Official Tapwave Zodiac Thread

[Orion4874]

I recently bought a Zodiac 2 from another member on the forum, as did a bunch of others, and I'm thoroughly impressed. Games with great graphics, high quality touch screen, even playing music sounds decent! I havn't tried any emulators yet but I know how some people feel abaout anolog sticks. Hooka and I have asked ED to give the Zod a spot on the archive as I'm sure many of you know Zodiac files are getting harder to come by and this would be a great help to anyone trying to locate a specific file. I don't think it needs it's own spot on the boards so I started this thread to encompass anything Zodiac. I know there's some Zodiac veterans in the community so that's another reason why a Zodiac archive here would be nice. Anyway, if you have any questions or comments or anything in between, here's the place to post.

 

[Hooka]

Guess I'll move some of the stuff I posted in the GP2X section over here

To keep you busy while I sort that stuff out, check out : http://www.toyspring.com/3dm/

Soooo addictive (I might just be a nerd though...)

http://zodiacstuff.sourceforge.net/ <- The most recent versions of some Zod emulators...
http://www.methodshop.com/games/reviews/palmgames/
http://www.handango.com <- Has a way to show only Zodiac 2 games/apps
http://little-john.net/
http://www.retrotrader.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=94_623
http://www.kalemsoft.com/site/
http://software.palminfocenter.com/platformMain.asp?platform=1
http://www.tapland.com/featured_downloads/
http://www.palmsoftware.us/tapwave_zodiac_2.freeware
http://www.mobyware.net/free-tapwave-zodiac-2-software-download-device-411-all-1-date.html
http://zodiac.software.informer.com/wiki/ <- Good info, no downloads
http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~jonash/palmos/palmos_free.html
http://www.metaviewsoft.de/en/index.html
http://www.personal.triticom.com/~erm/Zodiac/
http://esoftinteractive.com/products.html
http://www.codejedi.com
http://www.tapland.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5963
http://archibald.rakeingrass.com/index.php
http://www.palmgear.com/en/gbp/index.html
http://store.handmark.com/index
http://www.aeonflame.com/
http://www.freewarepalm.com/
http://clickgamer.com/
http://www.palm-games.com/
http://www.palm-games.net/
http://absolutist.com/palm/
http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Search/palm_games.html
http://www.pdagamesoft.com/PalmOS
http://www.brothersoft.com/games/mobile-games/palm-games/
http://www.pdamill.com/
http://www.freeware-palm.com/
http://www.gamezoneproject.com/all_products.php
http://www.astraware.com/
http://palm-software.penreader.com/
http://www.bapsoft.com/
http://www.arcanejourneys.com/
http://www.freefunfiles.com/software/pda/palmosgames/index.html
http://indevsoftware.com/products/palm/games/
http://www.youpark.com/palm-os/mobile-applications/
http://www.palmopensource.com/
http://www.xi-art.com/palmosgames.jsp
http://www.red-mercury.com/
http://www.palmblvd.com/software/popular1.html
http://www.plbm.com/palm.htm

Some more stuff I remembered:
http://chrilith.com/en/
http://www.indus3.org/
http://www.mobile-stream.com/zodiac_screenshots.html
http://lukas-grundmann.de1.cc/MoreHeapHack/ <- supposedly works on zodiac, same as udmh
http://www.sitesled.com/members/zodiacguide/ZG.html <- THE list of easter eggs, etc.
http://www.rzanerutledge.com/edge/information.html

Here's a small pack with most of the freeware zodiac stuff, some demos and some random other games (shouldn't be anything that I can't distribute). Find it here!

 

[DaveC]

I had one of those. Hated the stick but it was a decent PDA.

 

[Nova]

I recently bought a Zodiac 2 from another member on the forum, as did a bunch of others, and I'm thoroughly impressed. Games with great graphics, high quality touch screen, even playing music sounds decent! I havn't tried any emulators yet but I know how some people feel abaout anolog sticks. Hooka and I have asked ED to give the Zod a spot on the archive as I'm sure many of you know Zodiac files are getting harder to come by and this would be a great help to anyone trying to locate a specific file. I don't think it needs it's own spot on the boards so I started this thread to encompass anything Zodiac. I know there's some Zodiac veterans in the community so that's another reason why a Zodiac archive here would be nice. Anyway, if you have any questions or comments or anything in between, here's the place to post.

I loved the Zodiac. Absolutely loved it. There was just something about how ahead of it's time it was (and still is kinda). The stick was smooth as butter, which explains why I'm so excited for the Caanoo...

I had one of those. Hated the stick but it was a decent PDA.

...and why DaveC isn't.

 

[SomeGuy99]

Hooka and I have asked ED to give the Zod a spot on the archive as I'm sure many of you know Zodiac files are getting harder to come by and this would be a great help to anyone trying to locate a specific file.

Could we do the same thing for the Gizmondo? I know nobody cares about it, but the situation is very similar.

It bears a few similarities to the Zodiac - the only Windows CE handheld console to date.

 

[OrR]

Don't compare your Mafia handheld to my beloved Zodiac!

The Zodiac was goddamn brilliant. So many wonderful fresh games. Yeah, the analog stick didn't work properly on many units but most of the awesome games were touchscreen based so that wasn't too much of a problem.

