Old Zodiac Games


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FlyingMonkieBat

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Sep 10, 2008
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I used to own a Zodiac. I loved it. I loved the games on an SD Card. would it be possible to say make a Zodiac Emulator so i could play these games off their original SD Cards. i have a couple i never even got to try before my Zod Died. and if its possible maybe play the other downloaded games i have backed up. but my main concern id the games on SD.
 
The Zodiac is/was a fairly powerful bit of hardware. Plus, to emulate it would also mean dev'ing a full out PalmOS platform emulator. I'm inclined to say no, if you're looking to properly emulate Zodiac games at full speed for example.

For reference, take a look at Styletap for PocketPC.

BTW, my Zodiac2 no longer functions, but I did love it. Such a slick little device.
 
I think it would be possible to run those apps with GarnetVM
(PalmOS emulator for Maemo)
If someone(Tor) makes Maemo apps work on Pandora.
(No source code available)
 
mali said:
I think it would be possible to run those apps with GarnetVM
(PalmOS emulator for Maemo)
If someone(Tor) makes Maemo apps work on Pandora.
(No source code available)
Click to expand...
The Zodiac was more than just a Palm though. It had all sorts of hardware extensions of its own.

But maybe it's possible if someone could get all the necessary documentation. Speed is another thing.
 
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+1

The games for zodiac are difficult. With an emulator perhaps I could pass through Animated dudes... :p
 
Why did so many people's Zodiac break, did all the hardware suffer from a certain weakness or something?
 
Alex. said:
Why did so many people's Zodiac break, did all the hardware suffer from a certain weakness or something?
Click to expand...
Heck no! I think they are "breaking" just because they are now quite old. The build quality is very very high. I have taken a few of them apart to put new batteries in them and its all really snug and tight in there. I still use mine every day.
 
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Yeah, the main killer seems to be lithium battery death... I've been able to revive mine a couple times, and I still use it fairly often :)
 
Hooka said:
Yeah, the main killer seems to be lithium battery death... I've been able to revive mine a couple times, and I still use it fairly often :)
Click to expand...
Yeah the Battery died Twice. but there still may be hope for Zod Users theres a new store by my home called Batteries plus. I went in and asked if they had the specific battery they did not. but the guy behind the counter said he may be able to change the connector and use a different battery. but i have yet to bring it down. Short on cash as always.
so if there is a batteries plus near you check em out.
 
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yeah, but it's possible to charge via usb (involves a bit of soldering though)
And if that doesn't work, it shouldn't be too much work to find the pins on the connector and make a new cable that provides the 5V/0.5A it needs :)
 
Emulating Palm games should be possible via Garnet VM I guess and there are quite a few titles that are worth it. I don't think emulating the Zodiac specific stuff will happen soon and probably not with reasonable speed either. So I'm writing emails to game developers to get them to make native ports for the Pandora. I've already contacted a few with mixed responses. I'll try to get a hold of more people once the Pandora is actually out. With the decline of the PDA market many of these people are looking for a new home for their games and a lot are going with the iPhone. I see that as a positive thing, though, because if they are making their games cross platform, supporting the Pandora as well might not be too much trouble and thus worth it.
 
Nilsiboy said:
yeah, but it's possible to charge via usb (involves a bit of soldering though)
And if that doesn't work, it shouldn't be too much work to find the pins on the connector and make a new cable that provides the 5V/0.5A it needs :)
Click to expand...
The zodiac required a good amp if the battery was flat, it never had a proper usb charging cable as it couldn't restrict its current usage, so only hacked usb charge cables existed if I remember correctly.

Emulation should be that difficult with a decent palmos emulator, as all the special hardware was just libraries - none of the software accessed the hardware directly. Of course, applications which used my drm-bypass code are very unlikely to work, as that calls functions at specific locations in rom.

I remember when I bought my Zodiac that it still had someone details in there, with bank account numbers, sort codes, pin codes and even card numbers :eek: I just did a hard reset on the device and wiped everything, but I could see other people doing differently.
 
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Thanks for the great info. Emulating Palm OS would be pretty cool. a lot of the games i wish to play had a palm os version as well. such as Legacy. I loved that game.
As for the old Zodiac Batteries i've bought two and had no luck with them. i'm hoping the guys at batteries plus will connect a new battery that may or may not fix my problem. but its worth a try. it'll be better than using the Zodiac as an expensive beer coaster.
 
The Tapwave Zodiac is -still- the most greatest hand held computing device ever made.

Maybe the Pandora, when it is done, will change that.

It isn't just a palm pilot.
480x320 touchscreen
200Mhz dragonball CPU
ATI graphics accelerator
Yamaha sound chip
two SD slots (2*4GB SD) - may become SDHC if Dmitry can do it yielding maybe 64GB
one of the SD slots is SDIO and can take GPS SD, wifi (802.11b), etc...
bluetooth with networking support
vibration IN games
true analog pad on the left with push-click
shoulder buttons
game pad buttons on right
Palm OS
About a dozen games fully optimized for the device
mmplayer optimized for the graphics gave full resolution video @ 25fps
128MB RAM, 64MB Flash ROM
instant on (Palm OS) with PIM optimizations for the landscape device
polyphonic alarms
stereo speakers

Mine still comes to work with me daily in it's form fitted metal case and with a scultped stylus. It is nearly 7 years old and I've yet to find any device as versatile or powerful that will fit in my pocket. People still give me the, "Wow! What is that?" when they see it.

I ordered a Pandora with the idea that it is the first device I've seen that -might- be able to replace it.
 
The Zodiac was great. If mine still worked I would still be using it.

I envy people whose Zods still work. Lucky bastards.

My Axim x51v is good, and having wifi builtin to the PDA is a big plus, but my heart is still toward the Zodiac. And there was just something about PalmOS as well, and how snappy it was. Windows Mobile is slow as hell. But what else is new...
 
I agree 110% If my touchscreen still worked I'd use it daily. As it is I still play the great games on it periodically. My favs are Duke Nukem Mobile, SpyHunter and HellFire!
 
javaJake said:
dsleaf67 said:
My favs are Duke Nukem Forever, SpyHunter and HellFire!
*reads post, closes tab* "Wait, what!?" *goes to History -> Recently Closed Tabs -> "Old Dodiac Games"* *rereads post* :p

"Ctrl + Shift + T" my friend.

EDIT: I do it too sometimes... :lol:
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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