ASTRAWARE palm os products 
 
Biplane Ace Information
Current released version: 1.3 - 13th January, 2003
Current release expires: never
Feedback to: Larry Dyde (larry@astraware.com)
Game Info: http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=11093
Recent update headlines:

Copyright (c) 1999,2000,2001,2002,2003 Astraware Ltd.
All rights reserved.

Introduction

Europe, 1917 - The Western Front; Brave young pilots battle it out for mastery of the skies! Armed with machine guns and protected only by canvas and wood, they pull death-defying aerial acrobatics to gain the crucial advantage. Bank, roll, loop, then Dakadakadaka! Belching thick black smoke, the shattered biplane spirals towards the ground and another pilot bales out and parachutes to the ground, shaking his fist and vowing to wreak revenge on his adversary!

Astraware Biplane Ace gives you a top-down view of all the action. You take the part of one of the prospective 'flying aces' trying to earn fame and renown by battling against pilots from around the world. Twist and turn, duck and weave and when you're on your opponent's tail let the machine gun rip!

Features:
* Full colour or greyscale graphics
* Intelligent computer opponents getting increasingly hard to shake off
* Aircraft wrap over the edges of the screen making a challenging and absorbing game
* Control of roll and speed: bank your 'kite' to turn and gain the advantage
* Sound effects as you shoot, damage and destroy your opponent
* Two player head-to-head dogfighting over IR and Bluetooth.
* High score board
* Smoke, fire, clouds, parachutes, a picturesque backdrop and all the eye candy you'd expect from an Astraware game.

If you enjoy Biplane Ace, please take the time to enter a review at PalmGear HQ, Handango or EuroCool.

How To Install

Use an extractor program such as WinZip on the PC or Stuffit Expander (on the Mac) to get at the Biplane Ace files. Install the game by double-clicking the .prc file, which opens the Palm Install Tool program

Use the HotSync button as usual to install the game onto your handheld. If you have a handheld with an expansion card, you can then move the game over to it. Do this before you register the game!

Now run Biplane Ace and tap the screen to play the game!

If you've got any queries about Biplane Ace or the registration process, first check out our knowledge base 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.

Known Problems with Hacks

Biplane Ace graphics and gameplay push the capabilities of your palm to its limits! To do this, we've had to make direct use of much of the hardware of your machine. While this causes no problem for most users, we've had reports from a few users running lots of hacks that the game reports memory problems - even when there is plenty to spare.
 Since many hacks also try to use the same hardware calls, sometimes they might be incompatible. If you get the memory error, and you know that you've got enough space, then try de-activating your hacks one by one until you can narrow down which are causing the problems. So far, we have had confirmed reports that Padlockhack and Switchlock
, Teal Echo and ScreenWriteHack seem to be incompatible with Biplane Ace.

Speed Up Hacks
There are quite a few hacks available ( Afterburner, Tornado,
etc
) which allow you to change the speed your main processor runs at. At the expense of some battery life (about 20% less) your palm can run faster by overclocking. This does not cause any problems with Biplane Ace, and many users use these hacks to make the game run faster (or slower) than normally allowed by the standard speed settings. 

Playing Biplane Ace!

Install and run the game on your Palm.
Tap the screen to start a game.

(Datebook)
Left
(Phonebook)
Right
(Up)
Faster
(To Do List)
Fire
(Memo pad)
Fire
(Down)
Slower

The control buttons can be fully customised if you wish, by selecting the 'Controls...' menu option! 

Once you start the game, you will see two aircraft climbing from the ground. The one one the left is yours! (Colour users will see their plane depicted in red, greyscale users will see that their craft is unmarked. The opponent's plane has a bar on each wing to help you identify!)

As soon as they reach their maximum height, the fight is on! You must twist and turn by using the left and right buttons, and try to get behind your opponent! As soon as you do, shoot, and your machine gun should cause damage to the enemy! If you need to make a tighter turn, try slowing down, and you'll turn just a bit quicker to get an edge! When you need to make up ground, press the 'faster' button and push your engine to higher revs.

As more and more damage gets done to either plane, smoke will pour out. If you take either two or three hits, the smoke will be grey and white. If you take another hit, your engine is damaged and you will get thick, oily black smoke pouring out! One more hit, and you're done for - only option left is to bale out before your plane explodes.

Any pilot who is downed, parachutes safely to the ground and quickly procures another plane - and then its back up into the skies to do battle once more!

