14 DAY TRIAL // Video game designer and writer Jordan Mechner has released the source code of the original Prince of Persia game for the Apple II on github. Interested geeks can grab the bits and mess around with this invaluable piece of gaming history at their will.
The archive contains the source code for the original Prince of Persia game that Mechner wrote in the ‘80s on the Apple II, in 6502 assembly language. The code was found in a dusty closet by Mechner’s father only weeks ago.
Some creative, business, personal, and technical journals are available at jordanmechner.com/ebook. These go well with the code, especially for those “interested in a fuller understanding of the context”, Mechner said.
“For those who'd like to dig into the source code itself, I've posted an explanatory technical document at http://jordanmechner.com/wp-content/uploads/1989/10/popsource009.pdf which should help,” said the game author.
“This is a package I put together in October 1989 for the benefit of the teams that were undertaking the ports of POP to various platforms such as PC, Amiga, Sega, Genesis, etc.”
“Beyond that, please don't ask me to explain anything about the source code, because I don't remember!”, Mechner is sad to admit. “I hung up my 6502 programming guns in October 1989, and after two decades working primarily as a writer, game designer, and creative director, to say my coding skills are rusty would be an understatement,” he says.
Mechner and his fellow coders Jason Scott and Tony Diaz “extracted and posted the 6502 code because it was a piece of computer history that could be of interest to others, and because if we hadn't, it might have been lost for all time,” he said.
“We did this for fun, not profit,” Mechner said. “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.”