>>>>>> NEW 3DO USERS FAQ v3.29 <<<<<<

[rio...@dd.palmer.edu]

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..::: :::..::: ::: .::: ::: ... ##### /\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\/\\\
..::: ..::: .::: ..::: .::: ..::: ... '###' ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
..::: ..::: .::: ..::: .::: ..::: ... '#' NEW USERS / POTENTIAL BUYERS
..::: ..::: .::: ..::: .::: ..::: ...
..::: ... .::: ..::: .::: ..::: ... ##### Frequently Asked Questions
..::: .......::: ..::: .::: ..::: ... ##### v3.29 -- 30-MAR-95
..::::::::...::::::::: .::: ..::: ... #####
..:::::::: ..::::::::: .::: ..::: ... ##### Maintained by
..::: ::: ..::: ::: .::: ..::: ... . Simon-Pierre RIOUX
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..::: .......::: ..::: .::::::::: ... '###' Send any corrections to
..::: .......::: ..::: ..:::::: ::: . ' RIO...@dd.palmer.edu
... ........ ... ... ..
..................................... .:::.
''' "Look well to the spine
=================== for the cause of disease"
= 3DO INFORMATION = -Hippocrates
===================

* WHERE CAN I FIND A 3DO-RELATED FAQ CONCERNING THE MORE TECHNICAL ASPECTS
OF THE 3DO ARCHITECTURE, AND OTHER 3DO INFORMATION?

FAQs:
~~~~~
OFFICIAL FAQ : Maintained by Scott A. Krotz (kr...@cig.mot.com)
NEW USERS FAQ : Maintained by Simon-Pierre Rioux (rio...@dd.palmer.edu)
<FINGER rio...@dd.palmer.edu> for the latest version

FTP SITES:
~~~~~~~~~~
131.252.10.155: ***<Gaming Area Discontinued>***
128.146.140.90: ***<Offline>*** John E. Ray (3...@bigmac.ag.ohio-state.edu)
? . ? . ? . ?: We need a new FTP site for 3DO... Anyone?
FTP.EA.COM : pub/demos directory (not a 3DO-specific site) need4spd.zip
BUSOP.CIT.WAYNE.EDU: pub/pselect/wces95 for screenshots of upcoming games.
FREEDOM.WIT.COM:misc4/kosmic/songs/93/crsh-klf.zip Crash'n'Burn modules!

WWW SITES:
~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.ohiou.edu/~mcginley/vidgame.html Chuck McGinley
http://www.essi.fr/~buffa/videogames.html Michel Buffa
http://www.webcom.com/~clong/random/3do.html Chris Long
http://uacsc1.albany.edu/~nisk115/ Dan Ginsburg
http://power.globalnews.com/ PowerPC Page
http://www.primenet.com/~gmezero Game Zero Page
http://www.ea.com Electronic Arts Page

RATING LISTS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NICK'S RATINGS: Maintained by Nick Paiement (pai...@DMI.USherb.CA)
TOP TeN! LIST : Maintained by Simon-Pierre Rioux (rio...@dd.palmer.edu)

3DO-SPECIFIC MAGAZINES:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3DO MAGAZINE (Japan): 3DO Magazine Subscription
Tokuma Shoten Intermedia, Inc.
4-10-7 Shimbashi Minato-ku
Tokyo 105 JAPAN
Tel: Fax:

3DO MAGAZINE (UK) : Paragon Publishing Ltd
BH 1255
Bournemouth, BH1 1BR
Tel: 0202.299900 Fax: 0202.299955

"3" MAGAZINE (USA) : 3 Magazine
PiM Publishing
One Currant Rd PO Box 2140
Fall River MA 02722 USA
Tel: 800.345.3360 Fax: 508.675.6002

MISCELLANEOUS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
REAL 3DO Title List : Maintained by Mike Delaney (mik...@aol.com)
The 3DO AOL Forum : <You need to be an AOL user to access this>
3DO CompuServe Forum: <You need to be a CIS user to access this>

============
= SOFTWARE =
============

* WHICH BIG GAMES ARE COMING OUT FOR 3DO?

According to Mike Delaney's list, and 3DO Co. S/W List:
GEX Gecko, Project-X, Flying Nightmares, Alone in the
Dark 2, Clay Fighters 2, Slam'n'Jam, Rock'n'Roll Racing, Policenauts,
BIOS Fear, X-Wing, Wing Commander 3, Primal Rage, 11th Hour, Creature
Shock, Syndicate, Magic Carpet, Doom I & II, Lemmings Chronicals, Myst,
Daedalus Encounter, Cyberia, Dragon Lore, HELL, Immercenary, Space Hulk,
Killing Time, PO'ed, RayMan, ST:TNG (Q2-95), All New Game Show.
RUMOURS: Mortal Kombat III, NBA Jam TE, Earth Worm Jim II, X-Men,
DarkStalkers, Ridge Racer.

* WHAT ABOUT SPORTS GAMES?

NHL 95, World Cup Rugby, Striker Soccer, PGA Golf, NBA Live 95, SlamNJam,
World Cup Soccer, Wicked 18, Slam City (Scotty Pipen), Crystal Dynamics
Sports titles, Muhammed Ali Boxing, and most EA Sports games should be
ported to the 3DO.

* WHICH TITLES WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THE 64 BIT M2 EXPANSION?

