Al Lowe

By Craig White

Al Lowe has worked for Sierra On-Line for over 17 years now. He
is the star behind the lovable Larry Laffer and has also created such
masterpieces as Freddy Pharkas and the family game Torin’s Passage.
Al’s next project is a 3D on-line casino game called Larry’s Casino.
After Larry, he plans to work on Larry 8, which could possibly be Larry’s
first 3D adventure! If you want a laugh, feel free to read on and learn
about Larry’s hits and his very big misses.

Is it true you are the world’s oldest living computer game designer?

(Laughs) Of course! At least, that’s what I’ve claimed for years. To
date, no one has ever challenged me! On the other hand, it’s scarcely
a title to fight over, is it?

What software titles have you worked on during your “stay”
with Sierra?

I started programming in 1978 and within a few years was creating games
for Sierra. My first full-blown, animated 3-D graphic adventure game
for Sierra was The Black Cauldron, in 1984. In ’87, the Leisure
Suit Larry series began. All in all, I’ve been involved in one way
or another with over 25 software titles, plus many hint books for various
games including my own. And of course, my latest project completed was
Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail.

How did you get started in this business?

Before I was a game designer, my background was in education. I was
a high school band director for ten years and a school music administrator
for six years after that. I designed a few educational computer games
before joining Sierra, then several of Sierra’s Disney titles in the
early 80s.

Before Larry, you made many educational titles. Tell me about more
these.

I began by writing three games back in 1982. As I recall, computers
hadn’t even been invented then–I think I used a chisel to carve the
code into stone tablets! (laughs) I’m still proud of those games, because
they were some of the very first software that was a fun game first
and educational second. At the time, educational software was so drill
and practice oriented. You know: first do this, then do it again, then
do it again, then take this test, now here’s your final score. Oh, and
be sure to beep the speaker at me every time I make a mistake! My goal
was to create educational titles that were games first and foremost,
something kids would want to spend time with because they were enjoyable.
Most of them didn’t realize they were learning at the same time!

Besides designing, what else have you done for Sierra?

In the early years, everyone had to do everything! On my first products,
I did graphics, programming, writing, sound effects, package design,
you name it! Of course, the games looked like it, too! (laughs) Almost
immediately, I stopped doing graphics. But I still programmed right
up to Larry 5. I also programmed games for other designers: King’s
Quest III and King’s Quest IV, plus the original Police
Quest. And, for a short time back in the mid-80s, I was Sierra’s
entire music department. I wrote all the music for every game the company
did. This was back when there were no books to explain things, no MIDI,
no sequences, no computer-ready synthesizers … we were plowing
completely new ground. We struggled mightily to come up with some way
for our computer games to communicate with synthesizers. We’ve come
a long way not only technically but musically. Isn’t it ironic: after
all that work to be the first computer games with MIDI, we’re now dropping
MIDI completely! Of course, it’s only because we now have the ability
to play all-digital music. It was very exciting to have Torin’s Passage
enriched with the music of Oscar-winning composer Michel Legrand.
And now, Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love for Sail! has authentic “lounge
music” plus original disco hits from the 70s, performed by the
original artists—just like K-Tel! (chuckles)

Now, an interesting game you made was Torin’s Passage. Compared
to Larry, it is quite different. Why the change?

Torin was quite different from what most people expect of me.
It is much more a traditional “gamer’s game,” and it’s “squeaky
clean!” No buxom babes, no risque humor. I wanted to design something
that wouldn’t be “off limits” to my daughter, Megan, who’s
14. After creating products both for children and for adults, it seemed
the logical next step was a game with appeal to both. This is one game
a family could enjoy together.

When you look back to your early years in game design, how does it
compare to today’s standards?

As we’ve added specialists to our development teams, it has become
much more formal. Back in 1987, when we created the first Leisure
Suit Larry, there was a grand total of two people on the project:
Mark Crowe and me. Mark did all the backgrounds and all the animation
for that entire game! I did all the programming, music, sound effects,
and wrote all the text. Design? Oh, I don’t care, Mark–what do you
want to do? Now, with 15 people working on a game, the design becomes
much more formalized. The initial design for Larry 7 was over
100 pages of fine print, and that didn’t include one line of dialogue!
Later, as the game took shape, Don Munsil and I added another 500 pages
of text. But, I’m proud to say, the initial design described the final
game with at least 95-percent accuracy. The other 5 percent was wonderful
suggestions and improvements added through the creativity of our team
members.

