ASTRAWARE palm os products 
 
Bejeweled Information
Current released version: 1.3 (October 2001)
Current release expires: never
Feedback to: Howard Tomlinson (howard@astraware.com)
Game Info: http://www.astraware.com/palm/bejeweled/
Recent update headlines: Corrected High Score export, single file for colour and greyscale New graphical features, major improvement to timed games, higher scoring system, realtime clock / battery display.

Copyright (c) 1999,2000,2001 Astraware Ltd, 2000,2001, PopCap
All rights reserved.

Introduction


Bejeweled is the palm version of the online game that's taking America by storm!

Simple to play, impossible to put down, Bejeweled will have you playing in every spare second you have!

Astraware Bejeweled Features:

 

How to install

Use an extractor program such as WinZip on the PC or Stuffit Expander on the Mac to get at the Bejeweled files. Choose whether you want to install the greyscale game or the color game, and install either bejeweled-colour.prc or bejeweled-greyscale.prc by double-clicking that file.

Use the HotSync button as usual to install the game onto your handheld.

Now run Bejeweled and tap the screen to play the game!

If you've got any queries about Bejeweled or the registration process, first check out our frequently asked questions page on our website (you must be connected to the internet to access this). If this doesn't help, get in touch with us at support@astraware.com. If you've got any questions (or suggestions, we love those) about the game itself, please get in touch with us at the email address at the top of this page.

Playing Bejeweled - Easy Mode

Install and run the game on your Palm.

Tap the 'Instructions' button to get a quick reminder of what to do,

Tap the screen on 'Easy Game' to start a game !

The screen will fill with seven different types of gem. You must tap on two adjacent gems, to form a horizontal or vertical line of three of the same color.

If you can get a line of three or more, then the line vanishes, and more gems fall from above to fill the spaces.

You get extra points for bigger lines, or for 'chain reactions' - which is where the gems cascading down make even more matches.

Every time you get a line, you bonus meter at the bottom of the screen fills up a little more. Fill it completely, and you get a bonus wave across the screen, taking away some random gems, and allowing you to start getting even more matches.

If you can't find a match, after around 10 seconds, one of the gems will twinkle - and that means it can be moved somewhere to make a matching line! (You can call up the hint yourself - see below)

If you run out of possible moves, the game will be over - and the art of keeping playing is to try to make moves that you know will give you more possible moves.

 
Playing Bejeweled - Timed Mode

Bejeweled comes with a harder mode built in - Timed mode!

Start a Timed game by tapping on the 'Timed Game' button on the front screen.

You can also select this by going into the menu, and selecting the 'Game Settings' option. Change the type of the game to 'Hard (Timed)' and the next game you start will be in timed mode.

Tap the screen to start a game, and the mayhem begins...

As before, you make lines and matches to score points - but... Now you're doing it against the clock!

You have a time meter at the bottom of the screen. If it runs out, that's game over!

Every time you get a line, you get a little more time added. Fill it completely, and you get the bonus wave as before - and your time is reset to the starting value.

If you run out of possible moves in this mode, the gems will all be removed, and you'll get a whole new set - some of which may even start with matches!

To play this mode well, you have to be able to spot matches quickly!

 

Hidden Features...

There are a few extra features we built in!

  • You can tap on two tiles separately, or we have allowed you to tap and 'slide' a gem to the side or up or down. This can make you very fast!
  • Type a graffiti 'h' during the game to get a hint - a twinkle on a moveable gem. (Doing this in Timed mode will cost you 5 seconds!)
  • Type a graffiti 'c' to cycle the Clock on, then the Battery meter, then both, then both off.
  • Type a graffiti 'r' to display how many possible moves there are left on the board.
  • Type a graffiti 'W' if you have a colour machine to send the shimmer wave across the screen.
  • Type a graffiti 't' and you'll bring up a hidden dialog box for 'Tweak Settings' - things we know that some people like to change, but most people don't need.

    You can:

  • Alter whether the gems fall together, or spread out as they fall
  • What sort of a sound they make as they land. (click uses the system click by default - if you change this with a hack, you'll get 'interesting' effects...)
  • Whether you get countdown 'ticks' as the time runs out.
  • Set whether you'd like the game to be in 'Economy Mode' which means that it will do less animations (and run a little faster) in order to help to save batteries. (You can also toggle Economy mode on or off with by typing a graffiti 'e'

 

  • You can press scroll-up or scroll-down at any time to pause the game - and quickly access the buttons to change the sound volume or abandon a game.
  • Graffiti 'a' abandons (or 'ends') the current game - but it does warn you first!
  • Graffiti 'g' brings up the standard game settings option box.
  • Graffiti 'd' starts a demo mode, where the Palm starts to play the game. (You won't get any scores, so you're really ending your own game)
  • Tap on the high score screen, or away from any of the buttons on the front screen to start a game of the same type you just played.

 

Registering

You can play 10 games of Bejeweled for free, as you decide whether you like it or not. After these games are up, the program will display a short message asking you to register. 

When you register for the game, you'll get a key which will unlock the game and remain valid for future 1.x upgrades. Go to the Bejeweled web page at http://www.astraware.com/palm/bejeweled/ for more details.

You'll need to know your HotSync ID which you can find by running Bejeweled, and going into the menu, and selecting the 'register' option. Your HotSync ID (or username) will be filled in for you below.

When you register, we will generate a key based on your ID, which will normally be sent out by email within 48 hours of you registering. When you receive your key, go to the same register option, and enter the key into the space provided.

 
Submit your High Scores!

Everybody who plays this game is entitled to submit their high scores for the Timed Mode and Easy Mode to our Internet High Score table.

