a merger with The Learning Company. The game was published under the Red Orb Entertainment brand, which was split away from Broderbund during the buyout and continued to support Mindscape. Series creator Jordan Mechner was brought in as a creative consultant, and co-authored the scenario; the cutscene dialogue was written by John Morgan. Mechner was brought on board after finishing work on The Last Express. He never felt connected to the project, saying that it was always the brainchild of producer Andrew Pederson. He described his role as simply giving the go-ahead, and being brought in to consult on proposed mechanics. Mechner disliked the project as it evolved, seeing as little more than a clone of Tomb Raider, which was very popular at the time. He also felt a disconnect with the Prince character, as executive pressure had forced the Prince into becoming a character he barely recognised. During the design phase, the team put a lot of effort into creating the narrative and the environmental design. Environments and architecture, together with enemy designs, drew inspiration from the history and religion of Medieval Persia. The storyline itself was meant to emulate the style of One Thousand and One Nights. Much of the architecture was based on Persia during the 9th century and 12th century, with the team consulting Mechner with incorporating "more contemporary" traps. The game's characters and enemies were worked on by artist Chris Grun, who was described by Mechner as someone who was "not Disney, not realistic, just Prince of Persia". Grun drew inspiration for his designs from the work of Danish illustrator Kay Nielsen, who created illustrations for One Thousand and One Nights, and the work of artist Edmond de Lack. In portraying different cultures, he was directly inspired by the conflicts caused by the spread of Islam through the region. The battle sequences drew inspiration both from earlier Prince of Persia titles, and other titles including Bushido Blade. The more realistic fighting was influenced by the two weapon and fighting consultants hired for the project, one involved with weapon props for movies (Richard Pallaziol) and the other an ex-Marine. The two were filmed acting out fighting moves, which were then mimicked inside the game environment. For the Prince's athletics, the team had an Olympic gymnast perform them on camera, then they used the footage to replicate the actions in-game. This style, while not true motion capture,