Interview

Conducted by Bob Freese

June 14, 2002

NOTE: This interview contains some adult subject matter and may not be suitable for all readers.

First off, Al, are you pissed off at Randy since he accidentally deleted the tape with the one-hour interview he did with you over the phone about a year-and-a-half ago? If so, what can he do to get back into your good graces?

Randy did what?! All those funny answers are gone?? And now I have to type. I can't type and be funny! (Anyone who played my games is agreeing right now!)

Seriously, Randy, I'm thinking two words, pal: Vegas Weekend! You owe me, buddy.

Al, I just saw you on TechTV's "The Screensavers" show. Any interesting stuff to relate to our readers on your visit?

It was a fun time. Leo LaPorte, the host and my interviewer, is an old fan of the Larry games and we hit it off well. He took me to lunch before the show and we talked for a solid hour. During the interview, he was smart enough to just ask the best questions from lunch! I think it's probably the best interview I've ever given—other than the one that Randy lost! <grin>

By the way, your readers can watch the replay just by going to my site, www.allowe.com/al-tss.htm . There are also some "behind the scenes" stories there about the show.

On February 22, 1999, your LSL8 project was terminated. For those unfamiliar with the specifics of the demise of Sierra On–Line, what happened?

Sierra On-Line has not "demised," rather, the then-current management decided that there was not enough interest in adventure games to justify the cost of developing more. Sad, isn't it? The company that invented graphic adventures hasn't developed one in years now!

How much of your LSL8 project was complete when you got the bad news?

Almost none. We had been discussing for months how to structure the deal on my next game. I insisted that they have some several penalties for dumping the game during development, since after Ken Williams left there were many games, some nearly complete, that were simply dropped from their lineup. I refused to give them my design until everything was in writing. In hindsight, rightly so.

Okay, Al, you’ve got thousands of LARRY fans out there. We want our polyester pal back! I know that Sierra owns the “rights” to LARRY and that you’ve expressed an interest in designing and producing a LARRY 8 adventure. Any hopeful news?

There are no quotation marks around Sierra's rights; they do own everything that I've created over the years. On the other hand, I would love to do another game. If they decide the time is ripe, I'm still hopeful that something could happen.

Why have so many publishers in the US opted out of the adventure game market? Adventures are big sellers in Europe, right? What's going on?

Europe alone cannot pay off the development costs of a Class A title, you must also have the US market. Adventure game sales just fell through the floor around 1998. I'm just guessing, but I'd bet LSL7 was one of the last A titles to make a profit.

Are you optimistic about the future of adventure gaming, or is the genre in a permanent tailspin?

I'm optimistic about the future of storytelling games, games with plot, with interesting characters, with character development. I doubt that those will take the exact shape that adventure games have traditionally had. But I'm absolutely sure that games cannot continue to their "if it moves, kill it" mentality without eventually boring all but the most addicted twitch gamer.

Have you ever had an interest in designing a game of a totally different genre? Did I read that you had once worked on a golf sim?

If you look at my "Disk-ography" at www.allowe.com/al-games.htm you would be surprised at the various genres I've worked on over the years. During those last years at Sierra, I got a game into development called "Dreamlinks," which was a golf sim, but with fantastic, impossible-to-build holes. It was inspired by that famous calendar showing incredibly difficult golf holes.

I also designed a humorous racing game called "Wave Crazy" that featured beautiful babes on jet-skis, but it was cancel during development, too. I ask you: what would you rather look at while you're racing, the rear end of a car, or …

What do you consider your greatest achievement in your PC game-designing career?

Winning the Software Publishers' Association's first-ever "Codie" for best adventure or RPG game back in 1987 for LSL1. It was a real thrill to be recognized by my peers.

I read on your website that Ken Williams (previously owner of Sierra Online) has “appeared” in each of your LSL games. Where was he in LSL7 – Love for Sail?

He was the clown on the top deck blowing obscene balloon animals, of course. It all started because I wanted to use a name that wouldn't sue me. Who better than the head of the company? After that, it became just another running gag…of which the Larry series had quite a few. The "theme" names for the characters is just one example.

I loved the “punny” names in LSL7! Who came up with the name Xqwzts? Larry’s pronunciation of his name (differently every time) during the game is probably the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen in a PC game. I still crack up every time I think of it!

That would be me, I suppose. I was trying to show he was of "mixed" heritage and thought a name with no vowels would be fun. During development, we called him "Squiz – its," but Jan Rabson, the voice of Larry, had trouble the first couple of times he read it. So, there in the studio, I made the decision: if you can't say it correctly every time, then say it differently every time!

Oh, one gripe – as many times as I’ve played LSL7, I could never collect all 32 of those “thingies.” The one that fell from the mast of the ship was a killer! Was it really possible to grab that sucker or am I just stupid and horribly inept?

Evidently it's quite possible as the Web is filled with people who collected all 32 and posted the instructions how to do so.

"Where's Dildo?" was an example of a part of the game I did not design. Jason Piel, one of our animators, came up with the idea to create an easy to animate character that spoofed the "Where's Waldo?" books. In the final days of development, while the artists were killing time between bug fixes, they kept coming up with more and more scenes for Dildo to appear.

In your opinion, who is the perfect woman? And who would be Larry Laffer’s perfect woman?

That's easy: the perfect woman doesn't exist, although many men have been looking for her for years. That path leads only to disappointment.

On the other hand, Larry's perfect woman is simple: anyone who'll look twice at him is perfect enough for Larry!

At what point in your life did you realize that you were “different” than the other kids – while they were telling “knock-knock” jokes, you were telling “knocker” jokes?

Actually, I wasn't different from other kids. Every guy I knew was telling knocker jokes. And I believe that's part of the success of the Larry games. I just put on disk what guys have been talking about forever!

Al, how did you get interested in developing your humor website at www.allowe.com ? What do you have on the site?

I have hundreds of pages of material, most of it funny, but also a lot of "inside stories" about Leisure Suit Larry, the "good old days" at Sierra Online, and much more. I hope everyone reading this will come pay me a visit, and sign up for CyberJoke 3000™, my daily free joke email. Let me start your morning with a grin again!

For those newbies coming along that haven’t experienced “Larrymania,” I understand that there is still a LSL “Ultimate Pleasure Pack” available. How many games are included and where can we get it?

I only wish that were true. Sierra has recently discontinued it from the lineup. If you can find a copy anywhere, buy it. They aren't making any more.

Did I hear that you’ve been a teacher and band director?

Yes, that's true. I taught high school band, orchestra, and jazz studies for 10 years, was a school music coordinator for 5 years, and then "went over the wall" to become a game designer.

An off-da-waller: (seriously, Al).. What are your “off duty” hobbies?

Reading, golfing, computers, scuba diving, maintaining www.AlLowe.com, film, skiing, playing saxophone in several Seattle jazz bands, and model railroading.

Al, thanks very much for spending some of your time with us at JA! Whatever the future holds for you, thanks for the memories, and very best wishes! 

It was a great pleasure for me. I'm happy that anyone still remembers me – and my buddy Leisure Suit Larry. Now come by AlLowe.com and say hello!