Jordan Mechner - The Making of Prince of Persia: Journals 1985 - 1993

Introduction

I started keeping a journal in college, and kept it up for several years afterward. During those years I created my first games, Karateka and Prince of Persia , on an Apple II computer.

It was the start of a journey that would see my shape-shifting prince transform into a modern video game hero, LEGO minifigure, and even Jake Gyllenhaal in a summer blockbuster movie. But in 1985, he existed only as a few scribbles on a yellow-lined pad. In my old journals I recorded his birth pangs.

Rereading these notebooks twenty years later, reliving the creative, technical and personal struggles that brought the prince into being, I thought others might find them of interest. So I began posting daily entries on my website at jordanmechner.com, as a developer diary from the past.

The response has been more than I hoped for. The old journals seem to resonate not only with game developers, but with writers, artists and creators of all stripes, some of whom werent born yet in 1985.

Here it is the first Making of Prince of Persia . I hope you enjoy it.

Note: In the interest of accurately portraying the ups and downs of this period of my life, over twenty years ago, Ive resisted the temptation to edit out statements that today I find embarrassing, cringe-inducing, or flat-out wrong. Please understand that the journal entries reflect my state of mind when I wrote them, not what I think now.

Jordan Mechner

Do I Really Want to Make Another Game?

May 6, 1985

[New Haven] Picked up my Mac from Technical Services; theyd run it for a few hours without crashing, so they just packed it back up again. On the way back I bought a surge suppressor at the Coop. Hope that takes care of the problem.

Wrote my two-page Psych paper. Now theres just one lone Music exam between me and the rest of my life. I practiced by trying to transcribe the beginning of Raiders . Its hard, even with Music Shop to test my work out on.

Dad called. Billboards top-ranked program for this week is, indeed, Karateka . Thats Step Two in my convincing myself of this. Step Three will be when I see it for myself.

May 7, 1985

Im done.

Im done with Yale .

The music exam was pretty tough I blew the dictations but, hey, I did my best. I might get a B in the course. After the exam I spoke to Dwight and Tom, in a whisper because a lot of people were still writing. They wanted to know what Id be doing next year.

Write computer games, I whispered.

I bought Billboard . Karateka is indeed number one. Me and Madonna. Yow.

May 10, 1985

Dinner with Bill Holt at Whistlers. He brought me up to date on what everybody at Broderbund is doing. He also asked me about my summer plans. I said I was thinking about doing another game. He said Gary would love to have me back.

So, I figure Ill fly up there around the middle of July, stay with somebody for a while, see if I can get a new project lined up. Ill call Gary on Monday and tell him.

Note: call not write. Gary not Ed. Writing to Ed hasnt worked for me too well in the past. Hes a Busy Man. I have a feeling they dont use letters much out there, anyway.

Bill suggested I ask Gary, not Ed, to pick up the tab. If your dad ever disowns you, Bill said, I think Gary would adopt you.

Im psyched to Return to Marin.

Lunch with Jeff Kleeman. Afterwards, he came over and I recorded the score to Vertigo for him. Ill look him up in L.A. this summer. Also, jogging this morning, I ran into Mike Saltzman and Eve Maremont.

May 14, 1985

Stopping by the post office after jogging, I found the letter from Ed Ive been waiting for for nearly two months. I was amazed at how happy it made me. It didnt say much basically, just sure, come on out but it lifted a weight off my chest, one I hadnt even realized I was carrying. I am going out there in July. And Im seriously looking forward to it.

The issue of who pays hasnt yet been addressed, but I think theyll probably agree to pay for my ticket. If not (dont tell them this), Ill go anyway.

Dad had a useful insight on my upcoming negotiations with Broderbund. My position should be: I dont need an advance, or a salary, or a guarantee that theyll publish the program when its finished. Ill take all the risk. I just want the highest royalty rate I can get. And the pressure to negotiate the contract should come from them, not from me.

May 17, 1985

Breakfast at Naples with Dwight Andrews. We talked about computer music.

A pleasant surprise: Got my first royalty check for Karateka , for $2,117. 2,000 units sold in April. The advance is now paid off.

May 24, 1985

The Baccalaureate address was pretty good. Giamatti always brings a lump to my throat when he does his routine about a liberal arts education and learning for learnings sake.

The Class Day exercises boasted a very funny routine by a pair of senior stand-up comics, and a good speech by Paul Tsongas. The thrust of it was that one should maintain perspective as one strives to Get Ahead in life; material gains are empty; nobody wishes on their deathbed that they had spent more time on their business.

Friday must have been ninety degrees, but like a fool I wore a jacket and tie under the heavy black gown. Boy, was I sweating. The procession to Old Campus was a very big deal; we took a rather circuitous route through the New Haven Green, where we stopped and waited in a long line while the band and the Presidents party paraded by. We doffed our caps to Giamatti as he passed. Ward, Larry, and Dominic whistled Elgar and Sousa marches to keep from getting bored. Larry had fun with the parasol hed brought along.

Our parents snapped picture after picture as we passed. We smiled and basked and kept moving. It all seemed unreal. Filled with an ocean of chairs, packed with people, approached by an unusual route through gates that had always been locked, the Old Campus felt like no place Id ever been.

Once we got in our seats, we were graduated almost before we knew it. A hymn, a prayer, and then, suddenly, one-thousand-some-odd IN NUMBER, we were graduated as designated by the Dean. And it was over.

June 4, 1985

[New York] I turned 21 today.

Irv Bauer dropped by. We chatted for a couple of minutes. He congratulated me on being a boy wonder and asked me what I had in the works. I told him I was writing a screenplay.

Its a hard business, he said. Then he said: Im going to give you a gift. He thereupon recommended James Agees two books On Film . I thanked him profusely. I guess Im supposed to buy the books myself.

I saw Aviva off (to Australia via LaGuardia) and went to see Jules and Jim .

June 5, 1985

A cold, drizzling day. I was a little grouchy, I guess because Im feeling confused and indecisive about my future. Kay from Broderbund called and told me itll be OK for me to stay at Danes place. I booked a flight to L.A. and S.F. on July 5th. So everythings set. Except

Do I really want to write another game? Can I do that and write screenplays at the same time? Can I write screenplays at all?

I played the Gremlins soundtrack to evoke last summer and get me psyched about movies. It worked. Tomorrow Ill write something.

The Commodore version of Karateka must be out, because I got a copy in the mail. Shrink-packed and everything.