"Oldies Forever" Interview

September 21, 2001

by Omri Shapira

1. Why did you decide to be a computer game designer?
I was 35 years old, had achieved all the goals I had set for myself in my previous career as a music educator, and didn't want to spend the rest of my life doing the same thing over and over. I had a son who was just starting to read, so I created some educational games that he would enjoy playing. Since there were no other games out then that were educational, they sold well, Sierra offered to take over publishing them and allow me to design more.

2. Why did you choose to work in Sierra and not any other companies like LucasArts?
Are you kidding? LucasArts didn't even exist back then! Sierra was the biggest publisher of any PC software company back then (1981!) and made me the best offer. Besides, their offices were only 50 miles away from my home, so I could work at home. It's hard to imagine, but when I signed on with Sierra, there was no IBM PC, the Apple IIe did not exist, Microsoft had less employees than Sierra. In fact, at that time Sierra had the best-selling 1 word processor and the best-selling database program and the fastest assembler!

3. What did you do before you worked at Sierra?
I had been a high school band director for 10 years, then a school music supervisor for another 5 years.

4. What are you doing now, after you stopped working at Sierra?
I spent the year 2000 as CTO of an Internet startup, until they (like everyone else!) ran out of money. Now, as before 2000, I consider myself retired.

5. Did you play other Sierra games like Gabriel Knight or Space Quest?
Of course. Sierra in the 80's was a special place at a special time. We were just making games that we wanted to play. There was no "market research" or "focus groups" or even marketing specialists. Gamers made games for gamers. We were having too much fun to realize the impact our games were having. Little did we know that by doing something we loved, we made people happy and even changed a few lives. How many people get to say that?

6. Do you still play computer games?
Not much. There are few games of the type I enjoy published anymore. I find the current crop of "if it moves, kill it" games terminally boring. Plus, I'm not very good at them!

7. What is your favorite type of games?
Adventure games, of course. But driving games, puzzles, flight sims have all taken more of my life than I like to think. Actually, the game I play most now is golf - real, not sim.

8. Which game is your favorite -- Larry or Freddy Pharkas?
Larry. But Freddy was really fun to do.

9. You said Larry 7 is your favorite Larry game. What makes it better?
The humor is deeper; the puzzles are better integrated into the story; the recorded live musicians beat MIDI hands down; the voiceover acting; there are more jokes, more slapstick silliness…all in all, it's a funnier game.

10. Which is the worst Larry game?
Larry 5. It was too linear, with too many "hands off" non-interactive sequences. Some in Sierra management thought gamers wanted more of a movie experience. I wasn't sure. Larry 5 convinced all of us - gamers want to game! More interaction. Less cartoons.

11. Which Larry character is your favorite?
After Larry, I presume? Easy: Chief Keneewauwau in Larry 2. Anyone who makes a guy prove his manhood by writing a program in assembler is tops in my book!

12. Which Larry game sold the highest number of copies?
I really don't know the exact counts; I never added up all the reports. But, if I had to guess, I'd say Larry 1, if only because it sold well in CGA, then we re-released it in VGA and it sold well again, then it went to the $15 hanging cheapie game rack and sold well again, and then it went into the collection, which has sold well for the past six years.

13. What do you say about the death of the adventure games?
I say visit my web site, where I have posted an article I wrote for NextGen Online. I tell everything there. www.allowe.com/al-articles.htm

14. If your games were created by someone else, do you think you would like them?
Of course. I was lucky. I only put in those games things that I thought was funny. Why wouldn't I?

15. Was it fun in Captain Thygh's cabin?
Only for me and certain intimate friends!

16. Since the subject of the Larry series is sex, doesn't that make for problems with your wife?
Actually, the subject of the games is not sex, but humor. Perhaps you didn't realize that throughout the games, I was poking fun at sexual situations, not portraying them realistically. (At least, I hope Larry isn't realistic! <grin>)

17. The Larry games are for 18+ guys. Do you think there are more kids who like Larry than adults?
We only put that "18 and older" line on the games to cover our ass with parents. That way, if your kid played the games, it was your fault. We didn't want to actively recruit kids (because I believe the humor is over their heads and the sex, while sparse, is inappropriate for pre-adolescents), but I let my kids play the games once they were in their teens. Of course, since "Dad" made them, they didn't want to. They were both surprised though, when their friends thought the games were cool.

18. Larry 7 sold a lot of copies. Why do you think Sierra still doesn't want to make Larry 8?
I think the market has changed. If Sierra was the only publisher who thought adventure games were dead, it would be odd. Since every publisher has stopped production on adventures, perhaps they are right. I'm hoping there will be a rebirth, once gamers get tired of "just another shooter."

19. Do you have some ideas for the storyline of Larry 8 or Freddy Pharkas 2?
Yes.
Will I tell you?
No.

20. When (If) Larry 8 and Freddy Pharkas 2 come out, how would you want them to look?
Larry 8 was always intended to be a 3-D cartoon, not realistic 3-D like Final Fantasy, but very fun and stretchy, like Toy Story or Shrek.

21. What is your biggest dream?
After world peace? That gamers once again find their sense of humor and seek games with a storyline and laughs (and maybe a little titillation). When they do, I'll be here waiting.

22. Anything final words?
Yes. Tell all your readers to drop by www.allowe.com and have a few laughs and maybe learn some inside stories about Leisure Suit Larry and the old days at Sierra.