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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

#91

Post by somenameforme »

Stevvo wrote: post #89
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.…

Another notable mechanic was the rewind. Didn't see that again until Braid, which really went to town with it.

That was about 15 years later. The original released in 1989, and there was no rewind.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#92

Post by the_af »

catlikesshrimp wrote: post #88
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?

Aren't there low cost courier services in your country which all they do is bring your stuff from the US? In my country, bringing packages from amazon, ebay, etc cost 2.5$ for a pound.

Sure, but why buy from someone in HN? Amazon ships to my country.

As I said, I'm not looking for help here. I do know where to buy the book and I can afford it. I just haven't decided to buy it (yet) for the myriad of reasons people sometimes refrain from impulsively buying all the things :)

Also, I'm afraid of buying it and then never reading it, like it happened to the other commenter.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#93

Post by wdaher »

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?

It's just been one of those "I just haven't gotten around to it yet" aspirational acquisitions. It seems very interesting and maybe I'll eventually get around to it.

It's more the satisfaction of (a) doing a small nice thing for a stranger on the Internet while also (b) freeing up a little shelf space is also worth the ~$5 it would cost me to mail it to someone.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#94

Post by buildsjets »

Prince of Persia was great, but since it came out in 1989 and my family got our Apple //e in 1986, I spent a lot more hours playing the author’s previous rotoscoped platformer from a few years earlier, Karateka.

https://youtu.be/wKqk9kosCs4?is=awtDYponzgbjyA52

https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/games-movies/karateka/

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#95

Post by dekhn »

curtisblaine wrote: post #9

I have a soft spot for Prince of Persia, but I have an even softer spot for Karateka, its (rotoscoped) predecessor on an ancient green phosphor Apple //e, a computer (and an age) where everything seemed possible.

Seeing and hearing Karateka for the first time on an Apple II+ was a life-changing experience for me. Along with Ultima III, it made me want to be a game developer (I was in 4th grade, so around 12, at the time). Everything about the game is just so smooth and well-done- it has a plot, a progression, good animation and realistic sounds. I was pretty unhappy for years around the fact that I didn't understand the technology (machine language instead of BASIC, Apple's very funny graphics implementation, doing sound and animation simultaneously) to make games like that.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#96

Post by ofalkaed »

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 had the bulk of Prince of Persia's mechanics but developed story and the puzzle aspect to a far greater extent and was less action based compared to Prince of Persia's race against the clock. There are times in Flashback when you have to race the clock but there are also times when you just have to stare at the screen and figure out how to do something or wander the world trying to figure out what you missed and where the fuck you are supposed to go next. Flashback is one of my favorites but I am not a gamer and the majority of my gaming was in the previous century.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#98

Post by chihuahua »

qsera wrote: post #29
Lethalman wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

>It was also incredibly difficult. And we dumb kids used to play it without the manual. It was a minor victory day for us when we finally figured out how to pick up the sword!

I remember having hundreds of pirated C64 and Amiga games. When starting a new game, we'd press every single key on the keyboard and try to figure out what, if anything, that key did.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#99

Post by LiteUser »

somenameforme wrote: post #90
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.…

Somehow in my mind the animation of it and Another World/Out of this World felt similar, and way outside everything else that was available at the time. The games even felt very similar, but I never got particularly far in either so that could well be just the perspective of youth.

The most movie-like experience I'd ever had in a video game at the time. Each level was a genuine act of discovery and innovation.

Re: How we made hit video game Prince of Persia

#100

Post by aaroninsf »

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.…

My favorite easter egg by far in this domain, was the Apple II version of Karateka.

The game came on a floppy disk; if you inserted it in the drive upside down (the Apple II only used one side of the medium) you found (unusually) that the game would load, but was rendered upside down.

It was fully playable. Non trivial given the way those games were written!!!

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