Details are VERY scarce, and not many developers want to reveal their
secrets until E3.... All we know is:

PowerSlide M2 (Elite).

* WHICH AVAILABLE TITLES ARE RECOMMANDED?

RPGs: AD&D's Slayer, Guardian War
SPACE RPG: Star Control II
RACING: Road Rash*, Need for Speed
RACING-SHOOTER: Crash'n'Burn, Off-World Interceptor
FLIGHTSIM: Super Wing Commander, Shock Wave
SPORTS: John Madden Football, Waialae Country Club Golf*, FIFA Soccer*
ADVENTURE: Alone in the Dark, Out of this World, Sherlock Holmes
GOD-GAME: The Horde, Theme Park
ARCADE: Return Fire
SHOOTER-ARCADE: Total Eclipse
SHOOTER-FMV: Burning Soldier, NovaStorm*, StarBlade
SHOOTER-LIGHT GUN: Demolition Man*, Crime Patrol
PUZZLE: Incredible Machine, Gridders
SCROLLER: Soccer Kid
FAMILY: Twisted
FIGHTING: Way of the Warrior, Super Street Fighter II Turbo*, Sam Shodown
NEW AGE: CPU Bach, Pataank

(*) indicate DHGF's Pick of the Year, all consoles confounded, for that
particular category.

* WHAT ARE THE PACK-IN GAMES?

Panasonic FZ-1 : Twisted and Pebble Beach Golf (some w/ Total Eclipse also)
Panasonic FZ-10 : Total Eclipse and GEX (Coupon)
Goldstar : Shock Wave and FIFA Soccer
CL 3DO Blaster : Shock Wave and Gridders
Note: The CL Blaster is presently discontinued, to be replaced
with a SCSI port version and lower price tag.

* WILL THE 3DO VERSION OF WING COMMANDER III BE BETTER THAN THE PC VERSION?

According to the WCIII FAQ, the programmers THEMSELVES enjoy the 3DO
version more than the PC version. The PC version will run in SVGA
(640X480) with 8 bit (256) colors. The 3DO version will have color
in-flight comm messages (PC will have green in-flight comm messages due
to 256 color limitation). The PC version will have great sound (but that
depends on your soundcard!) whereas the 3DO version will fully use the DSP
and will also have Dolby Surround Sound. The briefing between pilots
normally done on the green display monitor on the PC will be done life-like
in true color on the 3DO. The 3DO version supposedly has less access-time
to the CD-ROM than the PC version. Gameflow (that part of the game that
allows you to walk around the ship and talk to characters) is the portion
that the 3DO will really shine with. So it's not "better"; each version
takes advantage of the capabilities of each machine.

The lack of memory of the 3DO means the graphics detail had to be decreased;
the lower resolution of the 3DO compared to SVGA also shows. [WCES95]

So, if you thought of upgrading your 486 to a full blown Pentium to play
that game, wait until the 3DO version comes out (April/95); you
might end up paying 299$ instead of 2000$ to play it!

<WCIII FAQ: FTP wuarchive.wustl.edu, in pub/msdos_uploads/game_faq dir.>

* IS DOOM COMING OUT ON THE 3DO?

Yes. Id Software licensed DOOM to a development company, according to
a french magazine. The company is ART DATA. There will also be a
multitude of DOOM-clones very soon, as this type of game is very popular.
This is NOT a rumour; the official information was released during the
last week of November 1994. DOOM should be released in Spring 1995.

* ARE JAPANESE 3DO TITLES PLAYABLE ON THE US 3DO?

Yes. There is no lock-out chip, so you can play a Japanese 3DO title on
a US or Euro 3DO without any problem. The Kanji font located in ROM on
Japanese 3DO's is also found as a back-up in the OS image on all 3DO CD's
which means there should not be any compatibility problems.

============
= HARDWARE =
============

* WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AN MPEG MOVIE AND A VHS MOVIE?

Other than the format, VideoCD is just a little bit better on the video
quality, but boasts CD-quality stereo sound (supports Surround also),
and you don't need to rewind the rented CD-movie after viewing!

Trip Hawkins doesn't see the MPEG adaptor as a major player for the 3DO,
as the CinePak quality is adequate right now on a stock 3DO, and will
compare quite favourably to hardware MPEG on the M2. It will be bought
mostly by video affeccionados.

* WHEN WILL THE MPEG ADAPTORS BE RELEASED?

Goldstar DVM : Released in US, Total Recall pack-in
Panasonic VideoCD : Released in Japan <Still under consideration for
the North American market>

Since the A/V port of each machine is different, you CANNOT use a
Goldstar MPEG card on a Panasonic, and vice-versa.

* WHAT ARE THE SLOWDOWN PROBLEMS I READ ABOUT IN MAGAZINES?

Those are due to the CD-ROM access; like a floppy disk, the system needs
to read the information off the CD-ROM, unlike a cartridge where the
access is instantaneous. The waiting periods are usually:
1) to load the program in memory,
2) between levels,
3) when you die.
So it doesn't really affect the in-game playability.

* IS THE GOLDSTAR UNIT FASTER THAN THE PANASONIC ONE?

No. They both use the same CPU and clock, thus the same speed. All
3DO-compatible consoles will be running at the same speed.

* HOW MANY DIFFERENT COMPANIES ARE MAKING 3DOs, AND WHICH ONE IS BETTER?

