Apple ][ Version setup guide

1. Download and install [AppleWin v1.30.3.0](https://github.com/AppleWin/AppleWin/releases/download/v1.30.3.0/AppleWin1.30.3.0.zip). Extract the zip.

2. [Download](https://popuw.com/files/apple/Prince%20of%20Persia%20%28Original%203.5%20floppy%20for%20IIc+%29.2MG) the 2MG version of the game and put it in a folder of your choice. ([Source](https://popuw.com/apple))

3. Open AppleWin. Click this:
![](/static/blob/3ekk4kex.png)

4. Go to the 'disk' tab and choose select disk under 'HDD1':
![](/static/blob/xz0pl4el.png)

5. Select the 2MG file that you downloaded in step 2.
![](/static/blob/kzw09req.png)

6. Now you are all set for playing the game. Just click this button whenever you boot the emulator to play the game.
![](/static/blob/xzdlqpnm.png)

7. Check [this](https://www.speedrun.com/pop1/guide/edoyd) guide for setting up LiveSplit to display both IGT and real time. (Ignore details like the level skip category)

8. [Download](https://www.speedrun.com/resourceasset/fdkad) the splits (or enter the game name as "*Prince of Persia (Apple ][)*" in your existing splits) and you should see the activate button like this:
![](/static/blob/1n7y1ln5.png)

9. Activate the splits and you are all set for running the game. Default controls are:

NumPad 8	-	Up
NumPad 4	-	Left
NumPad 2	- 	Down
NumPad 6	-	Right
NumPad 0	-	Grab ledge/Sword
Ctrl + A	 	-	Restart level
Ctrl + R	 	-	Reset game
Ctrl + S	 	-	Sound toggle
Ctrl + N	 	-	Music toggle
Space		-	Show time remaining/Skip cutscenes
Escape		-	Pause game

There is no way of changing these binds in the emulator, however you can use an external progam like [KeyTweak](https://drive.google.com/file/d/11mlUC-k1DPEcjOl_ve4uAx3CYCMVPBXg/view?usp=sharing) to rebind the keys as per your preference.

Guard skills table - PoP 1.4

# Skill table for PoP 1.4

Based on: https://www.popot.org//documentation/documents/2016-08-08_PoP1_Guard_Types.pdf

All probabilities (all columns except last two) are "out of 256". For example, a value of 75 means 75/256 = 29,3% probability.

And yes, that means even the value of 255 has a slight chance of failing - 255/256 means "99,6% of the time".

https://i.imgur.com/tSrSQKg.png

## Columns explained

**Striking probability** - probability to start swinging animation (attack), given that the prince is in range, and the guard isn't doing anything else (e.g. not animating something or in refractory period)

**Re-striking after block probability** - probability for the guard to immediately restrike after successfully blocking Prince's attacck (the immediate "backhander" hit)

**Blocking strike probability** - probability of the guard blocking prince's attack, provided he is in "idle" mode, (e.g. not in the striking animation himself; this is what makes hitting Jaffar directly possible)

**Improper blocking probability** - probability of the guard blocking Prince's restrike after parry (the hits in "up -> shift" fighting strategy)

**Going into hit range probability** - probability of the guard advancing (instead of holding his ground) from being "just out of reach" provided the kid isn't swinging his sword

**Refractory period after pain** - amount of time (in frames) that the guard will spend "stunned" after being hit - "going into hit range" or "strike"  won't occur in refractory period, but they may still block. (Note: there are 10 frames per second in combat)

**One extra health** - a flag marking the guards as having 1 hp more than the baseline for current level.

## Additional notes for specific guard behavior

- *Guard 0* (guards on the first level) never stays out of swing range even if you swing constantly - they will advance every time throwing yourself into yoru sword
- *Skeleton* is the only guard that can survice a two-story fall like prince (it's missing proper animation frames, so it will be invisible while in "crouched" state)

----

## Guard types per level

Compiled by **higlak**.
Listed in order of reachability (when going traditional route, i.e. glitchless).
Colors specified for further clarification

