First step: choose the game you want to modify

The first step is to decide what game and version are you going to edit. If you want the new stuff added in POP2 you'll have to decide to modify a POP2 level, the tools for doing that are not as powerful as in POP1. If you choose POP1, you have to choose the version you want (1.0, 1.3 or 1.4). Each version has its advantages and its disadvantages. To choose the best, read the following guide and then go to the CusPOP page to see what customisations are enabled for the version you want to edit.

Second step: get the needed programs and the version of the game you want to modify

You can download most of the pop versions to edit from the Prince of Persia unofficial website.

If you are going to edit only levels, you have to download RoomShaker level editor (available for POP1 and for POP2) and, if you want, Princed level editor (available only for POP1). RoomShaker is a very powerful tool and capable to edit everything; Princed is an alpha mode very user friendly editor, but it is not finished, so most of the features don't work, but the editing is a bit faster when you are creating the level structure. For POP1, both editors may be used at the same time to edit the same levels; you can update the levels edited by the other editor with a few keys pressed (Ctrl+O in RS, PageUp+PageDown in Princed, Ctrl+A in the game).

If you are going to edit the graphics and sounds too, you'll need PR. This tool is for more advanced users. It extracts the .dat files into folders and lets you edit them with your favourite image or sound editor and when you are finish import back to the .dat file.

If you've chosen to edit a POP1 Mac game, you can use a converter that is inside the PoP1-Total Pack or the mac level editor.

If you are interested in other editors (most of them historical) you can refer to the mod creation guide.

Third step: customise the executable file

If you are a beginner (or even an advanced user who wants to gain time) and you are editing POP1, we recommend that you go to CusPOP page to generate the custom prince.exe file. Remember to choose the version that matches with your .dat files, and this is why it is so important the first step.

If you are editing POP2, or are an advanced user, you can edit your prince.exe by your own using an hex editor, we don't recommend doing so unless you know about this topic and the customisation you want isn't in CusPOP.

Finally: distributing your new game

If your game is POP1 based and has a good quality, you can try to apply to add it to PoP1-Total Pack. In other cases you can make a website or get a free web hosting site to upload the game and the publish the link in the Prince of Persia mod forum. Is is also possible, in the same forum, to contact the Princed Project if you want hosting for your mod.

Here you have a list of all Prince of Persia related projects:

• FP - FreePrince - Prince of Persia Engine
  This project is in the pre-alpha stage. We want to make a portable and open source version of the game that runs under several platforms and operating systems such as GNU/Linux, Windows, BSD, Solaris, IRIX and Mac.
• PR - Princed Resources - DAT editor/extractor
  This program can extract/export/uncompress any Prince of Persia DAT files, digital sounds are extracted as wav, instrumental music as midi, graphics as bmp and levels as plv. After editing those resources they can be imported back to the DAT files and the game can be played with the edited resources. Binaries are available for Win32, GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris and Mac OS X.
• RS - Roomshaker - Level Editor
  This is a fully-working Prince of Persia 1 level editor that supports both levels.dat and plv formats. There are really good tutorials about the usage of this program and may edit levels directly using the format. Expert level designers use this software. I really recommend this program, you must take a look at it. Check out the official homepage.
• RS2 - Roomshaker II - Level Editor
  This is a fully-working Prince of Persia 2 level editor that supports both levels.dat and plv 2 formats. There are really good tutorials about the usage of this program and may edit levels directly using the format. Expert level designers use this software. I really recommend this program, you must take a look at it. Check out the official homepage.
• PV3 - Princed V3 - Level Editor
  This program is still in alpha mode. Its functions are very limited but it has a friendly, WYSIWYG GUI to allow for fast editing. It also has an abstracted layer to use the rooms/screens and elements that help beginners a lot.
• POP1TP - PoP1-Total Pack - GUI launcher and tools with all mods packaged
  This tool is a must for the POP1 fan. Between their features it is included tournaments, random level generation, mirroring levels, converting levels from PC to Mac and launching the game using Mac and DOS emulators. The suit is only available for Windows users.
• POP2A - Prince of Persia 2 The Arena - Game
  This combat game is based on both Mechner's creations Karateka and Prince of Persia 2. You can fight like in Karateka with the Prince od Persia 2 characters.
• Mods - Prince of Persia mods - Mods of the Game
  For a full list of new game modifications, please go to Prince of Persia 1 information page from the Prince of Persia Unofficial Website.
• CusPOP - Prince of Persia 1 Custom executable generator - Prince.exe generator
  Allows the customization of hard-coded stuff, like for example the remaining time, the palette, dungeon and palace environment for each level, guard types and base hitpoints; the mirror, shadow, loose tile, etc positions and much more all in one web page to make it very easy at CusPOP. The downloading bandwidth dedicated to this project is sponsored by MSN Detective.
• POPT - Prince of Persia Tools - Game recorder; Saved games/hall of fame editors; etc
  For the moment available tools are:
  
  • POPRecog - Prince Of Persia Screenshots Recognizer: This program can recognize bitmaps on screenhots. It can "tell" you what is the frame order in animation, what is the pixel position of bitmap, what is the layer number and if this bitmap is "mirrored" or not. It's mainly for developers, but everybody can use it.
  • POP Recorder: This program capture and record the animation generated by all the frames when you play Prince of Persia and save them to disk.
  • PrinHof: Prince of Persia 1 Hall of Fame editor. It has a console interface to edit prince.hof.
  • PrinSav: Prince of Persia 1 Savegame editor. It has a console interface to edit prince.sav file to allow you to go to whatever level you want with the lives you want.
  • RunPOP: A tool for editing Prince of Persia 1 prince.exe and make it start in whatever level.

RoomShaker Prince of Persia 1 and 2 Level Editors

Princed Prince of Persia Level Editor

Princed Resources editor (graphics/sounds/etc)

Prince of Persia II: The Arena

Other Prince of Persia related tools

Related Material and Collection Stuff

• Sourceforge: PR/POP2A/POPTools/PV3 Project Development Page
  
  • SF Request Support
  • SF Request new Features!
• Gforge: FreePrince Project Development Page
  
  • GF Request Support
  • GF Request new Features!
  • Access to CVS through www (PR and FP)

Princed project news

• All news
• Documentation
• Community
• Project (full version)
• Recent news
• Last Releases
• Community Blog

Back to Princed home page

Prince of Persia Technical Documentation

PR - Princed Resources Documentation