<P> The game used an updated version of the company's Jade engine, designed for Beyond Good & Evil . When the team saw the capacities of the Jade engine, they decided to use it for The Sands of Time . For The Sands of Time, the team made improvements to the engine by adding additional walking and running animations, enabling smoother character movement . They also made custom animations for the character . The engine made editing and fine - tuning the game very easy due to its easy - to - use tools . Using this as a base, they were able to focus on rapid integration of new elements into the game, and were also able to do quick testing and adjustments . The team developed "substance" and "glow" systems, which respectively enabled natural movements of cloth and gave the lightning effects a "magical" feel . The way the engine was structured, with all assets in a single accessible folder, proved problematic when alterations needed to be made or new features added, as the team size meant too many people were accessing the engine and were causing data to be overwritten, files to be corrupted, and the whole system to crash . They attempted to solve the problem using a "data monkey" solution which would allow for simultaneous access, but it came late in development and they did not risk making such a radical change to the system . Instead, they set up a file server to manage check - in times, which could allow for management of access and prioritisation of critical work . </P> <P> Mechner created the scenario and wrote the game's script . While doing his research for the script, Mechner read a translation of the Shahnameh, an epic poem written by Ferdowsi between the 10th and 11th century . Reading it through helped Mechner visualise the new Prince as a more mature character than the original . Despite this, Mecnher felt that the character could not fully shed the "happy - go - lucky" elements of One Thousand and One Nights . In retrospect, Mechner also felt that this inability to resolve this inherent conflict gave the character his charm . Mechner also included specific references in the Prince's dialogue to stories from the Shahnameh . The story and the Prince were created for newcomers to the series . The main scenario was based around second chances, while an unstated anti-war theme was also included by Mechner and showcased in the game's opening level . Mechner created the Dagger of Time as a combined gameplay and narrative device within the four core concepts created by the team . Its acquisition by the Prince was directly inspired by the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which had previously inspired his portrayal of the Prince in the original Prince of Persia . The palace of Azad was crafted to be the Prince's "playground", while some scenes which developed the Prince's portrayal (the opening attack on the Maharaja's palace, activating Azad's traps on the instructions of a deranged guard) were deliberately meant to be morally dubious to the player while increasing empathy with the character . </P> <P> Mechner's main preoccupation for this new storyline was keeping the narrative simple and engaging, using his preferred writing style of keeping cutscenes short and working as much of the story as possible into the gameplay . He also aimed to mix narrative and gameplay genres that might normally clash with one - another . The three main characters he created were the hero (the Prince), the villain (the Vizier) and the love interest and sidekick (Farah). Two non-playable authority figures (the Prince's father Shahraman and the Sultan of Azad) were included to add weight to the Prince's burden as they were transformed into monsters by the Sands . The three artefacts each character used (the Dagger, Farah's medallion and the Vizier's staff) were created to explain their survival of the Sands' release, with the Dagger also becoming integral to gameplay . The Prince's narration was both difficult and satisfying for Mechner . It needed to be written to work on two levels: first to be understandable for first - time players, and to gain greater significance upon future playthroughs . The narration also served to give gentle hints to the player, and expand upon the setting and add depth to the experience . Among his cited reference points for the narration were the 1940s version of The Thief of Bagdad, the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and films such as Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard . The Prince's interactions with Farah were also an important factor . As part of the character interaction, Farah was deliberately designed not to be a perfect archer, sometimes hitting the Prince if he strayed into her line of fire . Despite this, unspecified features planned for her needed to be cut . </P> <P> The music for The Sands of Time was composed by Stuart Chatwood of the Canadian rock band The Tea Party . Chatwood was chosen for the role as Ubisoft wanted music that had Persian elements in it to fit the setting, while not being pure Persian music . When he was approached, Chatwood expanded his music library as part of his research . To achieve the desired effect, rock elements were mixed with Middle Eastern music and melodies, along with Indian elements . Chatwood used different instruments, including an Indian tabla and strings, along with vocal tracks by Cindy Gomez and Maryem Tollar . A soundtrack album for the game, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Original Soundtrack, was released in Japan in October 20, 2004 by Scitron Digital Content . Tracks from the game were included in an album featuring music from both The Sands of Time and its two sequels Warrior Within and The Two Thrones . Titled Prince Of Persia The Official Trilogy Soundtrack, the album was released by Ubisoft on December 1, 2005 . </P>

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