Loom Version FAQ Version 1.1
by Great Hierophant great_hierophant@hotmail.com

Warning!  There may be spoilers below.
All text Copyright by Great Hierophant (c) 2001
Only GameFAQs has the right to display this guide.  
No other site has the display this FAQ, whatever the version.
"Loom" is copyrighted by Lucas Arts.
[insert usual "no plagiarizing" warning here and heed it!]
I expect the proper credit if you cite a portion of this document.

Revision History

Changes culminating in Version 1.1
Corrected spelling errors.
Confirmed the existence of other versions of the game.
Debunked the existence of some other "versions".
Made a few textual changes to improve clarity.
Included more information about the copy protection.
Debunked the existence of an extra scene in the CD version.
Added more information about the audio drama.  
Found some more disk art hiding in the CD version.

I.  Introduction

Loom is a game that has fascinated and frustrated me.  I have played it more 
times than I can remember.  I heard from my friend along time ago of an 
updated version of the game that contained better graphics and speech.  It 
took me many years to obtain that version.  Now that I have it, I would like 
to share with you some of the knowledge I acquired about the game.  I want 
this to be in place for the next collector who comes along, especially as hard 
information on the game is hard to find.  I plan to 
update this FAQ if I discover more information.  If you have any additional 
info to add, please email me.

II.  Versions

There are two versions of Loom for the PC.

a.  Disk Version (16-bit color)
The first version of Loom is the diskette version.  This was released in 
1990.  This version comes on two floppies, (size of 2MB), has 16 color EGA 
graphics, close-up portraits, and midi sound and music.  Early versions came 
with an audio tape containing the audio drama.  There is a patch to add Roland 
sound support to the game.

A Floppy Disk version with VGA (256 color) graphics but midi sound was NEVER released. 
and if it does exist or turns up, it is a hack of the game.

b.  CD Version (256 color)
The second version of Loom is the CD version.  It was released in 1992.  I 
own a boxed version that comes on two CDs, (total size 1GB).   This version 
of the game has 256 color VGA graphics, animated close up scenes, and 
redbook CD audio sound and orchestral music.

The First CD contains the audio drama.
The audio drama is like a radio play that explains the backstory of Loom.  
The boxed version contains this CD.  There is an OEM version without the 
audio CD.
It has five tracks, the first is the 30-minute audio drama, and the other 
four are orchestral renditions of the music and the themes from the game.  
(I don't think these were released on the audio tape  The CD naturally 
sounds better than the tape.)
It is a pure audio CD, size 414MB.

The Second CD is the Game CD.
It has two tracks.
The first track is where the data files are stored.  It contains seven 
files.
The seven files are 4MB, but the entire track is 50MB. This is for the sole 
reason of the audio track, which is used by finding an exact shift from the 
beginning of the CD.
The second track is the CD Audio file that contains speech, music, and sound 
effects.  The sound effects and music are also CD audio, much more fuller 
versions of the midi on the disk version.  (Of course, this also means that 
the music will always sound the same, regardless of the midi quality of your 
soundcard.)  This gets slightly annoying as there are pauses in the game for 
the sound to load.  However, even though the disk version is well-behaved, 
you don't need to worry about DOS Sound Card compatibility at all.  Size of 
the audio track is 551MB.
The total size of the CD is 601MB.

c.  Other Systems
Loom was also released for the Commodore Amiga, Apple Macintosh, Atari ST,
(similar to disk version), and the TurboGrafx 16 CD (looks similar to the PC CD version,
but even more EGA is left in), but not for the Sega CD.

d.  Languages
Known to be released in English (disk and CD version)
I have also had visual confirmation of the disk version in French, German, Spanish, Italian 
(independently translated),and Hebrew (Known as "Haogrim" (The Weavers).) 
(All foreign versions are disk versions only.)
There is a German version of the audio drama, "Das Hrspiel."

III.  Availability

a.  Disk Version
The disk version can be obtained legitimately through LucasArts store.  This
link will lead you to the product, "The LucasArts Classic Adventures"
http://www.lucasarts.com/companystore/classicadventures/  (Comes on floppies 
only.)  The audio drama is not available in this collection.  
Loom is bundled with 4 other very good games: Maniac Mansion (high res), Zak 
McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (high res), The Secret of Monkey Island 
(VGA disk version), and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (VGA).  A good 
deal for $19.95.

b.  CD version
Unfortunately, the CD version is not available from the LucasArts store.  It 
was released under the LucasArts logo, but it was distributed through a 
company called Mindscape, who has disappeared.

