Lionhead co-founder Peter Molyneux says he had to "fight" to get same-sex marriage in Fable, as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Microsoft was wary about its inclusion. Molyneux says Lionhead "absolutely insisted on giving people choice in the game", despit꧙e concerns about extending that to more marriage options.
Molyneux shares this as part of our report into the making of Fable 2, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:which is available to read in ꦕfull now. From numerous delays to the developers' initial hatred of the loveable dog companion, former Lionhead devs walk us through every step of Fable 2's creation, and how they crafted one of the most iconic Xbox games of all time.
"I had to fly over to Microsoft and talk to the senior management to justify gay marriage," says Molyneux, speaking about some of the issues Lionhead ran into during Fable 2's development. He adds that Microsoft wasn't "against it" personally, but implies that upper management felt it wasn't necessary for the game.
Same-sex marriage was available in the first Fable, but sexuality was handled very differently. Fable 2 would be the first game in which NPCs had their own sexualities, barring the player from hooking up with anyone who wasn't interested in their gender. One quest even centres around helping a man come out to his father, as he tries to set his son up with a woman.
However, both Molyneux and others at Lionhead agree that they didn't always get it right. In hindsight, Molyneux says there was "a lot of dodgy woke stuff in Fable 2", as the team were trying to shove a bunch of new features into the sequel, hoping to differentiate it from the first game.
Dene Carter, creative director of the Fable series, agrees. “Fable is a flawed, silly gem, with a lot of heart and almost literal blood, sweat, and tears poured into it," he says. "It's also a product of its time, and is lacking in delicacy in its handling of certain themes. I don't think these aspects can be recaptured, and would argue nor should they."
While not explicitly mentioned, one example of this "lack in delicacy" can be found in the cruel depiction of a pantomime dame later in the game. Here, the NPC's crossdressing is represented very cartoonishly, and as a sign of their mental instability. In general, crossdressing is largely mocked in Fable.
Of course, that doesn't mean the series will never get the chance to go further with its progressive elements. After years on ice, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Fable is back, albeit with new developers. Many of the original developers told me that they're looking forward to seeing what the new team has come up with, intrigued to be players this time, not creators.