lvcabral / prince-of-persia-roku

A port of the classic game Prince of Persia (1989) to Roku (BrightScript)

Prince of Persia for Roku

A port of the classic game Prince of Persia (1989) to Roku streaming devices and TVs

About the Project

I started this project, in Februrary of 2016, as a programming excercise while I was learning more about Roku Brightscript 2D gamming API.

This port was made using the (unfinished) HTML5 version developed by @ultrabolido as a starting point, and the original Apple II Assembly code by Jordan Mechner as a reference for the functionalities. I also got a lot of help from the Prince of Persia Modding Community, where I could get tools, assets and all my questions answered on the Forum, thanks guys!

With the high resolution of the current Full HD TV's I had the idea to implement a new feature for the game, never before seen on Prince of Persia ports, the multi-room mode, this way instead of only being able to see the current room you are playing at, now you can see 4 (2x2 mode) or even 9 (3x3 mode) rooms at the same time. This feature I created gives (literally) a new perspective to the game.

There are two selectable options of sprites, the classic MS-DOS (1990) and Macintosh (1992) versions, all levels and cut scenes are already implemented. In addition to that, it also supports Mods with custom levels, graphics and sounds. Some examples, converted from the Community DOS Mods, are available in the source code.

How to Play

• You can play the game (on a Chrome based browser) with the Roku emulator I also developed, check it at: https://lvcabral.com/brs
• If you have a Roku or Roku TV you can install the preview channel in your account using this link: https://my.roku.com/add/PoPPreview
• You can also side load the game on you Roku, downloading the latest release zip using the developer mode (click here to see how).

Recommended devices

Roku Ultra, Roku Premiere(+), Roku 4, Roku 3, Roku 2 HD (3000X), Roku 2 XD (3050X), Roku 2 XS (3100X), new Roku Streaming Sticks (3800X, 3810X), new Roku Express (3900X, 3910X) and the 4K Roku TV's (6000X, 7000X, 8000X).

Development Evolution Videos

Below links to some preview videos I published on YouTube during the development:

• Demo v0.12 YouTube
• Preview v0.8 YouTube
• Preview v0.6 YouTube
• Preview v0.5 YouTube

Other Projects

You should also take a look at my other retro-game remake projects Lode Runner for Roku and Donkey Kong for Roku, Moon Patrol for Roku.

Legal Notes

Disclaimer: This source code shall not be used commercially or sold in any form, the objective of this project is educational. Any usage/publication of this code shall be explicitly authorized by the author.

Copyright (C) 2016-2019 Marcelo Lv Cabral
http://lvcabral.com

Twitter: @lvcabral

prince-of-persia-roku's Issues

Sprite Issue: Left wall mixed on top floor for missing rooms

In multi rooms mode, the left wall sprite is mixed with top floor for missing rooms.

Examples: Level 7 Room 9 and Level 12 Room 13

Sometimes fall with bump is not hurting the kid

In some cases, when kids bump during a long fall, it is not hurting/killing the kid.

Not easy to reproduce.

Examples: Level 1 Falling from Room 1 to 2 and Level 2 Room 10

Level 3 - A checkpoint activated when kid leaves room 7

At Level 3 a checkpoint should be activated when kid leaves room 7, it will revive at room 2 (remove the loose tile at R7 T4,0)

Guard not changing face when kid moves in the same room

When kid is in the same room but different elevation the guard should follow the face towards the kid.

Multiple Slicers together do not detect death correctly

If two or more slicers are in consecutive tiles only one of those kills the characters.

Example: Level 3 Room 16

Refactor: Decouple regions collections from the objects to avoid memory leak

Each object (chars, tiles scenes) has its own bitmap regions collection, and that could cause memory leak. The ideal is to have all the bitmap regions cached on a separate global collection.

Change Menus to use better graphics and add 2 more options to Game Settings

Game Settings menu needs two more options:
Mods & Cheats
High Scores

Level 12 - Shadow appears to fight at room 15

On level 12 when kid enter room 15 from 18 the sword disappears and the shadow appears to fight, If kid put sword down and run to the shadow they are reunited. As soon as the "success" song starts to play the kid is on "leap of faith" mod and can walk over the spaces to the left until get to the next room.

Synchronization is not consistent among multiple Slicers

Sometimes two (or more) slicers side by side are not in sync, but that is not consistent, if you leave and enter the room several times those will be in different timing.

The original game has that consistent, example: Level 8 Room 4

Shadow sometimes not drinking the potion on Level 5

If the kid stay on tile 6 the Shadow never drinks the potion.

When a loose plate fall into a Door tile, erases the door frame (L11)

A loose plate can only leave debris on a regular floor tile or a tile with a torch,

Level 3 - The sound of the gate to room 2 must be heard from anywhere

Because the gate to level 2 is key to reach a check point, the original game make it's sound audible from anywhere in Level 3, just like exit doors.

help with code

I see that you have enough knowledge want to see if you could help me with a problem I have in my Brightscript is I'm doing a style like netflix but the problem is that when entering the secion movie takes too long to get that slow loading and can not Select a movie to finish loading could help me with that problem.
@lvcabral

Level 5 - In room 24 if the gate is open the Shadow will enter and drink the potion

During kevel 5 when the kid is at room 24, and the gate is open, the Shadow will enter and drink the potion.