Some of my favourite games:

Bike or Die
Plazmoids
Mazera
Animated Dudes
Gloop Zero
Legacy
Warfare Inc
Galactic Realms
Psarakia
Zuma
E.D.G.E.
Tots'n'Togs
Plant Tycoon

So much fantastic stuff... :wub:

 

[Fishbong]

Yeah, the stick wasn't great, but not so bad either. Better that the GP2X MK1 one, that's for sure!

Do they still sell batteries for it i wonder? I imagine the original ones should be long dead by now.

 

[OrR]

Looks like it:
http://shop.ebay.de/i.html?_nkw=zodiac+battery&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=

The stick was the first analog stick on a handheld AFAIK. The GP2X had a very crappy digital switch.

 

[Fishbong]

I think the zodiac was the first and only handheld with an analogue stick (at least until the Caanoo is out, seeing as how all others have nubs).
I know that the GP2X stick was digital. They both had different issues though and i think the GP2X's were worse The problem with it was that it could register 16 direction, meaning that the angle you had to push it to get vertical or horizontal input was very narrow. It was too stiff, it was a small piece of hard plastic that would get very slippery even when slightly sweaty.

With the Zodiac stick you also had some problems hitting the diagonals and it seemed it broke for a lot of people, but overall it was way more comfortable.

 

[OrR]

When it worked, the Zodiac's stick was great. Unfortunately, most of them broke after time. Obviously, it also wasn't great for emulation. However, you could use the buttons as a sort of d-pad which works great in many games and emulators. Sure, it's on the wrong side of the screen but at least it's something. With the beautiful shoulder buttons and the stick click and function key, there are enough other gaming buttons left for most things, too.

 

[Orion4874]

Don't compare your Mafia handheld to my beloved Zodiac!

The Zodiac was goddamn brilliant. So many wonderful fresh games. Yeah, the analog stick didn't work properly on many units but most of the awesome games were touchscreen based so that wasn't too much of a problem.

Some of my favourite games:

Bike or Die
Plazmoids
Mazera
Animated Dudes
Gloop Zero
Legacy
Warfare Inc
Galactic Realms
Psarakia
Zuma
E.D.G.E.
Tots'n'Togs
Plant Tycoon

So much fantastic stuff... :wub:

I'm playing Legacy now, awsome game! I came across a Neverwinter Knights tech demo. Oh, if only Tapwave had stayed in business a while longer!

 

[Nova]

There's a torrent floating about* that has all the commercial games on it, such as Tony Hawk, Spy Hunter, Tomb Raider, Doom, Stunt Car, Duke Nukem etc. It's not exactly the most legal thing ever, but noone will be making any money from them anymore so it's as much of a grey area as ROMs.

*Let me know if you want the link

 

[Jourdy288]

Ohsweet! A bunch of those sites have stuff for regular old Palm owners such as myself
I'm going to start caching them before they 404.

 

[renejr902]

I had one of those. Hated the stick but it was a decent PDA.

same thing here. But i would say it was a great PDA, great games for the time, screen quality was impressive, but i didnt like the analog stick too.

 

[Orion4874]

There's a torrent floating about* that has all the commercial games on it, such as Tony Hawk, Spy Hunter, Tomb Raider, Doom, Stunt Car, Duke Nukem etc. It's not exactly the most legal thing ever, but noone will be making any money from them anymore so it's as much of a grey area as ROMs.

*Let me know if you want the link

I "might" have found those already. There "may" be a couple of Zodiac torrents still out there.

 

[Hooka]

Wow, I never heard of anybody actually getting the NWN tech demo going on their Zod at all, heard that it was out there somewhere, but interesting to hear... how is it?

SomeGuy99: I really don't know what to tell you, I never got into the Gizmondo scene at all, so I wouldn't even be able to do my typical "here's alot of stuff I have lying around" for the Giz...

 

[SomeGuy99]

SomeGuy99: I really don't know what to tell you, I never got into the Gizmondo scene at all, so I wouldn't even be able to do my typical "here's alot of stuff I have lying around" for the Giz...

If I could gather enough files, would Ed be willing to host them?

It might be more difficult as the files section on Gizmondoforums seems to have gone missing. Doesn't Trevsweb run that site? I might ask him about it.

Oh, there seems to be a collection here: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/justincastle/downloadgizcentral.html

I don't see a little free isp homepage lasting forever, so getting it onto Eds site might be worthwhile. I don't even use my Gizmondo these days, but I have a soft spot for orphaned machines.

 

[Nova]

There's a torrent floating about* that has all the commercial games on it, such as Tony Hawk, Spy Hunter, Tomb Raider, Doom, Stunt Car, Duke Nukem etc. It's not exactly the most legal thing ever, but noone will be making any money from them anymore so it's as much of a grey area as ROMs.

*Let me know if you want the link

I "might" have found those already. There "may" be a couple of Zodiac torrents still out there.

One of them "might" have all the commercial GP32 games on it. I "may" have been quite impressed by that.

 

[OrR]

All of the game reviews are still online at Gamefreaks365.com, including many written by myself:
http://gamefreaks365.com/listreviews.php?pid=19
B)

Also, Plank Films!
http://www.plankfilms.com/pfm/palm/videoreviews.php
Brilliant screenshots and videos on there...

Good times...

 

[Orion4874]

Does anyone know how to get hot sync to work on win7? It won't even work with bluetooth. For some reason the Zodiac's drivers just won't install, even if I point the way right to them. I'm thinking I'll have to dig out my XP machine.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

BTW, does anyone know of any sites still selling Plasmoids and Firehammer? Can't find 'em anywhere!