**Level 01** - 0 (dark red), 0 (dark red)

**Level 02** - 1 (blue), 1 (blue), 2 (orange), 1 (blue), 3 (purple)

**Level 03** - 2 (skeleton)

**Level 04** - 3 (orange), 3 (purple), 4 (yellow), 4 (yellow)

**Level 05** - 3 (pink), 3 (pink), 4 (yellow), 4 (green)

**Level 06** - 5 (fat)

**Level 07** - 1 (blue), 2 (orange), 3 (purple)

**Level 08** - 7 (dark blue), 3 (green), 3 (green), 2 (orange)

**Level 09** - 1 (blue), 1 (blue), 3 (dark blue), 3 (purple)

**Level 10** - 3 (purple), 3 (purple), 3 (green), 4 (yellow), 4 (orange)

**Level 11** - 4 (dark blue), 4 (dark blue), 3 (blue)

**Level 12** - 3 (shadow)

**Level 13** - 9 (Jaffar)

How to Play the Game

# Setting up DOSBox

1. Download and install [DOSBox](https://www.dosbox.com/download.php?main=1). At the time of writing the autosplitter supports **v0.74-3**
2. Create a folder named *dos* in the root of your C drive, or any other drive you wish to use. 
3. Venture to the installation folder, default: C:\Program Files (x86)\DOSBox-0.74-3
4. Run the *DOSBox 0.74-3 Options* batch file - it will open a Notepad window. 
5. At the very bottom of the file, in the *autoexec* section, add the following lines (while substituting for the correct drive letter if not using C):

*mount c c:\dos*
*c:*

7. 20000 is the minimum cycle value allowed by the rules. You can experiment with other numbers or use 'cycles max' to run the game as fast as the emulator can handle.
8. See also the section below for additional tips.

# Additional DOSBox settings

1. If DOSBox is too loud, add a line **mixer master 10** to the autoexec section mentioned in point 5 above.
2. If game runs too slow or too fast, you can change the cycles value. Search the file after point 4 in section above for a line containing '*cycles=*', and change the value so that the line says '*cycles=20000*' and save the file. You can experiment with other values, you can also change cycles mid-game by pressing **Ctrl+F12** (to increase cycles by 500) or **Ctrl+F11** (to decrease cycles by 10%).
3. Change the *aspect=false* line to *aspect=true* in configuration (or add this line if it doesn't exist) to correct the window to proper 4:3 aspect ratio.

# Setting up Prince of Persia

1. [Download](https://popuw.com/download.html) version 1.4 (this is the only one that works with the LiveSplit autosplitter script).
2. Unzip the files to a folder inside your *dos* folder named *pop*.
3. Copy the *PRINCE.exe* file from the *crack* folder and paste it in the main *pop* folder, replacing the old PRINCE.exe

# Running the game

1. Start DOSbox
2. Type **cd pop** and press Enter
3. Type **prince** and press Enter

# Sound setup

The version specified in this guide comes with sound setup utility, and is set up to use "Internal PC speaker" as the sound source. To change it, do the following

1. Start DOSbox
2. Type **cd pop** and press Enter
3. Type **setup** and press Enter
4. Select "Sound Blaster Pro" in both Sound Device and Music Synthesizer sections
5. Select "Save the configuration and exit" option and confirm.

How to play the game in DOSBox-X for practice

# Setting up DOSBox-X

1. Download and install [DOSBox-X](https://github.com/joncampbell123/dosbox-x/releases/download/dosbox-x-v0.83.9/dosbox-x-windows-0.83.9-setup.exe).
2. Create a folder named dos in the root of your C drive, or any other drive you wish to use. You can skip this step if you have already created one for regular DOSBox.
3. Go to DOSBox-X directory - Typically it is C:\DOSBox-X, might be different if you changed it during installation.
4. Open the "dosbox-x.conf" file in Notepad.
5. At the very bottom of the file, add the following lines (while substituting for the correct drive letter if not using C):

```
mount c c:\dos
c:
```

6. See also the section below for additional tips.

Additional DOSBox settings:

1. If DOSBox is too loud, add a line mixer master 10 to the autoexec section mentioned in point 5 above.
2. If game runs too slow or too fast, you can change the cycles value. Search the file mentioned in point 4 of the section above for a line containing 'cycles=', and change the value so that the line says 'cycles=20000' and save the file. You can experiment with other values, you can also change cycles mid-game by pressing Ctrl+F12 (to increase cycles by 500) or Ctrl+F11 (to decrease cycles by 10%).
3. Change the aspect=false line to aspect=true in configuration (or add this line if it doesn't exist) to correct the window to proper 4:3 aspect ratio.

