Microsoft thrall and game designer Peter Molyneux has confirmed that Fable III will be episodic, stating that "the first big episodes" will make up the main game, and smaller installments shall follow as DLC.
"I've often thought it would be brilliant to be walking through Charles Dickens' London. It was such a dark place and very episodic too -- so we're doing that with Fable III," he explains. "We'll give you the first big episodes, and you'll be able to download new episodes, which is analogous to the way Dickens wrote."
Molyneux also says that DLC will be handled within the game, as some of Albion's shops are connected to the Internet. This eliminates the need to use what he calls "some horrible dashboard" when purchasing content.
On the subject of Natal, the designer explained that waggle is purely optional: "You still need a controller to play Fable III but there are places in the world where you can use Natal, where it's cute, funny, engaging. You don't need it but it does enable an enhanced Fable III."
So, how about that Fable III?
Peter Molyneux: Fable III and Emotional Games [Bit-Tech]
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Contest:
8:40 AM on 03.23.2010
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I don't know any other way to explain my experiences with Fable 2.
You had me man! You fucking had me! What's with this shit!?
also pointless Natal minigames in Fable III: confirmed.
If I don't have the option to buy the disc copy, then I don't like this idea.
This is just Peter M. rephrasing the Bioware DLC model.
As for episodic DLC...meh. I wasn't playing to rush out to get this one, and now, I'll definitely wait. Something like Sam and Max, episodic content works. A full-priced retail game? Not so sure about that.
Also, the Fable 2 DLC wasn't all that great. Knothole Island was fun but way too short. 'See The Future' was a rip-off.
From the source- "but I’ve often thought it would be brilliant to be walking through Charles Dickens’ London. It was such a dark place and very episodic too – so we’re doing that with Fable 3, we’ll give you the first big episodes, and you’ll be able to download new episodes, which is analogous to the way Dickens wrote.
[Molyneux goes on to talk about the levels of internet awareness in the game] Some of the shops in Albion are linked to the internet, and every so often, populated by stuff from Lionhead."
... kinda sounds like how Fable II worked. So we're still getting a big box, the story is chopped into episodes, and the DLC are, in themselves, episodes.
I mean, read it how you want, but I think everyone's assuming we're downloading the whole game bit by bit... and I don't think we're right about that.
On the flip side, I also don't mind over-paying for DLC that's kind of "meh" if the original game provided a lot of value. I'm thinking of Fallout 3 in this instance.
The way I read it is like he said it. The first few episodes compose of the main game, so let's say 3 episodes for arguments sake. Then the later episodes, the 3 following episodes, would be smaller episodes not composing of the main game and totally distant from the bigger picture, therefore those are "optional."
There could still be a boxed version he's not telling us about. Correction: There'd [b]better[/i] be a boxed version he's not telling us about.
London was 'episodic'? How the french flying taf is a city 'episodic'. Did Dicken characters walk down to Big Ben, then have to pay an extra 5 quid to make Piccadilly Square appear? God, what the hell is Peter Molyneux ever talking about, and why do video game folks pay so much attention to that windbag?
Fable II had a ton of visual humor/craftsmanship, but it grew stale within 2 hours and was over by five. How about making a Fable that's actually, mechanically, a fresh, lengthy, immersive game before jumping on to some new half-backed scheme.
>I think you guys are missing the point -- the first episode will be $60, and contain as much content as you'd expect Fable games to have (so, five to ten hours?) Then you're all set to buy the later episodes!
So the point is....we can shell at $60 for a continuation of some of the shortest single player games around (Fable series), then bend over, smile coyly, and drop more duckets for whatever Molyneux burps out.
Repeat this mantra in your head about DLC: 'Less Work, More Money'. That's what everyone is after, and that's, outside of MMO's and multi-player, what video game makers are going to achieve with DLC. Yes, in theory, it could be cool. Also, in theory, communism works. In the shiny world of reality, DLC is a way for game makers to do less work, and make more money. DLC has been a normal feature in the PC market for over a decade, how's that market doing in comparison to consoles? DLC magically revolutionize the games in that market?
Personally, I can't think of DLC that provides more value for the money than Fallout 3's add-ons. I'm seriously trying to think of an example, but none of the DLC from Fable II, Mass Effect or Dragon Age really comes close IMO.
Yeah, its makes sense digesting source article. But I think the title threw a few people off in the comments, from the notion of what "confirming episodic" means in the context of Fable II, what did that full package, whole downloaded episodic thing after the fact last year.
