Loom Sequels

[Da_Duke2000]

I've been VERY much a fan of old Lucasarts games. Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max.

But my favorite of all has always been Loom. For information and screenshots of Loom please visit the link here:
http://lucasarts.vintagegaming.org/inde ... eid=5#Loom

If anyone is familiar with the game, they were supposed to make two additional Sequels to the game. One called The Fold, and another called The Forge. Sadly, they never got made. Myself and MANY other would love to see the full story come to reality. The game was originally done on the SCUMM platform but I'd like to keep it in the oldie VGA (256 color) style like the Kings Quest remakes here.

So, I'd like to know the steps I could take to get a game like this off the ground. I have no programming experience but am very dedicated to learn. Are there any tutorials for VGA game-making? Also, if anyone has any Game Design or Artistic skills and is a fan of Loom please drop me a line. Feedback about idea's and suggestions, plot lines, or anythign will be welcome with abundance. The games themselves would be no more than an hour or so long in game time like the original, but the story is rich and detailed and very solomn.

For any information, please contact me either via e-mail or MSN at Da_Duke2000@hotmail.com. Thank you.
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[Da_elf]

i found that ags was extreamly easy to learn when working on my danger mouse game. (yet to be finished hehe). i do remember the old loom games. its been ages since i even heard the name mentioned. if you do go ahead and do it make sure to 1st get permission. i find people on this forum do know alot of code for ags

[MusicallyInspired]

Your best bet is to download AGS and try it for yourself and visit the AGS forums often for tips/advice/help etc. Good luck!

[Da_Duke2000]

I'll be checking into that right away. Thank you. I hope to make some great progress, and will certainly be checking in for assistance now and again.

[Broomie]

http://www.fileforwarding.com/upload.ph ... ad&id=5390

A small unofficial Loom sequel. The interface is all good but still needs alot of tweaking if I can consider it a true Loom game.

[Brainiac]

If anyone can ever get Brian Moriarty or anyone else involved to divulge the planned course of Forge and The Fold and then proceed to make a great fangame based on that information, all without getting stopped by LucasArts' legal department, I shall be the first to stand in awe of their greatness.

[JustLuke29]

Three words: Copyright infringement. Shutdown.

[Da_Duke2000]

Well, over 6 months ago I did contact Brian Moriarty and though he had no vested interest in continuing the series or giving me more of any planned story line, he was thrilled that people still adore the game he made and encouraged me to pursue the titles.

I think all the information we were given was all that was put on paper. Any other plot directions may have just been random imaginings but no more official than anything we can come up with.

I have many idea's I'd like to begin to story board.

[JustLuke29]

The problem is that it is LucasArts who own the copyright to Loom rather than Brian Moriarty (I assume) and, as such, you should seek permission from them if you want to develop a sequel. And I am fairly certain that Lucasarts will not give that permission to you.

Why don't you make a game in the spirit of Loom without using or making reference to anything that could be copywrited by Lucasarts?

[MusicallyInspired]

I'd be interested to see a game based in the Loom universe where you play as a character from a completely separate guild (not one that was mentioned in the original Loom game) with maybe vauge hints of the weavers and such but no real connection. Set in a far away land. I think that would be most interesting. It would also be interesting to see what kind of original interface one could conjure up similar to the music staff of Loom. Something not musical but just as innovative as the music staff was.

That would be most excellent.

[Da_elf]

call it Bloom heheh

[Da_Duke2000]

I'm having a rather difficult time figuring out AGS, gonna take a long time I think to really get the hang of it. Even adding in backgrounds seems to be giving me quite a headache.

My goal, is to continue the story of Rusty Nailbender, or at least another member of the Blacksmiths. There are so many Guilds I could think of but I have some very imaginative idea's I'd like to see happen before I go any further. As for the musical theme of the Distaff, I have an alteration of that for Rusty that given a little bit of luck will be very enjoyable for all players.

I'm working on Story-line and basic backgrounds/templates for the moment, its the animation that is going to give me the biggest headache I think.

