Video walkthrough

Discuss PoP1 for DOS here.
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htamas
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Video walkthrough

Post by htamas »

This topic was originally available at http://popuw.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=585. I tried to salvage posts from my locally saved files and the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine. If you have some additional material, please share it. Thanks.
htamas @ popuw.com (Tue Aug 15, 2006 5:59 pm) wrote: I've created a complete video walkthrough for PoP 1. It's 20 minutes, so it doesn't beat the record :D, but it shows the basic tricks needed to play fast.

You can download it from here: http://www.archive.org/download/pop1_wa ... hrough.avi (38 MB)

The video is in ZMBV (dosbox capture format), while the audio is encoded with the lossy Vorbis codec (I didn't want 30MB video + 130MB audio ;)), so you'll need both codecs to play it.

Note: It seems to me that playing with sound on adds about 10 seconds to levels 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and about 5 seconds to level 4, since timing continues while you go up the stairs and the music is playing. This is probably a bug of prince ;).
virumor @ popuw.com (Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:35 pm) wrote:
htamas wrote:It's 20 minutes, so it doesn't beat the record , but it shows the basic tricks needed to play fast.
What is the record? I recently played the game again for the first time in years, and i finished it in around 50 minutes... Confused
htamas @ popuw.com (Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:43 pm) wrote:
virumor wrote:
htamas wrote: It's 20 minutes, so it doesn't beat the record , but it shows the basic tricks needed to play fast.
What is the record? I recently played the game again for the first time in years, and i finished it in around 50 minutes... Confused
It's around 17 minutes. See http://www.fys.ruu.nl/~dijkema/prince/prince.html.

They have completed it in 17 minutes 36 seconds and wrote a walkthrough about that, which is accessible on their site. There is a high-score section as well, which does not work currently, but when it worked, 16 minutes 31 seconds was the shortest time shown there. I don't know whether to trust it, since anyone may submit their own results there ;).

If you completed the game without passing guards and without saving, then 50 minutes is quite a good result. If you would like to save time, read the hints there or perhaps in this forum. Or watch this movie :P. There are some quite effective time-savers. And, if you didn't so far, use the save function, it makes things easier.
KingOfPersia @ popuw.com (Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:56 am) wrote: very nice video
jalal @ popuw.com (Fri Aug 18, 2006 8:39 am) wrote: Great! Topic Sticked.

To install the ZMBV codec: Apply step number 3 in this guide.
freecat @ popuw.com (Fri Aug 18, 2006 3:48 pm) wrote: Great movie :)
Foxz @ popuw.com (Sat Aug 19, 2006 4:28 pm) wrote: i cant load the site i think, when i press the link i get a white screen with some text on it:RIFFvcAVI LISTz"hdrlavih8»7Yµ@ÈLIST”strlstrh8vidszmbvdaYµ b'@Èstrf((@ÈZMBVøJUNK

and then its doesnt do anything anymore
htamas @ popuw.com (Sat Aug 19, 2006 5:06 pm) wrote:
Foxz wrote: RIFFvcAVI LISTz"hdrlavih8»7Yµ@ÈLIST”strlstrh8vidszmbvdaYµ b'@Èstrf((@ÈZMBVøJUNK
You were trying to view the file as text in your browser. Instead, right-click the link, choose "Save As..." and open it with your favourite media player when downloading has finished. Don't forget to install the ZMBV codec; to do that, follow the link in jalal's post.
tsak @ popuw.com (Sun Aug 20, 2006 12:24 pm) wrote:
jalal wrote: Great! Topic Sticked.

