Astraware Updates Bejeweled for Palm OS 5

Posted By: Ryan Tuesday, October 29, 2002 12:55:58 AM

Astraware has released a new version of its award-winning Bejeweled game optimized to take advantage of the high-res screen, improved audio and faster processing speed of Palm OS 5 devices.

The new version of Bejeweled has been enhanced for high-resolution, high color-depth displays of the new devices that are arriving on the market. The game screen now supports 320 x 320 pixels and uses 16-bit color for the graphics. And while the visual aspect of Bejeweled is the first thin to catch a player’s eye, the sound of gemstones clinking together as they fall into place has always been an enjoyable part of the game. Enhanced sounds have been added for when gems land, swaps and matches are made, time runs out, among others.

The new version of Bejeweled takes advantage of the faster speed of the ARM processor by recreating the screen much faster than before, enabling the animations to run much smoother. Astraware has incorporated ARMlets, small pieces of ARM native code that enable the game to perform faster processing for such functions as unpacking and drawing graphics, into this new version of Bejeweled.

Bejeweled has been consistently ranked as the top selling Palm OS game since it was originally released in early 2001 and was named "Best Handheld Game" by Handheld Computing Magazine at the PalmSource conference earlier this year.

Bejeweled is very simple to play, but difficult for players to put down. They can choose from a relaxing and absorbing Easy-level, or a frantic Timed-level game, as they tap adjacent pairs of gems to swap them and make matching horizontal and vertical lines of three or more.

“We believe in the old credo ‘Carpe Diem: Seize the Day,’ and we worked hard to ensure that Bejeweled would be ready for launch on the same day as Palm’s first OS 5 device,” said Howard Tomlinson, Astraware’s CEO. “We pride ourselves on producing the games that hardware manufacturers use to show off their device capabilities, and we’re not afraid to take advantage of new features to enhance our games! And what could be better than the most popular Palm OS game ever to welcome in Palm OS 5!”

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Bejeweled 2.0 for Clies

Dang Dog @ 10/29/2002 1:46:29 AM #

The long-awaited hi-res version of Astraware's Bejeweled is...

There's not much diference really, except when using the "standard" jewel configuration; the ne look is sort of cartoonish, but pleasing. Not a major advance as far as I could see. Oh well...

DOG

Try it on a TT

DrPete @ 10/29/2002 7:03:15 AM #

The reason you don't notice a change is that you're playing on a Clie. Bejeweled 2.0 runs silky-smooth and extremely fast on the Tungsten, and I think it's a great showcase for OS 5. Should've come bundled with the TT, IMHO...

RE: Bejeweled 2.0 for Clies

ardee @ 10/29/2002 1:07:11 PM #

I tried it out on my Clie 665C and I think it's wonderful. It's faster, sounds better, and of course the graphics are much (much!) better. Unexpected (to me) was that the colors are more vivid as well. But it does seem harder to get a decent score. :-(

RE: Bejeweled 2.0 for Clies

SaabCaptain @ 10/29/2002 8:27:23 PM #

Don't think for a second if you don't have a Tungsten T you have any idea what 2.0 is... the speed is UNREAL on a T.

owned: Pilot 5000, PalmPilot Pro, Palm V, IIIc, m505, Sony T615, TUNGSTEN T!!

RE: Bejeweled 2.0 for Clies

metrogirlwonder @ 11/1/2003 1:05:49 PM #

would u by any chance have the code for the whole verison? if u don't mind sharing it... thanks

RE: Bejeweled 2.0 for Clies

The Ugly Truth @ 11/1/2003 1:52:52 PM #

would u by any chance have the code for the whole verison? if u don't mind sharing it... thanks

Do you steal everything you own, or just software?

Sometimes the truth just isn't pretty™

Slime

The Ugly Truth @ 11/1/2003 1:52:52 PM #

would u by any chance have the code for the whole verison? if u don't mind sharing it... thanks

Do you steal everything you own, or just software?

Sometimes the truth just isn't pretty™

Waiting for New Games

asiayeah @ 10/29/2002 3:06:29 AM #

Now, we are waiting for some really cool 3-D arcade games, which really takes advantage of the new ARM processors.

--
With great power comes great responsiblity.