[Relight]

Don't feel discouraged with AGS. You'll learn it quickly. If you need help on any specific point, feel free to ask here or on the AGS forums. People are very helpful over there if you have a specific question such as "How do I...?" or "How come X isn't working?"

You mention you are working on the storyline and such. That is a good place to start. Too many fan projects make the mistake of being too eager and starting work on backgrounds and programming and all that right away, and completely neglect to do pre-planning. A bit of pre-planning will go a long way later, and will give you a taste of the patience and time you'll need to see a project through.

Most of all, have fun. Treat it as a learning experience. Maybe you'll make a game, maybe you won't, but you'll learn along the way and with each new project you attempt, you'll have more experience to draw from.

[Da_elf]

the key thing is to make a good plan as to what you want to take place in each room and how each item is used in the game. global variables are very important

[Lambonius]

I actually read about a fan made Loom sequel that was in the works.  They had talked to Brian Moriarty and he had said that the Forge and the Fold would continue the story from the point of view of Rusty Nailbender and the shepherd woman (her name escapes me at the moment, Fleece something I think.)  Anyway, they chose to go a different route and continue from Bobbin's point of view.  The game looked pretty sharp from what I remembered seeing of it.  It was in the old 2D point and click style but with sharper resolution visuals.  A google search on "Loom 2" would probably yield more info.

[Brainiac]

You're right.  Loom 2 was to be "Forge" and would star Rusty Nailbender of the Blacksmiths.  Loom 3 was to be "The Fold" starring Fleece Firmflanks (no crude remarks, please) of the Shepherds Guild.  Bobbin was to appear as a kind of Obi-Wan-esque advising spirit.  There's some information to be found at The International House of Mojo.

[LilBlueSmurf]

Yeah, I was actually supposed to be working on art for that loom game, but everything related to it just disapeared.  I had 1 background done, went to check back in, but there was no where to check into.  So, either I was so bad they had to move and hide their existence from me, and thus everyone else, or they gave it up.

[Da_Duke2000]

Well, 8 months later I've remembered that I was working on this.

Now there are a LOT of tricks and tips I'll need to learn about AGS (hint to anyone who'd like to help) but for now, I have a few screen shots to show, as well as a quick demo with a few interactions and animations I'm quite satisfied with. So, please let me know either in a reply, or on MSN at Da_Duke2000@hotmail.com of any questions, concerns or comments.

Story board is coming together very nicely and I have some great idea's which I think will do the Loom series justice.

   

 

Comments welcome.

[phats]

I'm surprised nobody has commented on this yet.  Your screenshots look pretty neat. I'd be intrested in playing when you're done.

Funny Story:  When I was a kid, I was big into adventure games.  I went with my dad to get a game from "Armadillo Brothers" (since out of business), and we were looking at getting loom.  The sales man there said it was the worst game he'd ever played, and strongly discouraged us from getting it.  I can't remember what we ended up getting.  

So anyway, 15 years later I decided to download it from an "abandonware" site.  I STILL wasn't so interested in playing it due to the guy's testimonial but wanted to see why it sucked so bad.  Needless to say I was very impressed.  The game is pretty cool (story is very unique).  

I'm not so sure many AGDIers have even played loom, so maybe that's why there's not many comments.

If I were the makers of the AGS engine, I'd port the thing over to the DS.  If you want to bring back adventure games, that's the way to do it.  DS Lite's stylus is PERFECT for point-n-click adventures.  Think how cool it'd be to play your LOOM sequel on a hand held.  You'd get todays younger generation's attention too.  

It'd even be kinda neat to see some other games ported.  Even sierra's old typing ones.  You could use the DS's voice recognition capabilites (ie: walk wilco over to the spores in SQ2 with the stylus or even keypad, and then talk into the DS: "get spores").  Hmm, I smell a business venture....

Anyway, back to topic:  is that screenshot original?   the style is very close to the original loom...

[Da_Duke2000]

Well the screen shot there is a direct scene rip from the original where we meet this character. Bobbin, from the original accidentally gets him killed and brings him back to life. But my basic plotline is for him to use his hammer (he is a blacksmith) and a Smithing Rod in the same general idea as the Distaff (Looms tool of choice).