If you take out an enemy three times, he is replaced by another pilot, who knows a few more tricks. You'll find that the later pilots are quite adept at out-flying you - even though you both have the same type of aircraft! You'll have to learn to use the 'faster' and 'slower' button to keep up with them.

Two Player IR Dogfighting

Instructions for Playing a Two Player Game
1) Make sure the IR ports on the two machines are in line.
2) Select 'Host IR Game' on one machine then select 'Join IR Game' on the other machine. If the connection fails try leaving an re-entering the game on both Palms.
3) Play the game as normal (making sure the IR ports stay lined up), the first player to be shot down three times is the loser.
4) If the connection is lost an icon will be shown in the top left of the screen and it if is not restored the game will be abandoned.

Tips for a good connection

  • Use the slowest machine for the the HOST machine.
  • If the CLIENT lags behind the HOST try turning off the clouds or background on the CLIENT OR turn on the clouds and background on the HOST.
  • If the plane on the CLIENT jumps backwards or seems to slow down then rush ahead occasionally try turning on the background or clouds on the CLIENT OR turn the clouds or background off on the HOST.
  • Try using different game speed to find the one that works best, if the CLIENT rushes ahead then using a faster game speed can help. If the CLIENT constantly lags behind then try using a slower gamespeed. You must change the game speed on both machines since they will both run at the speed of the lowest setting.
  • By finding a suitable combination of speed, clouds and background on both machines you can maximise the game performance.

Registering

Whenever possible, you should purchase your software from the portal where you initially found and downloaded it! This means that the portal can take a commission on the sale which they use to keep running and keep providing the listing and download service. Without your support these portals can not continue to operate! They will pass the details straight back to Astraware to fulfil your order just as quickly as if you'd ordered directly from Astraware's own web shop.

In Demo form, you can play 10 games of Biplane Ace for free, as you decide whether you like it or not. After these games are up, the program will display a short message reminding you to register each time you play!

If you beam a demo to someone else, and they also like the game, then they can register it either by purchasing a copy from a local store, or by purchasing online.

Registering Online:

For those that like the speed and convenience of buying of the internet, 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 web page at http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=11093 for more details.

You'll need to know your HotSync ID which you can find by running Biplane Ace, and going into the menu, and selecting the 'Register...' option. Your HotSync ID will be filled in for you below.

When you register, Astraware 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.

Release Revision History!

Release 1.3 : 13th January, 2003

  • Support for two player game over Bluetooth

Release 1.20 : 1st September, 2002

  • Updated to use latest Astraware Libraries
  • Change to code system to reduce cheating.
  • Improved compatibility with new devices.
  • Faster loading

Release 1.15 : 5th February, 2001

  • GamePad support added
  • Improved the 'flow control' routines to make two player games much smoother.
  • Improved AI at later levels - enemies continue to shoot and fly harder!

Release 1.1 : 1st January, 2001

  • Two Player IR dogfighting enabled.
  • Minor bug fix (two pilots crashing at the same time would swap planes!)

Release 1.0 : 7th December, 2000

  • First Public Release
  • Beta Timeout removed

Feedback

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

Biplane Ace enquiries/feedback: ace@astraware.com
Registration problems: registrations@astraware.com
General Astraware enquiries: feedback@astraware.com

 

Software Licence Agreement

This is a legal agreement between you, the end user, and Astraware Limited. Read this agreement very carefully. If you do not wish to accept this agreement, you may not use Biplane Ace on a device or software emulator.

  1. Grant Of License
    This License permits you to use Biplane Ace on any single computer, provided the software is installed on only one handheld device at any time.

  2. Copyright
    The software is owned by Astraware Limited. and is protected by United Kingdom copyright laws, international treaty provisions, and all other applicable national laws. You may not modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile, dissasemble or otherwise attempt to discover the code and algorithms of the software.

  3. Other Restrictions
    You may not rent or lease the software, but you may transfer your rights under this license agreement on a permanent basis provided you transfer all copies of the software and all written materials and the recipient agrees to the terms of this license.

  4. No Warranty
    The software is delivered as is and Astraware Limited. makes no warranty as to its use or performance. Astraware Limited. does not, and cannot warrant the performance or results you may obtain by using the Software or its documentation. Astraware Limited. makes no warranties, express or implied, as to noninfringement of third party rights, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. In no event will Astraware Limited. be liable to you for any consequential, incidental or special damages, or for any claim by any third party.

Legal

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 Biplane Ace. Biplane Ace is protected by copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as other intellectual property laws and treaties. Biplane Ace 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. 

Copyright (c) 1999,2000,2001,2002,2003 Astraware Ltd..

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