GOG.com Gets More LucasArts Games

The latest wave of LucasArts games has hit GOG.com, and the balance has been restored as this time there isn't a Star Wars title in sight.  The newly added games are Outlaws, the EGA and 256 color FM-Towns version of Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, Indiana Jones and the Emporer's Tomb, Monkey Island 2 Special Edition, The Dig, and the VGA CD version of Loom.

They're Here! LucasArts Games Are Now On GOG.com

The goal that the team at GOG.com has been working towards since it opened its doors back in 2008 has been accomplished. LucasArts games are now on GOG.com. X-Wing, Tie Fighter, Knights of the Old Republic and The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition are only available for Windows, while Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis and Sam & Max Hit the Road are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

That's right, the SCUMM games are actually using ScummVM! The lawyers who used to work for Lucas legal probably nearly had a heart attack when they read this news.  Around two dozen more LucasArts games will be released for the service soon.

It's True! LucasArts Games Are Coming to GOG.com

Update 2 (October 28th): The news is now official, so the link has been changed to the correct working one.

Update: The news release has been pulled from the site, as it was never intended to be revealed so early. The news will be made once the countdown timer on the GOG.com site reaches zero.

The new publisher on GOG.com has been officially revealed to be LucasArts.  GOG.com has made a deal with Disney to release about 30 LucasArts games on the service. These first six games will be made available starting tomorrow:

Star Wars™: X-Wing Special Edition - digital distribution debut, on GOG.com!
Star Wars™: TIE Fighter Special Edition - digital distribution debut, on GOG.com!
Sam & Max Hit the Road - digital distribution debut, on GOG.com!
The Secret of Monkey Island™: Special Edition
Indiana Jones® and the Fate of Atlantis™
Star Wars®: Knights of the Old Republic

Rumor Mill: LucasArts Games Coming To GOG.com?

We've gotten our hopes up before that LucasArts games would be released on GOG.com when the site previously teased that they were going to add a large publisher to their catalog (not to mention the Night Dive rumors). Well, the rumors are here again, as GOG.com is teasing that another publisher will be adding their games to the catalog, with a countdown timer on their main page.

There might be some weight to the rumor that the publisher is LucasArts this time, as a GOG.com user has reportedly found three countdown images on the GOG.com website that use well known LucasArts fonts. Of course, if it does end up being LucasArts, it's uncertain if any games that aren't already released digitally will be released on GOG.com, as the three franchises represented (Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and Monkey Island) already have games available digitally on Steam. But, at least this time signs do seem to point towards DRM-free versions of LucasArts games finally being available soon.

Point-and-Click Adventure Mega Review: Loom

Loom is an easier adventure than the other games in the LucasArts adventure game catalog, and it has a unique musical based interface that serves as the means for solving puzzles in lieu of an inventory, but it still manages to be a pretty satisfying experience.

Loom is set in a magical world that is inhabited by several guilds of people with unique magical abilities.  The game follows Bobbin Threadbare, a young member of the guild of the weavers, who spin magic through the mystical Loom. Bobbin has never been allowed to be trained in the ways of his people, although the weaver Hetchel has been training him in secret.  On his 17th birthday, he discovers that he was born of the Loom itself, and the elders fear him, as they believe that his birth has brought chaos.  The elders attempt to punish Hetchel, by turning her into a young swan, but the spell backfires and all the weavers are changed into swans, who fly away.  Bobbin, now the only remaining weaver, goes on a quest to find the flock of swans and find out what happened to his people.  It's an intriguing story that was supposed to be a part of a three game series.  Because of this, it does end on a cliffhanger, but it's still a satisfying story on its own.

Unlike the other games in the LucasArts adventure library, Loom doesn't have an inventory system or use action verbs.  Instead, puzzles are solved through Bobbin's magical distaff, which is powered by musical melodies known as drafts.  Throughout the game, Bobbin points his distaff at objects to learn new drafts that contain the power of those items, from tasks ranging from opening things, to changing the colors of certain objects.  The puzzles aren't too difficult, making Loom one of the first casual adventure games, as it was a short adventure with puzzles that weren't too difficult, but it wasn't aimed at children.

The game has an art style reminiscent of other LucasArts adventure games of that period, and contains excellent backgrounds that really show the vastness of the game's world.  There are several versions available.  The original 16 color EGA version and the 256 color FM-Towns version have character close-ups, whereas the 256 color DOS CD version lacks these close-ups due to the inability to properly lip-synch the voices of characters at the time of release.  Because of the lack of close-ups, the DOS CD version also omitted several lines of dialog that was present in the close-up scenes of the EGA and FM-Towns versions.  The DOS CD version did have excellent voice overs, which were recorded in the style of a radio play (the original version did come with an extended radio play) and complement the game's style immensely.  All versions also have an excellent soundtrack that is comprised of several classical music compositions by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.  The FM-Towns and DOS CD versions have improved digital versions of the soundtrack. The FM-Towns version has tracks that are directly from the EGA original, whereas the DOS CD version has tracks that have been re-arranged by George Sanger.