Any assistance with original Loom sprite rips, sounds and coding would be muchly appreciated.

[MusicallyInspired]

I hope you're not planning on having this dude use his "distaff" to make musical notes to manipulate things...that was The Weaver's ability only, not anybody else's. I'd try thinking of something else more original and interesting for a forger to use instead of another musical staff.

[Da_Duke2000]

Hence the Hammer. Don't worry. I remember Loom from when I was 8 years old, and have always been a lifetime fan. I have hopefully every bit of Loom lore collected and I wish to be as true to the Loom universe as I can, not taking too much artistic liberty.

My goal is to make people feel as if they're actually picking up where Loom left off. But since the Guild of Weavers couldn't possibly be the only Guild who mastered their craft to the point of something supernatural. I havent decided if I want to keep something musical or not. But I have tinkered with the idea of Metal Soundings, having him strike his smithing rod. As strange as it sounds, utilizing a tuning fork type of sound-bit but a much striking metal sound.

Cause according to the Audio Drama, its actually the Weaver who hums the note verbally. So, the sounds of reverberating metal with a unique Blacksmiths Hammer I think will be some fun.

[traveler.in.time]

I am always hopeful when someone brings up the idea of a LOOM sequel.  I think this would be a great project, hope you keep it going.  
In an interview I read of Brian Moriarty, he said that what he would really like to see is a game controlled by sound, that more and more emphasis is being placed on imagery, but he envisioned  a game in which all the player saw was a black screen, yet the story would unfold and events would happen through sound and music.  He admitted it would be impossible, but what a concept.
I think that the musical aspect should be kept in play if possible, having spent some time around an old blacksmith shop, the ring of the anvil, or the sound of the hammer would be an interesting method of incorperating the musical theme.
Good luck!!

[Lambonius]

I think your main difficulty here (aside from programming and copyright worries  ;) ) is going to be in coming up with a storyline that doesn't seem arbitrary or forced.  Loom's storyline was fantastic, and even with somewhat of an open ending, it still came to a perfect resolution.  Forge would have to be something similar, except significantly darker (sort of like The Empire Strikes Back,) since the world has already fallen to Chaos.  It would also need an ending that left the story open, but came to a solid resolution (Empire Strikes Back's ending, in my opinion, was TOO cliffhanger-ish, especially considering the amount of time between it and Return of the Jedi.)  Knowing how much time it usually takes to complete a fan-made game, I personally would find it VERY hard to wait for another several years for the third episode.  I dunno though, it's such a great concept; I for one would love to see this game made.  So good luck!  And keep us posted!!

*Also, I think that the musical interface should definitely stay, although I don't like the idea of any other type of staff (or smithing rod or whatever.)  I think Rusty walking around with some sort of walking stick (even if we called it a smithing rod) would still seem forced and unoriginal.  I think something better might be if we replaced the distaff interface with an anvil, and he struck it in different spots with his hammer to make the different tones.  It'd really be only a matter of a different picture; the interface itself would remain pretty much the same.  I just think the idea of him walking around with some kind of rod or staff seems like too much of a rip from the other game.  (And yes, I am aware of the impracticality of carrying around an anvil; it's just a suggestion. )

*late edit:  I just thought of a good example of how NOT to do a trilogy: The Matrix.  The first Matrix movie was kinda like Loom in some respects (hear me out.)  It featured a great story that kept you mesmerized all the way till the end, in which the movie resolved itself quite nicely, leading you to believe that Neo, now that he had discovered his power, would save the world.  Similarly, Loom resolved itself nicely, leading you to believe that one day, Bobbin and the Weavers would come back and save their world.  Now we all know what happened when they decided to make sequels to the Matrix, they sucked horribly (even if you liked them, you have to admit that compared to the first one, they were terrible.)  I'm not saying that the Loom sequels couldn't be great; I'm just trying to emphasize the fact that I think the story here is going to be the most important factor in making them great.

[Lambonius]

oh yeah, did you say something about a demo?  :)