Ubi Soft released this interview with the designer of the original Prince of Persia, Jordan Mechner.  He is currently working with Ubi Soft as a consultant.

What is the relationship between Ubi Soft & Jordan Mechner? How do you work together?

Ubi Soft approached me in 2001 with the intention of reviving the Prince of Persia brand and bringing it to next-generation consoles. Producer Yannis Mallat invited me to their Montreal studio to see the initial animation tests the team had made and to hear their ideas. When I met the team, I realized that this was more than just a business proposition to them. They were out to make a masterpiece. Yves Guillemot and Serge Hascoet, in Paris, made it clear to me that they believed in this team and in the potential of the license, and that Ubi Soft was prepared to make a major commitment to make the best possible game. We then engineered an agreement that gave Ubi Soft the exclusive worldwide license to develop and publish Prince of Persia video games.

Ubi Soft brought me in as a creative consultant to work with the team to make this game the greatest possible artistic and commercial success. They have placed a lot of trust in me by inviting me to come in from the outside and participate in this project. My main objective in working with Yannis Mallat and creative director Patrice Desilets is to maintain and enhance the unity of story, character and game design. At times I work directly with other members of the team, including level designer David Chateauneuf, art director Raphael Lacoste, AI programmer Richard Dumas, and game designers Marc-Andre de Blois and Lionel Rico, to give input on specific areas. Overall, I try to stay aware of all aspects of the project, and focus my input on the areas where it will be most valuable.

What expertise do you bring into the project?

As a game designer my speciality is telling a story in a cinematic way within the game itself, and not just in cinematic cutscenes. My experience as a filmmaker and screenwriter, as well as my previous games Karateka, Prince of Persia, and The Last Express, taught me a lot which I was able to bring to the team on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. I worked closely with producer Yannis Mallat and creative director Patrice Desilets to develop a story that would support and drive the great game play elements the team envisioned.

Directing the voice actors’ performances in the dialog recording was a bonus. I did this first on Last Express, which was a dialog-driven game with over 60 roles. I like to do this job myself when possible, because I feel it’s a natural extension of writing the screenplay and designing dialog opportunities in the game. Actors tend to see video games as a day gig, maybe one step above a TV commercial. To give performances that are as nuanced and emotionally powerful as they are capable of achieving in their film and stage work, they need encouragement from a director who is passionate about the story and characters, and can communicate that belief and passion to them.

The cutscenes in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time posed a special challenge for Ubi Soft’s cinematics group, because they are action-packed, often very short, and tightly interwoven with the game play. Because I knew the story so well, I was able to direct the voice actors before the visuals had been created, and give cinematics director Ron Martin and sound designer Simon Pressey final performances to work with at an earlier stage than would otherwise have been possible.

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