Level 3 - Skeleton after fall do not show in the right place

On level 3 when Skeleton falls from room 1 to room 3, the original game shows it back up at tile 15 (X=5,Y=1), even when it falls from the left side for room 1.

The fix for this will require a creative solution for multi-room modes, once the room below is visible.

Add warning message to users when running on a low end device

Left key does not move the Kid when performs "turnengarde" close to a wall

When Kid perform a "turnengarde" action too close to a wall in the right, it get inside the wall and the left key does not work to move it, you need to click right key to bump out.

Add support for Mods with custom levels, sprites and audio

The max health attribute is not being preserved when changing levels

As a side effect of the Cut Scenes implementation the max health is being reset to 3 every time the kid goes to a new level.

Several issues on Level 3 special events

• Check point on room 2 should be at tile 6 not 9
• Skeleton is arising too early, must wait kid touch the ground
• Skeleton after fall is not going to the right position and waiting the kid
• Skeleton is not dying when falling from room 3.

Crash when Mouse character is created

After the Shadow implementation, as a side effect of the implementation of the visible property, the Mouse appearance is crashing the game.

kid jumping up in endless loop

somehow the kid kept jumping, as if I was holding the 'up' button. Even after he died and the game restarted, he kept jumping in an endless loop. eventually he stopped when he went up to the upper level...

Guard engarde falling on spikes is getting back stand

Add new screen to select Mods and Cheat modes

• Select Mod
• Fight modes: ATTACK, ALERT, FROZEN
• REW - FW Keys: Level change, Health, Time

When kid perform a "turnengarde" action close to an edge he retreats and fall

Text screens on cut scenes should fade out

In the original game the text screens on the cut scenes fades out, that's not implemented.

Level 4 - Jump into the mirror will make the shadow jump out of it

At level 4 when the kid jumps into the mirror (at room 4) the shadow will jump out of it on the opposite direction and walk out of the room.

Add visual indication of the "Shift" mode

In some situations when kid jump up on the void shakes loose tiles

When kid drop only 1 of 2 loose contiguous plates the jump up on the void shakes the other tile, and the kid's hands are cropped as a tile was still there.

Example: Level 1 Room 15

Level 6 - When fighting with Fat Guard instead of splash the hit shows red effect

Use Roku remote in a more native game controller way

Pretty cool, like the work you've done here!

After installing, it seems like in order to play the game, you need to hold the Roku remote in the upright position and use the OK button for actions. It would be more playable to hold the controller sideways and use the A or B buttons, like a real game controller.

Level 6 - Shadow will show in room 1 behind the gate

At level 6 after killing the fat guard, when you enter room 1 the Shadow is standing behind the gate.
If kid open the gate and jump to hang on the edge the shadow walk to close the gate

Level 3: Quick freeze when Skeleton arises

On level 3 when the Skeleton comes to life at room 1, there is a quick freeze on kid's animation

Loose plates that fall over other loose plates two times in a row eventually get stuck

Guard keep trying to stab the kid after he climbed the stairs

If the kid is being followed by a guard and exit the level, by climbing the stairs, the guard keep trying to stab in front of the door.

Kid's health is being restored when entering level 13

Level 9 - Reversal Potion (big green)

At level 9 if the kid drinks the big green potions (const.POTION_INVERT = 4) the screen will be flipped upside down, if another of those potions are drank the screens go back to normal.

Guard not following down the kid when he falls

There are situations on the original game the guard would follow down the kid when it goes to a bottom level (1 store only), example Level 2 Room 4

Character fall in endless loop

Sometimes when falling from the edge the characters keep falling in an endless loop, ignoring tiles.

A video with the issue happening, provided by Joel from Roku team:
https://roku.box.com/s/bg0t6fsi4phvse1fuwwr5n3tf73m4v97

Tile painting inconsistent when Kid hangs during jump/fall between rooms

In level 3 when jumping early from room 14 to room 11 and the kid hangs, the tile painting is inconsistent. The kid is acting in one room and the screen shows another room.

If a Character is stabbed to death on top of a button his body is not pressing it

Add support for custom level sets using the standard PoP1 XML Format

The format is defined here: http://www.popot.org/documentation.php?doc=PoP1_XML_Format

Kid is bumping into the wall when engarde close to a wall and sheathe the sword

One instance it happened was in Level 1 Room 2 facing right

Add High Score screens

In the original game, after the final scene the player can save your time and name on a highs core screen.

We need two screens developed, one to enter the name and other to be shown at the Settings Menu with the higher scores and names.

Sound is not played for all Slicers when there are multiple on the same screen

If there are multiple active slicers on the same screen, and they are not in sync, only one of them will be playing the sound.

Guard not falling on a narrow space

In level 10 if kid hit the guard to fall between a floor and the gate the guard get stuck.

Crash when restoring a game saved on Level 13

After death Kid's health is always being restored to 3 lives

The right behavior is to restore the number of lives that the Kid started the level and not only 3, and the save game option should only save that value as well not the current health.

Guards are falling to death by themselves

In some situation the Guards are trying to follow the kid when there is a gap on the floor and they fall and die.

Example: Level 4 Room 18

Kid is bumping into the wall when drinking a potion facing right and with back to a wall