn’t think it could get any more serious – I was wrong. Martin has been doing some calculations and we could be looking at a worldwide catastrophe.

Apparently, poo exerts a small but measurable pull on other poo – the more poo, the bigger the pull. According to Martin, the biggest concentration of shite is going to grow at an exponential rate.

“If this doesn’t stop,” Martin says, “We could be looking at a turd-ball the size of the earth within 48 hours.”

I nervously look over at Lovett at the other end of the room.

“The biggest concentration of shite, eh. Hmm. But Martin - are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Martin looks at me in fear, and nods.

“Turdmageddon”, he whispers quietly.

Don't like Mondays

Sam — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:41:00 GMT

It's been over a week since GDC and we've seen quite a bit of information about Fable 2. I also miss the sushi from the hotel and they're predicting snow for today in England.

Richard from Xbox360fanboy let me know that he's posted a transcript of his interview with Peter. It was recorded a couple of hours before his Big Three Features session at the developers conference. You also might want to listen to it in their audio fancast (that's like a podcast).

In other news; Armblast is refusing to shave untill Fable 2 is released (we wish him luck) and there's a poll on the go about the Breadcrumb feature in Fable 2.

Time for breakfast!

Last GDC Day

Sam — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:54:00 GMT

So today is the last day of this year's GDC with another session about Fable 2 planned in the afternoon. The panel in which Peter spoke yesterday was pretty interesting but not really exciting in any way but today is likely to be different. It'll be about Fable 2 and it might bring you something new, again. Just stay tuned. Anyway, we're flying back to England tonight so I need to pack all my stuff and make my way to the convention centre for some extra filming and of course attend "The Big Three Features Revealed" session. My joke about a Tree was just that; a joke - so please don't read too much into that. Also, the first of many Fable 2 newsletters has finally left the building (well, the building in Guildford that is). Sam out (I need to go and shower and pack).