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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

From PCGamingWiki, the wiki about fixing PC games

This page is for the original release. For the remake, see Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time cover
Developers
Ubisoft Montreal
Publishers
Ubisoft
Engines
Jade
Release dates
Windows December 2, 2003
Reception
Metacritic 89
IGDB 84
Taxonomy
Monetization One-time game purchase, Subscription gaming service
Modes Singleplayer
Pacing Real-time
Perspectives Third-person, Bird's-eye view
Controls Direct control
Genres Action, Adventure, Platform
Art styles Realistic
Themes Fantasy, Middle East
Series Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time on HowLongToBeat
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time on IGDB
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time guide on StrategyWiki
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time on MobyGames
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time on Wikipedia
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia 1989
Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame 1993
Prince of Persia 3D 1999
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 2003
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within 2004
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones 2005
Prince of Persia (2008) 2008
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands 2010
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown 2024
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake TBA

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a singleplayer third-person and bird's-eye view action, adventure and platform game in the Prince of Persia series.

A remastered version of Prince of Persia (1989) can't be unlocked on PC, but can be unlocked on the 6th gen consoles.

General information

Ubisoft forums for game series
GOG.com Community Discussions for game series
GOG.com Support Page
Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source DRM Notes Keys OS
Retail
Disc check (requires the CD/DVD in the drive to play)
DVD releases have a simple disc check.
CD releases have SafeDisc v3 DRM[Note 1].
Russian copies use StarForce 3 DRM[Note 2].
Windows
Epic Games Store
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Windows
GamersGate
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Windows
GOG.com
DRM-free
Windows
Green Man Gaming
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Windows
Humble Store
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Windows
Steam
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Windows
Ubisoft Store
Icon overlay.png
Ubisoft+
Windows
Games for Windows Marketplace (unavailable)
Icon overlay.png
[7]
Windows
SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
StarForce DRM for this game does not work on modern versions of Windows (see above for affected versions).
A free demo is available here.

Monetization

Type Notes
One-time game purchase The game requires an upfront purchase to access.
Subscription gaming service Available via Ubisoft+.

Essential improvements

Patches

  • This is a patch which fixes issues with NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GPUs. Download it here.
The executable file provided with this patch is totally DRM-free.

Skip intro videos

Delete or rename video files[8]
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\Video\.
  2. Delete or rename Bink.int, Intro.int, nvidia.int, poplogo.int and ubisoft.int.

Skip loading screens

Delete or rename video files
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\Video\.
  2. Delete or rename POP_IN.int and POP_OUT.int.
  3. Download this blank video file and replace the original Loading.int with it.

Notes

This can cause a bug preventing the player from progressing in the first level.[9]

Game data

Configuration file location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\Hardware.ini[Note 3]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/13600/pfx/[Note 4]

Save game data location

System Location
Windows <path-to-game>\Profiles\[Note 3]
Steam Play (Linux) <Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/13600/pfx/[Note 4]

Save game cloud syncing

Video

Basic video settings
Basic video settings
Advanced video settings
Advanced video settings

Widescreen resolution

Use nemesis2000's Widescreen Fix (Hor+)[10]
  1. Download the Widescreen Fix from here or from our mirror.
  2. Extract pop.7z files to <path-to-game> (archive password: pop).
  3. Edit <path-to-game>\pop.ini to set the desired resolution and FOV multiplier.

Notes

Supported exe size: 4 280 320 bytes.
If HUD appears cut off, disable autohud in pop.ini.

Windowed

Use DxWnd[11]
  1. Download and run DxWnd as administrator.
  2. Click on Edit, then Add.
  3. Set name to Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time.
  4. Set path to <path-to-game>\pop.exe.
  5. Set launch to <path-to-game>\PrinceOfPersia.exe.
  6. Set Acquire admin caps.
  7. Set Desktop for borderless fullscreen windowed.
  8. Click on DirectX tab, set DirectX9.
  9. Click OK, then File and Save.
  10. Run the game directly from DxWnd.

Input

Input settings
Input settings

Keyboard and mouse State Notes
Remapping
Supports Mouse4 and Mouse5 buttons.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
XInput controllers have sensitivity issues. See Issues fixed.[12]
Full controller support
Main Menu and Esc Menu only work with mouse and keyboard.
Controller remapping
Might require manual mapping by double-clicking bind and pressing desired button.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion
Controller types
XInput-compatible controllers
[13]
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration
PlayStation controllers
Generic/other controllers
Additional information
Button prompts Input settings icon - Generic Controller.svg
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio

Audio settings
Audio settings

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls
Effects, Music and Voice sliders.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost
EAX support
EAX Unified (compatible with EAX 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0).
Royalty free audio
May require DirectSound3D restoration software to enable EAX and surround sound functionality on Windows Vista and later.

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Czech
Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
French
German
Hungarian
Fan translation, download.
Italian
Retail, Steam and Ubisoft Connect only.
Patch for the GOG release here.
Polish
Retail only. Patch for digital release here.
Brazilian Portuguese
Fan translation. Download.
Russian
Retail and GOG only. Patch for other digital releases here.
Spanish
Retail, Steam and Ubisoft connect only. Patch for GOG release here.
Simplified Chinese
Retail only.

VR support

3D modes State Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision
See Helix Mod: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.
vorpX
G3D
User created game profile, see vorpx forum profile introduction.
See here for an alternate profile.

