Sunday, October 16, 2011

Prince of Persia for Commodore 64/128 released

The C64 conversion of Prince of Persia, based on the original Apple II code by Jordan Mechner has been released today.
It requires a Commodore 64 or 128 (or maybe even a C64GS if you own one) and an EasyFlash (or 100% compatible) cartridge.
You can download the cartridge image from this CSDb page

Here are some screenshots and a few movies of the game:








During the next couple of weeks I will post my development diary. Details about the work on this conversion, pitfalls and little success stories. In short, pure C64 coder drama. Don't miss it!

44 comments:

  1. PoD ClaNOctober 16, 2011 at 8:27 AM

    yah i rmb playing this game back in 98 and i was barely 6 years old , It was Horror for me D:

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  2. JordanOctober 16, 2011 at 11:42 AM

    That's crazy! Back in 1989, when I was making POP on the Apple II, I couldn't get anyone interested in doing a C64 port... because it was too old a system :)

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  3. mrsidOctober 16, 2011 at 12:10 PM

    Hey Jordan!

    Great to hear from you, and thanks for lifting that secret for me. I always wondered about the reason.

    Anyway, if you fancy seeing your old code again, I'll be posting chunks of disassembly here shortly, albeit with different names/labels.

    Thanks for creating an awesome game. I've spent most of the last 2.5 years digging through your work, dissecting it and putting it back together in different form. It was a huge pleasure working on making the kid run and jump again...

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  4. antifuchsOctober 16, 2011 at 3:59 PM

    This is very impressive work!

    Seeing the kid run and jump again brought back a lot of nostalgia re. playing with that crappy joystick on my old 286 back in '94. I'm looking forward to seeing how you did it (-:

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  5. JordanOctober 16, 2011 at 8:26 PM

    I'm amazed and humbled by the amount of work this must have taken. Did you actually work from the disassembled Apple II 6502 object code? Because the Apple II source code is lost, as far as I know... at least I've never been able to find a copy.

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  6. LobogrisOctober 16, 2011 at 9:59 PM

    Hey ! This is a great game, and an awesome conversion for the C64!. Also it's great to see here his original coder, Mr. Mechner... hello Jordan!

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  7. DerekOctober 16, 2011 at 10:09 PM

    Unbelievable faithful gameplay and control feel. I can't wait to see what happened behind the scenes. :)

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  8. mrsidOctober 16, 2011 at 11:07 PM

    Yes, this is all based on a memory capture of the Apple II and good old reverse-engineering skills. Just probably the biggest crossword puzzle I've ever worked on... :)
    It's definitely not perfect, some grey areas left, but it's the next best thing to having the original source code.

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  9. painesOctober 17, 2011 at 2:54 AM

    Great achievement! I am jealuos about your skills.
    I installed the Frodo Emulator on my Android Phone, but I can't seem to get POP64 working.
    Also, I have no C64 skills at all. Back in the old day I was in the ZX Spectrum faction ;-).
    Regards

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  10. IainOctober 17, 2011 at 5:44 AM

    Kudos to you Sir! I don't want to play it until I can with my real C128 though, which means waiting until the 1541Ultimate can deal with the cart type. Hopefully not too long! :)

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  11. ZapagesOctober 17, 2011 at 5:47 AM

    That is really awesome and brings back tons of memory of my childhood!!! Great job!!!

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  12. Jim BlacklerOctober 17, 2011 at 6:25 AM

    Stunning work mrsid. It is testimony to Jordan's brilliant design that this game would work so well on a limited platform. I was a programmer on the Sega Genesis conversion at Domark some time around 1994. We worked from sight and by playing the original, but I do recall we had some of Jordan's original source to use as reference. It helped out from time to time.

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  13. Kevin P. KilburnOctober 17, 2011 at 6:48 AM

    I never knew that POP was originally an Apple II game. I played it only on the PC back in the early 90s. The C64 port looks quite true to the "original" (the PC version that I remember). Incredible work!

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  14. HelmOctober 17, 2011 at 12:05 PM

    Congratulations. This is a wonderful piece of work.

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  15. antygonOctober 17, 2011 at 12:28 PM

    I salute You. Amazing work. Wonder if it will work on my commodore 116 ;-)

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  16. swrOctober 17, 2011 at 5:15 PM

    When passing through the various columns, the player sprite appears to move behind the foreground column while being in front of the background column. How is this accomplished technically? Are the foreground columns also implemented as sprites?

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  17. Rowdy RobOctober 17, 2011 at 7:23 PM

    This is just an astounding achievement! I found out about this project on armchairarcade.com, and I had to come here and express my extreme awe at your genius-level programming/hacking prowess! In some ways, this version looks even better than the Amiga version I fell in love with many a year ago, and it plays incredibly well! Megaprops to you, mrsid!

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  18. Berry de JagerOctober 17, 2011 at 10:20 PM

    It is truly amazing! Creating your own code is one thing but digging through, understanding and converting a complete game is a different ball game.

    Utmost respect to you for your hard work and your devotion to the C64.

    Dude, you rule!

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  19. DennisOctober 18, 2011 at 1:10 AM

    The C64 is immortal. It will never die and it will never be too old. Never!

    Great work!

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  20. AnonymousOctober 18, 2011 at 6:06 AM

    Wow this is an amazing achievement, and it's so cool (and sweet!) that Jordan himself has seen and commented here!

