Mr. Lowe has been in the gaming business for over 30 years! He is probably most known for the Leisure Suit Larry series of point and click Sierra games for PC, and Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist. The interview took place in 2010 via email so it is tad bit clunky, but I scrapped it all together for my blog and hope you all check it out and enjoy! Now on to the interview:
Me:
I was wondering if you would mind talking a little bit about what your ideas were for a Torin sequel would be, I know it seems like the series was not given a proper chance to blossom like it should have and I think that it is a shame that your vision could not have been seen all the way through (if it were up to me the point and click genre would be hotter today than silly first person shooters or MMOs).
I would love to hear what your thoughts were as to an expansion of the Torin universe, and if there is any chance a sequel game could be created or perhaps maybe a talented young author could expand the series via E-Book or something similar to other videogames/movies/etc that got sequels in different formats other than their original form.
Al Lowe:
I
originally planned Torin's
Passage for
5 games, each covering a significant period in Torin's life. #2 was
his marriage and assumption of the throne. #3 was "the rebels
strike back," i.e., a challenge to his leadership. #4 was a
"coming of age" story about his sons and their fight to be
next in line for the throne. And #5 was the "passing of the
torch," and I planned to include Torin's death. (If for no other
reason than to prevent more sequels! <grin>)
Me:
I have recently started playing Torin's Passage, and I must say that it is definitely a game worth playing and it is right up there with Roberta Williams' Kings Quest series in terms of great Sierra classics. I'm sure that you have gotten a lot of fan mail and have on more than one occasion have probably been asked the same question by multiple fans, but I was reading through Wikipedia and it stated that there were plans to make Torin a series like Kings Quest, however declining interest in adventure gaming genre prevented its creation.
Al Lowe:
Ken
Williams was quite interested in a family series of games to be
released in years when KQ was not. Too bad his company got stolen
from him by those crooks. (I don't say that lightly; google for
"Walter Forbes Cendant trial sentence" and weep.)
Small 2013 Update regarding the new "King's Quest" game.
Me:
I was wondering if you had any to say about the reemergence of Sierra (www.sierra.com) and the new King's Quest game being developed. Do you feel like there may be some new opportunities for Larry and maybe Torin's Passage now that Sierra is back in the hands of Ken and Roberta Williams? As a long-time King's Quest and Leisure Suit Larry fan (been gaming oldskool since '90) I'd love to see more of them, even if they were re-fitted for the current age, if done by the right people (you, Roberta, Ken, Sierra inc.) it would be done right unlike the whole VU Games fiasco. What do you think?
Al Lowe:
It’s not exactly a “reemergence.” There is no one from the old Sierra left. It’s some LA guys who convinced Activision that they could make a game and got approval to do it. K&R only saw the game when it was far along.
That said, they seem to be doing a good job. And maybe if they succeed and the game sells, others could follow.
Follow Al:
Twitter
Next Time:
I'm hoping for a stupendous interview with Rebecca "Burger Becky" Heineman, one of the developers for the Bard's Tale series of RPGs and Dragon Wars.
Follow Al:
Next Time:
I'm hoping for a stupendous interview with Rebecca "Burger Becky" Heineman, one of the developers for the Bard's Tale series of RPGs and Dragon Wars.
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