Peter Molyneux: A Conversation
An in-depth, candid dialogue with one of gaming's masterminds.
Australia, August 31, 2009 - Peter Molyneux looked a little worn when we met up with him at this year's GamesCom in Cologne; worn – but warm and accommodating. Perhaps dealing with foreign media was taking its toll – or perhaps he'd rather be curled up with a book about the downfall of Western society, as you'll read. Whatever the reason, Molyneux seemed content, in this small behind-closed-doors cubicle, to speak candidly about Fable – the would-be king of console RPGs, and a series whose quality has always fallen just short of its ambitions – as well as the current problems with the wider industry.
On this particular occasion, Molyneux fell into a warm and genuine conversation with IGN AU, dropping a few mild Fable III spoilers – and even the occasional curse word - into the fray. His nonchalant attitude undercut, in some ways, the air of importance that many place upon him; a game designer placed in the same breath as Shigeru Miyamoto and Sid Meyer and Will Wright who happily tacks 'man' onto the ends of his sentences like some 60s-era vagabond.
Fable III was the discussion point today – but naturally the conversation led to talk of his other big project, 'Milo and Kate' – a human interaction simulation showcased most recently at E3 2009 in Los Angeles. Both projects, as you'll read, beautifully showcase not only Molyneux's fascination with all things subtle and intangible about human interaction and expression, but also Lionhead's unending dedication towards perfecting immersion and depth in games.
IGN AU: It's taken three games so far in the Fable series to accomplish the ambitions, scope and vision you had for the first game.
Peter Molyneux: Wow, that's interesting you should say that.
IGN AU: Well, you tell me what your thoughts are on that. Is it a progressive, building-blocks process?
Peter Molyneux: That's very interesting. We're plagued by this idiotic—well, it's not an idiotic line, I still stand by it—this line that I said back in Fable 1 – 'we want to make the greatest role-playing game of all time'. And I mean that – and I mean that about anything we do. And quite often at Lionhead, I'll say 'look – why are we doing this shit, man? We're not doing this to make the fourth or fifth best role-playing game of all time – we need to make the first.
Australia, August 31, 2009 - Peter Molyneux looked a little worn when we met up with him at this year's GamesCom in Cologne; worn – but warm and accommodating. Perhaps dealing with foreign media was taking its toll – or perhaps he'd rather be curled up with a book about the downfall of Western society, as you'll read. Whatever the reason, Molyneux seemed content, in this small behind-closed-doors cubicle, to speak candidly about Fable – the would-be king of console RPGs, and a series whose quality has always fallen just short of its ambitions – as well as the current problems with the wider industry.
On this particular occasion, Molyneux fell into a warm and genuine conversation with IGN AU, dropping a few mild Fable III spoilers – and even the occasional curse word - into the fray. His nonchalant attitude undercut, in some ways, the air of importance that many place upon him; a game designer placed in the same breath as Shigeru Miyamoto and Sid Meyer and Will Wright who happily tacks 'man' onto the ends of his sentences like some 60s-era vagabond.
Fable III was the discussion point today – but naturally the conversation led to talk of his other big project, 'Milo and Kate' – a human interaction simulation showcased most recently at E3 2009 in Los Angeles. Both projects, as you'll read, beautifully showcase not only Molyneux's fascination with all things subtle and intangible about human interaction and expression, but also Lionhead's unending dedication towards perfecting immersion and depth in games.
IGN AU: It's taken three games so far in the Fable series to accomplish the ambitions, scope and vision you had for the first game.
Peter Molyneux: Wow, that's interesting you should say that.
IGN AU: Well, you tell me what your thoughts are on that. Is it a progressive, building-blocks process?
Peter Molyneux: That's very interesting. We're plagued by this idiotic—well, it's not an idiotic line, I still stand by it—this line that I said back in Fable 1 – 'we want to make the greatest role-playing game of all time'. And I mean that – and I mean that about anything we do. And quite often at Lionhead, I'll say 'look – why are we doing this shit, man? We're not doing this to make the fourth or fifth best role-playing game of all time – we need to make the first.
One of the first glimpses of Fable III. What kind of ruler will you be?
A lot of what makes a great game is the polish and the refinement and the balance; with Fable 1, there were a few things that were short of the mark there, and with Fable II – if I were to mark things and be fairly harsh – I'd give the 'breadcrumb trail' high eights and nines, maybe I'd give some of the iterative cutscenes a three or a four. And we could just concentrate on Fable III and just polishing these. ...And maybe then, it'd be the greatest game of all time. But that's not what people should expect from Lionhead. For me and for people who love working at Lionhead, it is [about] just questioning things that maybe other people don't question about life.
In Fable III, the very story says 'right—why is it there's this formula in both film and games that you start here and you're a little nobody here, and you get more powerful and you hear about a bad guy here... and by the end of the game, you defeat the bad guy; credits roll.
