For the past year, I’ve been posting daily entries from the old journals I kept while I was programming Prince of Persia on the Apple II, 20 years ago.
This “blog from the past” now has 48 pages of entries, covering roughly seven and a half years from May 1985 to January 1993 — from Prince of Persia’s conception through the development of its sequel, Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame.
In a coincidence I couldn’t have planned, this month marks both the 20th anniversary of the original game’s release, and the release of the first trailer for Disney’s Prince of Persia movie. Time is an ocean in a storm.
If you’re curious to know how the Prince’s journey began, back in those halcyon days when computers looked like this, it’s all in the Old Journals. Some highlights include: the day my kid brother modeled the prince’s moves; the day Prince of Persia got its title; and the first rotoscoped animation test.
Or you can read the whole story from the beginning, starting here.
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Trackbacks
- Cómo se hizo el juego "Príncipe de Persia" de 1985 [EN]
- The Making of Prince of Persia | Alex Curelea's Dev Log
- » Prince of Persia: Making off » Ovelha Elétrica
- » Prince of Persia: Making off » Ovelha Elétrica
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Wow, what a nostalgic feeling! I was around 10 when my dad bought Karateka for our Apple II. It was so amazing, the beautiful animation, the music! I remember I was so scared of the big samurai at the end!
I just found your website today and it’s great being able to know all the little details behind the making of those games! Seeing how much attention to detail you’ve put into them, and the early testings of animations and all the work you’ve done to optimize things. Such romantic times when a lone programmer could create an awesome game all by himself. And you were so young!
Guys like you were my heroes back then, as I typed the listings off the issues of Nibble magazine, and dreamt of becoming a programmer myself, and I see you’re still a role model for the new generation of programmers. So it’s a pleasure being able to somehow “talk” to you after all these years and thank you for the great games and inspiration you’ve provided!
haha sorry for the rant
I wish you much success with the forthcoming games and the movie (which looks great btw), hoping you stay in the business for many years to come!
Best regards, and greetings from Brazil!
Henrique
Thanks for posting these Jordan, it’s great reading them. POP starting my fascination with games on PC back when I was 10 years old, and it’s great to see the legacy continuing on to this day. It’s really inspiring reading all the ups and downs throughout your journey. You should maybe publish these journals in a book or something, I’d buy it.
Your great work is now a significant part of my childhood memory and even now, a 23 year-old man still remembers the moments he was playing POP frequently whenever he recalls the past years. Even I’ve dreamed about playing as the prince character in a real game several times! Well, as a matter of fact, I’m really Persian=Iranian;)
Now that I’ve found your website, I hope the best wishes and success for the developer of my nostalgic feelings.
Woo… Thanks to internet, I can find the orginal writer of Prince of Persia here : ) I am playing the old games (1992 SFC ver. Konami), and have no match for the shadow prince in the LV 15, I loss my HP as once I hit him; and I also can’t jump over the bridge when the wizard turn it down : (
My dear uncle jordan, do you mind to told me how to pass it? ^^
wow loved that game
I played it first when I was about 10 years old.
This just came to my mind: What about an iPhone version?
Wow man, I loved that game too, I played it for a long timeee !! Jaffar haha ! I always remember the sound effects when I fall into the traps hehe ! Thanks for making this awesome game and our childhood even better =) greetings from Brasil !
Jordan, any chance of a .pdf or other single-page rendition of your whole journal? It makes for absolutely fascinating reading.
I just want to ask you that, how on earth you created this character, really awesome, I always wanted to create this type of Game, starting with a good story.
I played it first when I was about 8 years old. hehe