Editing Loom (video game) (section)

== Development ==
=== Music ===
The in-game music consists of excerpts from the ''[[Swan Lake]]'' ballet by [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]], arranged for [[MIDI]] by [[George Sanger (musician)|George "The Fat Man" Sanger]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fatman.com/compose.htm#Moriarty |title=Custom Sound Design: Testimonials by Game Industry leaders |website=The Fat Man |access-date=May 1, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518220524/http://fatman.com/compose.htm |archive-date=May 18, 2015}}</ref> While supporting basic PC speaker sound and [[AdLib]], the EGA version originally lacked built-in [[Roland MT-32]] support. A form included in the package could be mailed to Lucasfilm Games as an order for an extra game disk providing MT-32 support which was later also released as a downloadable patch. This disk also came with an additional overture which was played prior to the opening cutscene.

=== Package contents ===
The original package offered an [[Compact Cassette|audio tape]] with a 30-minute [[audio drama]] that explained the nature and history of the world of ''Loom'', and the circumstances of Bobbin's birth. The game is a direct continuation of the story. The drama was enriched by original music composed by Jerry Gerber.<ref>https://mocagh.org/lucasfilm/loom-tape-inlay.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> Side A of the tape was encoded for standard Dolby-B playback;<ref>https://mocagh.org/lucasfilm/loom-tape.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref> side B was labelled "game music" and had a composition of the game's soundtrack.<ref>https://mocagh.org/lucasfilm/loom-tape-back.jpg {{Bare URL image|date=March 2022}}</ref> In other releases of the game, side B had the identical program with side A{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} encoded for Dolby-S.{{citation needed|date=November 2018}} It was the first commercial cassette to employ [[Dolby noise-reduction system|Dolby-S noise reduction]].{{citation needed|date=November 2018}}

The package also offered an illustrated notebook, ''The Book of Patterns'', supposedly belonging to apprentice weavers in the game world. Its purpose was to optionally note there the drafts that could be learned, as well as describing some that were not seen in the game, with interesting tales related to each draft. Each description also included a staff and four spaces in which to record the four respective notes of the draft. The book contained a warning saying that wise spellweavers write in pencil; this is because many of the spells in the game have randomized threads (musical notes). In the original disk versions, it also acted as a form of copy protection; the game would ask players for the notes of a particular draft in the book at start-up. If the player doesn't enter the correct notes, the game would exit back to the operating system (in the PC version, it would enter demo mode).

=== Orson Scott Card ===
A common misconception about ''Loom'' is that author [[Orson Scott Card]] contributed to its original development, based on his name appearing in the credits. Card mentions in a review for ''Loom'' that this is untrue, and that Moriarty included his name in the credits due to some very minor feedback he had provided prior to the game's release.<ref>{{Citation |last=Card |first=Orson Scott |author-link=Orson Scott Card |title=Books to Look For |periodical=[[The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction]] |date=December 1990 |url=http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/f&sf/90-12.html |access-date=May 1, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425134516/http://www.hatrack.com/osc/reviews/f%26sf/90-12.html |archive-date=April 25, 2015}}</ref> Card's association with Lucasfilm continued, however, leading to more significant contributions to ''[[The Secret of Monkey Island]]'', ''Loom''{{'s}} 1992 "[[Talkies (video games)|talkie]]" release,<ref name="gdc-postmortem" /> and ''[[The Dig (video game)|The Dig]]'' (1995).<ref name="bminterview" />