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LOOM is a graphical adventure game originally released in 1990 and was both developed and published by Lucasfilm Games (now known as LucasArts). It was the fourth game to use the SCUMM adventure game engine. The project was led by Brian Moriarty, a former Infocom employee and author of some classic text adventures such as Wishbringer
(1985), Trinity
(1986) and Beyond Zork
(1987).

Gameplay

A departure from earlier (and later) LucasArts adventure games in many senses, LOOM is 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 centers instead around magical four-note tunes (drafts) that the protagonist, Bobbin Threadbare, can play on his distaff. Each draft is a spell that has an effect of a certain type, such as "Opening" or "Night Vision". Drafts can be learned by observing an object that possess the qualities of the relevant draft; for example, examining a blade while it was being sharpened would give the player the "Sharpen" draft.

Some drafts, such as "Twisting", can be reversed by playing their notes backwards, while others, such as "Fear", are palindromes and can not be reversed in this manner. The player's abilities increase over the course of the game, with more and more powerful drafts. At first, only the notes C, D and E are provided, but by the end of the game F, G, A, B and C' (high C) are also available.

The game can be played at three difficulty levels, each with slightly different hints. For example; the "Expert" level does not mark the distaff and is played solely by ear. In the original version, the expert player is rewarded with a graphic sequence that does not appear in the two other levels. However, the CD version shows this sequence to all players.

Story

Prologue

:"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 preceded by a 30 minute audio drama, included with some versions of the game on audiocassette tape. 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 to it happens to a greatly distant future, since the events of the game occur on a date 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, against their threats, secretly assumes control of the Loom and plants one gray 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 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 foresees the very unraveling of the pattern, and 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.

Plot

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 village which transforms all the Weavers into swans who leave through a rift in the sky.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for LOOM ]

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Video games - LOOM

Gameplay

Story

Prologue

Plot

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