prince-of-persia-2-windows

Prince of Persia 2 - native Windows port

pop2.exe is the original DOS PRINCE.EXE, statically recompiled to C and linked with a small Windows runtime. All game logic, rendering, the intro and the music driver are the original code; only the PC hardware (VGA, timer, keyboard, Sound Blaster/AdLib) is replaced natively.

This repository holds the recompiler, the Windows runtime and the launcher - no game code, data or artwork. Everything derived from the game is generated on your machine from your own copy, so you need an installed Prince of Persia 2 to build and to play.

Screenshots

Playing

Run PoP2 Launcher.exe: choose the game folder, fullscreen / window size, controller on/off, and optionally a start level; Desktop shortcut adds a desktop icon. Settings are saved in pop2.ini. pop2.exe can also be run directly (game data: GameDir from pop2.ini, else next to the exe, else D:\Dos\prince 2.pc).

Key	Xbox pad	PlayStation pad	Action
Arrow keys	D-pad / left stick	D-pad / left stick	run, jump (up), crouch (down)
Up	A	Cross	jump / climb / block
Shift	B, RB, RT	Circle, R1, R2	action: grab ledges, pick up, drink
Ctrl	X, LB, LT	Square, L1, L2	sword strike
Down	Y	Triangle	crouch / put sword away
Space	Back / View	Create / Share	skip intro / show time left
Esc	Start	Options	pause
Alt+Enter or F11			fullscreen on/off
F7 / F8			cycle display filter / view

Controllers: Xbox pads through XInput; PlayStation (DualShock / DualSense), Switch and generic USB pads through the Windows joystick API.

Display (src/video.c, OpenGL): filters Sharp (sharp-bilinear: crisp, evenly sized pixels at any size), Pixel, Soft, Smooth HQ (Scale3x edge smoothing); views 4:3, Wide (stretch) and Wide panorama (centre kept at 4:3, stretch grows toward the sides).

Extra checkpoints (optional, off by default - tick it in the launcher or set Checkpoints=1 in pop2.ini): out of the box a dead prince goes back to the start of the level, as in the original. With the option on, the state is snapshotted the first time the kid stands in each new room, and after dying a key press restores it (the remaining time is kept).

The 75 minute limit behaves as in the original: the clock starts when you reach level 5, Space shows the time left, and the game announces it every five minutes and every minute near the end.

Cheat mode (the game's own): pop2.exe MAKINIT - pop2.exe MAKINIT LEVEL5 starts at level 5.

Sound

The port emulates one sound card, a Sound Blaster Pro: the game's own FM driver runs recompiled and drives an OPL2 (YM3812) emulator (src/opl.c), and digital effects play through waveOut.

The game chooses its music data from CONFIG.DAT (an FM patch bank it uploads to the driver, then patch numbers) and talks to whatever MIDI.DRV and DIGI.DRV hold, so a copy set up by the DOS SETUP for General MIDI, Roland or the PC speaker would send data the driver never expected and the music would come out wrong. The port therefore serves its own three files - msb_pro.drv, dsb_pro.drv and a private copy of CONFIG.DAT with only the three sound fields changed - and every install sounds the same. Your own files are left untouched, and Sound=keep in pop2.ini uses the game's setup exactly as it stands.

Building

You need your own copy of the game: the recompiled C sources (src/gen) and the icons are not in this repository, they are produced locally from the files you already own. Requirements: clang / llvm-rc (LLVM for Windows) and Python 3.

export POP2_GAMEDIR="D:/Dos/prince 2.pc"     # folder with PRINCE.EXE and the .DAT files
python recomp/recomp.py recomp/extra_entries.txt   # -> src/gen/*.c  (a few minutes)
python res/make_art.py                        # optional: icons from the game's prince.ico
./build.sh                                    # clang -> pop2.exe and PoP2 Launcher.exe

build_dbg.sh makes pop2_dbg.exe with the stack/frame checks and memory watchpoints enabled.

Coverage tools: iterate.sh / levels.sh run the game with scripted keys and add any code entry points hit at runtime that were not yet recompiled; recomp/scan_prologues.py finds function pointers statically. Debug env vars: POP2_KEYS, POP2_SHOTS, POP2_WATCH, POP2_FMWAV, POP2_SNDLOG.

Support

This port is free, and stays that way. If it brought the game back for you and you would like to say thanks, you can buy me a coffee.