Peter-Molyneux
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Peter Molyneux explains Fable 3 menu, morphing systems
click to visit the new Albion Peter Molyneux has made it clear that Fable 3 is ditching as much of the 2D interface from Fable 2 as possible. Speaking at GDC, he finally showed us exactly how Lionhead will achieve this. According to Molyneux, Microsoft user research revealed that a majority of Fable 2 players understood fewer than half of the features in the game. "We're creating content that people literally don't care about," said Molyneux. To help rectify this, Fable 3's menu system is managed entirely from within the game world. When players pause the game, their character is instantly warped to a chamber with different rooms that serve different functions. Molyneux specifically demonstrated the dressing room, where players will change clothes. Molyneux contrasted the process with that of Fable 2, in which changing outfits was like "going in the morning and choosing index cards to choose what you wear." %Gallery-88019%
ESRB: Magic Carpet, Sorcerer's Maze materializing on PS3 and PSP
Last week, Xbox 360 owners got the first look at Fable 3, the newest Peter Molyneux game. Don't feel left out, members of the PlayStation Family -- you've got your own Molyneux game on the way! An old one! The ESRB has rated the PlayStation version of Magic Carpet for release on PS3 and PSP, meaning it'll join last week's release of Populous: The Beginning as PSOne Classics at some point in the future. Why settle for being a king when, for the low price of $5.99, you could be a wizard on a flying carpet! If that doesn't grab you, you'll also be able to pick up Sorcerer's Maze at some point. While not a Molyneux game (it's a low-budget Arkanoid-style game published by XS Games) it is also about a sorcerer (not sure about the "maze" part). And how can you refuse that box art, even in a digital version with no box?
Molyneux calls on UK government to support games industry
Speaking to the Telegraph at Microsoft's X10 event, Lionhead's Peter Molyneux has called on the UK government to give tax breaks to local game studios. Said Molyneux, "It is just crazy that the British government does not recognize the games industry as a creative industry in the way it recognizes others," noting that Canada recently replaced the UK as the third largest games industry in the world. He noted that many measures taken by Canada have been proven to be "financially sensible." Molyneux's words contribute to escalating pleas for government support in the UK. Over the past year, the issue has been consistently pursued by the industry, with developers calling for tax breaks, and the government in turn asking for evidence of how such breaks would culturally enrich the country. Meanwhile, an August report noted that the production of original IP was declining and suggested that developers might be willing to take risks on original ideas with tax cuts in place. Molyneux probably sums up the situation best: "The UK has a great heritage of invention and creativity, it's just the rest of the world have a great heritage of recognizing that properly and it frustrates the hell out of me."
Fable 3 co-op to bring full characters, dogs, weapons into friends' games
If there's one thing we could've used in Fable 2, it was a more fleshed-out co-op system. Sure, we could see our friends' orbs floating about Albion and we could even invite them to play as a one-off character in our world, but it was one unable to collect experience or have any lasting impact on our game. As you might image, Lionhead's head lion Peter Molyneux is ready to deliver just that in Fable 3. Molyneux told the 4Guys 1UP podcast: "I heard you all about co-op. You want to have your own hero come into the world. Okay, fine, you can have that definitely." Detailing the system further, he admitted that the player's dog and weapons will also be available in co-op. "When you come into my world, you come in as your hero, with your dog, with all your unique weapons, self-crafted weapons. I heard you -- you don't wanna be tied to my camera, you wanna go off and do your own thing in my world. Fine, fair enough." That said, he warned about "consequences" from bringing in said friends to your own version of Albion. "It means careful who you invite in, 'cause they can screw the whole thing up, man!" And then, when the possibility of using the new "touch" functionality came up, things took a turn for the weird. "Yes you can use touch with your co-op partner. Yes you can walk down the street hand-in-hand. Yes you can drag your co-op partner to your dungeon and see what happens. Absolutely." Keep in mind, folks -- what happens in the dungeon stays in the dungeon. Rawr! %Gallery-85302%
Fabled interview: Peter Molyneux at X10
It doesn't take much for Fable III designer Peter Molyneux to get going on and on about his latest project. We even managed to squeeze in a few questions for the Lionhead boss, who was on hand at yesterday's X10 media event to unveil his studio's next grand fable. Of course, it just wouldn't be polite to kick off a conversation with Molyneux without first checking in on the little one. Joystiq: So, how's Milo?
