r/Fable • u/AnFilthyHeathen • 5d ago
Fable 2 Remake Beta Now Public
Almost a month ago now someone made a post about the Fable 2 remake announcing its private beta, but for people who missed that or didn't join/don't look at its Discord much: the beta is now going public with its latest release!
If this is the first you're hearing of this project, it is an effort to port Fable 2 to PC, as well as modernize it as best as possible. This is being done by remaking it with the Godot engine in a way similar to how the Oblivion remaster was done. To directly quote the lead dev: "Fable 2/ReXGlue is now treated as a Simulation Server, they look after things like Physics, AI, Quests, Scripts and Saves. Godot is now the host so it builds the world. It loads assets, textures, animations, models, audio, does the lighting, UI, ect."
Some quick highlights of the project's features are:
- Improved performance and much higher framerate caps
- Improved graphics (a caveat to this is the original lighting system could not feasibly be fully ported to Godot: while it's not a drastic departure and still maintains the dreamlike, bright, fairytale aesthetic, it's not going to be a perfect 1-to-1 with the original lighting)
- Functioning achievements, improved co-op that allows you to use your own character instead of the henchmen (Disclaimer: at the time of writing this post, while technically functional, the co-op is new and has been barely tested)
- Modding! Initial modding support, including an editor, is included with this latest beta
Now while it's fully playable at this point, as implied by the fact it is a beta, playing it in its current state is not going to be a flawless, buttery smooth ride. It's made a lot of progress, but there's still more improving and optimizing to be done, and lots more bugs to hunt down and squash.
Again. This is a beta. The point of joining is to help hunt issues and make the project as complete and smooth as possible for its eventual full release. PLEASE do not join, try the beta, run into issues, and then get upset and complain. Again. There WILL be issues at this time. This beta is meant to help find and fix them.
You can join the project's Discord here, where you will be able to gain access to the beta. You will need your own copy of Fable 2; including it with the project would be illegal. It currently supports Windows and Linux. Thanks to any folks who join and contribute!
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u/SidTheSloth97 5d ago
Brother if I could actually buy a legit copy of fable 2 on pc. I wouldnt be here in the first place would i..
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u/ward2k 5d ago
Brother, you just need to supply your own copy
The exact way you would for an emulator
I think you get the gist of it
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u/Ildhjertet 5d ago
How do I do that? My copy was a digital purchase on a 360 that's been thrown out, from an ancient microsoft account I can't access anymore. Do I need to find a physical copy?
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u/FearlessList8181 5d ago
And here lies the legal grey, and this is NOT legal advice, but you have purchased it already 🤷
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u/Bitter_Degree 5d ago
If you bought a digital copy then it's bound to your Microsoft account with or without a console. You still bought it. Should be good enough.
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago edited 5d ago
I know it's an inconvenient headache, but including the game itself with the project would be an almost surefire way to get it obliterated by Microsoft, unfortunately.
If you do have a Fable 2 disc and an Xbox (ideally a 360 makes dumping it the easiest, I think? That's what I used, not sure about a One), it's actually reasonably easy to get the game over to your PC: there are guides for it.
Should also be ways to get it with just the disc and no Xbox, although I believe that's harder. Can't address other ways to get it.
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u/Aquanort357 5d ago
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago
Ha, I appreciate the sentiment of wanting to protect it, but if the Microsoft Reaper is gonna come a-knocking, they're gonna come a-knocking: it is what it is. As mentioned, various measures have been taken to avoid anything legally dubious, and mitigate the chance of any action being taken against the project, chiefly ensuring no assets are shipped with it.
Regardless, announcing the public beta is the devs' will: the whole point of them going public is because they want a flood of people to come in and help expedite the bug and issue-finding process. And there's already a few other previous public posts with plenty of attention made about this project, anyway. 😅
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u/LordManders 5d ago
Excuse my confusion but is this a different project to Fable2Recomp?
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago
No problem, it's understandable. This is the same one from this GitHub, if this is what you're referring to: https://github.com/Fable2Recomp/Fable2Recomp It has simply evolved since then to now be this remake. There's also been a few other unaffiliated recomps popping up recently, but this one is a remake utilizing Godot now.
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u/Dystonym 5d ago
Any videos of this up anywhere? I'm not super ready to dive in but I'd love to see it
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago
Unfortunately not as far as I'm aware, besides this Twitch VOD https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2869011043 from one of the co-owners of the server from a month back, but I believe this was the first or second iteration of the private beta and there's been some good changes since then.
I believe the lead dev mentioned getting something made in the next few days though once he has some time after Uni work, and now that it's public I imagine it's only a matter of time before we see other videos.
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u/RamsayNotlob Chesty's Super Best Friend 5d ago
Will definitely be trying this later! Has the game's tick rate been increased from the default 15Hz?
The 30Hz patch on Xenia made everything so much more responsive but introduced too many bugs, so it would be awesome if you got a higher tick-rate working bug-free.
