It was yesterday that I reported about the updated, VGA-optimized
Virtual Pool Mobile.
I've continued investigating three additional 2700g-optimized games and found out really a lot. These games are all highly recommended if you happen to have a Dell Axim x50v/ x51v Pocket PC; these Pocket PC models both have an Intel 2700g graphics co-processor, which makes it possible to run 3D games really well.
Pulse Interactive's Quake Mobile 1.2
(Note that the game can't be accessed on the above URL; not even links are provided in there. Therefore, you must go straight to for example
the Handango page to get the game.)
This (commercial - it costs $19.95) game is, visually, much better on the x50v/x51v than Dan East's non-2700g-optimized, albeit free and multiplayer-enabled (please
read this article on everything multiplayer)
Quake ports.
Unfortunately, it has no trial version and, as of the
first (Scourge of Armagon) and the
second (Dissolution of Eternity) expansion packs, both released on 2005-11-30, still don't support multiplayer mode.
If you like having the CAB files around for desktop-independent game installation: the installer decompresses installs two .CAB files to
c:\Pulse_Interactive_Quake_Mobile\. You'll only need one of them if you prefer CAB-based installing: either the big one containing everything,
MobileQuakeBg.PPC2003_ARM.CAB) or the small one,
MobileQuakeSm.PPC2003_ARM.CAB.
Note that
the original version of the game didn't support stylus-based playing. The Handango version downloadable from early December 2005, however, already supported the in-game stylus usage. Therefore, you may want to redownload the game if you have purchased it before last December - or, request the patch from the author itself. His e-mail address can be found in the just-linked thread.
I also recommend
this thread for an improved control setup. You can also read some rants on the game
here.
Noctem Entertainment's Quake 3 1.1b
This free port comes in two versions:
a 2700g (Dell Axim x50v/RAM-upgraded x51v)-only and a
generic one.
I've spent some hours today on trying to make work on my non-RAM-upgraded Dell Axim x51v (along with my other PDA's). Unfortunately, it won't work. The only way to run it on the x51v is
the $169 PocketPCTechs 128Mbyte RAM upgrade. Otherwise, just forget it.
Unfortunately, I had no luck with the generic, non-2700g version either. It wouldn't even start (complaining of lack of RAM) on any of my WM5 devices (the x51v and the HTC Wizard; both had about 31 Mbytes of RAM free). It started on my (freshly hard reset - I haven't installed anything in the RAM or run anything else -, 48 Mbyte-RAM-free) HP iPAQ 2210 but none of the single-player games worked because of the shortage of memory (I had the maximum memory available - around 48Mbytes).
On my 128M RAM, freshly hard reset, VGA Fujitsu-Siemens Pocket Loox 720, I didn't even get to the main menu, not even with the Picard VGA GAPI hack. After loading the console, the screen went black for a moment and, then, the game has just exit.
Also see
this AximSite thread for a complete tutorial on creating the needed
pak0.pk3 file. I really recommend
biohzrd's tutorial (2nd page, 11-10-05, 10:07 AM) and my additional one (3rd page, 03-17-2006). It'll make everything really easy - as opposed to the useless
INSTALL.txt that comes with the game. Nevertheless, unless you have a Dell Axim x50v (or a memory-upgraded Dell Axim x51v) so that you can really enjoy the 2700g visuals, it's not really worth bothering with the
pak0.pk3 creation - most likely, it's highly possible it just won't run on your PDA.
Blacksmith Studios' Solterra
This once-commercial, 2700g-enabled space shooter game has been made free in the meantime. You only need to click the
Buy icon on the official homepage and enter your Pocket PC owner name
on the new page into the
PPC owner name textfield; then, you'll get the free registration code. It'll be something like "
b027318a1507681" (don't mistake it for the
GoNinja/GoNinjaPocketPC registration codes).
It's also on this page that you can download the installer file (or a ZIP file containing the compressed files; you will need to uncompress the contents of the ZIP file and just transfer them to your PDA, in any subdirectory.)
The game itself, in my opinion, isn't very interesting/entertaining. For example, even the non-2700g-enabled (!)
PDAMill Anthelion and, particularly, the VGA-enabled (I've tested it on both my VGA non-2700g Pocket Loox 720 and Dell Axim x51v and it was completely playable on both devices)
Anthelion 2 are both far more addictive and playable in almost every respect (it has much better music, much better campaigns etc), despite having no direct 2700g support.
You may still want to give this game a try - after all, it's a free game.
.
