Fable II will have have a secret weaponGDC 007 Molyneux talks puppy loveBy Charlie Demerjian in San Francisco: Monday 12 March 2007, 11:06INNOVATION IS A MUST for Fable II, or so said Peter Molyneux. Rather than the normal sequel way of doing things, more toys, shinier graphics, and bigger everything, they were going to use a secret weapon, love. And a dog. Together.There are the usual improvements, the shinier, bigger, and better everything, after all the box has to have a list of these things, people expect that. Guns, more weapons, more clothes, more magic, a bigger and more detailed world, free roaming, and more creatures. All things that make the back of the box, but nothing that can be considered innovative.So, instead of the usual boring stuff, Molyneux decided to make the secret weapon for the new game love, but I can't say it like he did. He said "Luuuuuuuuuuv" and almost swooned at the audience. You can find a person, fall in love, get hitched and have kids. Your kids will look like you, greet you at the door after a long day of adventuring and ask you about the things you did.If you are a good character, your kid will be a good little squirt. If you are evil and slay innocent villages by the score, you kid will grow up to be a maladjusted little twit who gets into fights at school. What more could you ask for?Well, Peter Molyneux thinks dog love is the answer to that question. OK, that sounded really bad, how about a dog that you love? A faithful companion who will throw his life down to save yours, guard you, point out the path to follow and generally be an all around asset to your adventuring.Player loving his dogHe is trying to make a companion that does not get in your way and that you have feelings for. You should want to love it and care for it in sappy detail. You can buy it toys, throw a squeaky ball that will drive game testers absolutely mad, and possibly even those stupid emasculating sweaters if you hate the thing.The dog is a plot device also, if you are wandering off the beaten path, it will point you in the right direction. It also functions as an early warning system to growl at critters around the corner that you can't see yet. The point is to have it be unobtrusive and functional.The three rules of Fable II dog(s) are to "Not piss you off", love you unquestionably, and you not having any direct control of it. The indirectness, like your kids, extends to it's personality too. If you are good, it will be a nice dog. If you are evil, it is a mangy critter that you would not like to have around in real life.One thing the dog will do is to attack your enemies. It will do so intelligently and pick targets to keep you safe. In general, the dog will lay down it's life for you and can be hurt. You can't really see it below, but when the dog takes damage, it whines and limps back to you.Hurt dogJudging from the audience going "Awwwww" when that happened after a 30 minute speech, they felt for the dog. Looks like dog love is part of Fable II. If you are a good character, you can heal your faithful friend, but if you are evil, you can just leave it bleeding there.The love part comes in on the evil side later on. If you leave said faithful companion limping, bleeding and crying, it will come back and find you. Later on in the game, you will be sitting in a pub, and up it will come, crying, limping and bleeding, scratching at the door until it gets let in. Then the pub patrons will turn on you for being such a bastard.If the audience reaction is anything like the real world, Peter Molyneux has done his job. Fable II will have dog love, and it will pull at your heart strings. Ah. µ
