Loom on Steam: which version to play?

Loom has been released several times, but there is no clear-cut “best version”.

Steam provides Windows and Mac ports of Loom’s 1992 DOS CD-ROM re-release.
The other popular version is the 1990 FM-TOWNS release.

CD-ROM: A “talkie” release — every line of dialogue has recorded audio; No music except in cutscenes; Cutscenes and dialogue shortened so as to fit onto one CD Audio track; No character closeups; Few sound effects
FM-TOWNS: Complete and unabridged dialogue; Looping background music; Interactive objects appear in the UI area on mouseover, rather than on click; No difficulty selection UI — you must edit a text file instead; No recorded dialogue

In the original DOS release, Expert mode rewarded players with an additional scene toward the end of the game. It is not present in either of the above versions.

Finally, while both options offer repainted 256-colour graphics (an upgrade from the 16-colour originals), those in the FM-TOWNS version are underdeveloped in some locations when compared to the CD release.

How to get the FM-TOWNS release

If you think you would prefer the FM-TOWNS release, you can download it from this site once you have proven that you own Loom on Steam. This involves entering some characters from a Steam-only script file that comes with the game and has nothing at all to do with your Steam account!

Download and install ScummVM. There is no built-in emulator with the FM-TOWNS download.
Download Loom through Steam. If you do not own Loom on Steam, you can buy it here.
Using your preferred text editor, open C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\loom\32340_install.vdf and copy the first eight characters of the long alphanumeric installscript value — not including any quote marks — to your clipboard.
Locate /Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Steam/SteamApps/common/loom.app. Right-click and choose "Show Package Contents", open installscript_osx.vdf using your preferred text editor and copy the number within it to your clipboard.
Click here to download Loom FM-TOWNS. The username is loom for Windows and loom_osx for Mac; the password is the string/number you just copied. You will be returned to this page if you get it wrong.
Add Loom to ScummVM, as described here.
Finally, fix saving your game. Select Loom in the ScummVM game list, navigate to Edit Game > Paths > Save Path, then hit ‘Choose’, in the bottom right. There’s no need to change to a different folder.