Let’s talk about Larry for a while. Honestly, how much of Larry is
in yourself?

Not much, I hope! Of course, after all these years, he does begin to
rub off on you!

Okay, then let’s flip it around. How much of yourself is in Larry?

All of me, I suppose. Since nearly everything in there came out of
my mind, you could say there’s a great deal of me in Larry. I like to
say Larry is the swinging side of me that I’ve kept repressed through
all my years of happy monogamy. I’ve been happily married to my wife,
Margaret, for over 28 years now. We have two children, Brian (20) and
Megan (13). While I still play saxophone professionally, I haven’t hung
out in bars or picked up chicks in many, many years!

When you look into the magical crystal ball of games, what do you
see?

I see nothing but great things coming for the world of computer gaming.
I think games will become more interactive, rather than less. My goal
is nothing less than full-fledged interactive movies, with multiple
paths through the plot, filled with ultra-realistic graphics, intelligent
responses to your actions, and background music that continually evolves
to fit the situation. We’ve learned big-name stars and Hollywood production
values don’t make up for interactivity. I hope my games will never sacrifice
game play or interactivity to flash and dash.

In other words, great games are coming?

You bet! Especially the multiplayer Larry Casino game I am working
on now. But please note that this will not replace Larry 8.

How could you possibly have dreamed up as big of a loser as Larry
Laffer?

In late 1986, I felt the time was ripe for a game that I didn’t see
anywhere else. Something that dealt with mature subject matter, and
with humor. At the time, every computer game was terribly serious: save
the princess, save the galaxy! And set in fantastic settings: medieval
times or other planets. I thought the world was ready for a game set
in modern times, with modern people. Larry’s loser image just kind of
grew with the character.

Was Larry based on anyone you know?

No, he’s based on jerks everyone knows! Well, there was a guy who worked
as a traveling software salesman for Sierra back then …

Larry’s been going for a long time now–don’t you think the joke is
wearing a bit thin?

What do you mean, now? Hell, this joke was thin to begin with … and
that’s one of the things that makes it funny. I try to never “talk
down” to the gamer. I assume you have intelligence, understanding,
some maturity. I try to write the same way I would talk if we were sitting
around and just talking. Men have been doing that for hundreds of years,
and the jokes are still coming. I think Larry will go on and on, until
the public decides they’ve had enough. But, after they see Love for
Sail! I think they’ll be just like our team: laughing so hard they’ll
cry for more!

What sort of people do you think buy Larry games?

Mostly prison inmates and crazed lonely losers … not! We’ve
surveyed Larry players and found they strongly match the game-playing
population in general, with one exception: a higher proportion are women!
It seems women relate to Larry, probably because at least once in their
life, they dated a jerk like him.

You must be compared to Leisure Suit Larry a lot (at least you are
to me). What do you think of this comparison? Did you try to put as much
of yourself into his character?

Yes. It’s obvious, but false. There’s almost nothing of my character
in Larry. The truth? I’m the narrator. You know, that smart ass who
“knows all” and laughs at Larry under his breath.

Over the years, Larry has certainly evolved a lot. From a very pixilated
loser to a beautifully animated loser. What do you see in his future?

It’s safe to bet whatever happens, it’s not gonna be pretty! Actually,
right now, it looks like Larry got lucky. He met some “friends”
who needed a front man for their new casino, and they even let him decorate
it. You’ll be able to see it next spring. It’s called Leisure Suit
Larry’s Casino and it’s going to be the best Internet gambling and
chat you’ve never lost any real money in!

In Larry 7, there are many comical Easter eggs. Did you plan
these in the design process, or did the team sneak ’em in behind your
back? What do you think of them (the Easter eggs)?

Some were “designed in” by me, but most came from the team.
I love ’em.

Right now you are working on a multi-player Larry Casino game,
right? Tell me more about this.

Leisure Suit Larry’s Casino will feature wonderful Internet
chat and great gambling in a casino that only Larry would decorate.
It will track your gambling but never ask you for real money. I’ve got
some new chat ideas that I think everyone is really going to enjoy.
The Larry part? Think how Larry would expect people would want to gamble.
Yep, that’s what we’re doing. It’s the first casino game where everyone
gambles naked sitting around in hot tubs!

