.

PRINCE OF PERSIA 1
1990
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia is a quite nice action/adventure game which first
appeared on the Apple II some months ago, and got rave reviews from
everyone who saw it. It's got incredibly lifelike animation, and the
IBM version also supports 256-color MCGA graphics, which look stunning.
The music isn't half bad either, and it supports a number of sound
cards as well. To get it running on a hard drive, you just need to
copy both disks into one directory, that'll work fine. None of this
install from floppy crap.
Anyway, your object in Prince of Persia is to rescue the princess who
is being held by your enemy, Jaffar. To do this, all you've got to do
is get out of the dungeons in which you are being held. The dungeons
have a number of traps, and a few Persians (ie: Jaffar's guards) to
prevent your escape, and you will fall prey to many of them.
In Prince of Persia, you do have hit points, and can die. You are
always resurrected, however, at the beginning of the level you died on,
and you have unlimited lives. It can be frustrating when you get
pretty far and manage to kill yourself by running off a ledge or
something. The only thing you CAN run out of is time - you've got only
one hour to escape from the dungeon and rescue Ms. Princess. Every so
often a message will appear saying how much time you've got left, and
the space bar will also tell you.
Movement
~~~~~~~~
Although you can play with a joystick, I find that keyboard control is
a bit more responsive. It may just be my joystick, however. Play with
it and decide which you prefer. Control-K switches to keyboard
control. I think Control-J will switch to your joystick and calibrate
it.
Movement in the game is simple. With a joystick, you just push in
whichever direction you wish to move. With the keyboard, you use the
numeric keypad for movement. The key layout is as follows:
7
4
SHIFT

8
5
2

9
6

Both the 5 and 2 keys will move down. 4 and 6 are left/right, 8 is
up. 7 and 9 are diagonal jumping keys, and the SHIFT key is your
"action" button.
Here are some of the moves you can do in Prince of Persia:
Run
Push the stick/key left or right and hold it down.
Release the stick/key to skid to a halt.
Walk
Slowly Hold the button and press left/right to move

slowly in either direction. Do this to move up on a

ledge cautiously to jump or drop down, or to make a leap
over a chasm. Also useful when treading on spikes.
Climb Up
Pushing straight up will cause your character to jump
up. If there is an overhanging ledge, he will catch on
and pull himself up if you continue to push up.
Break Ceiling
If you jump and the ceiling moves, that indicates a
loose stone. Position your character underneath the
loose stone and jump up to try to dislodge it. If you
do, be sure to get out of the way to avoid getting conked
on the head and losing a hit point. Once you have
dislodged a stone, you can pull yourself up to another
section.
Jump Sideways
Pushing the stick/keypad in an upward diagonal direction
will cause you to attempt a jump to the side. This is
essential in jumping over small chasms and holes in the
floor, and jumping over floor traps.
Running Jump
If you are running and move to a diagonal position, your
character will do a running jump, which can cover more
area. A running jump will take longer to stop, however,
but it is often neccessary.
Crouch
Pushing down moves into a crouch position if you are not
near any ledges. Crouching also moves you forward
slightly.
Climb Down
To climb down to a lower section, or to drop down,
simply position yourself at the edge of the opening,
turn around (so your back is to the hole), and push down.
If there is not a floor below you, you will hang for a
moment and drop.
Grab Ledge
If you fall, and in this game you certainly will - and
often, you can attempt to grab onto a passing ledge as
you fall by. To do this, simply hold down the button as
you fall past, and you'll try to grab on. You can either
hold the button for a moment and drop, thus breaking your
fall (and limiting damage), or you can push up and
attempt to climb out.
Get Item
When you are near an item, such as a potion or sword,
push the button to pick it up.
Suicide
Sometimes you'll manage to get yourself into a position
where you can't escape. Control-A will put you out of
your misery.

Combat
~~~~~~
To win the game, you will need to fight. Once you get a sword, you can
start killing some Persian guards. As a fencer, I am disappointed in
the swordplay's lack of realism, but it DOES beat what most games do. I
have not found a game yet which meets true swordplay in any
satisfactory manner. Anyway, enough of my diatribe. Return the
joystick to the center, or press the shift key on the keyboard (while
not moving) to draw your sword...
Advance
Use the direction keys to advance slowly towards your
opponent.
Retreat
Use the direction keys to move away from the guard.
Lunge
To make a lunge (ie: attack), don't push any direction
keys, and hit the shift key/space bar.
Parry
To parry a blow, hit the up direction key or push your
joystick up. It's a good strategy to wait for him to
attack, parry the blow, and hit him with a riposte.
Run Away
Push down, and you'll sheathe your blade.
You
automatically put it away after killing someone, so be
careful not to do this in battle unless you want to run
for it.