To install the ZMBV codec: Apply step number 3 in this guide.


jalal,
i downloaded the new dosbox, i installed the codec, but i don't have sound in the video.
what should i do?
thanks
programmer @ popuw.com (Sun Aug 20, 2006 12:40 pm) wrote: You have to install the Ogg Vorbis codec.
Zordos @ popuw.com (Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:11 pm) wrote: :lol: Great Job! I just downloaded it (or I am at it now and hope it works). It's been awhile since I played the game, but sort of now getting into the mood of playing again. :D
Foxz @ popuw.com (Mon Aug 21, 2006 3:11 pm) wrote: Guys, i dont have sound in the vid, i downloaded the codec from: http://www.illiminable.com/ogg/oggcodecs_0.71.0946.exe
and its NOT working at my windows media player or winamp, can anyone give me a downloadlink of a codec that DOES work??

Greets
DeeJayBarT @ popuw.com (Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:35 pm) wrote: i saw it...you are awesome! great video man ;)
Zordos @ popuw.com (Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:38 pm) wrote: Download and installed DosBox and DosShell, however, cannot get the walkthrough to work. It loads Media Player and goes through, but now video is seen.
Zordos @ popuw.com (Mon Aug 21, 2006 10:57 pm) wrote: Finally got the walkthrough to work, no audio, but great video, loved it, thanks for that special treat.
  • 15 messages have been lost
htamas @ popuw.com (Sun Aug 27, 2006 8:02 pm) wrote:
david wrote:
htamas wrote: Once I also managed to make the guard on level 4 to the right of the starting position step on the opening tile next to him and cut down the half of the level. I've never been able to repeat that, and as such, it was left out of the walkthrough. I'm still wondering how to do that.
I know this trick since a long ago. Here's how to do it:
Run to the right until you can, then press right until the guard turns left.
Go as close to the gate as you can.
Turn to the left, then to the right.
Now the prince takes his sword and puts it back.
Then run once to the right.
Turn left, then press down (or up) twice.
Turn right, run right and immediately press left.
Now the guard should open the gate and you can go through.
Thanks, it works :).
The first part, until the prince puts his swords back, can be done a bit faster - you can run from the start position two tiles to the right, then he stops at the column and puts back the sword. From there, you can continue with your solution.
GameMaster @ popuw.com (Sun Sep 24, 2006 8:24 pm) wrote: Can the put the video in .zip format so the download takes less time? I only have a dial-up, it takes more than 2 hours.
htamas @ popuw.com (Sun Sep 24, 2006 9:23 pm) wrote:
GameMaster wrote: Can the put the video in .zip format so the download takes less time? I only have a dial-up, it takes more than 2 hours.
The video is already compressed using the zmbv and vorbis codecs. Applying a general-purpose compressor such as zip won't reduce it any/much further.
Zip is not a magic program that reduces the size of everything, for example, you might not just repeatedly compress something until it fits a single floppy ;).
Gorthol @ popuw.com (Tue Sep 26, 2006 7:41 am) wrote: Very impressive video. I especially liked the part where you obviated the need for the mouse in level 8. There are a few things that could make your run even faster, though.

You can press the pause button at the end of every level to pause the game while the music is playing. When the music is done, you can unpause. This means you can save time even with the sound on (because the clock doesn't keep going while the music plays).

In level 7, instead of drinking the feather fall potion, you can climb down the ledge. While this hurts you, and takes a little time, I'm pretty sure it takes less time than falling slowly.

In level 12, after the room with the skeleton (that doesn't do anything), climb up, go left, and then climb up again. Then, instead of going to the left, climb up again. Using the sliding trick, take a running jump to the left. I think you'll be surprised when you see where you end up. After grabbing the sword (or not), leave and enter the room again to make the shadow appear.

There's also a trick (a.k.a. bug) in level 5 that I can't do every time. In fact I can only do it about once for every ten times I try. When you climb up to meet the first guard, immediately press and hold the left key. You'll fall off the edge of the platform, and then start running to the left. You'll enter the room with the entrance door, with the guard following you. Go all the way to the left and turn to face the guard (thereby pulling out your sword). When the guard gets close to you (about to hit you, or already hit you), start backing up, and you can go straight through the gate behind you. Like I said, I can only do it once in about ten tries, so someone let me know if you find a way to do this every time. And if you do, let me know if it actually saves time.

