| Gloom | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Black Magic Software |
| Publisher(s) | Guildhall |
| Composer(s) | Kev Stannard |
| Platform(s) | Amiga,Amiga CD32 |
| Release | May 14, 1995[1] |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Gloom is a 1995computer game for theAmiga computer.Gloom was the first commercially released Amigaclone offirst-person shooterDoom.
Gloom features 'Messy' or 'Meaty' graphics settings. If 'Messy' graphics are enabled,gibs from enemies explode more violently but disappear promptly, and if 'Meaty' graphics are enabled, all gibs from defeated enemies will remain on the floor where they died until the level is completed.[2]Gloom Deluxe is playable on aworkbench screen, a feature absent from its predecessor.[3]Gloom has a two-player mode, and can be played over a network or by using split screen.[4]
Gloom was developed as an AmigaDoom clone by Mark Sibly (programmer) Kurt & Hans Butler (graphics), Laki Schuster (additional artwork) and Kev Stannard (music). A later version of the game,Gloom Deluxe, featured higher resolution graphic modes.
Gloom was followed byGloom 3 by Alpha Software, who also producedZombie Massacre. AGloom 2 was announced by Black Magic Software along withDeluxe but was not ultimately released.[5]
A reverse engineered engine for the game was worked on in 2011 called XGloom.[6] In January 2017 theassembly andBlitzBasic 2source code ofGloom was released aspublic domain software underunlicense onGitHub.[7][8] The assets were released "for historical and archiving purposes".[9] Asource port for modern systems (includingAmigaOS 4) was then created in 2020 called ZGloom,[10][11] which also supports the various custom levels andtotal conversions created for the engine,[12][13][14][15] includingGloom 3 andZombie Massacre.[16]
Gloom's map editor and utility programs were written inBlitz BASIC, a programming language written by Mark Sibly, one of the developers ofGloom.[17]Gloom was developed in a year, and development began in May 1994.[17] In a 1995 issue ofThe One, a British gaming magazine,Gloom was previewed before release with some information about its development.Gloom was also the cover story of this issue, and a demo ofGloom was included on the cover disk.[17]The One's logo is on several walls inGloom in the demo.[18] Several developers atBlack Magic Software were interviewed, including Mark Sibly, Hans and Kurt Butler, who worked on graphics, and Kev Stannard. Mark stated in regards toGloom's name: "The name sort of started out as a joke ... just something to call the project while we were working on it. By the time we had to settle on a 'real' name, we threw around some petty weird ones like Gorefest '95, and Bloodbath, but wound up sticking withGloom. Probably because we were all used to it."[17]
The crew behindGloom met while working on a game together, with Mark describing the situation as "a bit of a drama, to be honest. We'd gone over there to work for this rich guy who wanted to get into the games publishing biz, but things turned pretty ugly at the end. We actually finished the game, but nothing ever came of it." While it is aDoom clone, the development team attempted to differentiateGloom from its inspiration and otherDoom clones by dividing the game into "distinct graphic styles" to "alter the mood of the game entirely." A trait noted by Kurt Butler is that many otherDoom clones' sprites "don't really stand out from the background graphics ... I think this is due to the fact that they used colours too dull and similar to the background shades."Gloom's enemy sprites are designed to stand out from the background, which aids the player to see them at a distance.[17]
A key feature ofGloom is that all enemies explode into gibs upon being killed rather than leaving a corpse, and to promote this feature, a competition was run inThe One magazine to correctly match up pictured in-game gibs with what body part/organ they are, with the winner's face being put intoGloom.[18] The game was deliberately designed to be more fast-paced andarcade like than other first-person shooters.[19] The game even features playablearcade cabinets hidden in some levels.[4]
Gloom was stated to cost £29.99 in 1995.[20]
The game was ranked the 18th best game of all time byAmiga Power.[21]The One magazine gaveGloom an overall score of 90%, stating: "The emphasis of the game is on action, and there is plenty of it. ... The only disappointing thing I can think of is that there is a distinct lack of weapons. Only one gun can be carried at a time ... The guns get quite beefy but the ability to carry a massive arsenal and swap between shotguns, bazookas, et al is sadly missing."The One found the gibbing of enemies "immensely satisfying" and referred toGloom as "bloody brilliant"[2]
CU Amiga gaveGloom an overall score of 90%, praisingGloom's rock soundtrack, and calling its graphics and enemies 'impressive'.CU Amiga expressed that they feelGloom differentiates itself fromDoom, stating that whileDoom 'has more atmosphere',Gloom is "more frantic".CU Amiga summarisesGloom's combat as "excellent".[20]
InThe 100 Greatest Amiga Games, Tom Crossland wrote that "this 1995 FPS seems quite cultish. The original version is horrendously blocky (to the point of hardly being able to see anything) but Gloom Deluxe cleaned this up a bit. The over the top gore and gibbing in the game is fun but I'm afraid the appeal of Gloom was always rather lost on me. It was very difficult to get into an Amiga FPS in the post-Doom world."[22]
Gloom Deluxe was listed as among the 5 Best Amiga Games Of All Time by Amitopia, declaring "Gloom Deluxe is simply in the list of best Amiga games because it is the best 3D FPS game for Amiga and it is only available for the Amiga platform. It is a gem that shouldn’t be overlooked. For what you get, you get a lot with this game."[23] A previous review on the site also took issue with it being dismissed as a mereDoom clone.[24]Nostalgia Nerd noted that "this game IS DOOM. But yet its not. It manages to be what DOOM is, with less resources, less memory and less potential profit, but yet somehow manages to be it's [sic] own game. Also, top marks for the cover art. I played it recently, and was hooked for some considerable time."[25]