Notes
~~~~~
A few things which you may find which afford further discussion include
the following:
Potions
Potions come in two flavors, red and blue. A red potion
will heal one hit point, and a blue one will hurt you.
Swords
When you find the sword, grab it.
fight.

You'll need it to

Floor Switch
A raised floor stone is a switch which is activated when
you step on it. These usually raise a portcullis or
reset a trap.
Floor Switch
A floor stone which is level with the other stones, but
has a dark depression beneath it is another kind of
switch. These usually lower a portcullis or spring a
trap. Often these should be jumped over.
Loose Stones

When you jump, you may see some of the stones on the
ceiling or floor rattle a little. These are loose, and
can be broken to open new areas, or trap you. Jumping up
underneath loose stones will cause them to crumble (avoid
being beneath them when they do) and running over loose
stones will cause them to collapse (don't stand on them
as they crumble - they don't make good elevators).
Sometimes you may need to return over areas that have
loose floor stones, so use your judgement before
collapsing them.
Portcullis
A portcullis simply keeps you from passing through a
doorway. Hit a floor switch to raise one of these.
They are often on a timer, and you will need to hit
another floor switch to return through them.
The
switches can be up to a few rooms away. There are also
sometimes other floor switches which will slam them shut.
Drill
Some type of drill or spear or something which falls
from the ceiling, like a portcullis. They, too, are
operated by floor switches.
Spikes
There are often nice beds of spikes for you to fall on.
Don't run over these or fall on them, as they'll kill
you. You can jump over them.
There are also other traps and the like to find and kill. Be wary,
and remember that time is counting down. To jump across wide chasms,
try to make a running jump, and keep your hand near the action button
to try to catch a ledge if you miss.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------EXE files
PRINCE10.EXE is version 1.0
PRINCE11.EXE is version 1.1 (has copy protection)
Both seem to work well
OTHERS.ZIP
The files in this archive came with the game, but don't
appear to be needed. They are here - just in case!
Keys: (not including movement keys)
Escape
Space
Shift
Ctrl A
Ctrl G
Ctrl J
Ctrl K
Ctrl L
Ctrl Q
Ctrl R
Ctrl S
Ctrl V
Shift L

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Pause
Show time left
Pick up object / drink potion
Restart level
Save game, if you're on level 3 or above.
Switch to Joystick
Switch to keyboard
Load a saved game while at the title screen.
Quit
Restart the game
Sound toggle
Version
Advance one level (2-3-4 only)

The use of Shift L causes you to have only 15 minutes instead of 60.
When you start level 7, you are falling from a great height. Legally, the
only way to survive is to grab a ledge on your left. If you cannot do this,
you will have to cheat. If you started the game in Cheat Mode (see below),
press Shift-L to go to the next level immediately, or Shift-W to land gently.
Step on the raised floor to open the portcullis, go right, step on raised
floor just there, and exit door will open.
When you are on the unnamed level, step on the raised stone to the right,
then run quickly to the left until you land in the princess's arms. You have
now won the game. In the high scores, the score is the amount of time that
was left. The more time, the better you were.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------Command line parameters:
PACK
UNPACK
BYPASS
DRAW %d
MEGAHIT

:
:
:
:
:

Don't know
Don't know
Don't know
Don't know
Activate cheat mode (see below)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------Cheat Mode: Start the game with PRINCE1 MEGAHIT (v1.3 = PRINCE IMPROVED)
Extra keys:
+
C
H
J
K
N
U
Shift
Shift
Shift
Shift
)
Shift
Shift
Shift

B
C
I
L

:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:

Decrease time
Increase time
Shows a code
Shift screen left
Shift screen right
Kill enemies
Shift screen down
Shift screen up
Show sprites & animated images only
Shows another code
Turn screen upside down
Advance one level (2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-12-unnamed-1-2 etc

S
T
W

: Drink small potion (not confirmed)

: Add extra energy (red arrows at bottom left) maximum of 10
: Fall slowly so you don't die

Copy protection: On ver 1.1, you need to drink the potion corresponding to a let
ter
in the manual before proceeding to the next floor. The cheat ke
ys
don't work at this stage. Ver 1.0 does not have this protectio
n.
