GOG has uncovered their third wave of Lucasfilm classics to be added to the DRM free store, and of the six games, three are available for Linux. Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders is now available through digital distribution for the first time, while The Dig and LOOM have their commercial Linux début. And as usual we have the ScummVM team to thank for the Linux support.
Zak McKracken was one of the first point and click adventure games I played after my family got an Amiga in the late 80s. I had already played some of the Sierra classics at a friend's house, but this was one of the games that truly ignited that adventure loving flame in me, and is one of my fondest childhood gaming memories. The game is not without faults, seen from a modern perspective, but with its zany humor, challenging puzzles and plentiful and varied locations, it's one that shouldn't be overlooked by fans of the genre.
Like Maniac Mansion before it, Zak McKracken also requires you to select the "What is" command before you swipe the screen for hotspots -- something that can in all honesty be a bit annoying. It also commits the greatest adventure game sin of having dead ends. I can't remember encountering any dead ends on any of my playthroughs of the game, but I have encountered them in other games, and there are few things that kill your enjoyment of a game more than suddenly discovering that you messed up your playthrough several hours ago. To avoid this issue, I recommend giving this StrategyWiki entry a quick glance before playing the game, as it doesn't really spoil anything, and it will increase your chance of enjoying the game. Personally, I don't consider deaths dead ends, as it's immediately obvious that you screwed up, and can be corrected quickly by loading a save.
LOOM is the story of Bobbin Threadbare of the guild of Weavers. When the Elders flee after witnessing a bad omen, Bobbin must learn to master his distaff to eventually stop Chaos from taking control of the guild's Loom. The game was a slight departure from Lucasfilm's previous point-and-clicks in that you have no inventory or verb commands, but instead play various four-note drafts that you learn throughout the game to perform actions.
The game has three difficulty options; Standard, Practice and Expert. Unless you have absolute pitch, I recommend playing Loom in Standard or Practice mode. There is a small change in Cobb's death scene when playing the game in expert mode, but other than that, I found the mode a lot more tedious than the more forgiving modes. Loom is also a very short game compared to other point and click adventure games of its time, and shouldn't take more than about four hours to beat. The version on GOG also appears to be the talkie version, which was further cut to allow it to fit on a CD-ROM. Hopefully, one of the earlier versions will be added in the near future.
Last, but by no means least, The Dig is now also available on GOG. This is a game many consider their all-time favourite adventure game, and with a suspenseful sci-fi story conceived by none other than Steven Spielberg, it's no wonder.
There is little to complain about with this game, but if you prefer comedy adventures, this might not be for you, as it's a lot more serious than most other Lucasfilm adventures. The Dig is also notorious for its skeleton puzzle, but as with any puzzle, difficulty is a highly subjective matter. What's obscure for one might be straight-forward for another, and vice versa. I never struggled with that particular puzzle, but I remember stuck for a long while on the light bridge puzzles on my first playthrough of the game.
Zak McKracken gives you the choice between the original MS-DOS version and the enhanced FM Towns version, and all games come with manuals. The Dig has the Alan Dean Foster novella included, while Zak McKracken has downloads of the National Inquisitor, the in-game newspaper Zak writes for. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Zak McKracken was one of the first point and click adventure games I played after my family got an Amiga in the late 80s. I had already played some of the Sierra classics at a friend's house, but this was one of the games that truly ignited that adventure loving flame in me, and is one of my fondest childhood gaming memories. The game is not without faults, seen from a modern perspective, but with its zany humor, challenging puzzles and plentiful and varied locations, it's one that shouldn't be overlooked by fans of the genre.
Like Maniac Mansion before it, Zak McKracken also requires you to select the "What is" command before you swipe the screen for hotspots -- something that can in all honesty be a bit annoying. It also commits the greatest adventure game sin of having dead ends. I can't remember encountering any dead ends on any of my playthroughs of the game, but I have encountered them in other games, and there are few things that kill your enjoyment of a game more than suddenly discovering that you messed up your playthrough several hours ago. To avoid this issue, I recommend giving this StrategyWiki entry a quick glance before playing the game, as it doesn't really spoil anything, and it will increase your chance of enjoying the game. Personally, I don't consider deaths dead ends, as it's immediately obvious that you screwed up, and can be corrected quickly by loading a save.
LOOM is the story of Bobbin Threadbare of the guild of Weavers. When the Elders flee after witnessing a bad omen, Bobbin must learn to master his distaff to eventually stop Chaos from taking control of the guild's Loom. The game was a slight departure from Lucasfilm's previous point-and-clicks in that you have no inventory or verb commands, but instead play various four-note drafts that you learn throughout the game to perform actions.
The game has three difficulty options; Standard, Practice and Expert. Unless you have absolute pitch, I recommend playing Loom in Standard or Practice mode. There is a small change in Cobb's death scene when playing the game in expert mode, but other than that, I found the mode a lot more tedious than the more forgiving modes. Loom is also a very short game compared to other point and click adventure games of its time, and shouldn't take more than about four hours to beat. The version on GOG also appears to be the talkie version, which was further cut to allow it to fit on a CD-ROM. Hopefully, one of the earlier versions will be added in the near future.
Last, but by no means least, The Dig is now also available on GOG. This is a game many consider their all-time favourite adventure game, and with a suspenseful sci-fi story conceived by none other than Steven Spielberg, it's no wonder.