Fable III dev diary reveals 'extreme morph' feature
Ready to see a few seconds of Fable III in action? Ready to see Peter Molyneux and other Lionhead staff tell you how awesome it is? Check out the first developer diary of the game above. Molyneux introduces the "extreme morph" system, which allows players to show their alignments in dramatic ways at the press of a button. His example? "You're walking along and someone upsets you.You can press this expression, and out of your back appears these huge angel wings. A shaft of light comes down and shines on you. Everyone around you steps back, and, 'Oh, my goodness!' You're showing your true character." The Fable III peek also briefly introduces the weapon morphing system and the "touch" system, and it features several shots of people being stabbed, sometimes with interesting-looking weapons. Good stuff.
X10: Fable 3 impressions (spoiler: we're not pissed off)
Receiving a live demo of Fable 3 from Lionhead, er ... head and Microsoft Games Studio boss Peter Molyneux during today's X10 event, we learned that it, in his words, "is all about power and uniqueness." Well, that and Charles Dickens. (More on that in a sec.) Yes, the game is up, running and actually looking pretty far along at this point. But Molyneux was much more keen to talk about some of its new gameplay mechanics than anything involving graphics, sound or other trimmings. First up, he revisited the premise of the game. It's set in Albion, which -- as we noticed right away -- has become heavily industrialized. You play as the son or daughter of the hero from Fable 2, with Molyneux confirming that you can import your saved game from that title, but that it "will make minor, not major, changes to the story." The game's structure will have you starting out as a "nobody," getting people to believe in you and eventually starting a revolution. About half-way through, you'll be the king or queen of Albion. The Albion in the demo could certainly stand a change in ownership. It's smoggy, grimy and the streets are full of the homeless, poor and starving. The factories are full of everyone else, including children as young as five-years-old. Molyneux says that all of this is inspired by the works of Charles Dickens; in particular, Oliver Twist. As bad as it is, he promises you'll eventually have the power to change it all, should you choose.
Molyneux: A cute 'outside of Fable 3 experience' coming
Can gamers expect a tie-in product similar to Fable II: Pub Games for Lionhead's upcoming Fable III? Microsoft's Peter Molyneux told attendees at X10 that something was in the works. Molyneux wouldn't detail the tie-in, only teasing that the product is "a really cute, very very cute 'outside of Fable III' experience that I'm not talking about." Molyneux, who felt a need to reiterate how adorable the "experience" will be, proclaimed: "It's really, really cute. It's not Pub Games." Sadly, whether the "really cute" experience would be a Xbox Live Arcade release wasn't confirmed. What is confirmed, however, is that this thing should be pretty ugly. No. Wait, forgive us. We're pretty sure he said cute.
Molyneux: Fable 3 news at X10 will make you 'super pissed off'
Speaking to Gamereactor, Lionhead maestro Peter Molyneux revealed that there will be some big Fable 3 news at the X10 event this week. "There's some very, very big things happening in Fable," said Molyneux, "Bigger than you think, and it's going to really upset people." Molyneux added that he is "really scared" about telling people the news, saying, "They're going to get super pissed off, they really are." Still, he concluded that it's "the right thing to do," and confirmed that he will be demonstrating the mystery announcement at X10 in San Francisco. Joystiq's theory: The entire story of Fable 2 was a dream sequence. Whatever it is, we'll be delivering the news directly from X10, so Joystiq's staff and readers can all get pissed off together. In the meantime, be sure to watch the whole interview, which also contains some really interesting talk about Project Natal. [Via VG247]
Fable 3 'almost at its final edit' stage, says Molyneux
The head of MGS Europe assuredly has a few more things on his plate than the third game in a franchise he helped create, but in a recent feature on Peter Molyneux at Develop, the British creator calmly pronounced the game to be nearing its "final edit" stage of production. Whether he means "ready for submission to Microsoft" or "we haven't started polishing it yet" (or, heck, anywhere in between) remains unclear, though we'd certainly like to get our hands on the final product sooner rather than later. Additionally, Molyneux triple dips on his love for Valve, proclaiming Half-Life 2 as his "favourite" game ever (you crazy Brits!) as well as the game he would most like to have worked on, and also notes the developer as the one he most admires (get a room, you two!). And hey, if you've been hankering to know his "favourite" album, it's Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." (Yep, we were kind of disappointed too.)
Pixar, Molyneux and Schafer also giving talks at GDC 2010
Worried that you're only gonna get one legendary game developer speaking at this year's GDC? Well quit it, because it turns out that March's pontification festival will also feature the likes of Double Fine's Tim Schafer, Lionhead/MGS Europe head Peter Molyneux, Square Enix FFXIII director Motomu Toriyama, a couple of "Pixar notables," and fantasy wordsmith R.A. Salvatore. According to Gamasutra's announcement of the speakers, the gentlemen will join "almost 350 other lectures, keynotes, and panels" taking place at the early March event, giving speeches on everything from comedy in gaming (Schafer, of course) to intuitive game design (Molyneux), and even a sneak peek (the first, actually, if we're not mistaken) of 38 Studios' upcoming MMO (with R.A. Salvatore). For all you zipper and chain-clad folks, Toriyama's speech on creating "The Crystal Mythos" might be more up your alley. If none of that sounds exciting to you, then there's always the other 345 or so folks at the event or ... umm ... a bar down the street maybe? Listen, are you alright?