# Setting up Prince of Persia

(You can skip this whole section if you have already setup the game for regular DOSBox)

1. [Download](https://popuw.com/download.html) version 1.4 (this is the only one that is allowed as per the rules as of writing this).
2. Unzip the files to a folder inside your dos folder named pop.
3. Copy the PRINCE.exe file from the crack folder and paste it in the main pop folder, replacing the old PRINCE.exe

# Running the game

1. Start DOSbox-X
2. Type `cd pop` and press Enter
3. Type `prince` and press Enter
4. Alternatively you can add these lines to the end of "dosbox-x.conf" file, this is useful especially if you dont use DOSbox-X for any other purpose.

# Tools available for practice

1. The main advantage of using DOSBox-X for practice is that you can quicksave and quickload at any point during the game, this can be helpful for example to practice a certain hard strat without having to re-do the sections of the game prior to it again and again.
2. From the menu bar of the program, go to `Capture > Save/Load options` and check `No remark when saving state`. I dont know if its necessary but if I dont check this option, the emulator goes to not responding state when I try to save state without it, so it is recommended.
![](https://www.speedrun.com/static/blob/7n6lp2nq.png)
3. Now, for saving a state, you can go to `Capture > Save state`It will be saved in the slot that you have selected in `Capture > Select save slot`
4. For loading a state from a slot, make sure that the slot you want is selected and go to `Capture > Load state`. The exact instant of the game in which you saved will be loaded.
5. Instead of using the slots, you can choose to use a save file by going to `Capture > Save/Load options` and checking 'Use save file instead of save slot'.
6. You can now save to this file and load from it. To change the file to save to/load from, you can go to `Capture > Browse save file...`

Additional practice tip:
While booting the game, you can type `prince improved n` instead of just `prince` to skip to a specific level, where `n` is the level number you want it skip to. For example, to go to level 9, you can type `prince improved 9`.

# Sound setup

The version of the game specified in this guide comes with sound setup utility, and is set up to use "Internal PC speaker" as the sound source. To change it, do the following

1. Start DOSbox-X
2. Type `cd pop` and press Enter
3. Type `setup` and press Enter
4. Select "Sound Blaster Pro" in both Sound Device and Music Synthesizer sections
5. Select "Save the configuration and exit" option and confirm.

PoP 1.4 - fixing sound card initialisation error

If you're running Prince of Persia version 1.4 in DOSBox on their default settings, chances are you get hit by the ominous error message:

![](https://i.imgur.com/OyN4jMH.png)

There is a simple remedy for that. First, refer to your DOSBox settings. If you are running on defaults, they look roughly like this:

![](https://i.imgur.com/KQNern4.png)

We need to make Prince of Persia respect those settings. So fire up DOSBox, mount your Prince of Persia directory and run *SETUP.EXE*.

![](https://i.imgur.com/oTwWDv2.png)

![](https://i.imgur.com/ZiQS6yO.png)

Navigate to *Sound Device* and hit *ENTER*.

![](https://i.imgur.com/7IDLbSA.png)

Select *Sound Blaster Pro* and hit *ENTER*.

![](https://i.imgur.com/vHjSuar.png)

Note, that IRQ is "autodetected" and that's exactly where the game is failing. We need to set values manually so that they match DOSBox settings. Hit *M*, as the setup program tells you.

![](https://i.imgur.com/flsNLzA.png)

Set the I/O Address to match DOSBox's *sbbase*. In our case it's *220*. Don't mind the *h*, it's the *220* that counts.

![](https://i.imgur.com/OBFJvde.png)

Now, set the IRQ to match DOSBox's *irq*. In our case it's *7*.

![](https://i.imgur.com/j5g5kbS.png)

Next, set the DMA to match DOSBox's *dma*. In our case it's *1*.

![](https://i.imgur.com/ylSE9gM.png)

Finally, make sure the *Music Synthesizer* also points to *Sound Blaster Pro*, and navigate to *Save the Configuration and Exit*:

![](https://i.imgur.com/NE6m0Sy.png)

Confirm with *Y*:

![](https://i.imgur.com/ix0tVXG.png)

And run your *PRINCE.EXE* and run for your next PB!

