Leisure Suit Larry 4: The Missing Floppies
Encyclopedia
The fourth installment of the Leisure Suit Larry
series was officially Larry 5
. The actual fourth part of the scenario was never made for various reasons, but it is jokingly referred to by both Sierra and fans under the subtitle of The Missing Floppies (or The Case of the Missing Floppies). Much gossip and rumor have spread to explain this: most believed that the original production floppies of the game were lost and the team would not remake it from scratch. Others referred to an internal office prank.
The actual reasons are mainly two and have been given by Al Lowe
at separate points:
Note that the Laffer Utilities and the Leisure Suit Larry 1 VGA remake are each sometimes unofficially credited as Larry 4, as the first was the fourth ever Larry production, and the latter, the fourth game to be made. Of course, similar VGA remakes of Space Quest I, Police Quest
I, and Quest for Glory I were not given new numerical titles.
MAD Magazine had proposed what Leisure Suit Larry 4 might have looked like in a 1990 issue spoofing video games. Their idea was "the after effect of Larry's screwing around with the time coming for Larry having to pay the piper". They proposed the idea of Larry in a maze game similar to Berzerk
, where he must steer clear of out-of-wedlock pregnancies he has caused, as well as private investigators, case workers, and angry fathers wielding shotguns, making it extremely difficult for Larry to continue his infamous carefree attitude towards casual sex.
On April 1, 2009 the Abandonware
site Abandonia.com
released an alleged "leaked copy" for download. This turned out to in fact be an elaborate April Fools Day prank: the screenshots were fakes, the review - fictional and the "game" archive actually contained 55 identical copies of scanned front casing of Xbox 360
version of Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust
.
skipped the fourth part altogether in order to surpass the problems of continuing the definite finale of Larry 3. This allowed him to introduce (intentionally) some grey plot points and begin freely a whole new adventure with Larry 5
.
According to production notes (given by Lowe himself) the following events must be assumed to have happened between Larry 3 and Larry 5 in order to logically connect the two games:
The absence of the floppy disks was a plot element in the sequel since this is the explanation why Larry, as a computer generated character, came to suffer from amnesia
.
, another Sierra game, played with the idea extensively. Unbeknownst to the employees of Sierra On-Line, the disks were here apparently stolen by an agent of Sludge Vohaul, who used them to store his consciousness upon his demise in Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge
.
Later, the floppies were found floating in space by scientists from the Xenon Super Computer Project. When the game was installed on the computer, Vohaul's consciousness was unleashed on the planet, and the events leading up to the fictional, future sequel Space Quest XII: Vohaul's Revenge II began. In Space Quest IV, Roger can erase the game off the supercomputer when he accesses its mainframe, but this is not mandatory to complete the game.
Leisure Suit Larry (series)
Leisure Suit Larry is a series of adventure games written by Al Lowe and published by Sierra from 1987 to 2009. The main character, whose full name is Larry Laffer, is a balding, dorky, double entendre-speaking, leisure suit-wearing "loser" in his 40s...
series was officially Larry 5
Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work
Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work is the fourth entry in the Leisure Suit Larry series of graphical adventure games published by Sierra Entertainment. It is the first title in the series available for play on Macintosh, as well as to have 256-color graphics and a...
. The actual fourth part of the scenario was never made for various reasons, but it is jokingly referred to by both Sierra and fans under the subtitle of The Missing Floppies (or The Case of the Missing Floppies). Much gossip and rumor have spread to explain this: most believed that the original production floppies of the game were lost and the team would not remake it from scratch. Others referred to an internal office prank.
The actual reasons are mainly two and have been given by Al Lowe
Al Lowe
Al Lowe is an American musician and game designer/programmer who developed several adventure games, mostly for Sierra On-Line. He is best known for his creation of Leisure Suit Larry and the long-running series it spawned....
at separate points:
- Sierra began work on a multiplayer installment of Leisure Suit Larry that was to be played out over The Sierra NetworkImagiNation NetworkThe ImagiNation Network , aka The Sierra Network , was an early online multiplayer gaming system. Developed by Sierra On-Line in 1989, and first available to the public in 1991, the ImagiNation Network was a unique online gaming network that gave subscribers from all over the United States of...
. This failed due largely to technical reasons, and the planned multiplayer Larry game was shelved. - The ending of Larry 3Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating PectoralsLeisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals is the third entry in the Leisure Suit Larry series of graphical adventure games published by Sierra Entertainment. It was developed for multiple platforms including DOS, Atari ST and Amiga...
was very definite and somehow metafictionMetafictionMetafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
al (showing Larry and Patti coming to the Sierra studios and making games based on their adventures, living happily in a mountain cabin in CoarsegoldCoarsegold, CaliforniaCoarsegold is a census-designated place in Madera County, California. It is located south-southwest of Yosemite Forks, at an elevation of 2218 feet...