There is little to complain about with this game, but if you prefer comedy adventures, this might not be for you, as it's a lot more serious than most other Lucasfilm adventures. The Dig is also notorious for its skeleton puzzle, but as with any puzzle, difficulty is a highly subjective matter. What's obscure for one might be straight-forward for another, and vice versa. I never struggled with that particular puzzle, but I remember stuck for a long while on the light bridge puzzles on my first playthrough of the game.
Zak McKracken gives you the choice between the original MS-DOS version and the enhanced FM Towns version, and all games come with manuals. The Dig has the Alan Dean Foster novella included, while Zak McKracken has downloads of the National Inquisitor, the in-game newspaper Zak writes for. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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EDIT: Also, I probably should have read the article in full before commenting... Sorry for repeating several things here...
This is even the Zak256 version, the one with 256-color graphics, exclusive for the FM Towns Marty console. Original Zak FM-Towns games are pretty rare, and usually go for about $500 on eBay.
Additionally, the GOG download includes the MS-DOS version of the game. Or more specifically, the V2, with enhanced EGA graphics.
As a comparision, here's the same room in
The GOG Loom release, however, is the inferior DOS CD version.
There's three version of Loom:
The CD-ROM version, while coming with updated graphics, contains speech in Red Book audio format, and due to its limited space, had to be cut quite a bit. The FM-Towns version uses the updated graphics, but doesn't feature speech, so it's uncut. The FM-Towns version is therefore considered by many the superior version. Like Zak McKracken, it's also very rare and expensive on eBay.
This is even the Zak256 version, the one with 256-color graphics, exclusive for the FM Towns Marty console. Original Zak FM-Towns games are pretty rare, and usually go for about $500 on eBay.
Additionally, the GOG download includes the MS-DOS version of the game. Or more specifically, the V2, with enhanced EGA graphics.
As a comparision, here's the same room in
- V1 graphics (identical to the C64 version)
- V2 graphics (identical to the Amiga and Atari ST versions)
- FM-Towns graphics
The GOG Loom release, however, is the inferior DOS CD version.
There's three version of Loom:
- The EGA floppy version
- The VGA CD-ROM version
- FM-Towns version
The CD-ROM version, while coming with updated graphics, contains speech in Red Book audio format, and due to its limited space, had to be cut quite a bit. The FM-Towns version uses the updated graphics, but doesn't feature speech, so it's uncut. The FM-Towns version is therefore considered by many the superior version. Like Zak McKracken, it's also very rare and expensive on eBay.
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I bought The Dig, never heard of it until now but looks promising.
I watched a bit of a gameplay and I was sold.
Its soundtrack seems pretty good too.
I watched a bit of a gameplay and I was sold.
Its soundtrack seems pretty good too.
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I absolutely recommend playing Loom in expert mode, especially if you like music :) In expert mode distaff has no hints, and you need to play it more like a real instrument. That's about the only difference there is I think.
For the reference, this release is missing FM Towns version which has no voice acting but has close up portraits and longer dialogs which explain the story in more details. It's also missing the audio drama which is a prologue to the story. You can find it here: http://s-island.mixnmojo.com/loom.php
About different versions of Loom see http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/loom/loom.htm
For the reference, this release is missing FM Towns version which has no voice acting but has close up portraits and longer dialogs which explain the story in more details. It's also missing the audio drama which is a prologue to the story. You can find it here: http://s-island.mixnmojo.com/loom.php
About different versions of Loom see http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/loom/loom.htm
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By the way, did anyone try playing this GOG release of Outlaws in Wine? The music doesn't work for me.
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Quoting: dubigrasuI bought The Dig, never heard of it until now but looks promising.
I watched a bit of a gameplay and I was sold.
Its soundtrack seems pretty good too.
The DIG is a great game. I played it many years ago but I have fond memories of that game.
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Although I'm not the biggest fan of Loom, I've always loved it just for the beginnig where you click on the leaf on the tree you sit under and say "The last leaf of autumn", while it falls to the ground. :) Best beginnig of any game.
Reminded me of those Peanuts strips, where Snoopy watches the leaves fall in autumn:
Reminded me of those Peanuts strips, where Snoopy watches the leaves fall in autumn:
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I have problems installing the deb package of Loom and The Dig, it says ok but it didn't install anything. Anyone more have this problem?
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nattydread Mar 20, 2015
wow Zak McKracken, I loved that as a kid on my amiga. Great humour, might have to buy that.
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Thanks for the detailed information, DrMcCoy and Shmerl.
I think it's because of the EULA. QApt doesn't work for me either (I'm assuming that's what you're using, since you're on Kubuntu too). Using dpkg works though:
and
Alternatively, you can extract the games from the packages.
Quoting: FurorI have problems installing the deb package of Loom and The Dig, it says ok but it didn't install anything. Anyone more have this problem?
I think it's because of the EULA. QApt doesn't work for me either (I'm assuming that's what you're using, since you're on Kubuntu too). Using dpkg works though:
sudo dpkg -i gog_loom_1.0.0.5.deband
sudo dpkg -i gog_the_dig_1.0.0.5.debAlternatively, you can extract the games from the packages.
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Metallinatus Mar 20, 2015
Whatever happened to the other Star Wars DOS games that didn't get the Linux love Dark Forces got? :(
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