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Prince of Persia Source Code Released On Github

Posted by Soulskill on from the going-back-in-time dept.

rbarreira writes "The source code for the original Prince of Persia game has been released on github by its author, Jordan Mechner. This release comes three weeks after Jordan announced the find of a box containing old floppy disks that had been forgotten in the back of a closet for 20+ years. A 'digital archeology' effort was launched to recover the contents of the floppy disks, with the help of Jason Scott from textfiles.com. Some photos from the 'copy party' have also been posted."

11 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. browsing the source by hackula · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is terrific. It is awesome looking through the source; kind of like a time capsule.

    1. Re:browsing the source by hackula · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Also-- just an aside-- the code is exceptionally clean.

    2. Re:browsing the source by RaySnake · · Score: 5, Informative

      At that time Jordan kept a bunch of journals of the development process, they're all online. He even has video of the motion captures he did of his brother, these were used to animate the Prince and it's really uncanny to see how much of that came through in the game. Warning, if you click the link be prepared to waste a LOT of time reading, it's addictive. http://jordanmechner.com/old-journals/1985/10/october-20-1985/

  2. I love some of the pics.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The times where you see a ton of really old tech, taking up a whole table, crunching away, and a blackberry sitting on top of one of the computers, which probably has more processing power than all those computers put together, make a really cool pic :)

  3. Re:Praise the lord by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    You want to say, "AlhumdilAllah," for "Praise the lord." "Insha'Allah" means "If God wills (it)."

  4. Re:What about the legal implications? by Desler · · Score: 5, Informative

    Why wouldn't he be able to do so when he's the copyright holder?

    As the author and copyright holder of this source code, I personally have no problem with anyone studying it, modifying it, attempting to run it, etc.

    And, no, I doubt he'll sue himself.

  5. I sense a connection... by Fned · · Score: 5, Funny

    Prince of Persia

    Source Code ... but I can't quite put my finger on it.

  6. Re:What about the legal implications? by Shoe+Puppet · · Score: 5, Informative

    We did this for fun, not profit. As the author and copyright holder of this source code, I personally have no problem with anyone studying it, modifying it, attempting to run it, etc. Please understand that this does NOT constitute a grant of rights of any kind in Prince of Persia, which is an ongoing Ubisoft game franchise. Ubisoft alone has the right to make and distribute Prince of Persia games.

    --
    (+1, Disagree)
  7. Re:What about the legal implications? by busyqth · · Score: 5, Informative

    Broderbund was just a publisher, at least for the Apple II version. They marketed and sold the game, and paid royalties to Jordan, who retained the rights.

  8. Re:Praise the lord by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 5, Funny

    Obviously not a programmer. "if god wills it" sounds like me in college negotiating with my compiler.

    --
    Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
  9. Re:Praise the lord by Beardo+the+Bearded · · Score: 5, Funny

    That's too much effort. I just put a screwdriver on the case when I was typing. Occasionally you pick it up and give it a twirl.

    My programs always compiled.

    --

    ---
    ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.