Jordan Mechner, a young New York programmer, had already made a name for himself in the gaming world when he embarked on the ambitious journey of creating ‘Prince of Persia‘.
This project would not only be a creativity challenge, but a test of overcoming the technological limitations of the time.
Discover, below, the main challenges faced throughout this journey.
‘Prince of Persia’ challenges creators
Jordan Mechner, at 25 years old, had already achieved success with ‘Karateka’, a martial arts adventure for Apple II, when he began developing ‘Prince of Persia’.
With an innovative approach and the help of his family, Mechner used the rotoscoping technique to create realistic animationsa milestone in the gaming industry.
After the success of ‘Karateka’, Mechner faced the challenge of surpassing it with ‘Prince of Persia’.
Inspired by classic adventures, such as ‘Indiana Jones’, he wanted to create a game with traps and enemies, which required more than just fights, but a variety of movements for the main character.
The animations were based on his younger brother, using the same rotoscoping technique.
Image: Eurogamer/Reproduction
The biggest challenge came with the limitations of the Apple II. With just 48 kilobytes of memory, less than a modern text file, Mechner had to optimize every byte.
The initial animations already exceeded this limit. To get around this, Mechner used advanced programming techniques, including a single command, the EOR (Exclusive-OR Memory with Accumulator), which allowed multiple functions for the same byte of data.
This command was crucial in creating Shadow Man, an innovative antagonist who would undo the protagonist’s actions and steal vital potions, adding an element of urgency to the game.
This enemy was the player’s own image, making combat a game of reflection and strategy, not just action.
Image: Gogamer/Reproduction
Another obstacle was the animation of the fights. Without access to a fencer and with his brother far away, Mechner took inspiration from a scene from Errol Flynn’s ‘Robin Hood’ to create realistic fencing moves.
Despite the decline of the Apple II, ‘Prince of Persia’ was ported to other platforms, achieving even greater success. Its influence extended to subsequent games, including ‘Assassin’s Creed‘.
The ‘Prince of Persia’ series lives on, with a new version to be released, promising a fusion of influences from the original game and modern metroidvania mechanics.
