The Fighting Words of Peter Molyneux

Love to swing swords and sling spells? So does legendary game designer Peter Molyneux, the guiding force behind Fable®, one of gaming's most anticipated titles. But given his love of pushing the game design envelope to its limits, it comes as no surprise that combat in his new fantasy RPG is far more than just swords and spells. Read on to learn what this influential designer tells us about the development of Fable's innovative real-time fighting system.

Real-time, realistic fighting.

Xbox.com: Players often consider combat an essential component of the RPG genre. What kind of fighting experience will players have in Fable?

Peter Molyneux: Our first focus was to make the game easy enough for anyone to pick up and play, so all the player does is grab the controller and start hacking and slashing by pressing just one button. Our second focus was that players who've got the basics should be rewarded for their skill, and so we have a second button—the flourish button—which enables the player to use special moves and a combat multiplier, which multiplies your experience depending on how many blows you strike without being hit back. Our third focus was to enable players to mix combat styles so that they can defeat enemies with a mixture of ranged, sword, and magic combat—which means players can develop their own unique combat style.

Xbox.com: We've seen a trend towards turn-based fighting engines in recent RPG titles, and yet Fable uses a real-time combat system. How did you arrive at this decision?

Peter Molyneux: Because we wanted this to be an action-based RPG, we decided to make combat real-time, but allow players to specialize. We also gave them the ability to speed up and slow down combat, so if the player is skilled and experienced at combat he can speed things up, whereas a more thoughtful player can slow down the action.

The action moves as fast as you can handle it.

Xbox.com: All games and game systems begin as ideas and visions. What did you originally envision for the fighting engine? How has it evolved from that vision?

Peter Molyneux: The idea was make it simple but incredibly deep. We also wanted the combat system to enable players to create their own fighting styles. During testing, we've seen people combine the Turncoat spell with the Summons spell, and use sword combat in ways we'd never envisioned! We also wanted to be sure that all players, whatever their ability, would feel like heroes.

Xbox.com: Fable has three different combat systems: melee, ranged, and magic. Can players become equally proficient in all three, or will they be better served by specializing in just one fighting style?

Peter Molyneux: It's completely up to the player. Some will focus on one style of combat, whereas others will be good at all three.

Xbox.com: What's the strangest bug you ran into while testing the fighting engine?

Peter Molyneux: In the game, you can hire henchmen who will fight alongside you, and they can be either good or evil. However, we found that evil henchmen were slaughtering all the people in the cut scenes before they had a chance to impart the story to the player.

Sneak attacks will definitely feed the dark side.

Xbox.com: Fable allows players to choose their own destiny, and even determine their own morality. How does the fighting engine reflect the combat styles preferred by both good and evil characters?

Peter Molyneux: Certain combat styles and magic spells are only available to good, evil, or neutral alignments.

Xbox.com: One of Fable's most intriguing features is its unique character development system, and we understand that combat will play an important role in developing the Hero. (For instance, the more the Hero engages in melee combat, the more muscular and more adept at swordplay he becomes.) In what other ways does the fighting engine tie into character development?

Peter Molyneux: Every sword stroke, every arrow fired, and every spell cast changes the nature of your character so that he morphs into a unique Hero—so the combat system is intrinsically linked to the game's roleplaying system.

Xbox.com: Sounds fantastic. Thanks, Peter!