Perhaps stripping the navigation out of its E3 demo for the Kinect-only Fable title, Fable The Journey. was a terrible idea.. In retrospect, Lionhead Studios boss Peter Molyneux thinks they should have left the navigational features of the game in the demo. Because it was stripped to keep a tighter control on the presentation, many media types and viewers believed the game to be an "on rails shooter."
This, Molyneux has claimed in multiple interviews this week, is not the truth, but he blames himself for that perception. Speaking to OXM after his part in the Microsoft E3 briefing, Molyneux actually apologized for the game's debut, calling the whole thing a "horrendous mistake."
"I made a horrendous mistake on the press demo on taking out the navigation allowing players to move," he stated. "I'll state on record now that Fable: The Journey is definitely not on rails."
While Fable: The Journey may have come off as an on rails shooter, it was not the only game presentation from Microsoft that felt like movement was being controlled by the game and not the person controlling the action on-screen during Microsoft’s presser.. And to Molyneux's discredit, he still hasn't explained how players move when they are out in the wilderness and away from the horse and carriage they operate on the old dark and dirty roads of the lands..
Source: Develop
Comments
Re: Molyneux: E3 Fable Demo 'a Horrendous Mistake'
They are just doing this to please MS but honestly Fable as of now might not be the best game for Kinect if you ask me they should make a Black and White Kinect game or finish Milo
Black and White would be an interesting game on Kinect if they actually made it more of a sandbox
Re: Molyneux: E3 Fable Demo 'a Horrendous Mistake'
Peter, every game you made after Dungeon Keeper is a horrendous mistake.
Re: Molyneux: E3 Fable Demo 'a Horrendous Mistake'
To be honest, what was silly was, after creating a unique style of game which indirectly led to stuff like Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft, Bullfrog decided they weren't going to make and more RTS games. Black and White was good and interesting, but then it got over-simplified in B&W2 and pretty much from that point outwards, the whole Molyneux powerhouse got diverted into more formulaic stuff.
It's a pity really, as I used to love the old-school Bullfrog games like Populous and DK, it was kind of sad to see things go mainstream and predictable.
Re: Molyneux: E3 Fable Demo 'a Horrendous Mistake'
All of Fable is turning into a horrendous mistake.
I'm sure it's navigatable, but the question is whether navigation controls are horrible.
Re: Molyneux: E3 Fable Demo 'a Horrendous Mistake'
"I'll state on record now that Fable: The Journey is definitely not on rails."
I want to believe him, but he goes on record about a lot of features that never come close to being in his games.
Re: Molyneux: E3 Fable Demo 'a Horrendous Mistake'
I'm saying Bullshit, there's no way a kinect title could not be on rails since there's no way to controller the character unless they released an accessory like the playstation move nav controller
Re: Molyneux: E3 Fable Demo 'a Horrendous Mistake'
One thing i notice during the on rails demo... at no point was the character both moving AND casting a spell. This has me thinking that the player might have the navigation but they will have switch between walking and combat. First you navigate and move with your hands, then you stop and cast your spells. A very unexciting way to play... but that's just my guess
Another thing you can look at is the gameplay demo for the kinect starwars game. I mean ya there is some freedom of movement, but the movement seems klunky. frankly i think navigation can be done with kinect I just seriously question how WELL it can be done. I mean just because you can move a character around by say, twisting your body and leaning foward to walk, does not mean it will mesh well with active combat and be a fun way to play the game.
But really, this issue would be easily solved with nothing more than a navi controller. Honestly use the navi to control the player's freemovments and then use the rest of your body for gameplay/combat... its seems like such a simple fix,