Many. :) The bottom line is: they can ALL play the 3DO software. They
ALL have to adhere to hardware guidelines such as: CPU, 2x CD-ROM drive,
sound and graphic chipset, etc... The only difference are the utilities
packed with it in ROM, the pack-in games, the look, the control pad, and
extra hardware that could otherwise be bought separately (ie the MPEG
cartridge in the Samsung unit).

Doug Dyer compares the Panasonic and the Goldstar units:
1) The Goldstar CD laser is in the tray, the Panasonic is inside.
This makes the Goldstar easier to clean, but exposes it
to touch (well, you would have to be an idiot but...)
2) The Goldstar A/V bus (for MPEG and M2) is _inside_, and the Panasonic's
is outside (you'll have something laying beside the unit).
Panasonic FZ-10 is also inside. This raises the issue of if both
the MPEG and M2 units will fit inside. I guess they will. Its
certainly nicer to have everything contained inside.
3) The newer Panasonic FZ-1 units have audio-disk problems not present in
the Goldstar.
4) The Goldstar has a static-electricity problem when plugging in joypads
while the unit is powered (FZ-1 might also).
5) The MPEG for Goldstar is $50 cheaper and comes with Total Recall.
Panasonic has no pack-in movie <None announced yet>

* WILL THE M2 ACCELERATOR WORK WITH THE FZ-10 MODEL?

The M2 accelerator will be set to work for this model as well as the FZ-1.

* ARE 3DO JOYPADS FROM DIFFERENT COMPANIES USEABLE ON ANY 3DO? ARE THEY ALL
DAISYCHAINABLE? WHAT ABOUT THE SNES JOYSTICK ADAPTOR?

Yes, and no (respectively). You can use a Goldstar joypad on a Panasonic
system, or a Creative Labs joypad on a Sanyo, or whichever combination.
They all use the same 9-pin connector and controller chip, so compatibility
is not a problem. However, not all possess a passthru connector so that
controllers can be daisychained, nor do they all possess a headphone jack.
Most noticeable exception is the Creative Labs controller, which does not
sport a passthru connector. This may change in further revisions of
their controller pad.

A SuperNES-to-3DO joypad converter, which permits the use of SNES 6 buttons
joypads on 3DO systems is presently made by a French company, which is
available in import in the USA in different mail-order companies. Some
stores should start carrying it soon. Import price is around 40$.
The official importer is World Import Center at 305.668.0141. A new
version is also available, that enables you to plug 2 SNES controllers,
but still lacks a passthrough connector.

* WHICH CONTROLLERS ARE AVAILABLE?

Legend: PT = PassThrough connector HP = Headphone connector
#B = # buttons (w/o pause&stop) D/A= Digital/Analog stick
SK = Shift keys on top of controller SLO= Slo-Mo option

DESCRIPTION PT HP #B SK SLO D/A PRICE
Panasonic FZ-JP1X Joypad: Y Y 5 Y N D 39.95
Goldstar Joypad : Y Y 5 Y N D 39.95
CL Controller : N N 5 Y N D N/A
3DO Controller : N N 5 Y N D 24.95
CH FlightStick PRO : N N 6 N N A 99.95
MAS Arcade Stick : N N 6 N N D 99.95
Capcom Fighter Stick : N N 6 N N D 29.95
ALG GameGun : N N 1 N N - 49.95
HAPP 3D Zero joypad : N N 6 Y Y D 39.95
Phase 9 F40 joypad : N N 6 N Y D £39.95
Naki Wireless pads (2) : N N 6 N N D 59.95
Panasonic FZ-MS1 mouse : N N 3 N N A TBA-Apr
ALG GameGun II : Y N 1 N N - TBA
<Hong Kong> Arcade Stick: Y N 6 N N D 34.95
MGH 324 Magic IR Stick : Y N 6 N Y D 50.00
MGH 323 IR Joypads (2) : N N 5 Y N D 40.00

Note: All other rumoured controllers (FZ-JS1, Logitech mouse) are still
prototypes, and may not make it to the market.

* DO YOU HAVE MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE MGH CONTROLLERS?

-<=MGH 324 magical remote joystick for SNES/3DO/SEGA=>-
The joystick size is about half of your computer keyboard. Six
turbo fire button and slow motion. 3 DO joypad slot on the side of
the joystick allows 2 player action (wired joypad can became wireless)
Joystick require 4 AA batteries. Comes with one 3DO receiver.
It will not work with the CH Flightstick, and only 1 joypad can be
connected to the magical joystick. Incl. sh/hdg

-<=MGH 323 remote joypad for 3DO=>-
Infra-red remote joypad for the 3DO system. set up is exact same as
the original 3DO joypad. Comes with 2 wireless joypad. Each joy pad
require 2 AA batteries. receivers also included.
They are the same as the Nakitek (as they OEM the product from MGH), except
they fixed the combination buttons problem (for fighting game supermoves),
but the receiver still does not have any passthrough connector. Incl. sh/hdg

==========================
= 3DO DEALERS AND PRICES =
==========================

* WHERE CAN I BUY A 3DO SYSTEM? WHAT IS THE OFFICIAL PRICE?

