What was it that made that game so good?

[pwblaine]

In thinkin of the sequel, i thought it might be helpful to look back and decide what was it about loom that so thoroughly captivated us?  is there some particular feature that stayed with you? did you have a favorite part to the story that was just awesome? was it that amazingly catchy 8-bit swan lake theme song? maybe talking about why the first game was so awesome can shed some light on what we definately need to hit on again.

i'll go first:  everything. but that's too easy an answer.  the theme song to this day is one of the most lasting images of the entire game for me. a perfect haunting melody that seemed to speak to everyone.  when you hear the theme song for forge, i truely hope it envokes the same sort of emotion, definately score will be a huge part of the Loom trilogy.  i'd also say simplicity of interface.  in a time where complex item interactions (i.e. rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle plus like everything) seemed to be the answer to every problem, loom spoke volumes with its simple elegance.  the user had only a cursor, and a distaff of very few notes, no complex interactions, no ridiculous puzzles that had illogical solutions, every spell served a simple purpose, and all the puzzles were very straight forward.  i think loom was the first game from lucasarts to truely reach a universal audience (hell, my mom beat the game for christ sakes... MY MOM!)  The game was quite linear too, despite a very open world, all interactions were essentially predetermined and you didn't have to think your way through every conversaion, you would just sit back and drink in the story like a movie.  Not to mention, the game was BEAUTIFUL. i mean really, the color choice, the environments, the "rifts in space," the shores of wonder, i mean really, was there any scene that was not a feast for the eyes?  all the graphic had a very signature look to it as well, when you were in each part of the world, the color scheme was completely tied into the personality of the guild.  the clothes looked like the building and were colored as such,  the caves were dark and mysterious, loom island had a run down sort of aged look, the loom itself was gorgeous and the blacksmithery was terrifying. if forge is to feel like loom, every distinct guild area, must have a color scheme and environmental styyle to match. from what i can see of the tech demo, you're right on with the simplistic interface. one of my favorite parts of the game was going back to the previous areas through the rifts and seeing what damage had occured and fixing it, as well as the part with the scrying spheres.  i would be extremely happy to see scrying spheres make a comeback or to see what new treasures the other guilds have.  also everyone talked very respectfully and oldenstyle, but still in english,  no slang all proper english.  it really made the dialog feel right in place.

[abisso]

A really useful post.

I think what made Loom so cool was the atmosphere it successfully created. And this is a result of spot-on graphics and soundtrack for sure. Another really important thing was the originality of the interface. Many games after Loom stick to the classic "open, close, use" etc. so Loom remains something unrivalled and very original for the time it was produced.

But I'm not sure that the fact it was so easy and linear has been so important for its success. Actually I believe those were two of Loom's weakest points. A game you can complete in less than 2 hours, probably never getting stuck even at Expert mode, offers neither much re-playability nor challenge for the player. I'd like to correct these aspects a bit in the Forge.

[ClericMaster]

For me it was the music. Unfotunatly I have the steam version which has NO background music (But the voice overs make up for that.) My favorite soundtrack was Chaos's theme. EPIC! Aslo the main theme was beautiful. Do you have a link to the FORGE theme? I would love to hear the theme song.

[Da_Duke2000]

Cleric, please contact me if you would like to play any of the versions of Loom via Scumm.

EGA: Old graphics, 8bit sound
VGA: New graphics, Talkie, no music except cut scenes
FM-Towns: New graphics, no voices, music during all sequences.

And I can link you.

What I remember most is Bobbin turning Straw into Gold, that all by itself is what was captured in my memory for the ten years when I couldn't remember this games name. The magic of Loom came from the games ability to not hold back and sugar coat adult story lines in an animated adventure. The game was serious, with clever humour and serious issues. If you consider that the game contained murder, undead ghosts, still born children, dragons tearing the flesh off of a poor young man... Its amazing our parents allowed us to play.

I respect Loom as an influential game for its time and contrary to what many may think I feel that Loom did revolutionize many aspects of PC gaming that we take for granite today.

<3 love for Loom.

[viruswitch]

I first played Loom at the age of 12 and found it very difficult to complete the game. Back then my English was also elementary and I often asked my English teacher what some dialogues from Loom meant. I had only managed to play through the first island and only at the age of 15 I managed to complete the game. What kept my imagination fascinated was the combination of the dreamy visual atmosphere, the brilliant music by Tchaikovsky and the several myths so brilliantly blended into creating the unique myth of the Loom.

The myth of Loom acted in a liberating even therapeutic manner on my soul and accompanied me as a fantasy world of refugee into my adulthood. That was actually the initial purpose of Drama in ancient Greece: "to uplift the soul" through catharsis or cleansing of the emotions. The link between live myths and loom is so intense that anyone who ever enters the mythic space and time of it, is doomed to forever remember it with nostalgia!

The success of Loom lies deep within the emotions it can generate in the reader's minds through its stories, music, colors and the idea of being the protagonist of a universal adventure. Also one would assume that the creators of the game had tremendous fun while making it.