Some New Info and Co-op confirmed

[XXXREAPERXXX]

from 1up: on the combat and enemy AI

hat freedom applies equally to Fable 2's combat. Its one-button system -- in which each button controls a certain fighting style -- is still a key feature of the game. Holding down the button charges up special moves. Jamming someone up against a nearby environmental object will unlock other context-sensitive special moves. Simple button-mashing opens up still another different set of special moves, as does pressing the button with a rhythm. "It's simple, but when you're a skilled player, you get a lot out of it," says Molyneux. Then, asking that we turn off our cameras, he can't resist showing us something he says he's demoing for the first time: magical powers used in brilliant combos with swordplay and guns. Area-of-effect spells that look like chain lightning dissipate all surrounding enemies by pushing them out of the heroine's radius while her partner slices them with swords. It's a vivid display of Fable 2's "simulation" -- Molyneux's term for the game's emergent A.I. "Traditionally in the games industry we've been doing what I call scripted combat," he says, referring to having enemies with preprogrammed actions and set fighting styles. In Fable 2, "how hard these enemies are and how they react is all based on who I am and how I fight," says Molyneux. So, an enemy using swords and guns will elicit different enemy A.I. than one heavily relying on magic. "That ability to be able to match people with different playing styles and different abilities is something we've really been focusing on."
Another aspect of the emergent combat A.I. is the dynamic experience system that rewards skilled players who use more sophisticated combos -- a large component of which will use objects in the environment (trees, walls, bridges, cliffs, spikes, etc.). Molyneux explains: "What I think now when I see a cliff is, 'Great, I can hardly wait to get someone off there.' If I'm just mashing I'll get X [amount of] experience. If I used a powered-up attack, or a 'flourish,' I'll get double experience. If I use a flourish and knock someone back against a spike, I'll double the experience again. If I knock someone back against a spike and they fall off a cliff, I'll get double the experience again. If I knock someone up in the air and [my partner] shoots him while he's in the air, I'll get double the experience again. And that way every single piece of combat is completely different."


And because this is Fable, in which your character ages depending on his experience, "that means if you're truly skilled, [when you finish the game] your hero is going to look amazing -- he'll be an incredible hero standing on top of a hilltop with everybody worshiping you," says Molyneux. "If you're a casual gamer, your hero will look pretty much a little bit of a wimp." The game difficulty will also be dynamic, though perhaps not to the extreme of a game like Oblivion with its directly scaling difficulty. "I want you to feel entertained," he says. So, level 50 players can enter level 5 worlds, and "enemies will scale themselves a little bit, but they'll scale themselves around the summation of both [players]."
The system certainly looks deep, and Molyneux promises it will appeal to virtually any gamer. "My dream is for people who play Fable 2 to be the casual market, and very simple, accessible combat is part of that," he says. But the system is just as equally intended for the hardcore gamer -- which Molyneux emphasizes by making one of his trademark ambitious promises. His goal? "To invent a combat system that anybody, whether they'd played a computer game before or not, could play and enjoy, but the most diehard gamer could hold up against any combat-based game, ever."
"You're going to kill me [in your reviews] for that," he says, laughing.

Fable 2's story reflects its designer's grand hopes, as well. "If I can get you to feel something as a player, then this will be a memorable game," says Molyneux. To achieve this, the game confronts the player with emotional situations. You can marry and have children who grow up to be like you. If you're good, your kids will be too. But lead a nasty life, and you'll see your spawn following in your hellish footsteps. You can hit on members of the opposite sex and raise a family. Gamers playing as female heroes get pregnant if they have unprotected sex (and during pregnancy, your heroine's body will morph semirealistically; breasts swell -- ankles won't. "It's been a strange journey for me," says Molyneux. "I can appreciate something more of the female ethos now").

Some stuff we know , some interesting

[Rhadiel]

Originally Posted by Dark Drakan

Amazing news, and co-op... i cant quite believe it. I never thought they would actually be able to pull it off but after looking at it and seeing it in action im stunned. Looks like a seamless and very enjoyable system and i think we are all going to have great fun with it. Awesome how you can just hope into someones game, like a merc for hire and then leave after levelling up and getting new items and go back to your own. Im stunned and in awe... +rep to you both and ive put this on the homepage.

One thing that confuses me though, if that was offline co-op (because he wont mention online as he said there) how does it get transferred back to your game? Unless you have a memory card and can save onto it and then take that back...

i agree. i didnt think they would find a way to put co-op in the game. i wonder how the story will unfold tho. there seems to be alot other things to do than just quest till you beat te game. and btw they didnt say anything about "locking on" to enemies. it would be alot easier to shoot. but not having lock on would make the game more realistic.

[TcoWhite]

Guys another link you might find useful xD

Fable 2 Trailers, Fable 2 Videos, Fable 2 Gameplay

GameVideos.com - Fable 2 'GDC 2008 Presentation' video

[sabre3993]

u've had alota good posts, +rep!!

[Walker]

I can hardly wait to actually see the videos and articles when I get home.

I wonder, though-- apparently your teammate can affect your XP. But what about your alignment? If you team up with an evil scum who kills innocent puppies and small children; will that make you less of a sterling figure?

[TcoWhite]

Originally Posted by Walker

I can hardly wait to actually see the videos and articles when I get home.

I wonder, though-- apparently your teammate can affect your XP. But what about your alignment? If you team up with an evil scum who kills innocent puppies and small children; will that make you less of a sterling figure?

WoW that never popped into my mind xD, makes me think a little.
Oh well, PMis probably the only one who knows xD

[Dark Drakan]

Originally Posted by Walker

I can hardly wait to actually see the videos and articles when I get home.

I wonder, though-- apparently your teammate can affect your XP. But what about your alignment? If you team up with an evil scum who kills innocent puppies and small children; will that make you less of a sterling figure?

Wouldnt have thought someone elses actions would have any impact on your own character.

[Orpheus Lupus]

Aside from slaughtering your family, of course.

Other than that, though, I don't think it affects your *alignment*. Probably. We don't quite know for sure yet.

[Dark Drakan]

Originally Posted by Orpheus Lupus

Aside from slaughtering your family, of course.

Yeah of course, there is that.

[DJ D Mix]

Yes, anthoer co-op game!

[ashinator]

whats cool is that anyone here could easily meet up on any ones x box

[the4thnorse]

very cool stuff, thanks for posting

[sabre3993]

xbox really does need some decent co-op games, cuz the only ones to really play r gears and h3, thats why i'm pretty excited about army of 2

[Rhadiel]

Originally Posted by ashinator

whats cool is that anyone here could easily meet up on any ones x box

not really. not everyone has live

[sabre3993]

^thank u 4 sayin that. lol