Here are the codes and answers:
PAGE LINE WORD ANS
___________________________
1
1
6
D
1
2
5
V
1
2
8
S

1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
6
7
7
7
8
8
8
10
10
10
11
12

3
4
5
6
6
7
3
6
10
1
3
3
4
5
5
5
1
2
2
3
5
7
2
2
3
2
2
5
6
2
5
6
4
5
6
2
7

4
2
5
6
12
11
9
5
8
1
5
11
4
1
2
4
2
4
9
2
3
6
4
9
3
2
4
6
4
13
7
1
2
1
4
3
4

L
T
O
P
H
U
J
H
N
A
C
M
B
W
Y
R
J
T
L
R
C
S
F
A
D
K
M
B
O
I
U
I
G
P
Y
F
E

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Prince of Persia Hints/Solve

These are some basic techniques for playing the game.
o When jumping, ALWAYS hold down the button. You will never know when
you shall slip or fall short of the jump. Also, make yourself as
close as possible to an edge before you jump so you can get maximum
distance.
o When fighting, the most effective way is to use the standard
block-and-hit technique. To do this, wait till the opponent strikes,
block by pressing up, then immediately press the button and the
character strike and get a better chance of hitting the opponent.
o Inspect every room for secret passages. There are many in this game
and you will not be able to finish it without finding them. To find
them, jump up and down to look for any floor passages. Jump up and
hit the ceiling to look for any ceiling passages.

o Doors don't stay open forever. Once you step on a step-block, the
doors will start to close. . . that is unless something is on the
step-block.
o Learn to distinguish step-blocks from the floor.
o After you complete each level (after Level 2), save the game. When
you die, restart by pressing Control-R and then press Control-L to
resume your game. This will allow you to save a lot of time
considering that you WILL die.
o Don't be afraid to explore. In order to win the game, you must
explore every detail of the game and not miss anything on any level.

Hints

Note - * means that there is an energy expander on that level.

Level 1
Your first level is very easy. Get the sword, which is to the left from where
you start and then go to the exit which just to the right of where you start.
Practice your sword techniques on the guard. Remember to watch for unstable
floors.
Level 2 *
Straightforward. Watch out for floor spikes. Beware of the blue potion which
will DECREASE your life count. There is an energy expander here so don't
forget to get it.
Level 3 *
This will be one of the toughest levels. From where you start, go to the right
and climb to the top using the centre segment. Now, you must do a jump of
faith to the right. You will find that there is a floor when you land. You
will also discover a step-block which will open the gate far to the left.
There is also a energy expander in the area to the right. When you are ready,
jump on the step-block and BURN RUBBER to the left! You will have little time
before the door starts to close. Do a running jump over the large hole then
one final jump near the door and hang on to that ledge. Hopefully, the door
will almost be closed so you can pull yourself up. After that, it is very
straightforward. When you confront the "LIVE" skeleton, keep hitting until it
falls off the ledge. Then climb down after it and keep hitting it until it
falls to its doom.
Level 4 *
Very straightforward. Watch out for loose floors and be sure to get the energy
expander. When you confront the mirror, you will have to execute a run-jump
through it. You will pass through but your shadow will come out the other side
and will create a lot of trouble for you.
Level 5 *
Straightforward. There is an energy expander here but you will soon find out
what will happen to it. You will have to experiment with this level before you
can finish it.

Level 6
Straightforward. Beware of the master guard (he is fat) for he will slice you
up if you are not good enough. At the end, your shadow will create mischief
once more. . .
Level 7 *
You start out falling so press the button to grab onto the ledge. Continue
onto the right until you reach the ledge with a large hole with another ledge
far to the right. Climb down the ledge, fall, and grab onto the ledge.
Continue to the right. If you can't continue, go back and fall down another
ledge for it will lead you to the same place. When you drink the blue potion,
the room will turn purple and you will turn green. Run off to the left and you
will float slowly down... DO NOT go into the exit because there is an energy
expander just to the right.
Level 8
Straightforward but very hard. Be quick but be patient for a friend of the
princess will help you.
Level 9 *
If you drink the blue potion, your vision will be distorted. To regain
normalness, find another blue potion and drink it. Be sure to get the energy
expander.
Level 10
You will have to knock out many ceiling and floor blocks.
Level 11 *
Very simple. Be sure to get the energy expander.
Level 12
The last level. I will not provide you hints because it would truly take the
fun out of the game. You must use skill, agility, strength, courage, and trust
to get past the level.
Your probably stumped on the shadow. Remember, your shadow cannot harm you in
any way. Altough it might seem to, it is really the sword that is harming you.
Just push the joystick up and you will put away your sword. Your shadow will
mimic you of course. Walk into your shadow and you will become one person
again. Your shadow is merely a reflection of yourself and hence will try to mim
ic
you. Then you will need to do a jump of faith to the left. Yeah, I know there
is nothing there, but trust me. You have to do a running jump and that's the
only way to make it.
Continue on and you will do battle with your final opponent, Jaffar. . .
Jaffar is an awesome fighter. In order to beat him, you will need to use the
block-strike technique. Also be careful of the fallen board behind you.
Enter the final door and run to the princess.