The following stores carry 3DO products:

Software Etc., AT&T Phone Center, Electronics Boutique, Babbage's,
Circuit City, Best Buy, Blockbuster Video, Fred Meyer, Meijer, Wal-Mart,
Wherehouse, CD-ROM Warehouse, Macy's East, Toys R Us, Waldensoftware,
Video Game Exchange, Nobody Beats the Wiz, Future Shop, The Good Guys,
Best Products, G&G Software, PC Richard & Son, Lechmere, FAO Schwarz,
Lazarus, Media Play, Campo Electronics, Videoland, Barnes & Noble,
JC Penney.
N.B.: Walmart stores will be carrying 3DO nationwide progressively.

The official price is 399$ with 2 titles; the rumours that the price
would drop for the Christmas season have proven to be false.

* IS IT CHEAPER TO BUY FROM MAIL ORDER?

Yes, for both hardware (30-50$ or more difference from stores), and
software (10-15$ difference from stores).

* MAIL-ORDER STORES

LEGEND: S = Software H = Hardware MG = Manufacturer of 3DO hardware

UNITED STATES
ComeBack Video Distributors SH : 800.647.2045** IL come...@mcs.com
Electronics Wholesalers SH : 800.444.6300 ???
G&G/Captron SH : 800.262.7462 CA ???
Greenleaf Online S : http://www.vpm.com/greenleaf/
Star City SH : 800.942.6868 ???
Swap USA SH : 404.792.7872 GA swa...@netcom.com
3DO Direct SH : 800.336.3506 CA in...@3do.com
Tronix Multimedia SH : 212.447.5980 NY joe...@ix.netcom.com
NOTE: http://www.phantom.com/~joecat

** Recommanded. Contact: Howard

EUROPE
SENLAC Computing Ltd SH : +44 0.1273.208074 pe...@senlac.co.uk
JPF Import MG : +331 49 489345 ???

ASIA
Top Game & Company Ltd MG : +886 2.7963638 hob...@hntp2.hinet.net
NOTE: Manufactures 3DO IR controllers (MGH series)

========================
= 3DO VS OTHER SYSTEMS =
========================

* 3DO HAS 1 RISC 32 BIT PROCESSOR, SATURN & 32X HAVE 2 RISC 32 BIT
PROCESSORS; ARE THEY BETTER?

Let's see for the 3DO: 1-ARM60 32 bit RISC CPU, 2-32 bit VIDEO PROCESSORS,
1-20 bit DIGITAL SOUND PROCESSOR, 1-32 bit MATH CO-PROCESSOR, and various
other controllers and converter chips. Nope, that's about 6 chips right
there! But, the number of processors doesn't always means faster or
better games; don't count on the # of bits or # of processors to give you
an indication of the system's FUN factor! You just have to try it out
for yourself!

I think the best answer to that question comes from Simon Powers:
>A 32 bit risc processor is not a unit of power like watts on a stereo. You
>can't go for number of 32 bit processors = power of system. With all the
>next gen. consoles a lot of support is done by dedicated chips. In the
>case of the 3DO it's the twin CELL engines that make it excellent at
>sprite expansion and textures.

Another way to see it is comparing the performance of automobile engines;
an 8 cylinder is not automatically more powerful than a 6 cylinder.
Other factors come into play to determine the power of the engine.

* WILL THE 3DO HARDWARE BE GOOD ENOUGH TO KEEP UP WITH SEGA/NINTENDO/SONY's
SYSTEMS?

Although not up-to-par with Sony's system, the user base and early start
are on the 3DO's side; already over 130 titles are available, which might
take some time for competitors to match. By the time these companies
release their systems in North America, 3DO Company will have revealed
their 3DO upgrade system (a card which will connect on the side of the
present 3DO-1 systems) which would make the PSX look like a 286...
Price of this upgrade should be ~150-200$, and has a 64-bit PowerPC CPU.
More details on the 3DO-2 will be released during E3 in May 1995.

In other words, even if you buy a 3DO-1 now, by X-Mas it will still
be the contestant to beat (with the 3DO-2 card installed).

So, you can wait for Ultra-64, Saturn, Playstation PSX, until X-Mas 95,
or you can buy a 3DO-1 now, and upgrade to a much more powerful system
than the competitors'offerings, for a small price to 3DO-2 when those
systems are released in North America.

* WHAT ARE THE RUMORED SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE M2 ACCELERATOR?

These are NOT official specifications released by The 3DO Company, and
might not be true. The only official comment is that it will be out
4th quarter 1995, and will blow away all other competitors. Development
stations that take advantage of the M2's capabilities have been given to
choice developers (including EA) back in August 1994.

The specs are updated from Edge, May 1995 (which basically confirms what
we already knew, and increases throughput numbers).

CPU: 66mhz PowerPC RISC processor from IBM/Motorola/3DO collaboration.
MEMORY: 4 megabytes SDRAM; 4k,instruction cache; 4k Data cache; 32k or
64k non volatile RAM; 528 Mb/sec data bandwidth.
CO-PROC: 10 co-processors (Graphics ASICs) for graphics and audio
GRAPHICS: 100 000 000 pixels per second; 700 000 mesh (textured) polygons
per second; 1 000 000 polygons/sec; triangle engine (>>150 000
triangles per second); hardware texture mapping (bi-linear
interpolation; point sampled and MIP mapping; Gouraud shading
on Alpha and RGB channels; true 3D perspective in all modes;
full Z-buffer support, new 2D sprite routines, light sourcing.
Trip mentioned it would do "over 1 million polygons/sec" (1994)
SOUND: DSP @ 66Mhz, 2Kb cache.
COLORS: 24-bit color;8/16-bit CLUTS.
OPTION: MPEG1 with flexible rates and multiple streams.
RESOLUTION: True 640x480 - 320 - 240 @ 16/24 bits.
STORAGE: Double-Speed CD-ROM drive; 2:1 RLE hardware (de)compression
MISC.: NTSC/PAL/HDTV/wide NTSC and support for SVGA; 32k RAM carts
for saving data thru PCMCIA slot; DVD CD standard (8x speed)
by 1996.
PRICE: Around 200$US
RELEASE: US & Japan: December 1995, Europe: January 1996