Edit: Can someone suggest a video player that will play this on a mac? MPlayer doesn't let me seek, and the sound is de-synced.
Prince z Krakowa @ popuw.com (Tue Sep 26, 2006 7:51 am) wrote: Small hint - if you are putting video, put it on http://www.youtube.com or http://www.video.google.com

:)
htamas @ popuw.com (Tue Sep 26, 2006 5:17 pm) wrote:
Gorthol wrote: You can press the pause button at the end of every level to pause the game while the music is playing. When the music is done, you can unpause. This means you can save time even with the sound on (because the clock doesn't keep going while the music plays).
I've only discovered that the exit music counts in my time after I've done the walkthrough. If I knew this before, I would have probably played with sounds off.
Gorthol wrote: In level 7, instead of drinking the feather fall potion, you can climb down the ledge. While this hurts you, and takes a little time, I'm pretty sure it takes less time than falling slowly.
I've compared the times, and while there was no significant difference, the potion way was a bit faster.
Gorthol wrote: In level 12, after the room with the skeleton (that doesn't do anything), climb up, go left, and then climb up again. Then, instead of going to the left, climb up again. Using the sliding trick, take a running jump to the left. I think you'll be surprised when you see where you end up. After grabbing the sword (or not), leave and enter the room again to make the shadow appear.
Nice trick (and btw, an ugly bug) :).
Gorthol wrote: There's also a trick (a.k.a. bug) in level 5 that I can't do every time. In fact I can only do it about once for every ten times I try. When you climb up to meet the first guard, immediately press and hold the left key. You'll fall off the edge of the platform, and then start running to the left. You'll enter the room with the entrance door, with the guard following you. Go all the way to the left and turn to face the guard (thereby pulling out your sword). When the guard gets close to you (about to hit you, or already hit you), start backing up, and you can go straight through the gate behind you. Like I said, I can only do it once in about ten tries, so someone let me know if you find a way to do this every time. And if you do, let me know if it actually saves time.
It works (sometimes), and it saves time. Same comments as for the one before.

Note that it's quite questionable to me whether it is a good thing to add such shortcuts to walkthroughs. While it definitely saves time, it has the feeling of abusing the controls (c.f. the thread about the pop2 snes walkthrough). Some people even asked me why I am not playing level 1 the normal route. It's a difficult question, and my opinion changes quite often.
Gorthol wrote: Edit: Can someone suggest a video player that will play this on a mac? MPlayer doesn't let me seek, and the sound is de-synced.
I've removed the index (the offset of the frames at the beginning of the avi) to make the file a smaller download, but this way, it can only be viewed sequentially. You can recode it or rebuild the index using ffmpeg or mencoder, if you aren't afraid of the command line. MEncoder can be found in the MPlayer distribution.
Prince z Krakowa wrote: Small hint - if you are putting video, put it on http://www.youtube.com or http://www.video.google.com
video.google.com doesn't list the zmbv codec in the allowed list.
youtube.com limits length to 10 minutes and file size to 100 MBs, and it might not accept zmbv, I didn't go that far to check it
jalal @ popuw.com (Tue Sep 26, 2006 6:20 pm) wrote:
Gorthol wrote: In level 12, after the room with the skeleton (that doesn't do anything), climb up, go left, and then climb up again. Then, instead of going to the left, climb up again. Using the sliding trick, take a running jump to the left. I think you'll be surprised when you see where you end up. After grabbing the sword (or not), leave and enter the room again to make the shadow appear..
ouch :P it does really save a lot of times. ;)
Gorthol @ popuw.com (Tue Sep 26, 2006 10:56 pm) wrote: I think the level 12 trick is akin to the level 7 trick that I've heard talked about (but never been able to do).

In any case, the video you made seemed to be more of a speed-through than a walkthrough, so I figured I'd give you all the time-saving tricks I knew.

