6 ms·

Prince of Persia Ported to the BBC Micro

88 points by matthewwarren 9y ago

reificator 9y ago
I remember being amazed by Prince of Persia's crazy fluid animations when it came out. Very impressive game and an impressive port as well. I should point out though, where it has the Bitshifters logo multiple times on the loading screen... It's cut off in the middle one and the `f` looks more like a `t`.
- LeoPanthera 9y ago
  The loading screen is an homage to Acornsoft's loading screens: https://i.imgur.com/SayhPeA.png https://i.imgur.com/SayhPeA.png If you were loading from tape, the loading progress would go in the box inside the blue logo at the bottom.
  - reificator 9y ago
    No I get the homage to screens of that era, I'm just pointing out that it turns bitshifters to bitshitters.
    - b6 9y ago
      Just one opinion, but I think this is a funny and cool name.
      - tom_ 9y ago
        Not sure how it would be in other dialects, but I expect most British English speakers would think it a bit shit.
- digi_owl 9y ago
  > I remember being amazed by Prince of Persia's crazy fluid animations when it came out. Rotoscoping for you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping Later used in Another World and Flashback to similar effect.
  - lloeki 9y ago
    For a more current use of rotoscoping, see the movie A Scanner Darkly.
  - Rondom 9y ago
    There is some original footage here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gC3WEwSJoHs https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gC3WEwSJoHs
- hartator 9y ago
  He has actually taped his son doing the game stunts in real life, and applied a very early motion tracking methodology to produce the fluid animation. So much ahead of his time.
  - wsc981 9y ago
    His son? I think it was his brother. His sister played the princess IIRC. He might have used a video camera from his father to capture the movements. Jordan Mechner was still quite young when creating POP.
  - blackoil 9y ago
    It was his brother, David Mechner. http://www.gameanim.com/2014/01/07/prince-persia-rotoscopy/ http://www.gameanim.com/2014/01/07/prince-persia-rotoscopy/.
forinti 9y ago
Very nice work on the graphics, you almost forget the beeb only had 8 colours. I hope it works on my B+ 128KB.
- LeoPanthera 9y ago
  Unfortunately, it does not work on the 128K B+: http://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=13079&start=150#p192972 http://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=13079&...
  - forinti 9y ago
    Oh dear. I didn't know Masters were so different; I had assumed they were repackaged B+s with a few extra bits.
mehrdadn 9y ago
This game was so freaking hard! I'll never forget.
- dvtv75 9y ago
  I first saw it on a monochrome XT, and it looked amazing in just two colors. A friend of my brother's played through it on the Amiga, right to the end. He did it while I was watching, although I never managed to finish it. I'm not sure if the Amiga version was any easier than the other versions. Still fun, though.
hguhghuff 9y ago
YouTube footage?

88 points by matthewwarren 9y ago

I remember being amazed by Prince of Persia's crazy fluid animations when it came out. Very impressive game and an impressive port as well. I should point out though, where it has the Bitshifters logo multiple times on the loading screen... It's cut off in the middle one and the `f` looks more like a `t`.

LeoPanthera 9y ago
The loading screen is an homage to Acornsoft's loading screens: https://i.imgur.com/SayhPeA.png https://i.imgur.com/SayhPeA.png If you were loading from tape, the loading progress would go in the box inside the blue logo at the bottom.
- reificator 9y ago
  No I get the homage to screens of that era, I'm just pointing out that it turns bitshifters to bitshitters.
  - b6 9y ago
    Just one opinion, but I think this is a funny and cool name.
    - tom_ 9y ago
      Not sure how it would be in other dialects, but I expect most British English speakers would think it a bit shit.
digi_owl 9y ago
> I remember being amazed by Prince of Persia's crazy fluid animations when it came out. Rotoscoping for you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotoscoping Later used in Another World and Flashback to similar effect.
- lloeki 9y ago
  For a more current use of rotoscoping, see the movie A Scanner Darkly.
- Rondom 9y ago
  There is some original footage here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gC3WEwSJoHs https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gC3WEwSJoHs
hartator 9y ago
He has actually taped his son doing the game stunts in real life, and applied a very early motion tracking methodology to produce the fluid animation. So much ahead of his time.
- wsc981 9y ago
  His son? I think it was his brother. His sister played the princess IIRC. He might have used a video camera from his father to capture the movements. Jordan Mechner was still quite young when creating POP.
- blackoil 9y ago
  It was his brother, David Mechner. http://www.gameanim.com/2014/01/07/prince-persia-rotoscopy/ http://www.gameanim.com/2014/01/07/prince-persia-rotoscopy/.

forinti 9y ago

Very nice work on the graphics, you almost forget the beeb only had 8 colours. I hope it works on my B+ 128KB.

LeoPanthera 9y ago
Unfortunately, it does not work on the 128K B+: http://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=13079&start=150#p192972 http://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=13079&...
- forinti 9y ago
  Oh dear. I didn't know Masters were so different; I had assumed they were repackaged B+s with a few extra bits.

mehrdadn 9y ago

This game was so freaking hard! I'll never forget.

dvtv75 9y ago
I first saw it on a monochrome XT, and it looked amazing in just two colors. A friend of my brother's played through it on the Amiga, right to the end. He did it while I was watching, although I never managed to finish it. I'm not sure if the Amiga version was any easier than the other versions. Still fun, though.

hguhghuff 9y ago

YouTube footage?