Ex-Lionhead devs form Wonderland Software, announce 'GodFinger'
Venturing forth from Peter Molyneux's famous dev house, Lionhead Studio veterans Mark Rose, Al Harding and Matthew Wiggins recently announced their new mobile game startup Wonderland Software. In addition to the studio's unveiling, the trio has also offered up information on the their first project: GodFinger. "We're collaborating with some awesome freelancers, along with the super-talented girls and guys over at ngmoco, to bring the god game back to your fingers," the announcement post reads. According to ngmoco's description of the game, GodFinger puts you in the position of a "fledgling deity" trying to "make a name for yourself amongst the pantheon of gods in this universe." Given the fact that GodFinger is planned for release on iPhone and iPod Touch, there's no solid release date (Apple decides that), but both the devs and the publisher note we'll see a release "very, very soon." So get out that God Hand and chop off a digit, you'll need it soon! [Via Develop]
Spencer: Project Natal launch 'fraught with risk' for Microsoft
Speaking to Eurogamer, Microsoft Game Studios head Phil Spencer responded to criticism that Microsoft takes fewer risks than Sony in first-party development by referencing Project Natal -- "if there isn't risk in Natal then I don't know what's keeping me up at night." "We're trying to build a set of new games, new experiences that will have the same quality metrics of our past games," he said, "but really entice both existing 360 customers and new people. It's a huge challenge, a huge investment and it's fraught with risk." Much as he did in our interview, Spencer equated Natal integration with Live integration, suggesting that it will eventually be ubiquitous. "At the beginning of Live it was all about sports, racing and shooting games," Spencer said. "Now if you found a game that didn't have some kind of Live functionality it would seem like it wasn't a complete game. I think Natal is likely to get there as well." That is somewhat at odds with Aaron Greenberg's statement that Natal games would be almost entirely "completely unique, brand-new experiences." And, as a bonus, he also found time to make one wacky statement about Peter Molyneux. "Haha! Working with Peter is amazing, he's a very creative, inspirational person. Sometimes it's like riding a bull with no saddle, and sometimes it's like reading a great novel, but it's a fun experience." Look for Peter Molyneux's Literodeo among the Project Natal launch lineup.
Tattooed dude is more into Lionhead than you
That's a bold statement in the headline, but it's one we can back up pretty easily by revealing that those are his pecs just above. They've been adorned, as you can see, with not one but two mirrored logos for Peter Molyneux's Lionhead Studios. Though the end product is pretty impressive, we can't help but be a little disappointed to see that it doesn't cover his entire body, glow in the dark and emit soothing jazz music at opportune moments as Molyneux originally promised.
Peter Molyneux on WoW's reward system
You probably know Peter Molyneux's name if you've been playing video games for any significant amount of time -- he's the mind behind such classics as Populous and Dungeon Keeper, all the way up to Black and White and the current Fable series. He recently gave a talk to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and early on his talk (part 1 is here, part 2 and part 3 are also online), he speaks out about our favorite game, World of Warcraft. Specifically, he mentions it as an influence on his game design, and says the most brilliant thing about the game are "the steeds," or the mounts you could pick up at level 40 (nowadays, of course, they're available at level 20). He says that in his own games, he tries to give everything out to the player as soon as possible, but the fact that Blizzard made you wait to ride a mount around, made you work up a few levels for it, really stuck with him. Now, of course, he's taking away his own lessons here -- Blizzard's philosophy with the game as a whole seems to reward the player as much as possible, and especially lately, with emblems and the different modes and all of the other daily and weekly quests they've come up with, they're making you do less waiting for prizes than they ever have before (in fact, compared to MMOs when they first started, much, much less waiting). And Molyneux's own games are very "rewarding" -- I don't think more than two minutes went by in Fable without me getting a level or a new spell or a new item to play around with. But his point is still good, even after all that: anticipation of a reward can be just as strong a motivator as the reward itself.
