Developer, writer and filmmaker Jordan Mechner gave an excellent hour-long presentation at GDC 2011 about the design and development of Prince of Persia, the classic action game he released for the Apple II in October of 1989. 25 years later, contemporary developers may take heart from hearing Mechner lament the challenges he faced animating, programming and scoping the game through more than four years of development. Mechner also explains his influences in designing the game, from classic films like The Thief of Baghdad to games like Lode Runner and Castles of Dr. Creep. It's an insightful postmortem that's well worth watching for anyone with even a passing interest in classic game design. The free video (embedded above) of 'Classic Game Postmortem: Prince of Persia' is available to watch here on the GDC Vault.

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