In the spring 1997 InterAction magazine, the Letters to the
Editor section mentions that you are working on a golf game. Is this true?
If not, what happened to it?

DreamLinks is still in the early design stages. It will feature
Sierra’s new golf engine (which is getting great reviews). Vance Cook,
the designer, has done some really great things, including TruSwing,
which lets you use the mouse to swing instead of just slapping the space
bar. DreamLinks is my variation, which features realistic golf
played in real locations that will never see a golf hole.

Of course, I must ask what really happened with Larry 4?
Was Ken mad when you “lost the floppies,” and do you plan
to skip another Larry?

Why, yes, uh, that’s what happened. Sure it is. I think.

3D is very much “in” now. Do you think Larry will be seen
in 3D?

Actually, Leisure Suit Larry’s Casino features my spoof at 3-D
animation: CyberLarry2000. I can say, without fear of correction, you’ve
never seen anything quite like it!

Speaking of 3D, what do you think of the way adventure games are evolving?
What would you like to do to change things around?

I think you’ll have to wait for Larry 8 to ship late next year
for the definitive answer to that question. I do know, good games never
go backwards and they never stay the same. You guess.

You are the oldest person working at Sierra, right? What do your co-workers
think of this, and more importantly, what do you think? (grin)

At Sierra? Hell, I’m the world’s oldest living computer game designer!
And, to answer your second question, they either like it or they’re
history! No, seriously, sometimes it’s good; sometimes it’s bad. The
trick is knowing when maturity and insight are important and when they’re
just in the way. I hope to continue figuring this out as I go along,
of course.

In each of your Larry games, there is a character that very much resembles
the CEO of Sierra, Ken Williams. What is your call on this? Would you
say it is an attempt to “make friends” with the boss? (grin)

Does the phrase “suck up” come to mind? (grin) Nah, it’s
too late to “make friends.” Ken’s my best buddy, and our relationship
is hardly lord and peasant! It actually started because I thought it
would be grins to make fun of him in a game, and also because it’s damned
hard coming up with 40 to 70 interesting names for each of these games.
His is available and I know he’s not going to sue me!

What was your first thought when you first came to work with Sierra,
and what did you do?

I’m too late. I assumed I was late to the party; all the great programmers
were already developing great games, and I was this former high school
music teacher with not even a computer class to my credit trying to
program games and write dialog. Just goes to show what I know.

It is a fact that you were a school teacher before you designed games.
Does the school you worked for know what you’re doing now, and what do
they think?

The people I worked with always knew I was funny; I mean, you don’t
spend your life a quiet serious guy and then start writing humor games.
You’ll have to ask them what they think. I presume they think I’m crazy
… but better off financially!

It is very obvious that you are a funny man. Does this come naturally,
or do you spend countless hours thinking up jokes?

I’d like to say it comes naturally, but the more I think about it the
more I realize I devote a great deal of my life to studying contemporary
society so as to make fun of it. This includes reading The New York
Times cover to cover every day, watching lots of late night TV (Letterman
and Conan, not Leno; too sucky), every cable channel’s comedy specials,
going to lots of comedy shows, etc. So, if that’s work, put me down
for it!

Do you think Larry will ever get a woman, for good?

No.

Put simply, does your wife like Larry?

No. But she likes the things Larry buys!

How do you come up for new ideas for Larry? I read that the team must
read Playboy magazine in order to realistically draw women. Do
you think this is necessary?

It’s not necessary for me, as I’ve actually seen real women naked.
But for those guys … Nah, that’s just a joke. We never work from photographs
of naked women. We hire real models and make ’em pose here in my office!

Passionate Patty was a very nice touch in the Larry’s adventure game.
She has introduced women into playing the game. Why did you want to add
her, and do you think she will be back?

I just thought Larry needed some contrast, and I tried to come up with
a woman who would be as different from Larry as possible. I made Patti
everything Larry is not: hip, worldly, sexual, confidant, aggressive,
etc.

Do you have any last words you would like to add?

I tried adding words in Word but it keeps coming up with a sum of zero!
Wait, what was the question again?