A Conversation with Jordan Mechner (Karateka / Prince of Persia / The Last Express / Replay)

Join Daniel Albu as he sits down for a conversation with author, graphic novelist, screenwriter and video game designer, best known as the creator of Prince of Persia, Jordan Mechner! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 🚨 Click to SUBSCRIBE ►    / @danielalbu   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ • Visit Jordan Mechner's website: https://www.jordanmechner.com • Get REPLAY, Jordan's graphic novel memoir: https://www.jordanmechner.com/en/book... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 00:00 Introduction 00:50 How Jordan Mechner Got Into Programming 03:08 Learning Through Breakout, BASIC, and Apple II Code 06:37 Early Graphics, Memory, and Collision Detection 10:35 From Text Adventures to Karateka 13:15 Building Karateka on the Apple II 16:26 Inventing the Rotoscoping Workflow 20:21 Refining Karateka’s Combat and Feel 22:52 Karateka’s Legacy and the Upside Down Disk Easter Egg 28:05 Karateka Ports and Why the Apple II Version Felt Best 34:01 Prince of Persia Music and the Leitmotif Approach 37:08 The Prince of Persia Journals and Daily Creative Process 42:03 Prince of Persia on DOS and Its Israeli Localization 43:27 Making Prince of Persia Feel Responsive and Realistic 50:02 Copy Protection and the PC Version of Prince of Persia 51:54 Cover Art, Ports, and the Definitive Prince of Persia Version 01:00:38 Starting Prince of Persia 2 Before the First Game Became a Hit 01:01:31 Building the Story and Mythology of Prince of Persia 2 01:04:52 Prince of Persia 2 Technical Challenges and Scope 01:10:09 The Origins of The Last Express 01:13:25 Why Jordan Rejected FMV and Chose a Different Path 01:19:52 The Last Express, Critical Acclaim, and Commercial Failure 01:23:25 Prince of Persia 3D 01:25:26 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and the Ubisoft Revival 01:32:59 The Sands of Time Movie and Script Changes 01:38:09 What Changed in the Prince of Persia Film 01:54:49 The Making of Karateka Interactive Documentary 02:00:29 Replay and Telling the Mechner Family Story 02:16:24 Upcoming Projects and Final Thoughts ____________________________________________________ Don't miss the other "Tech Talk with Daniel Albu" conversations: • Aaron Giles:    • A Conversation with Aaron Giles   • Brad Taylor:    • A Conversation with SCUMM legend Brad Taylor   • David Fox:    • A Conversation with LucasFilm Games legend...   • Graham Annable:    • A Conversation with Graham Annable (LucasA...   • Gary Winnick:    • A Conversation with Gary Winnick (LucasArt...   • Bill Tiller:    • A Conversation with Bill Tiller (The Curse...   • Noah Falstein:    • A Conversation with Noah Falstein (LucasAr...   • Aaron Giles (DREAMM Demo):    • DREAMM - The Best LucasArts Emulator? (Ano...   • Aric Wilmunder:    • A Conversation with SCUMM Legend Aric Wilm...   • Ron Gilbert:    • A Conversation with Ron Gilbert   • Mark Ferrari:    • A Conversation with Lucasfilm Legend Mark ...   • Hal Barwood:    • A Conversation with Hal Barwood (Indiana J...   • Kyle Balda:    • A Conversation with Kyle Balda (Minions / ...   • Larry Ahern:    • A Conversation with Larry Ahern (The Curse...   • Anson Jew:    • A Conversation with LucasArts Animator Ans...   • Jenn Sandercock:    • A Conversation with Jenn Sandercock (Thimb...   • Bret Mogilefsky:    • A Conversation with LucasArts Developer Br...   • Dan Connors:    • A Conversation with former Telltale CEO Da...   • Mike Stemmle:    • A Conversation with Mike Stemmle (Escape f...   • Steve Purcell:    • A Conversation with Steve Purcell (Sam & Max)   • Tom Hall:    • A Conversation with Gaming Icon Tom Hall (...   • Malena Annable:    • A Conversation with Malena Annable (Double...   • Al Lowe:    • A Conversation with Al Lowe (Leisure Suit ...   • Michael Land:    • A Conversation with LucasArts composer Mic...   • Ken Macklin:    • A Conversation with Ken Macklin (Maniac Ma...   • William R. Shockley:    • A Conversation with Sierra On-Line Develop...   • Charlie Ramos:    • LucasArts Animator Charlie Ramos on Full T...   • Annie Fox:    • A Conversation with Annie Fox (Putt-Putt G...   • Clint Bajakian:    • A Conversation with Clint Bajakian (Outlaw...   • Aaron Giles (DREAMM v3.0 Demo):    • DREAMM v3.0 - Aaron Giles' Best Emulator Yet!   ____________________________________________________ Welcome to Tech Talk with Daniel Albu! Join game developer Daniel Albu as he tracks down and talk to, the actors, writers, directors, developers, and composers from all your favorite retro games from the 90's and beyond! ____________________________________________________ Tech Talk with Daniel Albu is part of ‪@ConversationsWithCurtis‬! And Conversations with Curtis is a member of the ‪@AdventureGameHotspot‬ network! https://adventuregamehotspot.com/ ‪@AdventureGameGeek‬ ‪@OneShortEye‬ ‪@spacequesthistorian‬ https://www.cggpodcast.com/ ____________________________________________________ Please consider supporting Conversations With Curtis for more fun content like this: https://ko-fi.com/cwc ____________________________________________________ You can also follow Daniel on: • X:   / danielalbu   • BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/danielalbu.b... • Threads: https://www.threads.net/@danielalbu • Mastodon: https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@danie... • YouTube:    / @danielalbu   • Twitch: https://twitch.com/TechTalkwithDaniel... • Official website: https://www.danielalbu.com