Cette page porte sur les carnets de Jordan écrits dans les années 80 et publiés au format livre. Pour ce qui concerne le documentaire interactif et jouable de Digital Eclipse, allez voir la page du jeu Karateka.
La Création de Karateka
En 1982 — à l'époque de l'Apple II et du Commodore 64 — l'étudiant de première année et aspirant game designer qu'était Jordan Mechner a commencé à tenir un journal intime. Ce premier volume est un récit sincère des difficultés personnelles, créatives et techniques qu'il a connues sur la route menant au succès de Karateka, qui est devenu par la suite le jeu le plus vendu de 1985, et qui contenait en germe son jeu suivant : Prince of Persia.
Télécharger un extrait gratuit de La Création de Karateka :
"Jordan's journals are remarkable. I so wish I had kept a similar record.
Reading them transports me back to that place and time. We all knew this was an exciting new industry, but I don't think we had any clue what it was going to turn into during our careers. There were no schools, no books, no theories covering what we were doing. Everyone was just figuring it out on their own.
Following Jordan's creative path is a great example of how to go with your own gut instinct. It's also a great inspiration, showing how persistence and determination can lead to unexpected and wonderful results."
— Will Wright, game designer, creator of The Sims
"Mechner's journals are a time machine that takes us back to an era when ambitious young creators were making strange new video games all by themselves and making up the rules as they went.
It is not a retrospective; instead, it is a present-tense diary written by the creator throughout the creation of his most influential work.
It is a humbling and inspiring record of what it was like to make one of the best video games of all time.
I love these journals."
— Adam "Atomic" Saltsman, game designer, creator of Canabalt
"An essential narrative for indie game developers... Jordan Mechner's struggle to bring Karateka to life is at once both inspirational and cathartic. It should be required reading for any developer currently toiling in the modern game industry."
— Steve Fulton, Gamedeveloper.com
Pour les lecteurs intéressés par les rouages du développement de jeux, Jordan a publié des documents d'archives pour compléter ses journaux La création de.... Des liens vers ces ressources sont disponibles dans la Bibliothèque.