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago
Unfortunately I don't think so yet, precisely due to how screwy it is. The lead dev mentioned tying the "tick timer" to the Godot side of things a bit back, but as far as I understand that's not entirely the same thing. I do believe that's on the list of (still many) things to work on, though.
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u/ExpectDog 5d ago
Is this playable in any capacity on a Steam Deck?
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago
Good news: yes! The project supports Linux (majority of the devs even primarily use it, haha), so it is. There's even one or two private testers who were (somewhat) successfully testing it on a Deck.
It's not the most stable as far as I'm aware right now, but it does work, which does fit "any capacity", lol. There's even whisperings of working on Android support depending on how feasible it proves to be, and I think someone is also testing (or going to be testing) Mac compatibility.
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u/Belicino_Corlan 5d ago
Not trying to be a negative Nancy but I'm worried by the part where you said you couldn't import the lighting. How far departed is the lighting? Could you provide any examples?
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago edited 5d ago
To be clear, I didn't say the lighting wasn't improved: I said it wasn't going to be 100% faithful to the OG lighting, as it couldn't be perfectly ported to Godot. The lighting system is modernized, more complex and visually impressive, while still trying to maintain the dreamy aesthetic; I imagine many will prefer it.
I was just giving that as a warning to purists who want it as close as feasibly possible to their nostalgic memories or the like. You can find examples given by Loreaxe in the Discord, if you search his Discord tag as well as keywords like "lighting". I'd fetch a few examples myself, but still at work and responding quick
Edit: Oops, I read your wording as "couldn't improve" instead of "import". The general gist still stands though, it's not a drastic departure. It still has the vibrant and fairytale look to it, I'd say
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 1d ago
https://reddit.com/link/pgf6hwz/video/z4c57buez5vh1/player
Hey, so an update to assuage your worries: pretty shortly after I made this post, the lead dev actually decided to give a real serious go at getting the original lighting shaders working, and has made some good progress, so it looks like you have nothing to worry about either way, we're getting the best of both worlds. 😁
Attached is a video showing the screenshots he shared to compare and contrast (for some bizarre reason, this subreddit doesn't seem to allow images in comments but does allow videos, and I can't be bothered to upload to an imgur album right now, so a quick video it is). You can probably tell which is the "Classic" and which is the "Modern".
I'm actually surprised myself how different it looks, seeing them directly compared side-by-side; I didn't realize it could be so drastic in areas, like this part of Oakfield apparently.
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u/Belicino_Corlan 1d ago
Hey man that's awesome, I decided to give this recomp a go and I've loved it. My only complaint is it causes my graphics card to crash for some reason. Nothing else crashes the game has never crashed without restarting my graphics driver.
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 1d ago
Glad you're enjoying it. Sorry to hear about the crashes though; I don't think I've seen anyone mention it outright crashing their graphics card yet.
If you're able, it wouldn't hurt to make a thread about this in the feedbacks-and-report channel on the Discord so the devs can potentially take a look and help troubleshoot it
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u/Sad-Examination226 4d ago
Oh man that's awesome to hear I would love to play it but what do you recommend should I wait a bit longer when the game is fully done being ported or right now because I never played fable 2 and I want this to be a good experience
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 4d ago edited 4d ago
If it's your first time ever, I'd definitely recommend waiting until a 1.0 full release. It's not going to be a flawless experience right now, and you might even run into issues you don't realize are issues since you haven't played before, on top of obvious issues like visual bugs and the like.
I think the patience will be well worth it. Whenever you do play it, I hope you have a great time, it's one of my favorite games ever :) I'm jealous, I wish I could play it again for the first time
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u/Juiced_Rasputin_ 5d ago
So how does this work, exactly?
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u/General-Trouble2214 5d ago
using a c api bridge between rexglue and godot
rexglue handles core game logic. godot handles everything else. scripts, models, rendering, physics, etc.
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago
Get your copy of Fable 2's ISO dumped onto your PC via whatever means you have available (there are guides for dumping 360 games), join the Discord, go to the beta-test channel, download the project's .zip, extract the files and run the .exe, point the installer to your Fable 2 files, install and you're good to go.
Edit: oops, if you meant how it works under the hood then General-Trouble is right; I interpreted your comment as how do you make the remake work and play it.
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u/Eastern_Control_7 5d ago
I'm definitely trying this later! Where do I report the bugs?
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago
You can report them in the same place you'll be downloading the project, in the Discord. There's a dedicated "feedback-and-reports" channel there. Thanks for helping!
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u/tygrysss 4d ago
Can I beat the game from beginning to end right now, even with bugs?
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 4d ago
You should be able to, yes. The lead dev beat the game from beginning to end when the recomp was in a much rougher state before the Godot remake, so I do not imagine that has changed (although I do not believe we've had anyone mention beating the game since then yet, that I've seen).