Issues fixed

Enable Alt+F4

Instructions
  1. Download SuperF4, Install and run it.
  2. Press Ctrl+Alt+F4 simultaneously to exit the game.

Alt+Tab not working

After opening the game, pressing Alt+Tab does not return to the desktop.
Before entering the game, open a folder or a TXT file and then enter the game.

Controller input not detected. Unable to use Power of Haste when using Controller

Gamepads do not work on some systems.[14]
The game also has sensitivity issues with diagonal input for XInput controllers. Running diagonally does not work because the game expects DirectInput values.
XInput Controllers need the below fix to enable both triggers to work simultaneously to use The Power of Haste in the game.[15]
Use XInput Plus[16]
  1. Download and run XInput Plus.
  2. Set Target Program to <path-to-game>\pop.exe.
  3. Go to the Sticks tab, then the Left Stick tab and set Rect Correction from 0 to 1.
  4. Go to the DirectInput tab and check Enable DirectInput Output.
  5. In the same tab, set LT/RT to Button12/13.
  6. Click Apply and a DLL file will be installed to the game directory.
  7. Run the game and rebind triggers in the options.

Notes

If pressing the Left Stick fully forward makes the player walk instead of running:
- Go to Sticks tab, then Left Stick tab and reduce Saturation in 5% increments until rectified.
Use Steam Input to map the Left trigger to the R key on keyboard

Notes

Only works if the R key is still set to rewind time on the keyboard.
Search for community layout "ttt xbox style" which is pre-assembled to fix the issue.

Post-processing

Disable bloom, blur and distortion
Increase pixelated post-processing effects and water resolution
  • Use Peixoto's patch and enable Forced Resolution with Super Sampling set to Ceilx2 or Ceilx4.

Notes

May require original executable, so Steam version could be downgraded with Steamless.
May be incompatible with overlays, like MSI Afterburner/RTSS and ReShade.

Water effects not rendering

When Water effects are enabled, water does not render on certain modern systems, such as those employing Intel HD Graphics.
Disable "Water Effects" in the video settings
Use 3D Vision fix

Extreme amounts of fog

Fixed in the GOG.com version.[17]
Use Peixoto's patch
Disable "Fog" in the video settings
Edit INI file[18]
  1. Open <path-to-game>\Hardware.ini.
  2. Change the following values as noted:
    • ForceVSFog=1
    • InvertFogRange=0
  3. Save the file, then right-click on it and select Properties.
  4. Check Read-only and click OK.

Missing interface

Edit INI file[citation needed]
  1. Go to <path-to-game> and open Hardware.ini.
  2. Change the following value as noted:
    • CanStretchRect=1 to CanStretchRect=0
  3. Save the file, then right-click on it and select Properties.
  4. Check Read-only and click OK.

Most of the dialogue has low volume causing it to be inaudible

Appears to be an issue on modern systems only.
Enable Loudness Equalization
  1. Press Win+R.
  2. Type mmsys.cpl and press Enter.
  3. Under the Playback tab, double-click on Speakers.
  4. Under the Enhancements tab, tick Loudness Equalization and click OK.
  5. Adjust volume in the game sound settings, if needed.

Prince stuck in attack motion / Game running too fast

Force CPU affinity to one core[citation needed]
Use DxWnd
  1. Use the following configuration in DxWnd:
  2. Under the Compat. tab, tick Set single core process affinity.

Game engine runs fast / Prince's animations seem too fast

Don't use RTSS. In-engine frames (prince) still run fast.
Limit the frame rate to 60 FPS[citation needed]
Enable V-Sync and set the refresh rate to 60Hz

Other information

API

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0b [19]
Executable 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows

Middleware

Middleware Notes
Cutscenes Bink Video

Extract all Voice, SFX & Music files

Instructions
  1. Download from official site or direct link or mirror.
  2. Extract all files to <path-to-game>\Sound\ and run extract_and_convert_all.bat.
  3. As soon as it's finished, check the newly created !audio folder.

Notes

For further information, check the README.txt file inside the archive.

Remastered Textures

Instructions
  1. Download and unzip the mod into a folder of your choice.
  2. Run Peixoto's patch.
  3. Select Prince of Persia - SOT in the list.
  4. Scroll down to Texture swapping, and make sure the box is ticked.
  5. Select one of the proposed paths; VOKSI is the default selection.
  6. Copy the contents of the mod into both the Dumps and Replacements folders.

Mods

Prince and Farah Concept Art

This mod makes The Prince and Farah's appearance look like in the concept art.

System requirements

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98SE, ME
Processor (CPU) Intel Pentium III 800 MHz
AMD Athlon 800 MHz
System memory (RAM) 256 MB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 1.5 GB
Video card (GPU) Nvidia GeForce 3
ATI Radeon 8500
Matrox Parhelia
DirectX 9.0b compatible
Sound (audio device) DirectX 8.0 compatible
Nvidia GeForce 4 MX is not supported.


Notes

  1. SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[1] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[2]
  2. This version of StarForce DRM does not work on Windows Vista or later.[3][4][5][6] For supported versions of Windows the StarForce driver may need to be updated manually using SFUPDATE.
  3. 3.0 3.1 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES%, %PROGRAMDATA%, or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).
  4. 4.0 4.1 File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data (use Wine regedit to access Windows registry paths). Games with Steam Cloud support may store data in ~/.steam/steam/userdata/<user-id>/13600/ in addition to or instead of this directory. The app ID (13600) may differ in some cases. Treat backslashes as forward slashes. See the glossary page for details.

References