Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
Encyclopedia
Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards is the alliterative title to an adventure
computer game first released in 1987
, the first part of the Leisure Suit Larry
series. It was a completely graphical adventure game with 16 color EGA
graphics. It utilizes the Adventure Game Interpreter
(AGI) engine made famous by King's Quest: Quest for the Crown. Originally developed for DOS
and the Apple II
, it was later ported
to other platforms such as the Amiga
, Atari ST
, Apple IIGS
and the TRS-80 Color Computer
. In 1991
, Sierra released a remake that used the Sierra's Creative Interpreter
(SCI) engine with 256 colors and icon-driven (as opposed to text-based) interface. A second, high-definition remake is currently under development by Replay Games (working with series creator Al Lowe) for planned release on Windows (via Steam and On-Live), Mac OS X
, iOS
, Android, Xbox Live Arcade
and PlayStation Network.
Set in the fictional city of Lost Wages, the story follows middle-aged salesman Larry Laffer as he tries to "get lucky" (more alliteration). "Land of the Lounge Lizards" establishes several elements which recur in later games, including Larry's campy attire, perpetual bad luck with women, and penchant for double-entendres. The story and basic structure of the game are lifted from Softporn Adventure
, an 1981 Apple II text adventure
.
The game begins outside a bar in Lost Wages (a parody of Las Vegas
, Nevada
). Players are given two real-time hours to complete the game, at which point a despairing Larry commits suicide
, resulting in game over
. The time limit can be circumvented by speaking to a prostitute (see below). Players control Larry's movements with the directional keys and by inputing commands into a text parser
(ex: "talk to man", "open window", etc.). If Larry is too far away from a person or object to comply, or if the command is invalid, a caution message appears with hints on what to do.
The city consists of five areas: Lefty's Bar, a hotel casino, a 24-hour wedding chapel, a discothèque, and a convenience store. The player can walk between areas that are next to each other (like The casino and the 24-hour wedding chapel and the discothèque and convenience store), but the only method of travel between areas which are not next to each other is by hailing a taxi, which costs the player money; failure to do so results in Larry being mugged or hit by oncoming traffic. During the early stages of the game, Larry can survive most premature "deaths": In the original release, a compartment opens beneath Larry's body and takes him to a laboratory where heroes from Sierra's computer games — such as King's Quest
— are re-assembled; in the remake, Larry's remains are instead thrown inside a blender
and reformed.
A prostitute is available as soon as the game starts. Should Larry have intercourse with her, he will contract a venereal disease and die shortly thereafter. This fate may be avoided by purchasing a condom
at the convenience store; however, Larry questions the validity of losing his virginity to a hooker, and the game resumes (though the time limit is removed, nonetheless).
Larry's interactions with key women are accompanied by a detailed image of whomever he is speaking with, unlike other non-player character
s. Each of the women (with the exception of the prostitute) shun Larry at first, but respond favourably to gifts of varying sorts. Although it is not possible to woo all of the women, giving gifts is required in order to progress to the game's final area, the hotel penthouse. To this end, money is essential for progressing through the game, as it is necessary for taxi fare and buying gifts. The only available method of augmenting Larry's funds is to gamble in the casino, playing blackjack
and slots
, which is obligatory at least twice over the course of the game.
is a 40-year old man who lives in a basement and has not yet lost his virginity. Having grown weary of his lonely existence, he decides to visit the resort city of Lost Wages to experience what he has not lived before, and find the woman of his dreams. Larry's quest involves four possible women: a nameless, seedy-looking prostitute; Fawn, a club-goer of low moral fibre; Faith, a receptionist who (true to her name) is faithful to her boyfriend; and Eve, a bathing beauty and Larry's ultimate goal.
, a former high school teacher, had carved a niche for himself at Sierra with his work on such Disney-licensed edutainment
titles as Donald Duck's Playground
, Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood
, and The Black Cauldron, which he wrote, designed and programmed. Early in the company's history, Sierra had published a text-only game called Softporn Adventure
. Years later, with the success of King's Quest and increasing demand for adventure games, company founder Ken Williams
asked Lowe to begin programming a full-color, animated game based on a similar adult theme.
