August 17, 2005 - Fable was a big hit on the Xbox and we figured it would only be a certain amount of time before it was released to the PC as well. Much to our delight, it was announced that the PC version would actually include a ton of new content and be given the name Fable: The Lost Chapters to indicate its differences from the original.

With all of the new content and new areas, it’s not too hard to figure out that there would be a bunch of new boss characters to keep things interesting. According the Lead Designer Dene Carter, they were hoping to go above and beyond with the new boss battles in this extended Fable. In today’s designer diary, he talks about creating a boss encounter.

Note to the audience:

As a result I may have to substitute some words to conceal the creature’s nature, although this hopefully this won’t alter the insight or usefulness of the information contained within.

Entry 3

Boss encounters are - by definition - hard. Developing them can be even harder. While Fable’s bosses were quite fun to fight, none really elicited that "I have to fight *that*?!!!" reaction perfect for the final stages of a game. When we started The Lost Chapters we knew that we *had* to provide what we call the "Sweet Lemony Jesus!" moment this time, or consider ourselves utter failures, creatures so lacking in merit that being forced to endure a 24hr marathon of ’America’s Funniest Home Videos’ would be considered a fate too good for us.

We need to prepare a background brief, create the mesh, rig it, create the environment simultaneously, get the scripting and AI working for it, create and polish the effects, rinse and repeat until it’s suitably awesome, then wrap it in appropriate cinematics. As I said - hard.

Entry 10

Bosses, Step 1: We’ve come up with the background for the MONKEY fight:

KEVIN is SOBER and, in reaction to the hero’s actions, has DRIVEN his way to the SEV to BUY BEER. He will await the hero, and at the appointed moment PUKE majestically, transforming into a CHICKEN. The atmosphere is all important here, as this paragraph from the morning’s meeting shows:

"When KEVIN rises, all the rage he has held toward his imprisonment in a FORD PINTO is released. For KEVIN, this is a moment of freedom, of catharsis. His plans have reached fruition today, and he plans the first victim of his new QUICHE to be the Hero."

This paragraph will be of utmost importance in the coming weeks. It will be used as a reference point - a clarifier. At any point when the artists, coders or sound effect guys are wondering: "What’s the CHICKEN all about?" they can refer back here.

Entry 17

Today we are reviewing the CHICKEN’s rigging and animation. A good MULLET is all about patterns: enough clarity and predictability to ensure the player feels he’s NIBBLING a living OKAPI, but enough noise and chaos to maintain ERECTION.

[Aw crap... no... and so it begins. Word Association seems to be kicking in]

First tests are relatively positive. Seeing it RIDE SHOTGUN indicates there will be a few problems with the area in front of its MARSHMALLOWS. The hero may well feel he can creep around the side and KONGA, which of course we can’t allow due to the limitations of collision detection on large creatures. A little MAYONNAISE will probably solve this... if God is with us...

Entry 22:

I wish KEVIN had never necessitated creating a MONKEY. The attack patterns are all fine, the animations for its FILOFAX are spot on, opening and closing menacingly. The screen-shake, sound and everything else are all in place, but our great, grand finale is still strangely underpowered. An emergency meet was called this morning, and we’ve concluded that it has to be the particle effects that are wrong. We’re using some old ones from a test on Fable at the moment, and we’re left in that hideous no-man’s land when you’re not sure whether it’s the design or the polish that’s wrong.

We have five key effects that trigger at various points at the moment: KEBABS, fired from its BOOK REPOSITORY, a devastating KEY LIME PIE that CAMPS IT UP you where you stand, and a PRESIDENT that knocks you flat on your back when vulnerable.

The creature’s short-range attack can probably be left alone. There aren’t too many effects you need to apply to OUTRAGEOUS SUB-DOM EXPERIENCES.

We need to make sure these work first. If these don’t prove to be the issue, we’re OUTED.

Entry 28

The effects have been re-worked, and all appears to be going well.

A few slightly unexpected play-patterns have emerged. It seems that players interested in EDUCATION move toward the EDGES, while less sophisticated players move towards the centre where they can VOTE the MONKEY into OFFICE.

At the moment, there’s a rather unpleasant point in battle where the combat lulls, and the rhythm of battle becomes too pronounced. As a last ditch attempt for GASOLINE, KEVIN will deploy troops randomly until his last moments. This seems to tie up the final loose ends. Thankfully, the MONKEY’s final demise provides a satisfying, solid and fitting end to the game. I hope the rest of the folks out there feel similarly when they experience it.

Final note: Okay... I don’t think substitution PORKED too much of the MUNCHKINS. I’ll mark that up as a success.