This room was an obvious tribute to the original Jewels game. There is even an "easter egg" animation featuring the old talking rock triangle Oracle character. He tries to fly up and speak (right). My original device interface was adapted from JOTO, but this time the player had to match designs from ancient pottery (approx. 10,000 years old - from the Zagros Mountains area).
Jewels II was more of a remake than a sequel to Jewels of the Oracle. It was an attempt to resurrect what might have been a hit game, but improve on it and do it even better.. The early '90s had so many technical issues and restrictions - CPU clock speed, rendering times, disc storage, video compression, display resolution... still, Jewels II ended up getting fantastic reviews, but bringing this game to market was like being on a raft far at sea and far from land without a sail or an engine. The puzzle (above) is the new version of "Hall of the Nightsky" (from the original Jewels I prototype).
This is what is referred to as a mathematical maze (a personal favorite). Each square indicates the number of moves you can make horizontally or vertically. The goal is to start in the top left (dark blue) corner and finally arrive in the top right (ornage) corner. This is the "hard" version. There was a much shorter "easy" version as well.
Here's a shot of the final cypher - these are the big doors right beside the Professor's desk. The player starts the game here and ends here. The "gems of darkness" are the key to unlocking the door. Inside is the "Treasure of the Kavi."
Apart from navigating about the site, players really spent most of their time solving the puzzles...
This page features some sample screens.
If you click above and to the right of the well, the old rocky triangle head of the Oracle appeared with a sputtering sound effect. We tried to include a few "easter eggs" throughout the game. There's probably a list somewhere.
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