Fable III 'morphs' can be remapped

Lionhead lead artist John McCormack has revealed that Fable III's 'morphs' - physical manifestations of the players' good and evil alignment, like wings, horns or halos - will be controlled by pressing a button. Previously these appeared of their own accord.

"We thought we'd take a different approach with the morphing system this time. We thought that with our current storyline it would be a bit silly for the Hero to be walking around among the public constantly on fire if he is evil or glowing like a god if he is good," McCormack told Beauty of Games. "We thought we'd leave that up to the player."

"Morphing has always been the only part of the Hero's physical appearance that the player has never had control of, so we've made it so that the player can call these 'Extreme Morphs' on the press of a button while looking relatively normal in his chosen appearance.

"There will be plenty of variation in what these extremes are," he added, "but at this period of development, this is an area that we're still experimenting with and trying to push as far as we can."

McCormack also talked of the visual gulf between the rich and poor in the industrialised world of Fable III. Rich may pursue whatever modern delight they so choose, whereas the struggling bottom-feeders are forced into crime and prostitution.

This smoggy era of times gone by was inspired by the likes of British television series Sharpe (where Sean Bean made his name), and from 2006 film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, which starred Dustin Hoffman.

The onset of factories and modernisation means fairytale aspects of Albion have been pushed into nooks and crannies. But this helps reflect Albion's attitude towards these fantastical secrets, which are forgotten as myth until something goes wrong.

There will be a reprieve from the cobbled streets and clanking machinery, however, in the shape of Aurora: "an arid land that has its own set of secrets, mythologies, religions and culture".

Fable III's biggest and boldest feature is the ability to become king or queen and shape the land according to your morals. McCormack said a visual representation of your good or evil side will "certainly" infect your immediate environment.

Weapons, too, will be shaped depending on how you behave: what you kill, how you kill and how many you kill. These customised weapons will grow with players over time and can even be sold online to other players.

McCormack said there are "a hell of a lot" of weapon transformations possible.

"The lack of animals in the Fable franchise is always something that has bothered me and we've gone a little way into improving in this area for the latest instalment," McCormack explained. "In Fable III, so far we've built bats, crows, rabbits, ducks, robins, vultures, lizards, rats, butterflies, moths, insect swarms, dogs, fireflies, geese and we even started on a cow."

Fable III will be released exclusively on Xbox 360 this autumn. Eurogamer has followed Molyneux and Lionhead's latest since its unveiling at gamescom last August. Our gamepage below documents every step of the journey so far.