As Loom is not Abandonware, perhaps a petition to release the version could 
do some good, it is the only game with an enhanced version that the enhanced 
version is not offered in their store.  I would even sacrifice my copy so that 
they would have something to duplicate and distribute.

The real problem is that this version rarely comes up for auction on eBay.  
Only I and a few others have copies available on the Game Trading Zone.  
www.gametz.com  I have a suspicion that used PC game stores, (of which few 
exist), like to sit on these games instead of selling them.

c.  Audio Drama
The audio drama may be available as an mp3 file, but it may take a dilligent search to find it.

IV.  Version Differences

a.  Character Portraits
The one striking omission from the CD version is the omission of the close 
up character portraits.  These were quite prevalent in the disk version.  
There were portraits for Bobbin, Mother Hetchel, Elder Atropos, Hetchel as a 
Duck, Master Goodmold, Fleece, The Dragon, Rusty Nailbender, Master Stoke, 
Bishop Mandible, Cobb, The Swan, and Chaos.  There are two additional 
animated scenes, a scene where Mandible speaks to one of the Glassblowers 
about the sphere, the second is where Bobbin speaks to Mandible at 
Mandible's catherdral.  In the CD version, only the close ups of Bobbin and 
Chaos at the end are seen.  However, there updated 256 color portraits for 
everyone else but The Swan hidden in the data files.  For some oddball 
reason, the designers of the game chose not to show their artistry.  
(Probably because they used streaming audio which has timing issues, 
the portraits would have to be shown very quickly.)  You can view the 
portraits by using a SCUMM editor.  A patch should be made to put 
the portraits back in the game.

b.  Holdovers from the Disk Version
Another interesting thing about the CD version is that it uses exactly the 
same 16 color EGA art as the disk version on the lower part of the screen, 
where the distaff is and the close ups of the objects you can examine.  This 
is very incongruous with the beautiful 256 colors appearing on the top of 
the screen.  I assume that here the art team truly got lazy or ran out of 
time.  Also, much of the animation, like fire and the teleportation light in 
Crystalguard, was not modified from the disk version, so it looks ugly in 
comparison to the redrawn screens.  Finally, many smaller drawings, such as birds, 
have not been updated from the disk version.

c.  Difficulty Levels
In this disk version, if you chose the expert difficulty level, you got an 
extra scene showing what happened when Cob lifts Bobbin's hood.  On the easier 
difficulty levels, this happens offstage.
This scene can be seen in all difficulty levels in the CD version.  
There are NO extra bonus scenes for playing the CD version in expert mode.

d.  Text Changes
The disk version was released before the CD version, and they changed the 
text at times for the CD version.  There is less spoken dialogue, so some 
of the cut scenes are shorter in the CD version. They had to get the audio
onto one CD.  "Chaos" is once misspelled as "Choas" in the CD version.

e.  Copy Protection
Only disk versions have copy protection questions when the game 
starts up.  The copy protection requires you to match a musical note to a 
guild's symbol.  It is probably not on the LucasArts Classic Collection version 
of the game, if memory serves.

Obviously no copy protection other than a CD check was needed for CD version 
that came out in 1992, seeing that CD burners were prohibitively expensive 
in those days.

V.  Collector's Notes

There are two manuals that came with Loom.  The first is a play guide, that 
tells you how to control the character, spin drafts, how to start and end 
the game.  As Loom is a simple game, it is not very big.  Mine is 9 pages.  
This may be basic, but despite what they tell you in the manual, do not 
write in the Book of Patterns!

The Book of Patterns is a larger book, filled with wonderful middle age 
drawings showing weavers weaving drafts.  All the drafts that are used in the 
game are described there, as are unused drafts included for welcome flavor.  
Use a piece of scrap paper to write down the notes of each draft, or find 
the various combinations on a site.

The both of the CDs themselves are factory pressed with a fine design, 
showing "LOOM" with swans flying through the letters.  Make sure you aren't 
getting a cheap CD-R copy!  And please remember to check the CDs carefully, as 
they could be damaged due to their age.  Remember, two CDs.

For the disk versions, the copy protection is included in the Book of Patterns, 
so make sure that you are getting this manual when you buy the game.  
If it is not, the game will only run in demo mode.  Or just buy the LucasArts 
Classic Collection version, and you will not have to worry about the protection.

VI.  Credits, People who contributed to this FAQ:
Myself
Special Thanks to Igor V. for all his comments and advice.  
Game Trading Zone (www.gametz.com)
eBay (www.eBay.com)
Coldbringer (Moby Games http://pc.mobygames.com/home/)
Tomer Gabel (Moby Games http://pc.mobygames.com/home/)