M2 CPU INFO:
PowerPC 602, 32 bits, 66Mhz, 132MFLOPS, 40 SPECint92 (Pentium/60=70.4),
Dual 4Kb inst & data caches, 3.3v, 1.2W dspt, 0.5µ CMOS, 1M transistors,
1Xprec (2X prec n-std, s/w) FPU, MMU, Multiplexing scheme of adr & data,
Protection memory mode, very good in graphics & compression applications,
handwriting & speech recognition. Volume price of 30$US.

[From INTERNATIONAL SOLID STATE CIRCUIT CONFERENCE in San Francisco '95]

PPC 602 +----------------+ a IBM/Motorola chip
+-----------------| Fetch/Prefetch |------------------------+
| +----------------+ |32 bit
| | +-----------------+
| |32 bit | 4 Kbyte Command |
| +----------------+ | cache |
| | Commandbuffer/ | +-----------------+
| | decoder | |
| +----------------+ |
| | 32 bit |
| +-----------------+--------------------+ |
| | | | |
| +---------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ |
| | Integer | | floating point | | loading/saving | |
| | unit | | unit | | unit | |
| +---------+ +----------------+ +----------------+ |
| | | | |
| +-----------------+--------------------+ | 64 bit
| | | |
| +---------+ | +-----------------+ |
+----| Integer |----------+ | 4 Kbyte Data | |
| unit | | cache | |
+---------+ +-----------------+ |
| 64 bit |
+---------+ +--------------------------+
| Timer | | B U S I N T E R F A C E |
+---------+ +--------------------------+
| |
+-------------------------------------------------------+
| System-Bus (64 bit data, 32 bit adresses, multiplexed |
+-------------------------------------------------------+

Special features:

External processor Bus can transfer 96 Mbyte/second
that makes it easily possible to have 30 pictures/second
at 640*480 (that only needs 18.4 MByte/second).

RJ Mical, co-inventor of the 3DO, says this about the M2:
=========================================================
"M2 is a blindingly fast 3D engine with a multitasking OS, it will do
incredible games, will continue the 3DO standard, and is expandable. . .
I've been involved recently in several demonstrations of M2' s performance,
including demos I've written myseIf, and the results are very exciting!"
"It' s a real 64bit system, throughout the whole of the system.

Will the M2 basically drive the 3DO system?
"It' s more accurate to say they co-exist because we' re going to be able
to use a lot of the resources of the 3DO; the CD Drive, power supply -
things like that. We're going to be able leverage off the existing system
as much as possible to keep the price down."
[The work is mostly done in hardware, to save RAM. We save RAM space...]
especially [by] having a lot of different formats for data compression
built into the system, so that data itself can take up less RAM and you
can therefore have that much more rich detail both for graphics and audio.
We have a lot, a lot of compression algorithms to handle the graphics, but
also with audio.

"It's a lot of fun creating those tools. Once of the things we're going to
see a lot of on the M2 are applications that will use actual human forms.
People acting out animal shapes and things like that, where you will
actually record the movement that that human form is going through. They
call it Motion Capture. It's the art of putting sensors on a body, so if
you were going to do a tennis game, you would put sensors on the body of a
tennis player and record him The end result is animation that is
extraordinarily realistic...
========================================================

Greg Richardson, Director of Business Development says this about the M2:

I apologize for any perceived bravado but M2 compared to the current
machines is like a 3DO system compared to the original NES.

We think we may have actually over-built M2. Developers who have seen the
technology, have all said just one thing, "perfection".

As for titles, let me just say this. The team of developer and publishers
that create the first M2 titles will be the greatest gathering of
interactive software talent ever assembled. When you have hardware as good
as M2, you had better make sure that the people creating the games are the
best. Not just in terms of technology, but also in terms of gameplay.

Now to M2 - We started to brief developers on M2 in real detail at the WCES.
The reaction has been incredible. Here's the strategy with M2 . . .
3DO has decided to focus all of its resources - Dev Equipment, Training,
Tech Support etc behind a limited number of new titles for M2. That way
we will insure the 3DO consumer that not only will the titles ship close to
schedule, but they will be as good as they can be. If you can imagine an
SGI ONYX $250,000 workstation that plays all of your favorite games, then
you will want to be a 3DO and an M2 owner. We aren't going to ship
development systems and hope something good happens, we are going to make
sure that the 3D0 and M2 experience is the one we have always dreamed of.

When you look at the 3DO software lineup that will be out this x-mas, and
then look at the power of M2, it's hard to believe that anyone would even
consider buying anything else. You can count on some juicy M2 title details
in the next two months as we approach E3.

* WHAT ABOUT THE ATARI JAGUAR?

Although the hardware is said to be superior to the 3DO's, the lack of
software for this console (8 games in one year) have led many hard-core
followers to get quite frustrated. Is powerful hardware more important
than fun software? Chris Curry said it best:
>It has always been my belief that hardware potential which does not
>manifest itself in software is of no value.