Molyneux: Milo will boast collective object recognition, accept half-eaten fruit
From a four-by-four pixel face, to a loyal pooch, to an inquisitive youth -- that's the path Peter Molyneux has taken in his quest to find life within technology. "Right, can we dare to create a character which anybody interacting with that character would truly believe was alive?" the renowned designer recently asked attendees of the annual BAFTA Video Game Lecture (transcribed by The Guardian). Harnessing the motion-sensitive camera in Microsoft's Project Natal, Molyneux hopes to breathe that life into a young boy -- or girl! -- named Milo (or Millie!). While he admits that much of it is "smoke and mirrors and tricks," he provided some interesting insight into the technology put to use behind the scenes. It seems Milo won't just recognize you (his imaginary, otherworldly friend), but everyday objects as well. "Firstly the process of scanning is really lovely, you just reach your arm up, you can also scan in three dimensional objects, for example if you are eating an apple you can give that apple to Milo and he will carry on eating the apple," the Lionhead lead explained. But will Milo scan candy held aloft by strangers?"Or the other thing that is amazing about this technology and this is the online portion of inspiration, we are collecting continuing to collect and improve his object recognition skills." If his plans come to fruition, Molyneux envisions "all the Milos that will be released" feeding their observations into a centralized recognition of "everything in the world." To Skynet alarmists: Have you seen this boy?
Peter Molyneux picks his 5 favorite innovators
After discussing his vision for Fable's future, Lionhead's Peter Molyneux recently reiterated his mantra of inclusive gaming innovation to attendees of BAFTA's Annual Video Games Lecture. Citing their ability to challenge "the foundation stones of conventional wisdom," he revealed five titles (documented by That VideoGame Blog) that he considers to be among the most revolutionary within the last two decades.Molyneux praised Tomb Raider for subverting gaming's tough-guy protagonist and named Mario 64 as the genuine precursor to 3D titles like Grand Theft Auto 3. Dune 2 got a nod for its encouragement of more thoughtful tactics, while Bungie's first Halo earned mention for halfway introducing the now-ubiquitous regenerative health system and curtailed weapon swapping. And the fifth title? World of Warcraft, which managed to lure Molyneux to level 40 with promise of a steed. You see? He's human, just like the rest of us.
In-game 'shop' will bring microtransactions to Fable 3
Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux isn't just pushing the curve on Xbox 360 with now-confirmed Project Natal support in Fable 3; during his speech at the annual BAFTA gathering, the legendary designer revealed his intent to integrate an "in-game shop" within the game world, enabling players to purchase DLC without disrupting the game experience (i.e. exiting to the Xbox Live Marketplace). In a report on the presentation, That VideoGame Blog noted that Molyneux had suggested special weapons, for example, could be sold for about £1 ($1.70).Also mentioned were plans to offer "travel" to new areas of the game world (think Fable 2's DLC destinations) for a fee. Molyneux thankfully didn't suggest that such things as tattoos, hair dye and the like -- which were purchased using the in-game currency of Fable 2 -- would be for-pay in its sequel. We imagine that getting the town crier to announce you as "Supreme Ruler of the Universe Who's Better Than Anyone Else at Fable 3 Ever" will carry a modest fee.[Thanks, Rain!]
Molyneux confirms Natal support in Fable 3
Shocking absolutely no one, Peter Molyneux has confirmed that Fable 3 will support Project Natal in some fashion. The confirmation came during a lecture at BAFTA in London. The news was confirmed by Eurogamer's Johnny Minkley, who tweeted the info during the event itself. Molyneux also reportedly showed off Milo and proved that Natal is capable of scanning objects (people, presumably) in bad lighting. Molyneux himself hinted at the possible inclusion of Natal in Fable 3 as recently as two weeks ago, though he neglected to confirm it for fear of a quick, sniper-borne death. So that's that then: Fable 3 will use Project Natal. Of course, we don't speak for everyone, but we can't wait to pretend to fart in front of a crowd of adoring, virtual townsfolk. [Via VG247]
Natal in Fable 3 hinted by a paranoid Molyneux
In an interview with Joystiq, Microsoft's Phil Spencer said he wouldn't be surprised to see Project Natal integration in Fable 3. Another person who wouldn't be surprised? The guy in charge of Fable 3. Peter Molyneux told Game Kings that he was "leaving the most exciting gameplay stuff for later." He then added, "I am going to say it's going to use a controller, but I've never said it's not going to use Natal.""And obviously what would probably happen if I started talking about this is you would see a little red dot appear moving on my forehead," Molyneux continued. "And then as I would start to speak the words then there would be a shotgun fire, and I would be assassinated. Quite clearly, it is that sensitive." But not so sensitive that he can't quite nearly confirm it in the next breath."Do you really think, knowing me, as maybe you do over the years, I wouldn't want to use something like Natal? I mean, that's just mad, man." Let's just lay it out here: The guy responsible for basically the only known Natal project is going to put some Natal segments in Fable 3. We all know this. It's going to happen. Try to look surprised when it's announced at whichever trade show next year.%Gallery-70430%[Via IGN]
