Writing Fable, Part Two

The guys at Grand Text Auto have released a second article about the writing in Fable, this time focusing on the world itself and the NPCs that inhabit it. Here’s a taste:

Now, finally, to what may be the most interesting thing about the writing of Fable the connections between the story writing and the writing for the world simulation. The main site of this is in characters who are part of the story. A number of these characters had their story dialogue recorded by a voice actor who also recorded dialogue for a class of NPCs. These story characters are classified as belonging to the appropriate NPC groups, and their story functions may also be represented by the world simulation in alternate ways. This allows Fable to seamlessly switch the characters between (story) and (world) control. As James puts it, (This has never before been implemented in a game and hugely adds to the richness.)