Shadow Man
I was explaining to her why there are no enemies in Prince of Persia. The animations for the player’s character are so elaborate, there’s not enough memory left to add another character.
“Why not use the same animations for your enemies, the way you did in Karateka?”
“Wouldn’t work so well this time. This character is designed to look cute. He has a very specific personality in the way he runs and moves. The enemies would have to be cute too.”
“Can’t you just change the face, or the costume?”
“Not possible. If I change anything, it’s a whole new set of shapes. There’s just no memory.”
She wouldn’t give up. “Couldn’t you make him a different color – say, black?”
I started to explain: “This is the Apple II…” and then it hit me: What if I exclusive-OR each frame with itself, bit-shifted one pixel over? I visualized a ghostly, shimmering outline-figure, black, with white face and arms, running and leaping, pursuing you. I described it to Tomi.
“Shadow Man!” she exclaimed.
Jordan Mechner, Making of Prince of Persia, 8 de Junio de 1988.
Aw, this was a really excellent publish. In theory I’d like to compose like this also – taking time and actual effort to produce an excellent write-up… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and in no way appear to get one thing done.