Lowe, who considered the original Softporn Adventure "a primitive, early effort", borrowed its basic structure and added a new 2D graphic engine, improvised humor, and an on-screen protagonist
, Larry Laffer. Chuck Benton, creator of Softporn Adventure, is included in the Leisure Suit Larry's end credits, as the layout and puzzles of the game are identical to those found in the earlier title. An accomplished jazz
musician, Lowe also wrote the main theme music called "For Your Thighs Only", and some of his compositions appear in later entries of the Leisure Suit Larry series.
Due to the adult nature of the game, the EGA version includes an age verification system consisting of questions to which the authors reasoned only adults would know the answer. As many of the questions are U.S.-centric, they risked frustrating non-American gamers. If played today, the questions are also out of date and refer to events or people that younger adults might not know about. (One question begins "OJ Simpson is..." and one wrong answer is "under indictment
.") In the 1987 re-release, the age verification screen may be skipped by pressing Alt-X (or in the 1991 SCI remake, by pressing Ctrl-Alt-X).
running MS-DOS or IBM PC DOS, the game was originally distributed on two 360 kB 5.25-inch floppy diskettes and one 720 kB 3.5-inch floppy diskette; both diskette sizes were included in the package. The game can be run in systems with a single floppy drive, two floppy drives, or a floppy drive and a hard disk. When the files are copied from the floppy diskette(s) to a hard drive, the original installation floppy diskette is still needed as a "key disk": The program asks the user to insert the original diskette into a floppy drive before proceeding to game play. This copy protection scheme was soon circumvented and unauthorized versions were created that did not require the key disk with a hard drive.
During the game, motion control is effected by the numeric keypad for vertical, horizontal and diagonal movements. A joystick
is optional.
The game, as originally released by Sierra On-Line, supports EGA, CGA, MCGA, VGA and Hercules monochrome graphics cards.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
computer game first released in 1987
1987 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* January 14, Nintendo releases Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in January for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.* February 20, Konami releases Contra...
, the first part of the Leisure Suit Larry
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. It was a completely graphical adventure game with 16 color EGA
Enhanced Graphics Adapter
The Enhanced Graphics Adapter is the IBM PC computer display standard specification which is between CGA and VGA in terms of color and space resolution. Introduced in October 1984 by IBM shortly after its new PC/AT, EGA produces a display of 16 simultaneous colors from a palette of 64 at a...
graphics. It utilizes the Adventure Game Interpreter
Adventure Game Interpreter
The Adventure Game Interpreter is a game engine which Sierra On-Line used through most of the 1980s to create and run animated, color adventure games...
(AGI) engine made famous by King's Quest: Quest for the Crown. Originally developed for DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
and the Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
, it was later ported
Porting
In computer science, porting is the process of adapting software so that an executable program can be created for a computing environment that is different from the one for which it was originally designed...
to other platforms such as the Amiga
Amiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, Apple IIGS
Apple IIGS
The Apple , the fifth and most powerful model in the Apple II series of personal computers produced by Apple Computer. The "GS" in the name stands for Graphics and Sound, referring to its enhanced graphics and sound capabilities, both of which greatly surpassed previous models of the line...
and the TRS-80 Color Computer
TRS-80 Color Computer
The Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer was a home computer launched in 1980. It was one of the earliest of the first generation of computers marketed for home use in English-speaking markets...
. In 1991
1991 in video gaming
-Notable releases:*Microprose creates Civilization, Sid Meier's most successful game .*Electronic Arts releases James Pond 2 and Road Rash for Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, starting a series of games that were popular in the 1990s....
, Sierra released a remake that used the Sierra's Creative Interpreter
Sierra's Creative Interpreter
Sierra's Creative Interpreter is the scripting language created by Jeff Stephenson of Sierra On-Line for its adventure games after the older AGI, and the runtime environment for such adventure games....
(SCI) engine with 256 colors and icon-driven (as opposed to text-based) interface. A second, high-definition remake is currently under development by Replay Games (working with series creator Al Lowe) for planned release on Windows (via Steam and On-Live), Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, iOS
IOS
iOS is an operating system for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Apple TV.IOS may also refer to:-Companies and organisations:* Illinois Ornithological Society, American state-based bird club...
, Android, Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
and PlayStation Network.
Set in the fictional city of Lost Wages, the story follows middle-aged salesman Larry Laffer as he tries to "get lucky" (more alliteration). "Land of the Lounge Lizards" establishes several elements which recur in later games, including Larry's campy attire, perpetual bad luck with women, and penchant for double-entendres. The story and basic structure of the game are lifted from Softporn Adventure
Softporn Adventure
Softporn Adventure was a comedic, adult-oriented text adventure game produced for the Apple II in 1981. The game was created by Charles Benton and released by On-Line Systems....
