Villagers are real?

The simulation of worlds plays a vital role in game design at Lionhead Studios and Fable is no exception. Most of the time, worlds in RPG's are pre-defined, which means events and reactions are pre-scripted and you can't disrupt people and their actions in any possible way. I always hate walking into a town; expecting a place full of life, only to discover villagers stand there looking with glazed eyes while you stab everyone in the back with your sword. How many times did I try to get people react to what I did or say, but only very rarely got a word out of those virtual humans and creatures that actually made some sense. That's something that's supposed to make Fable unique; and it's all thanks to the AI team working at Lionhead Studios, who are famous (and awarded) for the work they've done in the past on AI and simulations of worlds.

The past months Adam Russell for example (who is part of that team) has been working on the villager's AI in Fable, which means he is the person to talk to about this topic. Let me tell you a little bit about the man first; Adam manages to change his look after every big date Fable went through. When we were aiming for our milestone last Christmas (these are being set by the developer to have a certain amount of work being done), he didn't shave for a couple of weeks. This resulted in a remarkable likeness of his looks with those of the bearded hero in Fable. Only recently his looks changed into a movie mogul who we all know as Steven Spielberg, including cap, glasses and of course the beard. If he does take the effort to shave, the resemblance with Millhouse (i.e. The Simpons) is even bigger! He's also a very interesting person, has clear and honest thoughts about the world, simulations and brutal force and gore. All of this is represented in his work and ideas the many late nights he has spend working on the AI for the villagers and town life in Fable is outstanding! But let's give the whole AI team credit for their work; Mike Ducker (Official Ducker Day anyone?), Dave "Boats" Smith and Ollie Purkiss for their incredible world that makes Fable.

Recently, I've had the chance to sit with Adam and he gave me an extensive presentation of some of the possibilities in Fable's AI. For the first time I really had an accurate look at what this simulation is actually doing ingame, and I must say my very high expectations regarding villager's life were met and even exceeded&

He started with what the villagers actually can do; in the morning they will get up and leave their homes, some of them to go to work. A shopkeeper will patiently wait behind the counter for a customer to drop by and trade during working hours. While doing that, villagers without a job will wonder around in town, check the market place for interesting sales or chat up with friends and spread gossip! This all comes with animations and sound.

In the evening people will go to the pub if they fancy a night out and get extremely drunk. Not all of them, some might leave the pub sober. The gamekeeper in the pub for example spends almost his whole day and night drinking and playing games, only to collapse on his table and wait for the doors to open again. The poor man has no life, and he knows it!

The barkeeper will serve drinks and the barmaids will bring it to people's table. I was astonished to see how this whole world just goes on and on, the level of detail; every day is a new one, with people living lives of their own, having their own house, bed and much more.

So far Adam was only showing me the actual life in the towns, but no sign whatsoever from people's reaction to you as a hero in the world of Albion. And this is the part that will astonish everyone, villagers don't stand there waiting for you to greet them or for you to start talking to them, no they will occasionally say hello to you, greet you in many different ways and comments on different things. All of this depends on several things such as renown, alignment, clothing, your behaviour and even your overall look. It comes with spoken dialogue; you walk around in town and every now and then a villager will react to you, make funny remarks, and start laughing or run away frightened if you are a real baddy. You will have a unique relationship with every single person in the world; everyone will have his or her own opinion about you. This - for example - makes it possible for you to be a complete bastard in one town and two miles up north people love you because you own half of the village and rent houses and shops out to them!

You can also interact with the people in town, by use of expressions such as giggle, scream, swear or show off. They will react to these expressions, depending on your personality and such, which comes of great use for building up relations with them and changing their opinions on you as a hero.

You can also chat up women (and I am told even some men) and go from there. If you get them interested, you can start to flirt, buy presents and eventually get married. While doing so, she will give you courting advice telling you what to do next to keep her interest. And this goes for much more then just getting married! Schools, shops, pubs, whatever! Adam managed after some hard labor to get married, only to start annoying his wife a couple of hours after the marriage with insulting her, growing a beard and getting a tattoo. She didn't like it, and slowly started having a serious drinking problem. When Adam finally started flirting with other women she got really angry and asked herself why she could ever be bothered marrying him.

There is much more to discover and Adam showed me so much more incredible stuff. It's like finally getting what I've always been waiting for but never got from other role playing games; a living and breathing world. As a Community member I am really looking forward to what people actually discover and manage to do with the AI of Fable, as all different possibilities can be combined and linked, which will cause even more incredible things to happen.

Share your stories once Fable is out!

Sam, Community Pet Lionhead Studios