If you want to make a walk-through kind of video (or text file), then not only would shortcuts be bad, but you should also get every LEP you can.
htamas @ popuw.com (Wed Sep 27, 2006 12:08 am) wrote:
Gorthol wrote: In any case, the video you made seemed to be more of a speed-through than a walkthrough, so I figured I'd give you all the time-saving tricks I knew.
Yes, what I said might have been a bit inappropriate, since I was indeed trying to optimize my moves. Though, there are some reasons why I call it a walkthrough. When I created this animation, it was quite visible at the beginning that it won't beat time records. Then I wanted to show the basic timesaving tricks and their applications throughout the game. I mean that e.g. it is possible to skip almost every guard in the game, or that choppers start counting in a deterministic way when you reach their room & level, so you can find a way that is always safe (i.e. you can disregard choppers). Even though I wanted to complete the game within a 'reasonable' time bound above the record.
The way I played can be completely followed in normal gaming, you don't need to retry them multiple times to work, except perhaps the last guard in level 7 (but even there, if you can't skip him that way, you can still fight him) and the last guard on level 4 (I usually kill him when playing normally, since coming back from the mirror with 1 hp is not really stable). When I play PoP1, I usually follow the same path (but of course making lots of mistakes) and I'm generally able to solve it in about 30 minutes. That's why I've called it a walkthrough rather than a speedrun. I must also add that when I created it, I thought that an animated solution of a computer game is quite a unique idea (I've never seen one before), and only later, when I was looking for where to upload it, got I surprised to see that there were many of them already available. I think that's an understandable reason why I made up my own terminology for it Smile.

Back to the original question, I thought, that using moves that are clearly identifiable as bugs in such recordings can raise some concerns in the viewer. It's difficult to see where the borders are. And, of course, I do appriciate your time-saving tricks, and I'll use them e.g. if I want to get to the end of level 12 fast to test something. However, I'm a bit sceptical about adding them to "future versions" of this film, if there will be any. It also depends on what is generally accepted. Whether everyone says "it's acceptable to exploit bugs in the game; the rules are what the game forces on you" or "even if e.g. collision checks in the game aren't always perfect, we beleive that you know e.g. what a closed door means".
Gorthol wrote: If you want to make a walk-through kind of video (or text file), then not only would shortcuts be bad, but you should also get every LEP you can.
You can't show in a single walkthrough, how to play fast and how to collect all potions. Written walkthroughs can handle this by separating paths, but this can't be done in a non-interactive film. Perhaps using a program that generates your walkthrough animation based on your choices would pass this test, but it's way more difficult to create. Besides, I've noticed that by skipping guards, it doesn't really matter how many LEPs you collect, as most of the traps either kill you instantly or don't hurt you, and the ones that make you lose only 1 or 2 health points won't take your full life in a single level.

I hope I managed to explain you what I meant, and in any case, that I don't think your hints were generally bad/uninteresting.
Gorthol @ popuw.com (Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:08 am) wrote: I totally understand what you mean. I'm not saying you should make another walk-through or anything; I think the one you have right now is really good. I just wanted to tell you about some things in case you were curious.
jalal @ popuw.com (Wed Oct 04, 2006 6:49 pm) wrote: Here's another video walkthrough for PoP1 made by decod31.
NOTE: The video has been speeded and splitted into two parts.

PS: This is a straight video walkthrough - no speed runs, shortcuts and tricks. ;) Also, the player (decod31) looks like a beginner-skill player! (Yet, it's a good walkthrough for players who are new to PoP1)

PART I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js-s0abc3Qo
PART II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDpbQ7VlCTI
RaM1Ro'Z ArSeNaL @ popuw.com (Wed Oct 04, 2006 6:57 pm) wrote: don't want to be a critic, but he cheats :D
GameMaster @ popuw.com (Wed Oct 04, 2006 9:50 pm) wrote: I'm guilty of the same crime :)
decod31 @ popuw.com (Thu Oct 05, 2006 8:15 am) wrote:
RaM1Ro'Z ArSeNaL wrote: don't want to be a critic, but he cheats :D
Hi, I had to check you conversation about my video. Granted the cheats are enabled, but they are only used to continue the game from the beginning of each level, nothing more. I recorded the video in parts and used cheats to continue so the time left in game might be a bit off sometimes, but that wasn't the point.