One can hardly compare these two consoles, as the architectures behind
them are totally different; and comparing the number of bits doesn't do
justice to the power of 3DO's 32 bits, and the lack of power of the Jag's
64 bits. Here is some interesting tidbit comparing SOFTWARE, which is
basically the only fair (possible) comparison between the 2 systems:

* BOB LUFFEL'S FRAMERATE COMPARISON

Just to provide a fairly objective comparison of frame rates in various
Jag and 3DO games, I taped them and stepped through frames in each game in
several places and situations. The Range is the slowest sustained to
fastest sustained rate, and Average is somewhat of a weighted average (if
the game cooks along at a given framerate most of the time and only slows
down during some situations or intense activity, I weighted the
average towards the faster rate). I have only measured games that use
primarily 3D polygon first person environments (with the exception of
SSFIIT, listed as a point of comparison for a cell (sprite) based game).
Keep in mind that these are screen update framerates, not sprite
animation rates (which are, typically, lower than the framerate - with
the occasional exception in SSFIIT).

I won't draw any system or game conclusions from these numbers, that
is left to the reader. However, based on my personal tastes (opinion),
at 15fps I perceive a game as being adequately smooth enough that framerate
doesn't affect gameplay or feel. 10-15 fps can be adequate if the motion
is primarily scaling and not scrolling (no abrupt sideways motion) and
depending on the speed of the motions. Below 10 and games jerk around
noticeably, detracting from gameplay and diminishing the 3D motion feel
All this is IMHO of course... And, of course, high framerate does not
mean a game is automatically good, just as slow framerate does not mean
a game is bad (the standard .advocacy disclaimer...).

Here are the results:
Range Average Shading
----- ------- -------
Jaguar
~~~~~~
* Cybermorph 10-16 fps 13 fps G
* Alien/Predator 7-10 9 T
* Doom 15-20 18 T

3DO
~~~
* Monster Manor 20-30 27 T
* Total Eclipse 14-24 20 T
* Shockwave 13-20 16 T
* CrashnBurn 12-16 14 T
* Road Rash 10-16 13 T
* Need for Speed 15-17 16 T
* FIFA 15-18 17 T
* Way of Warrior 30 30 T
* SSFIIT 30 30 -