Loom is a departure from the usual LucasArts adventure in many ways.  It's a casual adventure game, with easier puzzles than the rest of the LucasArts adventure library, and it throws out the traditional action verb and inventory based system to a system where puzzles are solved through musical drafts.  However, Loom does have an excellent story and charming art style.  The best way to experience Loom differs for many people due to the differences in the versions.  The best two versions to experience Loom are the DOS CD version, which has improved 256 color VGA artwork and a rearranged and improved version of the original classical music score and voices but cuts a lot of the dialog from the original release due to the lack of character close-ups, or the hard to find FM-Towns version which also has 256 color artwork, has an improved digital version of the music from the EGA version, and retains the extra dialog, but lacks voices.  It's also best to play on ScummVM, as there is a shortcut available that will show the musical drafts that you have learned throughout the game.  If you're willing to play it despite the differences from usual adventure games, you'll find that Loom is ultimately a unique and satisfying experience.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Loom sequel, Forge: Chapter One Is Out Now

Fans of Loom have been waiting for the sequel to Loom for decades. Luckily, some creative Loom fans have decided to stop waiting for an official sequel and have created one of their own.

The game is called Forge, and uses bits of information that have been revealed by Loom's creator, Brian Moriarty, over the years. The game follows the blacksmith Rusty Nailbender, and uses a new magical item to conduct spells, the Blacksmith Guantlets, rather than the weaver's distaff. It uses a graphical style similar to the 256 colour art of the Loom PC CD and FM-Towns versions, and is created using the Adventure Game Studio engine.

If that sounds like something that's of interest to you, then you can pick it up for free over at the Forge homepage.

ScummVM Through Your Browser With HTML5

ScummVM for HTML5 is a project by Jukka Jylänki, which uses enscripten to convert ScummVM's SCUMM engine to HTML5.

On the ScummVM for HTML website, you can play demos of Maniac Mansion, Loom, The Secret of Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Day of the Tentacle, and Sam & Max Hit the Road directly in your browser.

Disney Purchases LucasArts

Disney has acquired Lucasfilm, and by extension LucasArts. The famed former adventure game developer is now under the House of Mouse, specifically Disney Interactive Studios. But, according to a LucasArts spokesperson, things aren't likely to change at LucasArts, at least not in the foreseeable future. "For the time being, all projects are business as usual". So, LucasArts' meager selection of their adventure game classics is likely to remain on Steam, at least for now.

The word is still out on what this means for the licensing of LucasArts properties, however. Disney CEO Robert Iger has stated an intent to license the LucasArts properties out on consoles. "We'll look opportunistically at console, most likely in licensing rather than publishing, but we think that given the nature of these characters and how well known they are, and the storytelling, that they lend themselves quite nicely, as they've already demonstrated to the other platforms." He was referring to the Lucasfilm licenses rather than the original LucasArts intellectual property, but it's possible companies like Telltale might now be able to work up a dialog with studio heads in terms of licensing their adventure properties.

Autumn Sales

Just thought I'd give you a heads up that Telltale's iPad titles are 50% off and their iPhone/iPod touch titles are $0.99 until November 30th. Also, there's a lot of deals to be had at Steam's Autumn Sale (which ends in just over 7 hours), including most of Telltale's PC titles, the LucasArts Adventure Pack (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Dig, and Loom), and other adventures.

LucasArts is one of the five possible publishers coming to GOG.com

GOG.com held a press conference where they stated that one of five major publishers will be releasing 25 games on the site this summer, and they are close to signing deals with two others. The publishers in question are LucasArts, Microsoft, Square Enix, EA and T2.

Hopefully it does end up being LucasArts, as most of their adventure games have been out of print for around a decade, and could certainly benefit from a digital re-release.

Deals on LucasArts and Telltale Adventures!

There are a few deals going on for LucasArts and Telltale adventure games. First of all, there's the Complete Collection of Sam & Max,which includes all three seasons of Telltale's Sam & Max games.  It is $49.95 for a limited time, which is 50% off the price it would be if you bought all three separately.  This offer ends on June 2, 2010.

The LucasArts Adventure Pack, which includes Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Fate of Atlantis, as well as Loom and The Dig, is also on sale for 50% off. The game is $4.99, and the offer is available until Friday.

LucasArts Adventure Pack on Steam

The four LucasArts games available on Steam, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Loom, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and The Dig, are now available on Steam in a LucasArts Adventure Pack for only $9.99 US!