Just visit the Bejeweled web pages, and select the link to view high scores.

To submit your own score, you need to go to the menu in the game, and select 'export high score'. This will provide you with a code which you can then type into our site. 

You can only submit high scores once you've beaten the scores built into the game!

(Astraware reserves the right to remove this board or facility without any notice, or to remove individual names if necessary)

Astraware Products

You can find out about Astraware and the product range we have for the Palm-powered platform by visiting our website at www.astraware.com/.
Here are our top products at time of writing:

Astraware Palm Packs
Palm Games Pack 2001 Great Palm games for under $25 - save over 25%
It's a Blast! Shooting Games Let out your tension with some target practice with Astraware's collection of great screen-tapping games!
PopCap Games Pack PopCap Games are sweeping the web, and now Astraware brings the top games to the Palm
 
Astraware Palm Games
Zap!2000 Arcade gaming on the Palm has never looked so good! The best Shoot-em-up game for the palm - ever!
Zap!2016 The essential showcase for your Visor Prism or Palm m505
Biplane Ace Dogfight against rival fighter pilots
Mahjongg Relax your mind with the most authentic Mahjongg solitaire game for Palm-powered handhelds
Bzzz! Fly-catching action for the Palm! Cute and simple - great fun for kids and adults alike!
Bang! Bang! Backyard blasting fun! Shoot cans, bottles, ducks and more!
MadGab ...It's not what you SAY, it's what you HEAR!  Fun phrase-guessing game based on the Popular board game!
Galaxy Ranger Be a Galaxy Ranger, Save the Universe! 
Police Range Police Range is a fast game of reactions, dexterity, accuracy and good judgment!
Bejeweled Bejeweled is a Palm version of the incredibly popular and addictive online game by PopCap
Mummy Maze Escape the maze and outsmart the mummy in this great PopCap game!
Seven Seas Ship Ahoy! Blast pirates with a broadside and navigate through dangerous waters, in this PopCap puzzle game
Atomica Make Molecules in Dr. Atomica's Laboratory in Astraware's addictive PopCap puzzle game!
Alchemy Turn lead into gold in Astraware's addictive PopCap puzzle game!
Astraware Palm Applications
Timetable Know whats when with Timetable!
Timetable Pro The essential tool for teachers and students
Timetable Plus The essential tool for teachers and students, with assigment tracker
e.Guide - the episode guide Your essential TV episode guide for Palm
 
 
Release Revision History

Release 1.3 :  October  2001

  • Moved the game into our framework structure to allow compatibility with many more of the latest Palm OS Devices
  • Fixed the high score export system
  • Altered the tweak settings to allow you to choose to use the Bejeweled 'clack' or the system click, for user preference
  • Modified some speed settings so that it should run slightly faster on machines where it would previously struggle.

Release 1.2.02 :   July  2001

  • Minor change to the high score export, to allow for larger scores.
  • Added a 'beam demo' option.

Release 1.2 : May  2001

  • Highlight Effects for selected gems (colour only)
  • 'Shimmer Wave' effect (colour only)
  • Bug fix : Cascade bug now causes multiple simultaneous matches to be taken away properly
  • Higher scoring allowed for consecutive combos
  • Score multipliers after every other level
  • Added function to display a realtime clock
  • Added function to display battery level
  • Added an 'economy mode' option which sets various states to use less battery power, at the slight expense of animation.
  • Gem landing click altered - no longer uses the system sound click (which is changeable)
  • Improved the 'timed game' system so that it works much more fairly now. 
  • Removed various 'cheats' (demo cheat, menu cheat, graffiti cheat, pause cheat) etc.
  • Added a menu option for the 'tweak' settings page.
  • Improved the colour high-score screen for consistent look.
  • added an 'r' graffiti command for displaying mores remaining
  • auto-hints removed from timed mode
  • Tapping immediately after a game ends starts a game of the same type. (prevents switching between game types without realising it)

Release 1.1 : March  2001

  • Demo Mode added
  • Bug fix : There were 'holes' appearing around 1 in every 100 games, which locked the game. These are now removed, and the game will continue normally.
  • Front Screen changes - buttons added to choose straight between easy and timed mode.

Release 1.0 : March  2001

  • First Public Release
  • Beta Timeout removed

 

Feedback

If you've got suggestions about how to improve Astraware Bejeweled - or with reports of any problems you've had, then please contact us!

Bejeweled enquiries/feedback: bejeweled@astraware.com
Registration problems: registrations@astraware.com
General Astraware enquiries: feedback@astraware.com

 
Contributors
 

Programming : Howard Tomlinson

Graphics and Game Design: Jason Kapalka

Thanks also to the many beta testers for their helpful suggestions throughout March.

 
Legal

This game is extremely addictive, and Astraware can take no responsibility for any problems that your addiction causes.

Astraware Ltd takes no responsibility for any adverse effect that this software could cause to your machine or the data on it: backup important data before using Bejeweled . Bejeweled  is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. Bejeweled is licensed, not sold.

You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble this software.

Astraware’s and its suppliers’ entire liability and your exclusive remedy shall be, at Astraware’s option, either (a) return of the price paid, if any, or (b) replacement of the product that does not meet the warranty and which is returned to Astraware with a copy of your receipt. This warranty is void if failure of the product has resulted from accident, abuse, or misapplication. Any replacement software product will be warranted for the remainder of the original warranty period or thirty (30) days, whichever is longer. These remedies are not available without proof of purchase from an authorized source.

Written permission must be obtained before distribution of this game, either in demo form or full form, through any online or offline methods. 

Bejeweled and the game design are copyright of PopCap

Astraware and the planet logo are trademarks of Astraware Limited. All rights reserved.