32X
~~~
* Virtua Racing 20 20 F

Shading:

T = Texture Mapped Polygons
G = Gourad Shaded Polygons
F = Flat Shaded Polygons

=================
= MISCELLANEOUS =
=================

* WHERE CAN I GET A FREE PHOTO-CD SAMPLER?

Call 1-800-CD-KODAK and ask them for your free Photo-CD Portfolio sampler.

* WHERE CAN I FIND THE MEMORY MANAGER FOR MY 3DO UNIT? WHAT DOES IT DO?

Panasonic is offering it free of charge; all you need to do is have your
FZ-1's serial number ready, and call the Panasonic 3DO Hotline at
404.717.6700 and ask for the Sampler 3 / Memory Manager CD-ROM.
Delivery takes from 1 week to 4 months... If they seem clueless, try
201.348.9090, Customer service.

Goldstar can be reached at 800.222.6457 for the Memory Manager.

The easiest way is to buy the 3DO Interactive Sampler Volume II, which
includes the Memory Manager on it. Its price is 4.95$, and is available
at most 3DO retailers.

The Memory Manager enables you to erase saved games from the 32K nvRAM in
the 3DO units. This is useful if you own many games, and run out of
non-volatile ram for game saving purposes.

* SOMETIMES MY ROAD RASH COPY TELLS ME IT DOESN'T HAVE ENOUGH MEMORY TO
PLAY THE IN-GAME MUSIC; SHOULD I ERASE MY nvRAM TO MAKE MORE SPACE?

Road Rash sometimes does this after you have played the music videos,
because of the FMV segments that seem to occupy space in RAM; just
turning off and on your unit will clear the memory, and you'll be able to
select the in-game music.

* I LOST MY SHOCK WAVE MISSION! WHERE IS IT???

Lost in hyperspace, probably... Remember this: NEVER power off your
system other than on the MAIN MENU, or else the system will not save your
mission. A little "feature" put in by the programmers. If you are in
the heat of a battle, and you need to go, just PAUSE the game, ABORT the
mission; this will bring you to the MAIN MENU. From there, you can
safely power off your 3DO unit.

* IS THERE A WAY OF EMULATING A SURROUND SOUND DECODER FOR EL-CHEAPO?

Thanks to Dave Nagy, Dave Platt, and Gary Wolfe for their input on this.

DISCLAIMER: Go ahead, do it; but if you blow up your amp, we ain't
responsible! Don't mess with this stuff unless you know
what you're working with. Get a friend who knows about
this audio trick to help.

THREE SPEAKERS TRICK:
=====================
The bestest, cheapest way to get a pretty-darn-good pseudo "Surround
Sound" effect is to hook one el cheapo (the cheaper the better) speaker
to the negative (black) or positive (red) terminals of BOTH the right and
left speaker outputs of your amp/TV/whatever. I prefer using the negative
terminals because you get a slightly "airier" tone because of the acoustic
cancelling that goes on. YMMV.

Place this third speaker somewhere "behind" your normal listening/playing
position. (Laying on the floor, facing upwards, behind some piece of
furniture works quite well.)

That's it! Works great. I don't believe it will harm most amps--the
technique has been written up in all the "High Fidelity"-type mags. They
recommend that you wire a cheap volume-control "pot" into the circuit so
you can balance the sound, but I usually left it all the way up anyway.
(Just make sure you use a nice cheap, un-efficient speaker.)

THE ABOVE TRICK MIGHT BLOW UP YOUR AMP (Source: Steve Marsh).
The resistance will drop from 8 ohms to about 6 ohms. MOST amps will
take this in stride. If you have a cheap amplifier, don't try it
(although I tried it on my _OLD_ 200$ boom-box, and it works great!).

FOUR SPEAKERS TRICK:
====================
Another way to do this is to use _two_ rear-channel speakers, one for
left-rear and one for right-rear. Wire the + terminal on each rear
speaker to the corresponding + terminal on the amp or receiver. Connect
the - terminals of the rear speakers together. If necessary, wire a
10-ohm 5-watt rheostat in series with the rear speakers (at some
convenient point in the wire loop) to allow you adjust the rear-channel
surround volume. This arrangement loads down the amplifier less than a
one-rear-speaker arrangement, because the two rear speakers in series
have a higher impedance and present less of a load to the amp - and thus
there is less danger of underflowing its minimum speaker impedance and
popping a fuse (or a transistor).

This surround-sound trick was first demonstrated back in the early 1970s..
It's a variant of the "Dynaquad" system. It works surprisingly well for
an entirely-passive surround system.

Here's a cheezy ASCII picture that may (or may not ;-) ) help:

| Amp |
----------
+ - - +

| |
| |

+ +
Speaker- -- -Speaker

(This only illustrates the rear-speaker connections. I hope this
is legible.)

* HOW DO I CONNECT MY 3DO'S S-VIDEO OUTPUT ON A CBM 1084 MONITOR?

S-Video TO Y/C Cable Hack

You own a Commodore 1084 RGB monitor, and plug your 3DO into the composite
input? Wouldn't love to have a MUCH better quality picture? Well, it's
time to try this cheap, easy trick, that will take advantage of your 3DO's
S-Video output connector, and that will deliver a clear, crisp image on
your 1084 monitor.

_ _ ======================
/ V \ LEGEND: ___
| o o | 1 2 ====================== / \
| | 1 : Luminance signal | O | O : Core pin
|o o| 3 4 2 : Chrominance signal \___/ 1 : Peripheral cnx
| ### | 3 : Luminance GND 1
\___/ 4 : Chrominance GND
====================== Fig. 2
Fig. 1
=============================================== ******
MATERIAL # Description NOTE: Connectors viewed
=============================================== ****** from the front.
(1) - 4 pin Mini-DIN plug (Fig 1)
(2) - Phono plugs (PP1 & PP2) (Fig 2)
===============================================

Solder #1 to core pin of PP1, and #3 to peripheral cnx of PP1.
Solder #2 to core pin of PP2, and #4 to peripheral cnx of PP2.

PP1 is now known as the CVBS/L connector, and PP2 as the CHROMA connector.
Don't forget to switch the 1084's CVBS/RGB-LCA pushbutton when entering
"3DO mode". The 4 pin DIN connector will connect into your 3DO's S-Video
connector.
====
NOTE: The ASCII-drawn plugs above are in reality ROUND, not square!
==== Just thought I'd let you know... :) Thanks to Joshua
(jcru...@mtu.edu) for correcting the hack; it was originally a
CD32 hack, but it seems their S-Video connector is not standard?!?

* HOW CAN I CONNECT MY 3DO ON A RGB MONITOR?

With a S-Video to RGB converter. These small units cost 75-100$, and are
really hard to find. I do have an article that describes how to make
one from scratch; however, this is a moderate-difficulty electronics
project, and the article (10 pages) is in french... If you would like
to receive it, E*Mail me. Also, there are supposedly some stores in
Austria and Germany that modify the 3DO motherboard in order to extract
RGB information, by changing the converter chip.