Sega Master System Tutorial

Tutorial is segmented with one level per video, and covers both beginner/easy setups, and all the advanced RTA tricks.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOTsjhPmEfJdax10PI8JZmCnr2w-_yn0A&si=NB-GLutI68pJcJJZ

Setting Up LiveSplit

# Installation

1. Install LiveSplit: http://livesplit.github.io/downloads/

# Activating the In-Game Time script

2. Right click anywhere in LiveSplit and choose **Edit Splits**

https://i.imgur.com/Gfn4QAk.png

3. Ensure the Game Name matches the below image exactly (for the category, see "Level Skip" section below). Underneath the **Attemps** box ensure that the **Activate** button is clicked. 

https://i.imgur.com/By77Z0Z.png

4. The script starts, splits, and resets. You can enable or disable any of these functions by clicking the Settings button seen in the above image.

https://i.imgur.com/oxznuZB.png

# Displaying both Real Time and Game Time in LiveSplit

5. Right click in LiveSplit and choose **Edit Layout**

https://i.imgur.com/QSN0VXZ.png

6. Click on the **+** button and choose **Timer**

https://i.imgur.com/h2CWAvj.png

7. Click **Layout Settings** in the bottom left. 

https://i.imgur.com/SyDrZli.png

8. For one of your Timers, choose "Game Time"

https://i.imgur.com/xJGWtnr.png

9. For the other Timer, choose "Real Time"

https://i.imgur.com/8S7es9V.png

10. Right click in LiveSplit and choose **Compare Against** and **Game Time**

https://i.imgur.com/q8Y98TT.png

11. To comply with the rules you must display both of these timers.

# Run as Administrator

If you followed the above guide but the automatic splitting still doesn't seem to be working, try running LiveSplit as administrator (right click the icon and choose **Run as administrator** from the context menu). This helps in many cases.

# Level Skip category

If your category name contains "Level Skip" or "LevelSkip" (see the rules for Any% Level Skip category for more details) the script will work in a special way:

- splits will not be invoked for levels 1-3
- base time will be set to 15 minutes (so your timer will be negative until you press Shift+L, this is normal)

# Script settings

You can press *Settings* in the Splits Editor (see point 3. above) to view the autosplitter settings:

https://i.imgur.com/dovPig8.png

- **Sound On At Start?** - activate this option to prevent the timer from starting if you have sound set to OFF (useful when running Glitchless category which requires sound to be enabled)
- **Disable Level Skip detection** - activate this option to re-enable the splits for levels 1-3 when Level Skip category is detected (see section above for details)
- **Don't split between Levels 12 and 13** - disable the automatic split between level 12 and 13 (after the invisible bridge). Note that even the game displays LEVEL 12 for both levels, but the actual internal level number is 13. For this reason, many runners keep these two levels a single segment.
- **Single Level Mode** - special mode where starting any level (by CTRL+A or finishing a level) will *reset* the timer to 0:00. Used for individual level runs. Check the section below for detalis.

Please note that for most runners can ignore these settings as they're highly specialized, crafted for individual needs.

# Notes about Single Level Mode

https://i.imgur.com/RhB6hup.png

The single level mode (mentioned in Script settings above) is a special mode in the script that allows running individual levels.

It works by monitoring multiple obscure values to determine a level was started/restarted and reset the base time to the time left at the point of restarting (resulting in a timer reset to 0:00).

In this mode, in most cases the timer must be started manually for the first time (using a LiveSplit hotkey).

For technical reasons, the timer *will not be reset again* if you press CTRL+A again quicker than 2.5 seconds after previous CTRL+A. Please keep that in mind and watch the timer if you have a habit of mashing the reset key after failure.

Please make sure that your LiveSplit is set to have only a *single segment* because the timer will reset right after splitting after level completion, hiding your time and messing up your next segment.

# Additional Notes

- if you followed the guide and the autosplitter doesn't seem to work, the first thing to check is to ensure you have the proper versions of DOSBox and Prince of Persia (they should be DOSBox 0.74-3 and Prince of Persia 1.4). Check also [this guide](https://www.speedrun.com/pop1/guide/r6nek) for more details.
- the name of each split is not important
- if making your own splits, you need to ensure you have the number of splits the script is expecting, OR you can disable the *Split* action in point 4. above - you will have to split manually in this case
- some runners might consider using the [Alternate Timing Method](https://github.com/Dalet/LiveSplit.AlternateTimingMethod/releases) component for LiveSplit instead of explicitly adding two separate timers.