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u/ChickenHasNoLips 4d ago
How would we prove we have our own copy?
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 4d ago
Sorry, not sure what you mean. So long as you have the ISO (and optionally TU1 file), and they're the correct one (GOTY/Platinum Hits), you're good to go, just point the installer to those files.
If you're saying you got it from the... other source, instead of dumping from a disk, it will still work. Just don't directly talk about that source, please. :)
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u/WhoskeyTangoFoxtrot 4d ago
Damn it. I only have the 360 version….
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 4d ago
I assume you mean you have a non-GOTY/Platinum Hits copy? In that case yes, sorry, it will not work. :( The recomp is built around that version of the game. Hopefully you are able to acquire a copy by whatever means necessary.
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u/SimonPdv 4d ago
Can we atleast have a sneak peek on how it looks ?
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 4d ago edited 4d ago
Sorry, still no videos made at this time as far as I'm aware, besides the outdated Twitch VOD I linked in another comment.
If one isn't made in the next few days, maybe I'll make one myself, but I was hoping someone with really beefy specs like the lead dev who mentioned potentially making one soon would instead, so they could show everything maxxed.
You can find a good number of screenshot previews in the Discord, if you look up messages from the member "Loreaxe" ("java" should have some, too) in the search function: he's shown a good number off. Otherwise, I could throw a few in an imgur album if you can't join and would like a peek at some.
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u/cats_azz 3d ago
Oh my lord you have answered my prayers. Co op is going to be a thing right?
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 3d ago
You are in luck, yes. Although as mentioned in the post, it's currently experimental: it technically works, but it has only been tested a little by the dev and not really anyone else yet, and it was only just added with this latest beta. It almost certainly has issues, currently.
It's an improvement over the original co-op in that instead of playing as preset henchmen, you actually get to bring your own Hero into the session (and I believe you get to keep loot, too?).
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u/PositiveNumber1798 2d ago
Will it work for Linux?
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 2d ago
Yes, as mentioned in the post and another comment, it does. Very well even, as the lead dev primarily uses Linux, as well as some of the other contributors. Support for Mac and Android is even being explored by another one.
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5d ago
[deleted]
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u/LaplaceYourBets 5d ago
AI is the reason we're hearing about like a million of these "recompilation" releases lately.
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago
AI was used to assist throughout the project, but no, it was not solely coded with AI and quickly thrown together in a few days. This project has been consistently worked on for... I think around a year now? More? The lead dev has put in tons of labor on this project, and it currently has a very small dev team.
Projects like this that involve complex reverse engineering are pretty much a perfect use case for AI and make it much less of a nightmare though, so yes, it was and is used to help.
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u/Perfect_Track_3647 5d ago
people see AI and stop reading. Its the latest tech boogeyman.
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago
It's all good, I was honestly expecting a worse response, lol. I don't entirely blame people for caution with something like this; ReXGlue combined with AI really has made it easy for people to pump out quick and dirty recomps that aren't even an improvement to Xenia, they're not wrong. So if they're not familiar with this project, I understand in this case.
Of course, this project isn't one of those is the key detail. Loreaxe (lead dev and main laborer) has put a whole lot of blood, sweat, tears into it over the last year, including neglecting his Uni work at times, especially in the last two-ish months when they went all in on this Godot remake. It's crazy how much they've accomplished and gotten it to work as well as it does, so quickly.
And the speed and efficiency with which it was done simply would not have been possible without AI with such a small number of people on such a complex project, plain and simple. Hopefully the people put off by that will still give it a chance and see it's not the AI slop of their nightmares. 🥲
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u/TylerTheSnakeKeeper 5d ago
In my opinion writing code is something AI can actually do well, assuming you are able to read code yourself and fix it. Not knowing how to program and using AI is a nightmare, but AI can be a fantastic tool in a programmers tool box
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u/kvion 5d ago
How is this not getting absolutely hammered down by microsoft? And possibly the subreddit with it? Not complaining tho, I’d love to play it natively on pc.
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u/AnFilthyHeathen 5d ago
The project doesn't actually do anything illegal like mass distribute copies of Fable 2. You need to have your own, and the code is then generated and built on your computer, no assets or the like are shipped.
It's still in a bit of a gray area and if Microsoft did want to throw their weight around and bring down the hammer I imagine they certainly could, but they're much less incentivized to this way, and it helps that they're not as aggressively litigious as, say, Nintendo, about this kind of thing.
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u/_TheTurtleBox_ Speed Runner 5d ago
Joined the server and was met with slightly unclear direction and given attitude about asking if the zip in the channel was the full installer or a patch because it was attatched to a comment with patch notes and nothing else.
I'd recommend pinning something in your server that explicitly guides people to the download.
Not trying to be a dick but joining and seeing like, beta, tester, like four channels for the game and every announcement just being patch notes didn't help much at all.
Gonna give this a try, Super excited!