6 ms·

Loom: How Brian Moriarty Proved That Less Is Sometimes More

113 points by doppp 10y ago

speeder 10y ago
I was surprised when the article mentioned Loom in the 80s, I remember playing it and it feeling more recent. Then the article explains the sad story of how the game failed to become a massive hit, and its design lessons went on ignored for years... I personally think Loom has one of the finest adventure game interfaces I have ever used. I also loved its tone, for some reason I am just not that interested in comedy.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  The wikipedia article claims it was released in 1990. The article is more about the man behind the game, Brian Moriarty, than the game itself, as he moved from Infocom (of Zork fame) to then Lucasfilm Games (later Lucasarts).
sosuke 10y ago
Loom was amazing, one of the first games I remember finishing and the ending was very intense. I still have it on 5.25" in the original box.
- Al-Khwarizmi 10y ago
  I have it in 5.25" double-density disks (360 KB/disk) and I remember it being awful to play, because it would very often ask for protracted sequences of disks with repetitions (e.g. when going from one screen to another it could ask for disks 2,3,2,3,6,4,1,2,3,1,2,3, or things like that). I had other games that had the same number or even more disks, but they asked less often, for much shorter sequences, and always or almost always without repetitions. Probably the content in those was distributed taking that into account, while in Loom the 5'25" DD version was just an afterthought and they just distributed the content into the diskettes arbitrarily. This was so frustrating, and felt so gratuitous (because games with way more disks behaved much better) that I didn't get very far in the game and I have always had a negative view of it since then (probably the fact that I have always been a fan of text interfaces and of deaths in adventure games didn't help either, but the disk issue was really a deal-breaker).
Baeocystin 10y ago
It is an interesting article, but I think the rose tint of nostalgia is a bit too strong. Loom was an attempt to push gaming forward and explore new territory, and for that it deserves commendation. But it failed in the primary goal of any storyteller, which is to make the listener/reader/participant care about what happens in the world. It was a dreary and dull experience. From the wikipedia page, a quote from the creator of Loom: "Contrary to popular belief, the Loom sequels were not abandoned because Loom didn't sell well. Loom has sold more than half a million copies in various formats since it was published in 1990. The reason the sequels weren't made is because I decided I wanted to work on other things, and nobody else wanted to do them, either." The final sentence, I think, is most telling.
- sparkpeasy 10y ago
  But this wasn't an article about Loom pushing storytelling forward. It pushed interaction forward. Adventure games like Zork wanted a sentence typed. Later, a sentence was constructed using a mouse. Loom removed the sentence as the player's action upon the game, and realized the player's intent didn't have to be a literal sentence. It's just as much a breakthrough as Nintendo understanding that "pressing up" on a controller to lift a racket could be replaced by lifting an arm with a controller in it, in the case of the Wii.
  - Baeocystin 10y ago
    That's the thing- it really didn't. Loom was novel for its lack of violence, and lack of a way to lose. But games like Neuromancer predated Loom by years, and were already using (comparatively) complex interfaces, for example.
    - sparkpeasy 10y ago
      I praised Loom for its inventive simplicity, and how it avoids text towards direct interaction, and you refute that by referencing Neuromancer, a game with, in your words, a "(comparatively) complex interface." Neuromancer is riddled with complex text interfaces for every interaction. Every choice demands a read through, along with several text selections to decide from. Here's a video of how awful it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tNMdbq_Z7w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tNMdbq_Z7w How is that more simple?
digi_owl 10y ago
Heh, it seems i will not be short any reading material any time soon (been working my way through the epubs of this earlier articles as bedtime reading). His earlier stuff has given me insight into a world i only glimpsed the tail end off as a young kid visiting relatives.
forgottenacc57 10y ago
Brian Moriarty wrote some of my favorite adventure games of all time. He's a creative genius.
EliRivers 10y ago
Apropos of nothing much, and as much so that it's recorded somewhere as to tell people, at the recent Thimbleweed Park bash in London, I asked Ron Gilbert about the "Ask me About Loom" badge ("button" in US vernacular) a pirate wears in "The Secret Of Monkey Island" and the accompanying glowing praise said pirate delivers. Ron Gilbert assured me that this was a poke (in good humour, I'm sure) at Brian Moriarty, who was taking himself very seriously at the time.
mseepgood 10y ago
Brian Moriarty is now Professor Moriarty at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
mxstbr 10y ago
If you liked this and haven't read it yet definitely check out Masters of Doom![0] It's about the two John's (Carmack and Romero) and how they created Doom, Quake et al. and why id Software broke up eventually. Very fascinating, highly recommended book! [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155 https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cult...
joeguilmette 10y ago
I met Brian Moriarty in 2000, shortly after he bailed from HearMe. He played a role in The Crucible, which my father directed at Pacifica Spindrift Players. He took on the role of Reverend Parris shortly before the play opened, taking over for a junior actor in over his head. I was 15 at the time and was taken with the ease in which Brian slipped in to the role. He brought the production together and was a stabilizing force. My father recently passed away, so seeing Brian's name here brought on a rush of memories from the play. I looked around and found the playbill from the show: http://www.pacificaspindriftplayers.org/shows/2000/the-crucible-2/ http://www.pacificaspindriftplayers.org/shows/2000/the-cruci...
twiecki 10y ago
Brian Moriarty gave a great talk in 2015 about his story of Loom with many interesting behind-the-scenes infos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1aVDael-KM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1aVDael-KM Towards the end he also says he'd be excited to do a Loom sequel with the right studio.