Timing ILs taken from full runs

## What is the timer bug?

Timer bug is a logical error in the game's code due to which there are only 719 elapsed frames per minute as opposed to the expected 720. Because of this, the timer essentially jumps from [**X**]**:59.916** to [**X+1**]:**00.083** on every minute transition.

## What is the impact?

Full runs are unaffected by this because the points at which this occurs is consistent. In case of the Individual level runs, it is a bit trickier. For example, let's say a level is 1 minute and 30 seconds long. If the level starts at **1:10:00.000** it will go through one minute transition (**1:59.916**->**2:00.083**). But if the level starts at **1:40:00.000** it will go through two minute transitions (**1:59.916**->**2:00.083** and **2:59.916**->**3:00.083**). This means for the same gameplay the level will be one frame longer in the way the game measures time.

## What is the solution?

In the above example, for the second case, one frame will be subtracted to ensure fairness. All the old NMG runs have been either been retimed manually to reflect the change. All the new IL attempts done using the updated autosplitter will have this issue fixed internally. As for full run segments that are submitted as ILs, the following webpage can be used to calculate the correct time of the IL run:
https://popruns.github.io/pop1-il-calculator/

Tricks considered major glitches in No Major Glitches runs

# Guard clipping

Also known as: **guard-skipping**, **guard-jumping**.

Most guards can be skipped by run-jumping through them at a very precise point:

## Level 1 (example)

https://i.imgur.com/aHc8GkO.gif

# Screen wrapping

Falling through a specific point in the level causes the Prince to "wrap around" the map and appear at the screen above.

## Level 10

https://i.imgur.com/jl874Kx.gif

## Level 12

https://i.imgur.com/XIV5rms.gif

# Floor and gate clipping

Various techniques can be used to make the Prince "clip through" a floor or a gate that is closed

## Level 5

https://i.imgur.com/B7e5FlQ.gif

## Level 7

https://i.imgur.com/7E2isUy.gif

## Level 7 (again)

https://i.imgur.com/FjfxZiQ.gif

## Level 9

https://i.imgur.com/25s03hR.gif

# Fall damage crouch cancel

You can negate the "crouch wind-down" period that happens after Prince's two-story fall, by falling in a specific point (a corner between left wall and the floor).

## Level 10

https://i.imgur.com/SNaPJrV.gif

# Inactive chomper glitch

You can make a chomper inactive by falling two floors and grabbing the ledge.

## Level 9

https://i.imgur.com/Tsbvej3.gif

# Guard through-gate lure

You can make a guard advance towards you through a closed gate (exploiting a glitch that makes him think you're already on the other side of the gate for a moment).

## Level 4

https://i.imgur.com/1r10USY.gif

Samabam

petaQ

WinterThunder

Prince of Persia

Level 1

MS-DOS

Amiga

Apple II

uvq3tsa

DanyShotCZ

Standard

No Major Glitches

TG-16

Genesis

Mega Drive

Subcategory (Any%)

Subcategory (100%)

Subcategory (Any% Level Skip)

Subcategory (Pacifist Any%)

PC speaker

Random number generator's seed has been manipulated

Seeded RNG

As you may have heard Twitch has announced a [hard 100‑hour cap](https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/video-on-demand?language=en_US#storage) on every channel’s combined Highlights starting from 19 May 2025. As a result, effective yesterday (21 April 2025) runs with a Twitch video as submission VOD 

Name	Author
Apple ][ Version setup guide	GMP 2 years ago
Guard skills table - PoP 1.4	WinterThunder 1 year ago
How to Play the Game	Samabam 4 years ago
How to play the game in DOSBox-X for practice	GMP 2 years ago
PoP 1.4 - fixing sound card initialisation error	WinterThunder 4 years ago
Sega Master System Tutorial	petaQ 6 months ago
Setting Up LiveSplit	WinterThunder 1 year ago
Timing ILs taken from full runs	GMP 1 year ago
Tricks considered major glitches in No Major Glitches runs	WinterThunder 4 years ago