LOOM
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LOOM is a graphical adventure game, originally released in 1990, published by LucasArts (known at the time as Lucasfilm Games). It was the fourth game to use the SCUMM engine.
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The game
The project was led by Brian Moriarty (along with the noted author Orson Scott Card), a former Infocom employee, and author of some classic text adventures such as Trinity (1986) and Wishbringer (1985).
Typical for LucasArts, some later games like Monkey Island referenced the Loom characters and storyline. For example, in the "Scumm Bar" in The Secret of Monkey Island, there is a pirate with a button on his shirt that says "Ask me about LOOM", who will happily divulge marketing information when so asked.
World of music
The soundtrack was not original, but it was consisted of remixed compositions by Tchaikowsky. The package offered an audio tape with an audio drama that explained the nature and history of the Loom world, and the whereabouts of Bobbin's birth, and stops right before the game begins. The drama was enriched by music composed by Jerry Gerber, and the other side of the tape contained the game's Tchaikowsky music.
The package also offered an illustrated notebook, supposedly belonging to apprentice weavers. It's purpose was to optionally note there the draffts learnt, and also added some interesting tales related to each of them.
Technicals
Originally published on DOS floppy disk with EGA graphics, it was also released for Amiga, Atari ST, and Macintosh. It was re-released on CD-ROM in 1993 with VGA graphics and a full voiceover soundtrack.
A departure from earlier SCUMM games in many senses, LOOM was based on a serious and complex fantasy story. It also had an experimental interface, eschewing the traditional paradigm of graphical adventures, where puzzles usually involve interactions between the game character, the environment, and multiple items the character can take into their possession.
LOOM's gameplay centered instead around magical four-note tunes (drafts) that the protagonist, Bobbin Threadbare, could play on his distaff, which would have an effect of a certain type - "Opening", for example, or "Night Vision". The player's abilities would increase over the course of the game, with more and more powerful drafts. At first, only notes C to E were provided, but at the end of the game C' (high C) is given. The game can be played at 3 difficulty levels, each with slightly different hints. For example, the expert level does not mark the distaff and is played solely by ear. The expert player is rewarded with a graphic sequence that does not appear in the two other 'levels'.
LOOM can be played on multiple platforms using the ScummVM emulation engine.
Due to a licensing agreement with Mindscape (defunct), the full CD-ROM version is not available; however, the floppy disk version can be bought from LucasArts and then patched with a download from Home of the Underdogs, an abandonware website.
Plot
"It was long after the passing of the second shadow, when dragons ruled the twilight sky, and the stars were bright and numerous..."
The events of the game are preceeded by a 30 minute audio drama, included with some versions of the game. It is established that the Age of the Great Guilds arose when humans once again tried to establish dominion over nature, wielding the weapon of industry with confidence. People banded together to form city-states of a common trade "devoted to the absolute control of knowledge, held together by stern traditions of pride, and of fear". The humble guild of Weavers established themselves as masters of woven fabric, though they eventually transcended the limits of cloth and began to weave "subtle patterns of influence into the very fabric of reality". They were persecuted for these acts of "witchcraft", and purchased an island far off the mainland coast, which they called Loom.
Lady Cygna Threadbare is introduced as a bereaved mother who begs the Elders of the Guild of Weavers to use the power of the Loom to end the suffering of the Weavers. Their numbers are failing and their seed is barren. The Elders reprimand Cygna telling her that it is not their place to play gods. Cygna, against their threats, secretly assumes control of the Loom and plants one gray thread. She inadvertantly draws an (unforeseen) infant out of the loom, incurring the wrath of the Elders. She surrenders the child to Dame Hetchel, the old serving woman, and accepts her fate. She is transformed into a swan and banished from the pattern (the waking world). Hetchel names the child Bobbin, and cares for him as her own. Bobbin is ostracized from the rest of the Guild. The Elders note that the presence of his gray thread has thrown the pattern into chaos, and the Loom forsees the very unraveling of the pattern, and for these reasons, the Elders ban him from learning the ways of the Guild. Hetchel however secretly trains him.
External link
de:LOOM