I haven't purchased any yet, so I'm definitely going to pick them up now. $2.50 per game is really hard to pass up! :)

Telltale Rumor #2: Loom episodic series

After the last post about dramatic licenses, it's time to do another Telltale rumor feature!

Out of all the LucasArts properties, Loom seems the most unlikely for Telltale to choose for their episodic game model. However, recent comments have made the chances of a Loom episodic series coming into being increase dramatically.

In August 2009, in an interview with Total PC Gaming Magazine, when Telltale design director Dave Grossman was asked about LucasArts adventure game licenses, he stated "The one I always think about these days is Loom actually, and how ahead of its time it was. I think the problem with it at the time was that it was only two and a half hours long and now I find myself deliberately trying to design games that are only two and a half hours long. So I think... well, why not do that?"

Then, on September 3, 2009, in an interview with VG247, Telltale's CEO Dan Connors stated that Telltale was going to announce a new dramatic episodic series, rather than their usual comedy series.

Dan Connors said, “We’ve always believed that there was a chance to get there as well. We want to continue to evolve the genre. We’ve already evolved the genre in a lot of ways in what we’ve done with Sam & Max and Wallace & Gromit… but we believe there’s a lot of head-room to make more dramatic advances in storytelling and drama inside of this genre.”

So, with Telltale deciding to take on more dramatic series outside of their already dramatic CSI series, and Dave Grossman wanting to do a Loom series more than any other LucasArts series, the chances of a Loom episodic series from Telltale actually seem to be pretty high.

I for one would love to see Loom continued. It's the one LucasArts game that I feel needs a sequel, since the original game ended on a cliffhanger. I just hope that if it does come to fruition, Loom creator Brian Moriarty will have an active role in the series.

1UP LucasArts Reunion

1UP has posted a video interview of several former LucasArts designers talking about their time at LucasArts, and talking a little bit about what they are up to today (or at least as of 2008, when this interview was filmed).

 

It's a group discussion, and features Ron Gilbert (project leader of Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games, co-leader of The Last Crusade), Dave Grossman (co-writer of the first two Monkey Island games, co-leader of Day of the Tentacle, and design director at Telltale Games), Noah Falstein (co-leader of Fate of Atlantis), Bill Tiller (lead background artist on The Curse of Monkey Island, lead artist on The Dig, and founder of Autumn Moon Entertainment), Larry Ahern (co-leader of The Curse of Monkey Island), Mike Levine (lead effects technician on The Dig, and co-founder of Crackpot Entertainment), and Tony Hsieh (programmer on many SCUMM titles, also the project leader on Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi).

It's a great interview. The group talks about almost every adventure game LucasArts released, from Labyrinth to The Curse of Monkey Island, as well as several non-adventure games. They talk about the different climate changes in the management at LucasArts over the years, what killed adventure games at LucasArts, as well as what killed good games in general at LucasArts, and what almost killed the adventure genre. There is also an interesting bit in the middle of the interview that talks about cancelled games at LucasArts as well as games by the people in the group that never got out of the planning stages.

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and watch the video. It's really a great treat for any adventure game fan. :)

LucasArts Games Are Now On Steam

The 10 games from LucasArts that I posted about yesterday are now up on Steam. The games all come with their own updated Windows executable, and don't use DosBox or ScummVM. Some of their datafiles are now embedded in the EXE as well, as noted by bgbennyboy on the International House of Mojo comments section. So, they won't run in ScummVM.

But, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Loom, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and The Dig are now available for the first time in over 10 years, so that's the most important thing. LucasArts also mentioned they are going to be announcing more Steam releases in the future, so here's to hoping their entire back catalog of adventure games will become available again in one form or another. :)

Adventure Game Goodness

LucasArts announced that they will be re-releasing some of their older titles onto PC download via Valve's Steam delivery service. There are 10 games being released, and 4 of them are LucasArts' classic adventures. The four adventure games are:

• Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
• Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
• LOOM
• The Dig

Joystiq has also posted news that the version of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure is a a "previously unreleased version" with "even more bugfixes" than the original CD-ROM re-release, along with a "Tandy 1000 sound engine."

LucasArts also confirmed the July 15th release date for The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition.

And, if that's not enough, later today the first episode of Telltale's Tales of Monkey Island, Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, will be released. There's still time to get in on the pre-order deal that includes a limited edition Steve Purcell-drawn cover-art for the DVD and a free episode of your choice of any of Telltale's series. But not much time. :)

The fan pages are back

Tinternet's largest and last surviving Zak McKracken fan page is back. I'm reviving all my old Mega Monkey sites - and building new ones so that I can finally accomplish my goal set forth at the last update on February 12, 1999: to have a fan page for every LucasArts adventure game.