My Oddballz
These are the Oddballz I regularly play with and have spent time customising so they feel like my Oddballz.
Barb
Species: Modvark
Likes: Blue, the Locopop, pets
Allergies: Grey, Yellow (Poison)
Transformations: Panda, White Duck, Brown Goat, Black Sheep
Notes: my favourite oddball, it's very fun to turn the light on/off quickly with them.
Flames
Species: Skorch
Likes: Blue, the gravitron, singing in the dark, pretending to be Godzilla
Allergies: Grey, Yellow (Poison)
Transformations: Baby Form (just Skorch with "nappy"), Skeleton, Balloon Skorch (his ballz get bigger and he floats about the playpen).
Notes: Just a goofy guy - he's always hitting something or shouting at me, which is fun.
Jane
Species: 102
Likes: Brown, grubs, the Atomic Ball and singing
Allergies: Red (Poison)
Transformations: Spotted rabbit, spotted sheep, spotted kangaroo and spotted duck
Notes: my test oddball for editing the lnz - only swapped textures but I like how they came out.
Donna
Species: Walret
Likes: Robo Pogo, yellow,
Allergies: Purple (poison), Black
Transformations: Brown bear, brown cow, brown rabbit and brown dog
Notes: little Donna loves yellow, but I hexed her purple. Despite being friendly towards yellow grubs, paint them a different colour and she'll eat them all the same.
Deano
Species: Dynaroo
Likes: Yellow, atomic ball, allegedly the seismo ball but that explodes them so...
Allergies: White, Gray (poison)
Transformations: Blue bird, 102 dog, green frog, brown kangaroo
Notes: my little dino, so happy and fun loving until they grab a grub or their eyes pop out .
Chonkz
Species: Honker
Likes: Purple, Liqui-Food, throwing grubs around
Allergies: Gray, Black (Poison)
Transformations: Yellow Bird, Mallard Duck, Homebody (Persian), Spotted Cattle, Pink Big
Notes: customising Chonkz took a very long time, as the current version of Carolyn's Creations seems to have an empty Easy Edit Honker zip! Had to grab it from this capture on a different host. I'm terribly at hex editing, but easy edit files make it so much easier.
Jordy
Species: Lips
Likes: being a chameleon, brown, the transformer
Allergies: Green, Pink (Poison)
Transformations: Brown Cattle, Lips-Rat, Black Rabbit, Grey Rat, Brown Turkey
Notes: I hate, absolutely despise, the OG Lips colours - he looks much better in bright leopard print and purple lipstick. If he'd been given a better colour scheme, more people would like him.
Slushboy
Species: Snowbo
Likes: white, the sno-blaster
Allergies: Yellow (Poison)
Transformations: "snow pig", grow boots, grow tree limbs
Notes: The smallest of edits, but otherwise just a Snowbo.
About Oddballz
Released by PF Magic in 1996, Oddballz is the wonderfully weird sibling to Dogz and Catz. It never received a (proper) sequel, and without the die-hard active community it once enjoyed playing on modern systems has become a little more involved than the beloved Petz games —but it's absolutely worth trying if you enjoy quirky virtual pets.
Playing on Modern Windows
I currently use the unstable version of WineVDM, since it includes a fix that lets Oddballz run at the correct speed.
Once installed just drag your Oddballz.exe and drop it ontop of the otvdm application. This should open Oddballz, and from that point onwards you should just need to open Oddballz by double clicking the Oddballz.exe. Using WineVDM means the Oddballz playpen can go full screen, the unstable version slows down the speed of your oddz, and generally gives you a better Oddballz experience
The only downside is that using the unstable version means photo previews don't appear, to save photos you'll need to use autosave then go through and pick the ones you like most. The stable version also works and will allow you to preview photos rather than auto-saving, but the game tends to run a little too quickly for my taste.
Useful Resources
Anso's
Ann-Sofie's classic Oddballz fansite. Back in the '90s this was the place for Oddballz tips and information.
Mazz's Oddballz Resources
Includes downloadable copies of the game, both as a DOSBox PetzPack and a version you can use with WineVDM.
Acid Trip
Offers an installer, a self-contained DOSBox package, and the original disc installer.
Background Image: Catgirl Historian