113 points by doppp 10y ago

I was surprised when the article mentioned Loom in the 80s, I remember playing it and it feeling more recent. Then the article explains the sad story of how the game failed to become a massive hit, and its design lessons went on ignored for years... I personally think Loom has one of the finest adventure game interfaces I have ever used. I also loved its tone, for some reason I am just not that interested in comedy.

digi_owl 10y ago
The wikipedia article claims it was released in 1990. The article is more about the man behind the game, Brian Moriarty, than the game itself, as he moved from Infocom (of Zork fame) to then Lucasfilm Games (later Lucasarts).

sosuke 10y ago

Loom was amazing, one of the first games I remember finishing and the ending was very intense. I still have it on 5.25" in the original box.

Al-Khwarizmi 10y ago
I have it in 5.25" double-density disks (360 KB/disk) and I remember it being awful to play, because it would very often ask for protracted sequences of disks with repetitions (e.g. when going from one screen to another it could ask for disks 2,3,2,3,6,4,1,2,3,1,2,3, or things like that). I had other games that had the same number or even more disks, but they asked less often, for much shorter sequences, and always or almost always without repetitions. Probably the content in those was distributed taking that into account, while in Loom the 5'25" DD version was just an afterthought and they just distributed the content into the diskettes arbitrarily. This was so frustrating, and felt so gratuitous (because games with way more disks behaved much better) that I didn't get very far in the game and I have always had a negative view of it since then (probably the fact that I have always been a fan of text interfaces and of deaths in adventure games didn't help either, but the disk issue was really a deal-breaker).

Baeocystin 10y ago

It is an interesting article, but I think the rose tint of nostalgia is a bit too strong. Loom was an attempt to push gaming forward and explore new territory, and for that it deserves commendation. But it failed in the primary goal of any storyteller, which is to make the listener/reader/participant care about what happens in the world. It was a dreary and dull experience. From the wikipedia page, a quote from the creator of Loom: "Contrary to popular belief, the Loom sequels were not abandoned because Loom didn't sell well. Loom has sold more than half a million copies in various formats since it was published in 1990. The reason the sequels weren't made is because I decided I wanted to work on other things, and nobody else wanted to do them, either." The final sentence, I think, is most telling.

sparkpeasy 10y ago
But this wasn't an article about Loom pushing storytelling forward. It pushed interaction forward. Adventure games like Zork wanted a sentence typed. Later, a sentence was constructed using a mouse. Loom removed the sentence as the player's action upon the game, and realized the player's intent didn't have to be a literal sentence. It's just as much a breakthrough as Nintendo understanding that "pressing up" on a controller to lift a racket could be replaced by lifting an arm with a controller in it, in the case of the Wii.
- Baeocystin 10y ago
  That's the thing- it really didn't. Loom was novel for its lack of violence, and lack of a way to lose. But games like Neuromancer predated Loom by years, and were already using (comparatively) complex interfaces, for example.
  - sparkpeasy 10y ago
    I praised Loom for its inventive simplicity, and how it avoids text towards direct interaction, and you refute that by referencing Neuromancer, a game with, in your words, a "(comparatively) complex interface." Neuromancer is riddled with complex text interfaces for every interaction. Every choice demands a read through, along with several text selections to decide from. Here's a video of how awful it is. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tNMdbq_Z7w https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tNMdbq_Z7w How is that more simple?

digi_owl 10y ago

Heh, it seems i will not be short any reading material any time soon (been working my way through the epubs of this earlier articles as bedtime reading). His earlier stuff has given me insight into a world i only glimpsed the tail end off as a young kid visiting relatives.

forgottenacc57 10y ago

Brian Moriarty wrote some of my favorite adventure games of all time. He's a creative genius.

EliRivers 10y ago

Apropos of nothing much, and as much so that it's recorded somewhere as to tell people, at the recent Thimbleweed Park bash in London, I asked Ron Gilbert about the "Ask me About Loom" badge ("button" in US vernacular) a pirate wears in "The Secret Of Monkey Island" and the accompanying glowing praise said pirate delivers. Ron Gilbert assured me that this was a poke (in good humour, I'm sure) at Brian Moriarty, who was taking himself very seriously at the time.

mseepgood 10y ago

Brian Moriarty is now Professor Moriarty at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

mxstbr 10y ago

If you liked this and haven't read it yet definitely check out Masters of Doom![0] It's about the two John's (Carmack and Romero) and how they created Doom, Quake et al. and why id Software broke up eventually. Very fascinating, highly recommended book! [0]: https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155 https://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cult...

joeguilmette 10y ago

I met Brian Moriarty in 2000, shortly after he bailed from HearMe. He played a role in The Crucible, which my father directed at Pacifica Spindrift Players. He took on the role of Reverend Parris shortly before the play opened, taking over for a junior actor in over his head. I was 15 at the time and was taken with the ease in which Brian slipped in to the role. He brought the production together and was a stabilizing force. My father recently passed away, so seeing Brian's name here brought on a rush of memories from the play. I looked around and found the playbill from the show: http://www.pacificaspindriftplayers.org/shows/2000/the-crucible-2/ http://www.pacificaspindriftplayers.org/shows/2000/the-cruci...

twiecki 10y ago

Brian Moriarty gave a great talk in 2015 about his story of Loom with many interesting behind-the-scenes infos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1aVDael-KM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1aVDael-KM Towards the end he also says he'd be excited to do a Loom sequel with the right studio.