How the fuck is place episodic? That makes no goddamn sense.
How about London, as Charles Dickens used it, was presentable in a way that the world could be experienced in episodes easily. Never read Dickens, but I gather that the city/era that he wrote about lent itself, perhaps by order of social diversity and rapid change, to being presented as a series of episodes.
Kinda how Liberty City, as presented by GTAIV/RockStar/Those Brothers, is episodic.
I'm gonna elaborate a bit on what Tubatic said as someone who knows a wee bit of Dickens. Basically what Dickens would do was Dickens would grab a certain area of London that he wanted to focus on and write on it. Than Dickens would stroll on through London and find another area to highlight. So all-in-all he captured the essence of London at the time episodically by focusing on certain areas in his writing.
Molyneux kind of said it awkwardly. Although in his defense he did clarify with "which is analogous to the way Dickens wrote." Perhaps you overlooked that. I dunno.
I can tell Molyerenrux334rux that if he makes a game that I want to play, but then tells me I have to stop playing until I buy the new content I probably won't bother.
A complete story told over the course of equally-sized chunks is episodes. TV series, Star Wars movies, Siren: Blood Curse, .hack ... episodes.
As for good DLC, the General Knoxx add-on for Borderlands beats Fallout's best IMO. New vehicles and more dialog from Scooter = epic win.
Sorry, dude, but you're the one who is wrong. You do realise that the succession of Kings/Queens is refferred to as Episodic, as well as many other meanings, it's not just about TV shows....oh, and guess what, we Brits have a Monarchy, and guess what the Capital of our country is...? You catching on now?
Right, for people defending Pilkington, err..Molyneux: episodic is an adjective which describes a certain style illustrated by the duration of time or a pattern of intervals. So the succession of monarchy can be episodic. A written work can be, in it's actual form, episodic. A city, unless like I wrote above you have to pay a couple pounds to make you mate's flat appear in the city, is not episodic.
Yes, you can basically cobble together what Pilkinmolyneux was trying to say. But this is a guy who get's a ton of (unexplainable) cred for being some sort of gaming public intellectual, and he's hilariously botching basic concepts. A kid on a message board can get a pass with that type of error, not this wanker.
Although Bioshock reminded me of Burroughs. Now that I think about it, it really leaves kinda Burroughs-esque aftertaste. hm
I'm torn between Slough and Dewsbury.
You sound very understanding and open minded. >.>
I do believe his cred comes from his older projects which were quite the "what-to-do," in their time. Nowadays he's "the crazy guy." I dunno where you get the idea that the press (lulz, we're calling them "the press") treat him so kingly. I see him getting ragged on all the time. From here to Game Informer and everywhere in between.
You just sound like you hate him to me. Calm down. You're becoming the exact thing you're raging against just in a different color.
I don't get how it's relevant to Dickens or a videogaming though. Are you saying that Dickens' books are all set under different monarchs? Or it's "episodic" in that it very strongly reflects one specific episode of English history? I thought you got to be a king yourself in Fable III, maybe he means you'll get to play your successors too?
Whatever the case, in videogaming normally "episodes" mean you get short, complete, stories that advance a larger plot (sometimes?) when taken together... it's the opposite of buying a full-length game with a complete story arc.
I take it you have no nostalgia for some of Bullfrog's finest hours. The guy has, you know, actually contributed to the gaming industry. You make out like he's some sort of Walter Mitty who's done nothing but talks the talk regardless. He might be slightly eccentric, but where's the harm in that. Some gamers here act like he raped they're fucking cat or something. Precious.
Is this what he meant when he said this would upset people? It certainly turns me off, but then, so did Fable 2. Never again Pete.
This could turn out quite cool, or it could be a disaster. If there were a lot of smaller stories to tell set in the same universe - a bit like Bleak House - releasing individual episodes with a single plot each (and maybe a longer arc running through, Sam and Max style) may be a more interesting way to tell it. This will need a complete overhaul of the Fable formula however. I don't think the "this is your hero, watch him grow up" kind of deal is well suited for episodes.
There are merits of episodic gaming, but it has to be done right to be effective. Otherwise you just end up pissing a lot of people off (Molyneux did say Fable 3 would do that) when they've paid a significant portion of cash for one chunk, can no longer continue with the story.
Oh, and on the subject of money, its irritating that this game may not be available to order online for half the RRP, like everything else is! If there's one thing I hate about DLC, its premium prices.