, an 1981 Apple II text adventure
Interactive fiction
Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, describes software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives and as video games. In common usage, the term refers to text...
.
Gameplay
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
). Players are given two real-time hours to complete the game, at which point a despairing Larry commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, resulting in game over
Game over
Game Over is a message in video games which signals that the game has ended, often due to a negative outcome - although the phrase sometimes follows the end credits after successful completion of a game...
. The time limit can be circumvented by speaking to a prostitute (see below). Players control Larry's movements with the directional keys and by inputing commands into a text parser
Text parser
In an adventure game, a text parser takes typed input from the player and simplifies it to something the game can understand. Usually, words with the same meaning are turned into the same word and certain filler words are dropped .The parser makes it easier for the game's author to react on input...
(ex: "talk to man", "open window", etc.). If Larry is too far away from a person or object to comply, or if the command is invalid, a caution message appears with hints on what to do.
The city consists of five areas: Lefty's Bar, a hotel casino, a 24-hour wedding chapel, a discothèque, and a convenience store. The player can walk between areas that are next to each other (like The casino and the 24-hour wedding chapel and the discothèque and convenience store), but the only method of travel between areas which are not next to each other is by hailing a taxi, which costs the player money; failure to do so results in Larry being mugged or hit by oncoming traffic. During the early stages of the game, Larry can survive most premature "deaths": In the original release, a compartment opens beneath Larry's body and takes him to a laboratory where heroes from Sierra's computer games — such as King's Quest
King's Quest
King's Quest is an adventure game series created by the American software company Sierra Entertainment. It is widely considered a classic series from the golden era of adventure games. Following the success of its first installment, the series was primarily responsible for building the reputation...
— are re-assembled; in the remake, Larry's remains are instead thrown inside a blender
Blender
A blender is a kitchen appliance for chopping or liquefying food.Blender may also refer to:Media:* Blender , a music-themed magazine* Blender , a free and open-source software program for 3D modeling, animation, and rendering...
and reformed.
A prostitute is available as soon as the game starts. Should Larry have intercourse with her, he will contract a venereal disease and die shortly thereafter. This fate may be avoided by purchasing a condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
at the convenience store; however, Larry questions the validity of losing his virginity to a hooker, and the game resumes (though the time limit is removed, nonetheless).
Larry's interactions with key women are accompanied by a detailed image of whomever he is speaking with, unlike other non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s. Each of the women (with the exception of the prostitute) shun Larry at first, but respond favourably to gifts of varying sorts. Although it is not possible to woo all of the women, giving gifts is required in order to progress to the game's final area, the hotel penthouse. To this end, money is essential for progressing through the game, as it is necessary for taxi fare and buying gifts. The only available method of augmenting Larry's funds is to gamble in the casino, playing blackjack
Blackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
and slots
Slot machine
A slot machine , informally fruit machine , the slots , poker machine or "pokies" or simply slot is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed...
, which is obligatory at least twice over the course of the game.
Plot
Larry LafferLarry Laffer
Larry Laffer is a fictional character and the main character of the Leisure Suit Larry series of games. He was created by game programmer Al Lowe.-Biography:...
is a 40-year old man who lives in a basement and has not yet lost his virginity. Having grown weary of his lonely existence, he decides to visit the resort city of Lost Wages to experience what he has not lived before, and find the woman of his dreams. Larry's quest involves four possible women: a nameless, seedy-looking prostitute; Fawn, a club-goer of low moral fibre; Faith, a receptionist who (true to her name) is faithful to her boyfriend; and Eve, a bathing beauty and Larry's ultimate goal.
EGA Enhanced Graphics Adapter The Enhanced Graphics Adapter is the IBM PC computer display standard specification which is between CGA and VGA in terms of color and space resolution. Introduced in October 1984 by IBM shortly after its new PC/AT, EGA produces a display of 16 simultaneous colors from a palette of 64 at a... (1987) |
 VGA Video Graphics Array Video Graphics Array refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analog computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector or the 640×480 resolution... (1991) |
Development
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....