). This completed a relatively cohesive trilogyTrilogyA trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
with no sequel planned; Al Lowe was in a dead end because he couldn't find a way to start it since the scenario had completed a story arc.
Note that the Laffer Utilities and the Leisure Suit Larry 1 VGA remake are each sometimes unofficially credited as Larry 4, as the first was the fourth ever Larry production, and the latter, the fourth game to be made. Of course, similar VGA remakes of Space Quest I, Police Quest
Police Quest
Police Quest is a series of computer games produced and published by Sierra On-Line between 1987 and 1993. The original series was composed of four adventure games, the first three of which were designed by former policeman Jim Walls, with the fourth title designed by former LAPD Chief Daryl F....
I, and Quest for Glory I were not given new numerical titles.
MAD Magazine had proposed what Leisure Suit Larry 4 might have looked like in a 1990 issue spoofing video games. Their idea was "the after effect of Larry's screwing around with the time coming for Larry having to pay the piper". They proposed the idea of Larry in a maze game similar to Berzerk
Berzerk
Berzerk is a multi-directional shooter video arcade game, released in 1980 by Stern Electronics of Chicago.-Gameplay:The player controls a green stick-figure, representing a "humanoid." Using a joystick , the player navigates a simple maze filled with many robots, who fire lasers back at the...
, where he must steer clear of out-of-wedlock pregnancies he has caused, as well as private investigators, case workers, and angry fathers wielding shotguns, making it extremely difficult for Larry to continue his infamous carefree attitude towards casual sex.
On April 1, 2009 the Abandonware
Abandonware
Abandonware are discontinued products for which no product support is available, or whose copyright ownership may be unclear for various reasons...
site Abandonia.com
Abandonia
Abandonia is an abandonware website, focusing mainly on showcasing computer games and distributing games made for the MS-DOS system.Abandonia also features a music section and an Abandonware List, a continuously expanded database of over 4600 games including information about their publishers,...
released an alleged "leaked copy" for download. This turned out to in fact be an elaborate April Fools Day prank: the screenshots were fakes, the review - fictional and the "game" archive actually contained 55 identical copies of scanned front casing of Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
version of Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust
Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust
Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust is a video game published by Codemasters for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows and Mobile phone which was released on 27 March, 2009. It is the first Leisure Suit Larry game to be released for seventh generation consoles. It was announced on January 17,...
.
Leisure Suit Larry 5
Al LoweAl Lowe
Al Lowe is an American musician and game designer/programmer who developed several adventure games, mostly for Sierra On-Line. He is best known for his creation of Leisure Suit Larry and the long-running series it spawned....
skipped the fourth part altogether in order to surpass the problems of continuing the definite finale of Larry 3. This allowed him to introduce (intentionally) some grey plot points and begin freely a whole new adventure with Larry 5
Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work
Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work is the fourth entry in the Leisure Suit Larry series of graphical adventure games published by Sierra Entertainment. It is the first title in the series available for play on Macintosh, as well as to have 256-color graphics and a...
.
According to production notes (given by Lowe himself) the following events must be assumed to have happened between Larry 3 and Larry 5 in order to logically connect the two games:
- Larry and Patti plan to marry
- Patti leaves him at a Yosemite church to pursue her career, but Larry is gone when she returns
- The villain of Larry 5, Julius Biggs, somehow steals the game disks and Larry suffers amnesiaAmnesiaAmnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
The absence of the floppy disks was a plot element in the sequel since this is the explanation why Larry, as a computer generated character, came to suffer from amnesia
Amnesia
Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...
.
Space Quest IV
Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time RippersSpace Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers
Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and The Time Rippers was released on floppy disks on March 4, 1991, and released on CD-ROM in December 1992 with full speech support and featuring Laugh-In announcer Gary Owens as the voice of the narrator. It featured 256-color hand painted graphics and a fully...
, another Sierra game, played with the idea extensively. Unbeknownst to the employees of Sierra On-Line, the disks were here apparently stolen by an agent of Sludge Vohaul, who used them to store his consciousness upon his demise in Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge
Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge
Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge was released on November 14, 1987 and it was the sequel to Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter; this game once again used Sierra's AGI.-Plot:...
.
Later, the floppies were found floating in space by scientists from the Xenon Super Computer Project. When the game was installed on the computer, Vohaul's consciousness was unleashed on the planet, and the events leading up to the fictional, future sequel Space Quest XII: Vohaul's Revenge II began. In Space Quest IV, Roger can erase the game off the supercomputer when he accesses its mainframe, but this is not mandatory to complete the game.