When you look at those they've set the standard for what people expect in a remastered game. There was Halo Anniversary which was very successful a couple of years ago, and there's Legend of Zelda Ocarina of time on the 3DS which I love. At one stage we had over 100 artists working on the art. There's so many different parts and components. But a remaster on the scale of Fable: The Lost Chapters is a huge undertaking. Sure, it's a remaster, not a full-on remake. You have to approach it as you would making a brand new game. How does the development process of the original Fable compare to Fable Anniversary? Whether that's been catching up with old colleagues who I worked with on the original or working on the new behind-the-scenes strategy guide. I'm probably ready now for the nostalgia of this year to end. There's loads of things I'd like to fix, that frankly, pissed me off when I was a tester.
I know the game inside out from being a tester. When the opportunity came up to work on Anniversary I didn't feel like I had to even think about it.
I was offered the opportunity to work on a couple of different things but I felt like I owed it to the franchise that gave me my first opportunity. I'm very proud to now be in a position where I can look after the Fable-ness of our games and work on things like Fable Anniversary. I started as a tester in 2003 so it was really nice to go back to something that started my game career. How was it going back to a game ten years later? You started at Lionhead doing QA work on Fable: The Lost Chapters and now you oversee the whole franchise. Here, he compares the development of the two games, the balance of pleasing old fans and new, tweaking the original game design and re-establishing Fable as not just a Peter Molyneux game. That might sound like a fancy title, but Ted has earnt it, starting out at developer Lionhead ten years ago as a QA tester on Fable: The Lost Chapters before working his way through two sequels, its spin-offs and this remastered version of the original.
#FABLE ANNIVERSARY REVIEW DIFFICULTY SERIES#
With Fable Anniversary due for release in Europe this Friday, we got the opportunity to speak with Ted Timmins, franchise manager of the Fable series for Microsoft. There's loads of things I'd like to fix, that frankly, pissed me off." "I know the game inside out from being a tester. Ten-year Fable veteran Ted Timmins discusses the acorn that grows into an oak tree, "rubbish" quests, why Fable Anniversary will never score a 10, and stepping out from Molyneux's shadow.