Loom Remake

[Mickey Bitsko]

Don't laugh, but I've been working on a remake of Loom for the past couple of months.  Things are coming along nicely -- hey, Lucasarts (or was it Lucasfilm?) did most of the work for me!  I love that game, but it is way too short, and I'm curious to know if anyone has any ideas about subplots that could be worked into the game.   

[Scummbuddy]

http://mixnmojo.com/php/site/gamedb.php?gameid=115
http://mixnmojo.com/php/site/gamedb.php?gameid=100

[Mickey Bitsko]

Thanks, Scummbuddy.    Had no idea there was a third one planned.  The pix of Fleece Firmflanks have sent my teeth a-chattering!  :o 

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Hmmm... remaking Loom? I mean, you say LucasFilm did most of the work for you... and you're absolutely right. That's because Loom is perfect as it is. WOuldn0t it be much better to do a sequel? Now that you know about Forge and The FOld (thanks Scummbuddy, I didn't know about it either. Boy, it really made me sad. Wonder why they cancelled it), why not try and get on those? Or an unnoficial sequel? Or a prequel? Remake now... Loom doesn't need remaking, that's the thing...

[Mickey Bitsko]

You've got a very good point there, redruM.  The idea of remaking such a great game is silly on the face of it, and useless underneath, but nevertheless I persevere.

To be honest, I've never completely liked the way Loom looks (the tiny green city, the lack of details, among other things), which of course makes for a good deal of its charm, but I want it  to look like I've always wished it looked.  I have been making some other changes too, and come to think of it perhaps I should start calling it a sequel to Loom (called "The Forge" of course), since the weaving is not done in the same way as in the original.  Thanks again, redruM, you've given me some delicious food for thought.

I'm not a very original writer, merely a gag man and an appropriator (aka thief).  But, like the man said, "It ain't where you steal it from, it's where you take it to." 

Anyway, enough defense and more offense.  Time to get on with the work!  As I originally asked, if anyone has any ideas for subplots to the original story, please let me know would you?

As I've said once or twice before, I hope this is the correct forum to post this in.

[Radiant]

Have you seen the VGA version of Loom? LucasArts did upgrade most of their old games (MM & Zak to hi-res, Indy3, Loom and MI to VGA)
I believe you should not do a sequel unless you can rival Brian Moriarty's storytelling skills, which is not exactly easy. If you're doing the original story with added sidequests, that would actually be a remake (like KQ2+).
There was another Loom remake in the works, from a forum thread about three months ago. Anyone know what became of that one? It had a couple of SVGA screenshots and was supposed to be a sequel in which Bobbin revisits the five Guilds to rebuild the Loom.

[Scummbuddy]

I agree you should just make the sequels, but get your story fleshed out before any major production.

And don't forget to the Loom Template by Spyros: http://www.freewebs.com/skimbleshanks/templates.htm

[Mickey Bitsko]

Thanks, Radiant & Scummbuddy, for the good advice.  I bought the VGA version of Loom last year on eBay.  A friend of mine in Tucson, Arizona just sent me a Spanish language DOS version he recently found at a swap meet in Mexico City.  It has more dialogue close-ups than the cd version and very nice sound. 

If you speak Spanish, or are learning it , or have the game memorized, I recommend checking this version out.  In fact I would learn Spanish just to play this game!

[Totoro]

Seeing the information about the two sequels of Loom who never were done... made me sort of sad  :'(

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

It IS very sad, yes, but look on the bright side - this community has very talented individuals. Maybe someday someone will pick up on those projects. Not using the actual names "Forge" and "FOld", maybe, because of copyright issues, but...

...who knows?

[Radiant]

Hm... does anyone know if The Professor (i.e. Brian Moriarty) is still around somewhere? He used to be an infocommie. Maybe he has some plot outlines for the planned sequels.

[Pelican]

Yeah, its so sad. I loved Loom. I had it for my old faithful Atari. I even played it through on expert mode to get the extra scene. Why don't they make games like that anymore? *sigh*

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Incidently, what WAS the extra scene? I played it through on EXPERT (enjoyed it SO much more) but couldn't identify the extra scene...

[Radiant]

"They say it means death to gaze upon a weaver uncloaked. Of course I never believed that."

[Pelican]

See below about the extra scene:

Spoiler

In easy or standard mode, when Cobb wanted to see under your hood, it cuts to the baddie, and he mutters something about not being able to think with all that screaming. In expert mode, we see Cobb lift the hood, showing a flashing green light which sucks him inside. Its kinda freaky.

[close]

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Ah, THAT one. But of course, when I played EXPERT, I ALSO played the CD-rom version for the 1st time, and so there were so many differences I didn't know which was the actual difference...

[Mickey Bitsko]

I have got to check that out!

By the by, I've given up on the Loom remake.  There really isn't a good reason to remake such a fantastic game, particularly one that is so well regarded, without having highly original ideas to add to it, which I don't.

And since writing my last missive I see I was wrong about the Spanish dub having more details.  It's the same as the VGA non-cd version, which is my fave. 

[Radiant]

That is unfortunate. But it's probably taught you some valuable AGS skills you can use in your next project, whatever it may be?

Would you care to show us a bit of what you've done so far? I'm curious.

[Mickey Bitsko]

Exactly.  I learned a lot about scripting while working on it.  I imagine that's why a lot of people decide to start off by remaking games; that way they don't have to come up with a storyline or new artwork and concentrate on scripting.  When I was a mere yearling I used to trace everything in sight, and still appropriate the work of others in my paintings.  (For those of you who didn't go to art achool, the word "appropriate" is a good word!)   

I'd love to have the time to put together, with other folks of course, an illustrated step by step .pdf presentation of some of the more mindboggling scripting questions, particularly those having to do with animation (cutscenes and the like). 

There's a lot I still haven't figured out and am definitely not a techie in any sense of the word, but it's all worth it because AGS is just plain brilliant.  I'm a graphic artist and had been waiting for most of my life for something like this program to come along. 

I'd be happy to put up some screenshots of what I've done and see what you think.  Should I do that on this thread or another?

Thanks for the interest!  It's great to hear what people (sic?) have to say.

[Radiant]

Tutorials are always a good idea. However if I may make a suggestion, please do it in HTML? PDF is so cumbersome.