* MY 3DO IS SPITTING OUT THE CD(-ROM) I INSERTED, AND THE SCREEN IS BLANK!

Uh-oh! Notice the direction the printed label of the CD is facing. If
after the CD is spat out, you notice that it did not move, there are
chances your CD-ROM drive has given up on you. Old Panasonic FZ-1 units
are known for this. First, don't panic. No need to call 9-1-1.

If your heart is set to try a quick fix, head to your local Radio Shack,
and buy the Precision Lubricator (With TEFLON <R>), about 1.50$. Then,
it's time to open up your FZ-1 unit. Take the cover off, insert a CD,
and check if the CD is spinning. If it is, forget it; you've got another
problem on your hands.

If not, take the drive cage out, and oil the little hole on the CD motor
on the underside, with the Precision Lubricator. There are 2 flat
motors underneath; the one you want to oil is the one directly in-line
with the cd-spinning mechanism (although you can't hurt it by oiling both
motors). Then plug back your 3DO in the wall outlet, and insert a CD;
help it start spinning if it doesn't want to. Should do the trick (test
it thoroughly before putting everything back together again).

If not, here are the phone numbers for the Matsushita ServiCenters:
NORTHEAST: 215.741.0661 MIDWEST: 708.608.1010
SOUTH : 404.717.6880 WEST : 714.373.7425
HEADQUARTERS: 201.348.9090

Goldstar info for repairs: 800.222.6457 (push menu-code HiMedia)

You'll need a copy of your purchase invoice if your unit is still under
warranty, in order to have it repaired free of charge.

* MY 3DO IS SLOWING DOWN BADLY WHEN I PLAY, BUT IT DOESN'T HAPPEN TO ALL
MY GAMES!

A faulty controller can be the cause of the slowdowns; it can be a
controller directly connected to the 3DO, or in the daisy-chain if you
have more than one controller connected. Just unplug all your controllers
from your 3DO, and try the slowed-down titles (without any controllers
connected) to see if they act up. Static electricity usually is the
culprit to faulty joypads.

* THE 3DO SOUND COMING FROM MY STEREO IS DISTORTED/SNAPS, CRACKLES AND POPS,
BUT SOUNDS JUST FINE WHEN I PLUG IT FROM THE HEADPHONE PLUG INTO THE STEREO.
ARE THE 'AUDIO OUT' PORTS IN THE BACK OF MY 3DO THE PROBLEM?

(Thanks to Dave Platt from 3DO Co. for the answer):
The left/right audio-output jacks of 3DO consoles produce a "CD standard"
output signal, which is 2 volts peak-to-peak. Some stereo systems (rack,
integrated, and A/V amplifier) don't seem to be compatible with a 2-volt
P-P input signal. and when you feed them a signal of this sort their line
stages will "clip" (literally "clipping off" the most postive and most
negative portions of the waveform) which cause distortion and popping on
high-level signals.

It's also possible that your 3DO is defective (some sort of fault in the
actual left/right jacks). You could make sure it isn't by trying your
3DO system on other friends' stereos (not just one, as they could also
suffer from the same problem). If the popping and distortion appear in
all locations, then your 3DO system may very well be defective. If it
occurs _only_ with your own stereo, then it's safe to say your stereo
can't handle the output voltage of the 3DO console.

You can try buying "attenuator cables" at Radio Shack, or make them
yourself:

> Try building an "attenuator cable". This would simply be a cable with
> standard "RCA" plug at each end, like the ones you're already using. At
> one end of the cable, connect the center wire in the cable to the center
> pin of the RCA plug through a 10 kOhm resistor (rather than directly, as
> is usually done). Connect a 3.3 kOhm resistor between the center pin and
> outer (earth, ground) connector on that same RCA plug. Connect the 3DO
> system to the stereo using this cable (unmodified plug at the 3DO end,
> resistor-modified plug at the stereo end). You can make two of these
> cables (to get stereo) or just use one for a test (and get only one
> channel).
> This cable will "pad down" the output voltage of the 3DO by 75%, reducing
> it to about 1/2 volt peak-to-peak.

* WHAT ELSE?

Well... We have frequent visits from 3DO employees who answer questions,
and give us juicy rumours/facts right here on rec.games.video.3do! I
think the majority of users here appreciate this A LOT, and this makes for
a big PLUS for the relation between consumers and company. They listen to
our comments/complaints/good ideas, which is also very nice.

* E-MAIL ADDRESSES

ac...@aol.com : Any Channel (Phil Lam)
g...@cix.compulink.co.uk : Bullfrog
74774...@compuserve.com : Capcom
cryst...@aol.com : Crystal Dynamics
data...@aol.com : Data East
Elec...@aol.com : Electronic Arts
steve...@delphi.com : Elite Systems (UK)
lne...@interplay.com : InterPlay (Lisa Nemec)
psyg...@psygnosis.com : Psygnosis
sh...@netcom.com : Shiny Entertainment
ale...@hollywood.cinenet.net : Silent Soft (Alexis Kasperavicius)
y91s...@ida.liu.se : Team 17 (Stefan Boberg)
mstet...@aol.com : Tetragon (Mark Skaggs)

from...@aol.com : "3" Magazine
cl...@3do.com : 3DO Club
ed...@futurenet.co.uk : Edge Magazine
74544...@CompuServe.com : Steve Harris (Editor, EGM)
75052...@compuserve.com : EGM Feedback Line
the-mail...@iftw.com : GamePro Magazine
Game...@aol.com : GameView VideoMag
ngon...@aol.com : Next Generation Magazine

PS: I have not tested all of these addresses, so use at your own risk!
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~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~
This FAQ was put together in order to help answer the many questions from
new users or potential buyers of 3DO technology, and to the best of my
knowledge contains trustworthy information, but don't blame me! I'm just a
student, and I don't work for The 3DO Company!!!
I'll try and post this FAQ every month, to help fill the need for a diff. FAQ.
Send any comments/additions to RIO...@dd.palmer.edu
Sorry for the seemingly biased comments; I'm only human, and I already went
through the agony of the question "WHICH ONE SHOULD I BUY???", and I'm just
trying to help victims cope with the big decision!!!
If you decide to use the information within the FAQ, please quote.

FINGER RIO...@dd.palmer.edu for the latest FAQ version.
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_ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ _
Rien ne sert /\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\::::::::....
de courir.. <> Simon-Pierre Rioux : UnderWurlde Publishing \\:::::::::...
_____ [] D.C. Student : 1000 Brady St. Suite 751 //:::::.......
oo/><><>\ () P.C.U. Fountainhead : Davenport, IA 52803 //:::::::::..
(--)><><><> -- Fax: 319.326.9897 : Tel: 319.344.0783 //:::::.........
L|_|L|_|` \\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//:::::::::.....
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