Help regarding the different editions of Loom

[bergqvistjl]

So, ive decided to try and get the 1992 CD edition of loom, which i gather was the 2nd version of the game (on CD, as opposed to floppies) for the PC. What I would like to know, is did they ship it in the original box (i.e. NOT a White label re-issue, like they did with MI1), with all the accessories as per the floppy version, i.e. so like the image below, but with the floppies replaced with the CD? because so far all the versions i've found on ebay seem to be just the jewel case (I know thats quite a common occurance regardless, but still its good to be sure.

 

Also, I think i saw a version on the web of the CD-ROM version, boxed but the box style was different, instead of the box coming apart in two with a seperate front and back, like most lucasarts games of the time, the box in the image I saw was made with thinner cardboard, with flaps at the top and bottom, and the top and bottom was white. Might shed some light onto things.

[bergqvistjl]

I'll add that if what i said we're to be true, the chances of getting one like that would be rarer than finding a floppy one, so i'd probs just buy the CD off of ebay seperatly, as well as try to get a complete-in-box floppy version, and then put the CD in the box. Thereby I get the best of both worlds.

[elTee]

The Museum can probably help. Their forum members are also very knowledgable about this type of thing

[Gabez]

Ssh, stop sending people away to other forums!

 

Welcome to these forums, bergqvistjl! We're really glad yo-- Oh rats, they've already gone.

 

That LucasArts Museaum is a great resource for this sort of thing, though (although at the moment that URL doesn't work; site must be down for now).

[elTee]

Hehe, whoops! I think we're allowed to send people off to Freddie's forum. They always come back! Because those people who live there are literally insane. (I mean that in a nice way though!)

 

The site seems to be down half the time. I guess it chews through bandwidth, as it's quite image intensive, so there must be some kind of cap on it - keep trying, though, bergqvistjl!

[ATMachine]

So, ive decided to try and get the 1992 CD edition of loom, which i gather was the 2nd version of the game (on CD, as opposed to floppies) for the PC. What I would like to know, is did they ship it in the original box (i.e. NOT a White label re-issue, like they did with MI1), with all the accessories as per the floppy version, i.e. so like the image below, but with the floppies replaced with the CD? because so far all the versions i've found on ebay seem to be just the jewel case (I know thats quite a common occurance regardless, but still its good to be sure.

 

Also, I think i saw a version on the web of the CD-ROM version, boxed but the box style was different, instead of the box coming apart in two with a seperate front and back, like most lucasarts games of the time, the box in the image I saw was made with thinner cardboard, with flaps at the top and bottom, and the top and bottom was white. Might shed some light onto things.

If you can, get a hold of the Japanese FM-Towns release of Loom, in addition to the PC CD version. It's a bit hard to track down, but it pops up on eBay from time to time. It's not a native PC game, but you can play it easily with ScummVM. The game itself comes in both English and Japanese, so there's no language barrier.

 

The FM-Towns version is a 256-color VGA CD version, like the PC CD, although some of the art is slightly different. However, it's very different content-wise from the Loom PC CD.

 

For starters, it has all the original dialogue and cutscenes from the original floppy disk version intact; the PC CD release rewrote and abridged the dialogue/cutscenes, so as to fit all the voice recordings on one CD audio track. Also, it includes all the character closeups from the 16-color floppy version (but in VGA!), which the PC CD omits because the static portrait heads looked funny when given real voices.

 

Plus the Loom FM-Towns port includes CD-quality audio tracks of all the Tchaikovsky Swan Lake music that was in the floppy version. The PC CD, on the other hand, only plays music during cutscenes, so most of the game is silent. Of course, there's no voice acting in this version, but it's very much made up for by all the other features I just listed.

 

They're definitely different experiences, but complementary. I'd say neither one of them is really a "superior" version of Loom.

[s-island]

The FM-Towns version goes for crazy amounts. Crazy, I say!

 

The CD-ROM version of Loom has a slightly different box in that the the box itself is white with a slipcover containing the original cover art. Basically it looks like the box of the floppy version, but with white top and bottom. It looks like your version came with the hint book as well which was not included with every copy...

 

The only differences I can remember from the box contents is that the game comes on one CD in a slipcover and the audio drama comes on a second CD in an almost identical slipcover (instead of a cassette). The CD version of the audio drama also includes all its music isolated from the speech and sound effects.

[bergqvistjl]

The FM-Towns version goes for crazy amounts. Crazy, I say!

 

The CD-ROM version of Loom has a slightly different box in that the the box itself is white with a slipcover containing the original cover art. Basically it looks like the box of the floppy version, but with white top and bottom. It looks like your version came with the hint book as well which was not included with every copy...

 

The only differences I can remember from the box contents is that the game comes on one CD in a slipcover and the audio drama comes on a second CD in an almost identical slipcover (instead of a cassette). The CD version of the audio drama also includes all its music isolated from the speech and sound effects.

 

OK Thnanks, you've cleared the box issue up for me. I Think i'll get a 3.5 version and just pop the CD in that box as well.