, a former high school teacher, had carved a niche for himself at Sierra with his work on such Disney-licensed edutainment
Edutainment
Edutainment is a form of entertainment designed to educate as well as to amuse.-Overview:...
titles as Donald Duck's Playground
Donald Duck's Playground
Donald Duck's Playground is a computer game for the Commodore 64, based on the Walt Disney cartoon and comic book character Donald Duck. It was also ported to the IBM PCjr, Apple II, Atari ST and Amiga...
, Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood
Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood
Winnie the Pooh in the Hundred Acre Wood was a single player adventure game created by Sierra On-Line. It is based on the character Winnie the Pooh.-Plot:...
, and The Black Cauldron, which he wrote, designed and programmed. Early in the company's history, Sierra had published a text-only game called Softporn Adventure
Softporn Adventure
Softporn Adventure was a comedic, adult-oriented text adventure game produced for the Apple II in 1981. The game was created by Charles Benton and released by On-Line Systems....
. Years later, with the success of King's Quest and increasing demand for adventure games, company founder Ken Williams
Ken Williams (gaming)
Ken Williams is an American game programmer and co-founded On-Line Systems, which later became Sierra On-Line, together with his wife Roberta Williams. Roberta and Ken married at the age of 19 and have two children...
asked Lowe to begin programming a full-color, animated game based on a similar adult theme.
Lowe, who considered the original Softporn Adventure "a primitive, early effort", borrowed its basic structure and added a new 2D graphic engine, improvised humor, and an on-screen protagonist
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
, Larry Laffer. Chuck Benton, creator of Softporn Adventure, is included in the Leisure Suit Larry's end credits, as the layout and puzzles of the game are identical to those found in the earlier title. An accomplished jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musician, Lowe also wrote the main theme music called "For Your Thighs Only", and some of his compositions appear in later entries of the Leisure Suit Larry series.
Due to the adult nature of the game, the EGA version includes an age verification system consisting of questions to which the authors reasoned only adults would know the answer. As many of the questions are U.S.-centric, they risked frustrating non-American gamers. If played today, the questions are also out of date and refer to events or people that younger adults might not know about. (One question begins "OJ Simpson is..." and one wrong answer is "under indictment
O. J. Simpson murder case
The O. J. Simpson murder case was a criminal trial held in Los Angeles County, California Superior Court from January 29 to October 3, 1995. Former American football star and actor O. J...
.") In the 1987 re-release, the age verification screen may be skipped by pressing Alt-X (or in the 1991 SCI remake, by pressing Ctrl-Alt-X).
Reception
Unsure of how the game would be received, Sierra's management chose to release the game without any publicity or advertising budget. Unsurprisingly, its first-month sales were lower than any new Sierra product launch in years; many large computer chain stores refused to sell it, finding the adult content unacceptable. However, word-of-mouth quickly spread; by year’s end, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards became a critical and commercial success, being named the Software Publishers Association’s "Best Fantasy, Role Playing or Adventure Game of 1987" and selling over 250,000 copies. According to marketing director John Williams, "Obviously lots of retailers were selling lots of Leisure Suit Larry, but no one wanted to admit it."Technical
For the IBM Personal Computer and IBM PCjrIBM PCjr
The IBM PCjr was IBM's first attempt to enter the home computer market. The PCjr, IBM model number 4860, retained the IBM PC's 8088 CPU and BIOS interface for compatibility, but various design and implementation decisions led the PCjr to be a commercial failure.- Features :Announced November 1,...
running MS-DOS or IBM PC DOS, the game was originally distributed on two 360 kB 5.25-inch floppy diskettes and one 720 kB 3.5-inch floppy diskette; both diskette sizes were included in the package. The game can be run in systems with a single floppy drive, two floppy drives, or a floppy drive and a hard disk. When the files are copied from the floppy diskette(s) to a hard drive, the original installation floppy diskette is still needed as a "key disk": The program asks the user to insert the original diskette into a floppy drive before proceeding to game play. This copy protection scheme was soon circumvented and unauthorized versions were created that did not require the key disk with a hard drive.
During the game, motion control is effected by the numeric keypad for vertical, horizontal and diagonal movements. A joystick
Joystick
A joystick is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. Joysticks, also known as 'control columns', are the principal control in the cockpit of many civilian and military aircraft, either as a center stick or...
is optional.
The game, as originally released by Sierra On-Line, supports EGA, CGA, MCGA, VGA and Hercules monochrome graphics cards.
External links
- Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards at Universal Gaming Database
- Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards at Hardcore Gaming 101