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At the PalmSource Developer Conference in San Jose today, Astraware, a publisher of games for PDAs, revealed what it called "a top-secret long-term development project," Zap!Evolution, the sequel to the classic game Zap!2000/2016.

Zap!Evolution is the first handheld game to fully use the Lua scripting technology as used in Balder's Gate, MDK2, Grim Fandango, Homeworld 2 and Impossible Creatures. Astraware said Lua allows new aliens to be easily created that have complex behaviors, reacting to the player, other aliens and the environment around them. It also makes it possible to include additional behaviours in update packs, alongside new enemies and special effects.

The game is designed to work on devices with different screen sizes and shapes, using the extra screen height on the Tungsten T3 and some Sony Clie devices and the extra screen width on the Tapwave Zodiac. Astraware’s Aurora Audio Engine will be providing stereo sound effects and an 8-channel techno soundtrack.

In related news, Astraware's Diretory of Technology, David Oakley gave a preview of the Cobalt version of Bejeweled, one of the most popular handheld games ever. Cobalt is the name PalmSource has given to what until now has been known as Palm OS 6. Oakley also informed the audience of mostly developers that half of Astraware's applications function on Cobalt without much tweaking. Bejeweled, for instance, took only about half a days work to convert for the new operating system.


Bejeweled

Yesterday, Astraware made its Aurora Audio Engine available to third party developers. According to the company, the Aurora Audio Engine provides handheld software developers with an easy way to integrate an audio system with the capability to mix in-game sound effects and multi-channel stereo music across a broad range of devices.

Licensing options are available to suit various development and distribution models. Libraries, along with documentation and test code, are available for Palm OS, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC and Smartphone, and Windows desktop systems. A compatibility layer for Palm OS allows software to produce sound effects on devices with older Yamaha PA-1 and Piezo-buzzer audio systems via a single interface.