IGN AU: You have that predefined structure in place, with progression and experience points and so on.
Peter Molyneux: Exactly, exactly. And that's TV and that's film and that's books. But I'm fascinated by this part here [Molyneux then indicates towards the centre of an elongated oval that he's been doodling]. This is kind of an untold story – even in Fable II.
IGN AU: So to extrapolate on that thought for a moment, during your presentation, you mentioned that you were breaking an 'insidious, fundamental RPG mechanic.' Are you eliminating endings? Is that what you were referring to?
Peter Molyneux: Good guess, good guess – but it's not the thing I'm referring to. The thing I'm talking about isn't structural as much as it's gameplay. You know, when you work on something and you sit down, it's an interesting process that you go through. I'll give you this example, because it's a good one – and if you extrapolate it and link it to gameplay, it gives you a clue.
A lot of what makes a great game is the polish and the refinement and the balance; with Fable 1, there were a few things that were short of the mark there, and with Fable II – if I were to mark things and be fairly harsh – I'd give the 'breadcrumb trail' high eights and nines, maybe I'd give some of the iterative cutscenes a three or a four. And we could just concentrate on Fable III and just polishing these. ...And maybe then, it'd be the greatest game of all time. But that's not what people should expect from Lionhead. For me and for people who love working at Lionhead, it is [about] just questioning things that maybe other people don't question about life.
In Fable III, the very story says 'right—why is it there's this formula in both film and games that you start here and you're a little nobody here, and you get more powerful and you hear about a bad guy here... and by the end of the game, you defeat the bad guy; credits roll.
IGN AU: You have that predefined structure in place, with progression and experience points and so on.
Peter Molyneux: Exactly, exactly. And that's TV and that's film and that's books. But I'm fascinated by this part here [Molyneux then indicates towards the centre of an elongated oval that he's been doodling]. This is kind of an untold story – even in Fable II.
IGN AU: So to extrapolate on that thought for a moment, during your presentation, you mentioned that you were breaking an 'insidious, fundamental RPG mechanic.' Are you eliminating endings? Is that what you were referring to?
Peter Molyneux: Good guess, good guess – but it's not the thing I'm referring to. The thing I'm talking about isn't structural as much as it's gameplay. You know, when you work on something and you sit down, it's an interesting process that you go through. I'll give you this example, because it's a good one – and if you extrapolate it and link it to gameplay, it gives you a clue.
'Dynamic Touch' will be an interesting new direction and evolution of Fable II's Expression system.
You know with the expression system – it was new and different with Fable 1, and a bit more polished in Fable II – but just adding 20 more expressions in Fable III, it's not enough. And you know, when you're king, just standing around and farting, it's funny for five minutes – but does this really add to it?
Then, inventing this 'touch' mechanic and touch-based expressions...
IGN AU: This is the perfect segue, actually – and I think this is a distinctly Lionhead thing. With 'Milo and Kate' (the Natal human interaction simulation), it's very much about 'touch' too – emotional and, with the camera-passing, physical too. When you looked at Fable III, knowing you wanted to extend the expression mechanic, did you look to your work on Milo and Kate for crossovers?
Peter Molyneux: Do you know, you're right – and the weird thing is, I've only just realised it talking to guys like you.
IGN AU: Well, it's an interesting parallel.
Peter Molyneux: It is. More and more – and these aren't questions I can really answer about Milo because I have some very strict rules about it – but more and more I can feel that it's about a game character meeting you. This is very interesting; it's about making that barrier between you so thin that, subconsciously, I wanted to get that across in Fable. And of course, I'm not announcing any Fable stuff for Natal at all, but the touch mechanic is very much like that.
You know with the expression system – it was new and different with Fable 1, and a bit more polished in Fable II – but just adding 20 more expressions in Fable III, it's not enough. And you know, when you're king, just standing around and farting, it's funny for five minutes – but does this really add to it?
Then, inventing this 'touch' mechanic and touch-based expressions...
IGN AU: This is the perfect segue, actually – and I think this is a distinctly Lionhead thing. With 'Milo and Kate' (the Natal human interaction simulation), it's very much about 'touch' too – emotional and, with the camera-passing, physical too. When you looked at Fable III, knowing you wanted to extend the expression mechanic, did you look to your work on Milo and Kate for crossovers?
Peter Molyneux: Do you know, you're right – and the weird thing is, I've only just realised it talking to guys like you.
IGN AU: Well, it's an interesting parallel.
Peter Molyneux: It is. More and more – and these aren't questions I can really answer about Milo because I have some very strict rules about it – but more and more I can feel that it's about a game character meeting you. This is very interesting; it's about making that barrier between you so thin that, subconsciously, I wanted to get that across in Fable. And of course, I'm not announcing any Fable stuff for Natal at all, but the touch mechanic is very much like that.
