Fable Legends: Lionhead praises Unreal Engine 4, discusses new levels of detail

Fable Legends developer Lionhead Studios has penned a blog on the Unreal Engine site praising Epic's fourth revision of the tool-set. Figures at the company have praised the tech, stating that it has allowed for new levels of detail throughout the world of Albion.

In the post, game director David Eckelberry said of the engine, "The output and quality of what can be achieved with the engine is an order of magnitude more advanced than what we could’ve done if we tried to write everything ourselves."

He added, “As content creators, we used to have to wait for months or years before we had a stable toolset to use, but now we’re able to get straight into building games without having to wait for the systems to arrive.”

Executive producer Geoff Smith then added that Unreal Engine 4 allows for a streamlined process with faster, more powerful results, "The architecture and toolset provided by UE4 allows us to dive straight into making this without waiting for tech to come up to scratch. Immediately we are able to fully utilize the incredible team we have available. We’ve been able to get assets into the game in double-quick time, plus we’re getting visual feedback in a matter of seconds. All this, combined with the flexibility of the materials and shaders, leads to a better looking game.”

What does this all mean for Fable Legends' depiction of Albion? Eckelberry explained, "Albion is lush, full of life and color, and its characters are rendered to a level of detail we’ve never been able to accomplish before. Those stunning characters represent a real new opportunity for us that we’re quite eager to explore. Where previous titles have attempted to dip their feet in the water of cooperative play with the orb system and the like, for the first time we’re embracing a game experience where no Hero must go alone as he ventures into quests and stories.”

The blog adds that in Fable Legends, players will always be part of a band of four - either co-op players or AI companions - with the ability to drop in and out at any time.

We recently heard that Fable Legends will launch on Xbox One as a sort of 'season one' release, and will then be bolstered with a stream of ongoing DLC. It also has series creator Peter Molyneux "intrigued and fascinated."

What do you make of the Fable Legends concept so far?

Via OXM.