I have also completed the game straight much faster and more efficiently, but that was a long time ago, though I'm sure many of you still did it better.
GameMaster @ popuw.com (Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:12 pm) wrote: welcome decod31
lockie @ popuw.com (Fri Oct 06, 2006 7:03 am) wrote: Why do some of the dungeon levels have tinges of green to them?
Gorthol @ popuw.com (Fri Oct 06, 2006 8:12 am) wrote: The tinges of green appear in later versions (I know they're in 1.3 - does anyone know about 1.1?).

I find it interesting that this walkthrough includes the LEPs in levels 2, 4, and 7, but misses the ones in levels 3, 9, and 11.
Prince z Krakowa @ popuw.com (Sun Nov 05, 2006 12:20 pm) wrote:
video.google.com doesn't list the zmbv codec in the allowed list.
it supports, i checked it ... Now i am trying to upload video walktrough :)
Artiles @ popuw.com (Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:03 am) wrote: Great video... I recently replayed POP again and ended up with 24:01 minutes remaining, making 36:59 my total time. I should add that I went for a full-life (meaning: getting all life extension potions I know), killing-all-enemies playthrough. My fastest time ever (couple of years ago) was 29:31 minutes remainin, that is, 31:29 total time.

I recorded a video about it, not sure how to upload it though.
programmer @ popuw.com (Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:17 pm) wrote:
I recorded a video about it, not sure how to upload it though.
You can go to http://www.rapidshare.de/ or http://www.megaupload.com/ and upload the file, or go to http://video.google.com and add it there
jalal @ popuw.com (Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:07 pm) wrote:
programmer wrote:
I recorded a video about it, not sure how to upload it though.
You can go to http://www.rapidshare.de/ or http://www.megaupload.com/ and upload the file, or go to http://video.google.com and add it there
Uploading to http://www.filefront.com/ is better. (Big file size support and no time limitation); Free Unlimited File Hosting with Filefront.

Btw, you can't upload anymore to http://www.rapidshare.de It has moved to http://www.rapidshare.com/.

Also, you can submit your works on http://www.archive.org (But only movies, live musics, audios and texts).

EDIT: Here's a great free hosting service: http://www.mediafire.com (Everything is unlimited :)).
programmer @ popuw.com (Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:21 pm) wrote:
Uploading to http://www.filefront.com/ is better
Pesonally, I don't like filefront; if I want to download something from there I always encounter some problems..
david @ popuw.com (Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:27 pm) wrote: I used http://www.sendspace.com/ for my levels.
iranboy2955 @ popuw.com (Mon Apr 30, 2007 3:55 pm) wrote: great :roll:
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GameMaster
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Re: Video walkthrough

Post by GameMaster »

where can i get the Ogg Vorbis codec?
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Re: Video walkthrough

Post by GameMaster »

I tried to download it, but it says the file is not available anymore
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Re: Video walkthrough

Post by seapine »

hellow everyone.
yesterday I downloaded prince of persia v1.4 from http://princeofpersia.ppa.pl/down.html.
however,I find I can't clear the level 2 because the gate can't be opened.

who can tell me what the problem is????
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Re: Video walkthrough

Post by GameMaster »

which gate
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Re: Video walkthrough

Post by Norbert »

Maybe move this thread to the "Power Playing" board.
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Re: Video walkthrough

Post by Norbert »

GameMaster wrote:I tried to download it, but it says the file is not available anymore
That is correct. The file is no longer available at archive.org.
Thanks to htamas, I've been able to add it to popot.org:
http://www.popot.org/walkthroughs.php?s ... 01_000_001
(All videos on popot.org require a browser that properly supports the HTML5 <video> tag.)
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