A few words about the game
Loom is the latest adventure game that I have played. I can’t say that I liked it very much, considering the fact that I have read many positive reviews about it in the past. However, I definitely can’t say that it is a bad game. Loom’s major drawbacks are its length and its riddles. What certainly surprised me is that the game is very short. It took me only 7 hours to finish. Furthermore, the riddles of Loom are definitely easy and there are only a few points in the game, where you can stick for only a short period of time. I stuck at a point in the middle of the game, however, because I have forgotten to write down a spell. Haven’t I saved often in different slots of the game, I would be stuck there forever. If you decide to play the game you should save often and think always logically. If the solution in a riddle is not your clockwise idea, try the counter-clockwise alternative. You’ll understand better once you play the game!
The Story (Note: Contains Spoilers)
The events of the game are preceded by a 30 minute audio drama, included with some versions of the game on audiocassette tape. I’ve never heard this cassette however, because I haven’t yet managed to buy the original game. To begin with, it is established that the Age of the Great Guilds arose when humans once again tried to establish dominion over nature. (The world is not defined in relation to ours, but many hold that it happens in a greatly distant future, since the events of the game are said to occur in 8004.)
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, Atropos, Clotho and Lachesis reprimand Cygna, telling her that it is not their place to play gods.
Cygna, despite their warnings, secretly assumes control of the Loom and plants one grey thread. She inadvertently 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. The Elders cast the "Transcendence" draft on her, transforming her into a swan and banishing her from the pattern (the waking world, as the weavers call it). Hetchel names the child Bobbin, and cares for him as her own.
Bobbin grows up ostracized from the rest of the Guild. The Elders note that the presence of his grey thread has thrown the pattern into chaos, and the Loom foresees the very unravelling of the pattern. For these reasons, the Elders ban him from learning the ways of the Guild until a decision can be made on Bobbin's seventeenth birthday. Hetchel, however, defies the Elders and secretly teaches him a few basics of weaving. This is where the game begins.
On his seventeenth birthday, Bobbin is summoned by the Elders in order to determine his fate. But after they punish Hetchel with the "Transcendence" draft for educating Bobbin, a swan comes. She casts the "Transcendence" draft on all the villagers, transforming all the Weavers, except Bobbin, into swans that leave through a rift in the sky.
Hetchel, who is now a cygnet, tells Bobbin that the swan (who visits him every year on his birthday) came to save the Weavers from the Third Shadow that is about to cover the world. Bobbin then moves on to find the flock. On his way, he meets other guilds and has several adventures. Eventually he encounters a Cleric who is after the Scrying Sphere of the Glassmakers, the swords of the Ironsmiths and the products of the Shepherds. The Cleric claims the Weaver's distaff to rule the world with an army of the undead, thus fulfilling the prophecies.
Versions of Loom
LOOM was originally published for DOS on floppy disk with EGA graphics, and was also later ported to Amiga, Atari ST and Macintosh. It was re-released on CD-ROM for the FM Towns computer in 1991 with VGA graphics and an enhanced digital soundtrack. The final version of LOOM was released on CD-ROM for DOS in 1992. It used the FM-Towns version's graphics and had a full voiceover soundtrack. All of these versions of LOOM can now be played on a variety of different platforms using ScummVM, although the FM-Towns version currently suffers from a few audio-related problems.
The DOS CD version has retouched graphics, greatly-shortened dialogue (much to the fans' dismay) and lacks a number of features found in the floppy version, such as alternate solutions to puzzles. The game is also missing close-ups during dialogues, probably because lip-sync to CD audio was difficult or impossible, yet deemed a requirement for some. These portraits are present in the game's resource file, however (with the words "Loom sucks" written on one of the faces [1]). The notorious dialogue edits are claimed by many people (including the designers) to be due to a lack of CD space; however, there is still plenty of room on the disc, even though the audio is stored as an ordinary CD Audio track. Most likely, all of this is due to the inexperience of the LucasFilm Games programmers with the CD format — but this is speculation.
Due to a licensing agreement with (now defunct) Mindscape, the DOS CD-ROM version is no longer available; until 2006, the floppy disk version could be bought from LucasArts and then patched with a download from Home of the Underdogs, an abandonware website (I have the link at left side of my blog). Unfortunately the Underdogs' patch doesn't synchronize the audio correctly.
The FM-Towns version of LOOM has redrawn 256-color colour graphics (including character portraits) and uses the original dialogue from the floppy version with no scenes cut short (in contrast to the DOS CD-ROM version). In addition it features a digital audio soundtrack with alternate versions of tracks played (and looped) after the regular versions have finished. The game unfortunately doesn't have any speech, but many still consider this the best version of LOOM.
Loom’s presence in other LucasArts games
Typical for LucasArts, some later games like The Secret of Monkey Island referenced the LOOM characters and storyline. For example, inside the "Scumm Bar" in The Secret of Monkey Island, there is a character from LOOM (Bishop Mandible's assistant, Cobb) dressed as a pirate with a badge on his shirt that says "Ask me about LOOM", who will happily divulge marketing information when so asked. Later, after taking a nasty blow to the head, one of the things the player, as Guybrush Threepwood, can say is "I'm Bobbin. Are you my mother?" This is a reference to the main character of LOOM, Bobbin Threadbare.
In The Curse of Monkey Island Guybrush mentions LOOM's unpopularity when LeChuck captures him. The game also features a faceless character in a grey cloak (The Lost Welshman) that looks very similar to Bobbin.
In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure, a painting in the German castle features a beach that appears as scenery in LOOM. This is out of the ordinary since references are usually done for earlier games, not upcoming ones.
A broken record found in the fan remake Maniac Mansion Deluxe is labelled as the "LOOM Soundtrack". When the player puts it on, they can hear the introduction music of the game.
Space Quest IV features a computer store where Roger Wilco can browse many real-life game parodies. One of them is "Morian Brianarty's" BOOM, advertised as "the easiest game ever; no commands, no inventory, no puzzles, no characters, no plot" et al.
Trivia
Two sequels were planned, titled Forge and The Fold, starring Bobbin's friends Rusty Nailbender and Fleece Firmflanks. These sequels would wrap up open plot-threads and bring closure to the open ending of the original game, with Chaos eventually being defeated. However, LOOM's original development team were now all working on other projects, and as Lucasfilm Games was a small company at that time, no one else could be found to do it; hence, they were cancelled.
LOOM was the first game to follow the LucasArts Game Design Philosophy, which states that the player will never be killed or forced to restart the game and won't have to "spend hours typing in synonyms until [they] stumble on the computer's word for a certain object."
The DOS CD version of LOOM was the first "Talkie" SCUMM game made.
'Cygna' is the feminine form of swan in Latin.
The names of the Elders of the Guild of Weavers are borrowed from Greek mythology's three Fates, who measured life on a thread; note also that contrary to the mythology, where all Fates are old women, in the game Atropos is a man. Note also that Clotho's name has been masculinized as Clothos, but in the game she remains female.
Final Comments
As you may have noticed, this post about Loom is mostly copied from the entry of Loom in Wikipedia. I have read many posts about this game and I consider this reference in Wikipedia to be extraordinary. I have copied all the parts that I think may be interesting for someone that is not familiar with the game. I have also, of course, commented on some aspects of the game on my own. Feel free to express your thoughts about this game in a comment. Welcome to the Age of the Great Guilt !!
Reference
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOOM
