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How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

theguardian.com

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Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#71

Post by holoduke »

Lethalman wrote: post #18
bentcorner wrote: post #4

I will always have a soft spot for the original Prince of Persia. It was one of those games I played constantly as a child, although only when my dad would let me use his Apple ][c. I only realize it now but it had some very unique game mechanics that even today you don't see very often (ok maybe that's a bit of a stretch but the mechanics were novel to me back then): - Notably you have 60 minutes to finish the game.…

It was also incredibly difficult. As a kid I couldn’t go beyond the first level. It was also difficult to attack the enemy at the right time. But still it was an amazing experience whenever I played it. I felt the pressure and the need to start again like no other game nowadays. But maybe that’s just because I was a kid.

pop.exe -megahit is what I remember to cheat. Then ctrl combinations for powers.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#72

Post by ecocentrik »

The developers of Prince of Persia still talking about the game more than 30 years later seems very bizarre to me. I remember a game called Flashback having very a similar graphical sprite animation innovation around the time PoP was released and I remember it being very fun to play, but nobody talks about it the same way. What's the deal with Price of Persia?

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#73

Post by pizza234 »

ecocentrik wrote: post #72

The developers of Prince of Persia still talking about the game more than 30 years later seems very bizarre to me. I remember a game called Flashback having very a similar graphical sprite animation innovation around the time PoP was released and I remember it being very fun to play, but nobody talks about it the same way. What's the deal with Price of Persia?

Flashback came considerably later (1992) than PoP (1989); a single year back then was a lot more significant than it is today. A classic game in between was Another World (1991).

Just out curiosity, PoP ran on 8088/8086, while Flashback on 286/386.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#74

Post by gbalint »

ecocentrik wrote: post #72

The developers of Prince of Persia still talking about the game more than 30 years later seems very bizarre to me. I remember a game called Flashback having very a similar graphical sprite animation innovation around the time PoP was released and I remember it being very fun to play, but nobody talks about it the same way. What's the deal with Price of Persia?

Prince of Persia came out in 1989, while Flashback arrived in 1992. In the late 80s and early 90s, pc video game tech was evolving at a breakneck pace, a 3-year gap was an eternity. Prince of Persia ran quite well on an 8-bit XT, Flashback needed a 16-bit 286. They are basically from a different era, and Flashback was surely inspired by PoP.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#75

Post by bookofjoe »

the_af wrote: post #69
wdaher wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming we’re talking about the Stripe Press book: if you email me and if you have a US address I’d be glad to mail you my totally unread copy which is mostly just gathering dust for me. (Email in profile.)

I really appreciate the offer. I live in South America, so this is a no-go. How come you didn't read it? Did you lose interest?

https://stiggyblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/the-making-of-pr...

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#76

Post by bentcorner »

eru wrote: post #42
bentcorner wrote: post #4

I will always have a soft spot for the original Prince of Persia. It was one of those games I played constantly as a child, although only when my dad would let me use his Apple ][c. I only realize it now but it had some very unique game mechanics that even today you don't see very often (ok maybe that's a bit of a stretch but the mechanics were novel to me back then): - Notably you have 60 minutes to finish the game.…

> - There is a satisfying parry mechanic. This is still rare to see in 2d platformers. You can see if Dead Cells's parrying mechanic works for you.

I've played a little bit of Dead Cell's but it hasn't stuck with me yet.

I have to admit the game is a little overwhelming but maybe I need to stick with it a bit more.

Part of PoP's charm is that the game is very simple, yet the parry mechanic has nuance - you can buffer parry/attack/parry/attack/... sequences and the timing is just a bit faster than normal enemies, meaning you can wear them out (these fights have a very Errol Flynn Swashbuckler feel to them). Eventually your attack lands before they can begin their parry animation.

Later in the game you meet enemies that hit faster than you can respond to with a parry, so you need to change up your tactics.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#77

Post by bentcorner »

protocolture wrote: post #8

When I was a kid, my grandparents were involved in a pretty decent intercontinental floppy disk piracy ring. They would buy and clone software sold locally and send it forward and get copies of games in response. My parents ran a small business converting peoples university notes/recordings into well written essays. My grandparents had a PC with Prince of Persia, and as payment for my parents essay writing services o…

My dad had a fairly sizable collection of C64/Apple games and I never really learned where he got them from.

"Cracked by The Vulture" was something that I was very used to seeing upon booting up a game.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#78

Post by badc0ffee »

gbalint wrote: post #74
ecocentrik wrote: post #72

The developers of Prince of Persia still talking about the game more than 30 years later seems very bizarre to me. I remember a game called Flashback having very a similar graphical sprite animation innovation around the time PoP was released and I remember it being very fun to play, but nobody talks about it the same way. What's the deal with Price of Persia?

Prince of Persia came out in 1989, while Flashback arrived in 1992. In the late 80s and early 90s, pc video game tech was evolving at a breakneck pace, a 3-year gap was an eternity. Prince of Persia ran quite well on an 8-bit XT, Flashback needed a 16-bit 286. They are basically from a different era, and Flashback was surely inspired by PoP.

The 8088 had an 8-bit data bus, but I don't think I would call it (or the XT) "8-bit" overall. By the same logic, a 386SX or 486SLC is "16-bit".

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#79

Post by the_af »

bookofjoe wrote: post #75
the_af wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really appreciate the offer. I live in South America, so this is a no-go. How come you didn't read it? Did you lose interest?

https://stiggyblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/the-making-of-pr...

Thanks! I've no problem buying the Stripe Press book, as I've said I simply haven't pulled the trigger yet. I don't mind the price, it's just that most of it I've already read back when it was freely available in Mechner's blog.

If I do buy it, I prefer the physical book with photos rather than a Kindle version.

I'm not actually asking for help here, just musing.

(Again, thanks for your reply anyway).

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#80

Post by dfxm12 »

ecocentrik wrote: post #72

The developers of Prince of Persia still talking about the game more than 30 years later seems very bizarre to me. I remember a game called Flashback having very a similar graphical sprite animation innovation around the time PoP was released and I remember it being very fun to play, but nobody talks about it the same way. What's the deal with Price of Persia?

It's more popular, especially with the subsequent games and media franchise. FWIW, I hear people talk about Flashback's predecessor, Another World, a lot. That is also a popular game.
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