2.0 Demo on Clie N760C

jho4thclie @ 10/29/2002 7:51:09 AM #

Any reason why I get just barely past the shareware screen, and Bejeweled-HiRes-Sony.prc crashes MAJORLY?!?! MAJORLY?!?! I get a reset-loop upon attempting to fix it, and an up-button reset doesnt help, so I have to wipe the whole thing out (hard reset)!

I'm a bejeweled freak, and very excited about hires, but i've had to totally reload my palm like 3 times! ;-)

-Jerrod

(Thank goodness for backupbuddy, eh?!?!)

-JWH

RE: 2.0 Demo on Clie N760C

jho4thclie @ 10/29/2002 7:57:53 AM #

Update: The low-res version 2.0 does it too. BOO.

-JWH

RE: 2.0 Demo on Clie N760C

thinkpanda @ 10/29/2002 8:33:46 AM #

I find no problem with my N760C...

RE: 2.0 Demo on Clie N760C

MaryJoS @ 10/29/2002 10:07:28 AM #

No problem here either. And I even have it overclocked.

RE: 2.0 Demo on Clie N760C

Massman82 @ 10/29/2002 3:35:19 PM #

Email Howard, they really appereciate feedback like that.

Howard@Astraware.com

Roman Pedan
Palm V/Vx
Will get a Palm OS 5 handheld

Hires version really slow on an SJ30

spike337 @ 10/29/2002 8:05:29 AM #

I tried the hires version on my Clie SJ30, but very slowly! I guess the 33MHz processor can't handle pushing around 4 times as many pixels. I put back the low res version which runs nicely.

-spike

RE: Hires version really slow on an SJ30

markgm @ 10/29/2002 12:16:30 PM #

It runs slower on the nr70v too than the low res, but just as addicting, and better looking too!

RE: Hires version really slow on an SJ30

Massman82 @ 10/29/2002 3:36:11 PM #

Try the economy mode!

Roman Pedan
Palm V/Vx
Will get a Palm OS 5 handheld

RE: Hires version really slow on an SJ30

SaabCaptain @ 10/29/2002 8:37:27 PM #

To get an idea of how this runs on a T... take the lowest graphic version of this game, the most optimized version, with animation off, and run it on a 33 mHz Palm. Then have the speed increase by a factor of 4 times faster. Than add in all the animations. Then add in the high res graphics. Then make it go even faster. This runs smoother than the Bejeweled I have on my desktop computer now and looks identical.

owned: Pilot 5000, PalmPilot Pro, Palm V, IIIc, m505, Sony T615, TUNGSTEN T!!

RE: Hires version really slow on an SJ30

htomlinson @ 10/30/2002 8:03:57 AM #

The reason it runs slowly on the SJ30 is probably because it isn't using the hardware directly, because it isn't a device we have in our hands yet! (When Bejeweled isn't sure what capabilities the device has, it plays safe and uses the OS.)

You can expect an update for the SJ30, and several more models shortly! (Including the NX70 and others.)

Hope all of you who just bought Tungsten-T's are enjoying the OS5 version of Bejeweled :)

RE: Hires version really slow on an SJ30

Admin @ 10/30/2002 11:02:24 AM #

:: (When Bejeweled isn't sure what capabilities the device has, it plays safe and uses the OS.)

That's cool!

should this really be news?

ardiri @ 10/30/2002 11:55:54 AM #

> We believe in the old credo ‘Carpe Diem: Seize the
> Day,’ and we worked hard to ensure that Bejeweled
> would be ready for launch on the same day as Palm’s
> first OS 5 device

i dont mean to de-credit astraware here, but, really, should this be a news item on PIC?

is making an application OS5 ready such a daunting task? we had lemmings updated for OS 5 on 28-February-2002; yet, we didn't expect any publicity about it (and, we didn't get any either) :) we just released an update to support the tungsten's d-pad and hi-res today (well, the code has been ready for months, just been too busy) but, we dont believe it quantifies for *news*

i have also noticed the other splurge of OS5 news related items (dataviz docs-to-go, kinoma); basically, software updates. could have been a quickie :) is anyone keeping a list of OS5 compatible applications?

// az
aaron@ardiri.com
http://www.ardiri.com/
http://www.mobilewizardry.com/