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  21. AnonymousOctober 18, 2011 at 7:31 AM

    Can someone tell me how can I beat the guardian on last screenshot? He don't make a move.... very, very difficult.
    Anyone finished it yet?

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  22. DarkuniOctober 18, 2011 at 9:05 AM

    mrsid - Any interest in doing a voice interview for RetroGaming Radio? It would be our FIRST interview since the show came back! Should get a lot of listeners!

    Let me know!

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  23. mrsidOctober 18, 2011 at 9:13 AM

    @Darkuni: yes, I would love to. Can I contact you on Skype?

    ReplyDelete
  24. DarkuniOctober 18, 2011 at 9:31 AM

    @mrsid - of course! I don't have it running constantly ... drop me a line at darkuni @ gmail.com .. we'll work it out!

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  25. DarkuniOctober 18, 2011 at 10:34 AM

    You might enjoy seeing this version side by side against the Amiga version:

    https://plus.google.com/u/0/116992953847984037990/posts/gtxaKkf7p9T

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  26. AnonymousOctober 18, 2011 at 2:36 PM

    Great job, would this work on Jim Brain's u-IEC that will work with image files?
    Looks to be very colorful.
    Hey, I always played Karateka on the Apple II and also on the C64,perhaps as a future project could you possible improve on the C64 version of Karateka, it needed more sound effects etc, but a fun game.
    Nice work.

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  27. AntonOctober 19, 2011 at 4:54 AM

    nice one mrsid :D

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  28. PypeBrosOctober 19, 2011 at 8:56 AM

    Wow ! That's just EPIC. My RSS reader is tuned. Just keep posting !

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  29. AnonymousOctober 20, 2011 at 1:11 PM

    Hey that is some nice work, you might want to also look at another 8Bit version that was done in 1990

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vg9YR8qnQWk

    That was on a Sam Coupe

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  30. AnonymousOctober 21, 2011 at 3:30 AM

    The only way you can top this is by Commodorizing "The Last Express".

    :-D

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  31. Gil MegidishOctober 21, 2011 at 1:16 PM

    Epic win or epic win, I can't decide! :)

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  32. ChristianOctober 23, 2011 at 1:29 PM

    Really, really nice conversion of a classic game on a classic system - well done!! :)

    @mrsid: Are you interessted in giving a short text-interview for german gaming-blog "Press A Button" (www.pressabutton.de)? If yes, just drop us quick line at info@pressabutton.de so that we can send you our questions.

    ReplyDelete
  33. svensonsanOctober 23, 2011 at 10:30 PM

    I'm writing a pop64.de blog since years but I didn't know that my blogname also means "prince of persia C64". I like that.
    Congrats for your work.

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  34. PiercevalOctober 26, 2011 at 1:36 AM

    @MrSid : Thank you for allowing me to play this AMAZING MASTERPIECE on my all-time favorite computer !

    @Jordan : Thank you for making one the greatest game of all time ! I sold my C64 to buy a PC only to play Prince Of Persia in VGA. I still play it regularly on DosBox.

    Prince Of Persia will remain a Legend in the "hall of fame" of video games thanks to the work of passionnate people like Mr Sid and Jordan ...

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  35. JosepzinOctober 28, 2011 at 2:39 AM

    Hi MrSid:

    Great work with this C64 Prince version :) :)

    I have added your RSS to Retroinvaders, a old-retro games/computer planet.

    Your posts: http://retroinvaders.com/en/blog/304/prince-of-persia-c64-development-blog

    Tell me if there is any problem with this (josezanni@gmail.com)

    By the way, the generic message: You can promote your website writing an article for self presentation, and if you want you can put a banner RetroInvaders (http://retroinvaders.com/es/p:4 now in spanish)

    Best regards!!

    José Zanni (Josepzin)

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  36. ChrisNovember 1, 2011 at 4:54 PM

    This is great! You should do a port of Monkey Island too!

    ReplyDelete
  37. wiolwakerNovember 1, 2011 at 10:03 PM

    I have played this game when i was in 8h standard, But now there are amount of games which are available in high resolution graphics. I have seen 8bit version which was created in 1990.
    Sky Octo LNB

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  38. AnonymousNovember 6, 2011 at 2:49 AM

    You are a genius!
    I want to try this on my real commodore64. Is easyflash necessary? The d64 file seem not working

    ReplyDelete
  39. PrzemocNovember 14, 2011 at 3:59 PM

    Amazing. It's sad that original PoP source code is lost though. Jordan, how could you?! ;)

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  40. PittMarch 29, 2012 at 11:39 AM

    :')

    ReplyDelete
  41. Clive CrousApril 17, 2012 at 12:35 PM

    For those that didn't know, Jordan located his original source code and posted it today here:

    https://github.com/jmechner/Prince-of-Persia-Apple-II

    ReplyDelete
  42. Bill KendrickApril 18, 2012 at 12:40 PM

    And Jordan's blog post about finding and archiving the source :) http://jordanmechner.com/blog/2012/04/source/

    ReplyDelete
  43. UnknownFebruary 3, 2018 at 5:35 PM

    It looks like my keyboard keys and joystick are ignored by the game once launched? Am I the only one with this issue?

    I am using Vice 3.1.

    ReplyDelete
  44. TakehaniyasubikoFebruary 25, 2018 at 1:21 PM

    Thank you for this. It shouldn't exist, but it does, thanks to somebody special and his love of C64!

    I wish I could afford EasyFlash to play this on real hardware. Maybe one day.

    ReplyDelete

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