Version 1.0a Manual

FreeJongg is an adaptation of the classic game of Mahjongg Solitaire. Your objective is to remove all the tiles from the playing field by following a simple set of matching rules.

Features:



Freeware Notice

Due to the lack of Freeware Mahjongg Solitaire games for PalmOS Devices, I have decided to distribute FreeJongg as Freeware!

You may freely use this software for as long as you want. You may freely distribute this software to anyone, as long as all of the original files are included.

FreeJongg can be downloaded from http://www.palmgear.com



Installation

FreeJongg requires a Color or Grayscale Palm OS device running OS 3.5 or later. FreeJongg also requires at least 350 KB of free memory after installation. Using a device capable of displaying 320x320 High-res graphics is highly recommended, but not required.

Note: FreeJongg will not function properly on the Handera 330.

In the ZIP archive you should find the following files:
You must install both FreeJongg.prc and gfx.pdb onto your Palm OS device in order for FreeJongg to function properly.

If you are upgrading from a previous version of FreeJongg, make sure both FreeJongg.prc is in RAM and not on a expansion card. Then install both FreeJongg.prc and gfx.pdb over top of your existing installation. After installing the new version, you may move FreeJongg.prc back onto an expansion card.

Note: gfx.pdb must be stored in RAM for FreeJongg to function properly! However, this requirement may change in future versions.



Objective

The goal of the game is to clear the board by removing all 144 tiles from the table.

Tiles must be removed in pairs. A pair consists of two tiles which both are both free and match each other.

A tile is free when: Generally, a tile matches another if both tiles are identical. Exceptions to this rule are the Flowers and Seasons tiles.

A Flower tile (BAM, MUM, ORC, PLUM) will match any other Flower tile.
A Season tile (WIN, SPR, SUM, AUT) will match any other Season tile. All other suites require an exact match.

Each tile appears four times in a given board. The only exceptions to this are the Flowers and Seasons tiles which appear only once each.



Controls

Select a tile by tapping on it. You can remove tiles from the board by tapping on a tile and then tapping on a matching tile. If the match is legal, the tiles will be removed from the board.

You can deselect the currently selected tile by tapping on it a second time.

Sometimes it can be difficult to see the pattern that is on a tile that is partially covered by other tiles. You can get a close up view of the pattern on a particular tile by doing a tap-and-hold on the tile (tap the tile, but do not lift the stylus from the screen). The results should look like the screen shot below:


The status bar at the bottom contains several pieces of important information. On the left side of the bar you will see a T: followed the total number of tiles left on the board.

Immediately to the right of the number of tiles, you will see a ~ followed by the number of possible moves you can currently make.

Next to this number you will see a # followed by the current game number. This is a unique number that you can use to replay the current board in the future.



New Game

The New Game dialog box contains several options.


Here you can select one of the 15 board layouts. When the Game # drop down is set to Random, a new random game is started. When the drop down is set to Custom you can replay a specific game by entering the game number in the field on the right.

The Disable Hints box will disable all hint functions for the duration of the game.



Tools

You can undo or redo a move by using the options on the Tools menu.


If you are having trouble finding a valid move, you can use the Hint option. This will display one of the possible moves you can make. If you do not like the move that is displayed, you can choose the Hint option again to display a different move (Assuming there is more than one valid move!).

The Find Match option will attempt to find a valid match for the currently selected tile. This option will only display the matching tile if it is a valid move.



Preferences

You can change the background pattern by using the Preferences dialog under the Game menu.


The Show Time checkbox determines whether or not the current time is shown in the lower-right corner of the status bar.



Change Log

Version 1.0a:

Version 1.0:

  • Initial Public Release


Support Information

FreeJongg requires some free memory to function properly. If you experience lockups and freezes when playing FreeJongg, check to make sure that you have at least 350 KB of memory free.

FreeJongg does not function properly on Handera 330 devices. If you attempt to run FreeJongg on a Handera 330 you may experience slow performance and various graphical glitches.

Due to performance reasons, FreeJongg does not support Hi-Res graphics on Sony Clie devices running PalmOS 4. On these devices, Low-res graphics will be used instead.

If you still experience problems, email me at wbo@freeshell.org Be sure to include the Model and OS version of your PalmOS device, and a listing of any Hacks or Extensions that you are using.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me via email at wbo@freeshell.org