Now, I didn’t think the combat was bad in Fable 1, in fact I thought it was pretty good. We wanted to make something that anybody could play, that someone could pick up and we all wanted to make something that has cool stuff in it, and we introduced this idea in Fable 1 that you could play as a swordsman or as a hunter with bow and arrow or as a magic user or a combination of all three. We’re keeping that for Fable 2.

it’s called constrained combat.

But, hey, you gotta change something in combat. Surely it’s our job to push the limits of fantasy and one of the big things we want to revolutionise is what you think of as combat. How can I make combat more interesting for you in ways that are completely unexpected. This is all about Lionhead’s mission, we’ve got to do things differently, we’ve got to do things in a fresh way, and combat is absolutely the core of that. So we started a number of experiments, and I’m going to tell you about one of them. This is only one of the experiments; we’ve got other experiments that we’re doing with combat because we really want to make some revolution, and it’s called constrained combat. And let me explain; this is part of being a developer, you have these amazing things that happen to you that are completely unexpected, and this constrained combat is one of them. And this is the way, well, is, because next gerneration, everything’s real, I mean, being a developer now is about that. Everything you build is real. Real materials, it’s real physics, it’s real emotions, it’s real facial, everything’s real. So when it came to combat, I’ll tell you one of the cheats we did in Fable 1. One of the cheats we did in Fable 1 is when you swung your sword like this [throws arm in large arc], if you were too close to the wall, the sword went through the wall. We just didn’t care, eh, no-one will notice, it just goes through the wall. We can’t do this, we’re next generation now! And everybody notices these things, the sword can’t go through the wall any more. What does that actually mean? And what we found is, a fantastic moment I had, we build this really simple level - a really simple level - it was a corridor, and at the end of the corridor iss a big open room. And we, this rule, we laid this rule down, is the moves that you make are dependant on how much you swing your sword. So if I’m out in the open like this, I can do these sort of moves [swings arms in large horizontal arc, then over his head], I can do that, because I got the space to do it. But you can’t make those moves if you’re constrained, so if I’m up against the wall, I can’t do this anymore. Now we could have this frustrating thing you see in some games where you literally go like this [he gestures sword stuck against wall], well I said, no, the hero is supposed to be an amazing swordsman, he wouldn’t do this [does it again] while you press the button until he’s got there, he’s a fantastic swordsman! So where you are, what environment you’re in, dictates what moves your hero is making, and suddenly this incredible thing happened. When you’re fighting in this corridor, you’re making moves like this [he gestures hands in front of him, turning in a small space]. You want to, as a player, get out into the open so you can use all your power, and suddenly that is a kind of magical moment with the realisation, “Jesus, that’s what Hollywood does!” It’s not the fact that Jackie Chan can use a sword, it’s the fact of where he is and what the environment is and what’s in the environment, so what we’re building in Fable 2 are environments that allow you to do combat in a different way. It’s not only pressing the button like that, it’s where you are, it’s where you’re near, and where you’re gonna get to that changes your combat, and that, I promise you, if you were to play some of the experiments that we’ve got, it, for me, it changes combat forever. Then the other magical thing happened. That was fine, you’re fighting through little corridors and getting through, and these things coming towards you really mean something for the first time. The other magical thing happened is a programmer came up to me and said, “okay, I’ve done the stuff about collision against walls, what do I do if you’re fighting with a friend?” And suddenly that was another realisation. Who you’re fighting with, where you’re fighting, the environment that you’re in, where he is, changes the moves that you can make. And that means, my bold claim is, you’ve never played combat before until you’ve played it in Fable. It is truly a step forward. It is about feeling like a hero. Feeling like, if I’m coming towards you, it is a real combat move that I’m making. I feel cool, this is all about what I want you to feel when you do combat. So every aspect of combat has changed radically from before, and that’s just one of the experiments.

the most surprising feature I haven’t talked about at all

So let’s, we’re kind of out of time now, what I’ve laid down for you is we’re pushing ourselves on the world, we’re pushing ourselves on the story, we’re pushing ourselves on the combat, I’ve not even spoken about magic, I’ve not even spoken about the simulations fully, I haven’t talked at all about Live and online, and we’re pushing, definitely pushing ourselves on that, and, but, there is one other feature, there’s laying all this out to the team and all of that ambitious stuff, the most unique feature, the most surprising feature, the feature that I think you’re gonna write about the most, I haven’t talked about at all, and I’m not going to talk about it until next year. The only thing I’ll tell you is, when I laid that out to the team, the thing people will remember about Fable 2, the thing that they will be surprised about, is this, they turned around to me and said, “you are something stupid, there is no way that will ever, in a million years, work, it cannot be done.” And we had to build prototypes, and the people, even the people working on that prototype didn’t believe it, it wasn’t until we actually physically played it for the first time that we realised it was going to be such a huge feature. And when I unveil that, I think you are going to turn around and say, “that is just, stupid.” But when you play it, I promise you, I promise you, you will think the same thing, and the only clue I’ll give you is the most important feature I’ve talked about today so far is unconditional love. That is emotion that you are going to get from Fable 2. And what this feature is is all about emotion, I want you to experience. Okay, Fable 2. There we go. Any questions? Anybody? It’s gonna be cool! I’m designing again! So expect mad things. Okay, thank you very much. “I have one question, actually - will the enemies follow the same kind of combat rules as,” Yes, they’re constrained as well, and the other stuff that we’re doing, absolutely, and that is unbelievable.

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