Jordan Mechner - The Making of Karateka: Journals 1982-1985

The Making of

Karateka

Journals 1982-1985

Jordan Mechner

Contents

Introduction

Three years before Prince of Persia was a gleam in my eye, I was a 17-year-old Yale freshman and avid gamer, trying to balance a college courseload with my aspiration to become a real, published game author and maybe, someday, a screenwriter.

This is my journal from that time excerpted so as not to strain the readers patience, but otherwise unimproved and untouched by 20/20 hindsight.

Part 1: Deathbounce

January 27, 1982

History at 9:30, Psych at 1:30. In between I went into town and bought the Monty Python and the Holy Grail soundtrack to send to the Lillies, and this notebook. Discussed the nature of the universe with Ben and Rich until dinner.

About this journal: My basic intention is to write down, at the end of each day, what happened what I did, thought, felt, and so forth so I can read it, years from now, and remember what it was like.

I think its best if I dont concern myself overly with style. Ill only get frustrated and quit. The second pitfall to avoid is using this journal as a kind of valve to let off steam for example, writing 20 pages one night about how depressed I am. Ive kept that kind of journal before. Rereading it, I invariably get disgusted and throw the notebook away. If Im depressed, Ill just say so and leave it at that. Basically, I want to write what Ill want to read later. Ill probably get better at that with practice.

In short, Im not very concerned with quantity or quality; I just want a reasonable entry for every day of my life, starting now.

February 7, 1982

Qix is a great game. I want to program it for the Apple.

There was an article in Creative Computing about generating pseudo-random numbers just what I need for Deathbounce !

February 13, 1982

Scott Barnes from Hayden called. Will they ever publish Asteroids ? Its been over a year fifteen months since I submitted it and they accepted it.

(Sigh.)

If they only sell 1,000 copies, Ill make $4,500 if they sell 5,000, Ill make $22,500 ridiculously high sums of money. Right now I only have $500, counting everything . So why am I not on the phone with them every morning, pushing, pushing?

Oh well. When I finish Deathbounce and sell it, Ill be rich and then I can stop worrying about money for the next few years.

February 16, 1982

Bought a record for the first time in a long time. Vivaldis Seasons . Theres a Deutsche Gramophon and Philips sale on at Cutlers. I should buy a few more before the sale ends.

February 18, 1982

I missed all my classes today. Music, Philos, Philos discussion group, Sociology. Shit! Whats the matter with me?

Exchanged Mozarts piano concertos (warped) for Mozarts Requiem , Colin Davis conducting. Its the best performance Ive heard.

February 22, 1982

This morning I bought the DOS 3.3 upgrade ($60) and upgraded my system. It is now a 3.3 system. In ten minutes I made the Hayden change (changing the ship from a triangle to a V), missing Sociology (sigh), then worked on Deathbounce .

Also, I started a new program a hi-res, machine language Blockade (Id done it in lo-res, integer BASIC, a long time ago). Im considering adding ALF music. (Bolero? Carmina Burana? Marche Slav?)

February 24, 1982

If you took all the hours Ive spent on coursework outside of classes in the first 7 weeks of this term, it wouldnt make 8 hours total. Thats, like, one hour per week. And Ive missed at least half the lectures. Its ridiculous. I might as well not be taking any courses. What a waste.

February 28, 1982

I decided to add a shield to Deathbounce . You have a certain amount of energy (replenished at the beginning of each new screen as well as with each new ship) which normally recharges slowly; thrusting, firing, and shield all use up energy. It should be fun. Its at least original.

Did my laundry. Theres nothing quite like a basketful of hot crackling clean clothes, carrying it back through the cool winter air.

March 3, 1982

[NY] Last night, walking to Grand Central, I passed a grizzled old salt not a drunk, just an old, shabby sailor type with a duffel bag. He said Hey, spare some change for a poor ol guy? in a tone of good-natured humor at his own predicament. I said sorry, and he said Shucks. OK.

We were walking side by side. He said: Yknow, I wish I were your age, then, like hed just come to a big decision: No, hang it all, I dont . I been through too much. It aint easy bein young, and thats the truth.

It made me kind of curious about what his life had been like.

***

An artist is concerned with what , a scientist with why . We read a scientific paper and say Hey, that makes sense. Wow! We read a poem and say Thats it exactly. Thats just how it is!

Which will I turn out to be? Education, heredity, everything seems to point toward science. Ive never really seriously considered the other option. And yet Being a movie director. Writing novels. Screenplays. That sounds so appealing.

March 7, 1982

[Chappaqua] Spent most of the day playing D&D with David. Worked a little (very little) on Deathbounce .

March 11, 1982

Today I worked out a couple of principles that make arcade games fun.

First, you have to feel in control of your ship/car/man/whatever. So that when you get hit, you say Oh, shit! I should have thrusted! ( Asteroids ) instead of Oh well, another ship gone. I wonder what hit me? ( Star Castle ).

Second, you should be able to control the form of your attacks in short, have a strategy: Qix , Space Invaders , Asteroids , Pac-Man . Counter-examples: Space Firebirds , Scramble , Sneakers .

Third, there should be two goals; the primary goal (getting points) should not overlap 100% with the secondary goal (clearing screens). In Pac-Man , for example, you can go for the monsters (points) or the dots (screen); in Asteroids , the saucers or the rocks; in Invaders , the creatures or the mystery ship. Whereas in Star Castle , you just go for the cannon; in Galaxian , the aliens; in Qix , area.

Interestingly, the only games with all these features are Pac-Man , Space Invaders , and Asteroids the three #1 games.

Anyway, Im hot to write new games.

Tomorrow: First, send Star Blaster (fka Space Rocks fka Asteroid Blaster fka Asteroid Belt ) to Hayden; second, work on Bounce! Ive got a good thing going here. The Apple is still the #1 computer, arcade games are the #1 sellers, and Im writing Apple II arcade games; so I should churn em out and make pots of money while I can. This summer Ill write three or four. I should establish a working relationship with some other publisher ( not Hayden): Sirius? Broderbund?

March 13, 1982

Papis 85th birthday at the Coopers. One day Ill be as old as Dad and have a teenage son; then as old as Papi and have a 50-year-old son; then Ill be dead.

Went to Adrians, got a whole bunch of new games, printed out Bounce on his MX-80.

March 13, 1982

Feeling a little better, fever is down. Working on Bounce .

Right now Im making the big conversion from single to dual-page animation. God, what a mess. It was a really bad idea to write it in single and convert at the end. I need a new printout, to go over the code step by step.

March 14, 1982

Played the new games I copied from Adrian: Space Eggs, Falcons, Ring Raiders, Space Warrior, Orbitron, Gobbler, Pulsar II, and especially Sabotage . Thats such a great game its original, fun, and a super programming job. The graphics are clean and colorful and pretty. The explosions are elegant. Its written by a guy named Mark Allen.