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Fable: The Lost Chapters Modding Tools

Author: Torionel

Fable Explorer (often abbreviated as FE) is one of the most important tools for Fable modding. It allows you to modify a huge number of game parameters — essentially almost anything in the game. The main area where it is of little use is location editing. It is probably the best-known Fable modding utility. Some issues may occur when running it with the Steam version of the game.

ShadowNet Fable Explorer (often abbreviated as ShadowNet) is an improved version of FE. After the original Fable Explorer developer left the official forums, other modders continued the work and added file backup and restoration features, as well as a much-needed search function for the game's archives.

This version also fixes a bug that prevented .fmp files containing sections from script.bin from being saved. It can also merge .fmp files. However, this version may encounter problems when installing certain mods or models.

An additional def.xml file is required to run it and must be copied into the utility's folder (it is already included in our archive). Unlike the original FE, this version also includes a config.xml configuration file that can be customized.

If you have problems launching ShadowNet, check the path to your game in config.xml. This is especially relevant if you use a non-standard installation or own the Steam version.

Chocolate Box (often abbreviated as CBox) is one of the most powerful classic Fable modding tools. Instead of working with locations only through an interactive map, it lets you place almost any object or character in an environment resembling what you see in the game itself — almost like building with Lego. It also includes the standard FE features, a convenient search function, and tools for merging, viewing, and extracting components from .fmp files.

CBox can also replace the Freeroam App, as it is capable of extracting FinalAlbion.wad itself. However, unlike FE, files in game.bin are not sorted, which makes browsing them rather inconvenient. Several versions of CBox exist for different operating systems, although there are few significant differences between them.

System requirements: Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 or later, DirectX 9.0c or later (if the program continues to crash with error 0x8007007E, install newer DirectX libraries), and Microsoft Visual C++ SP1 Update.

FableMenu is a utility that allows you to change many parameters directly while playing the game, including health, money, and mana, as well as spawn objects and creatures and control the passage of time. It is a relatively recent tool, first released in 2022.

Fable TLC Debug Build allows you to modify existing .lev and .tng files and their positions relative to one another, create new .lev files, and compile .lev and .tng files into .stb and .wad archives.

EgoCore is the most modern Fable modding utility, created by modder AeoN (AlbionSecrets) in 2025 as a replacement for FE and CBox. It provides a much more advanced set of features.

Unreal Editor can be used to edit certain aspects of Fable Anniversary. With the release of Anniversary, this editor effectively took over some of the functions previously handled by Fable Explorer. It is available on Steam as the free Fable Anniversary - Modding DLC.

Outdated Tools

Albion Explorer (often abbreviated as AE) allows you to place objects and characters on an interactive map of a location. Although CBox can now perform similar tasks much more effectively, along with many others, AE still has one particularly useful feature: it can quickly export any object into a separate .tng file. Albion Explorer is no longer commonly used by modders.

Freeroam App (often abbreviated as Freeroam) is a small utility for extracting FinalAlbion.wad. It is no longer commonly used by modders.

XPorter is an important plugin for 3ds Max that allows the program to work with models in the ".x" format (developer's website).

Which Tools Should You Download?

For modern Fable modding, a useful toolkit includes EgoCore, ShadowNet FE, CBox, FableMenu, and the Modding DLC for Fable Anniversary.

A simple code editor such as Notepad++ is also useful for manually editing locations, configuration files, and other game data. This can technically be done in Windows Notepad, but working without syntax highlighting is much less convenient. For tasks involving 3D modeling, Blender or 3ds Max can also be useful for creating or editing character models, weapons, and other physical game objects.

All of the utilities listed above are in English, but they contain relatively little text, so the language barrier should not be a major problem.