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>>>>NEW 3DO USERS FAQ v1.6<<<<…
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Subject: >>>>NEW 3DO USERS FAQ v1.6<<<< Lotsa new info!
From: rioux_s@dd.palmer.edu
Date: 30 Nov 1994 02:39:13 GMT
Message-ID: <3bgokh$4or@insosf1.infonet.net>
_____ _____ _____ .#.
,'~~~~~'. .'~~~~~'. .'~~~~~'. .###.
# m~~~m # # m~~~m # # m~~~m # ##### ================================
# # # # # # # # # # # # '###'
# # # # # # # # # # # # '#' NEW USERS / POTENTIAL BUYERS
# # ### # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # ##### Frequently Asked Questions
# # # # # # # # # # ##### version 1.6
# ###### # ##### # # # # # #####
# ____ # # _____ # # # # # ##### Maintained by
# #~~# # # #~~~# # # # # # . Simon-Pierre RIOUX
# # ### # # # # # # # # .###.
# # # # # # # # # # ##### For the Christmas 1994 Season!
# # # # # # # # # # #####
# # # # # # # '###' # '###' ================================
#_# #_# #_# #____;#_## '
~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~' Send any corrections to
.:::. RIOUX_S@dd.palmer.edu
'''
* WHERE CAN I FIND A 3DO-RELATED FAQ CONCERNING THE MORE TECHNICAL ASPECTS
OF THE 3DO ARCHITECTURE?
The latest FAQ can be found on 128.146.140.90 (anonymous), along with
GIFs of released and upcoming games for the 3DO. If it is down, you can
try 131.252.10.155 in pub/gaming/3DO directory. Also, a weekly 3DO
Software List by Mike Delaney is posted right here on rgv3DO, but can
also be found on that anonymous FTP site (but may or may not be updated).
The FAQ is highly recommanded, as it will answer your darkest questions.
* WHICH BIG GAMES ARE COMING OUT FOR 3DO?
According to Mike Delaney's list:
Mortal Kombat II (Jan.95) & III (Xmas 95), NBA JAM (Spring 95),
DarkStalkers, GEX Gecko, Flying Nightmares, NEED for SPEED, Alone
in the Dark 2, Clay Fighters 2, Rock'n'Roll Racing, Theme Park,
Policenauts, X-Wing, Wing Commander 3, Return Fire, Demolition Man,
Primal Rage, StarBlade, 11th Hour, Syndicate, Magic Carpet,
Lemmings Chronicals, Earth Worm Jim II (rumour).
* WHAT ABOUT SPORTS GAMES?
NHL 95, World Cup Rugby, Striker Soccer, PGA Golf, NBA Live 95, NBA Jam.
Most EA Sports games should be ported to the 3DO.
* WHICH TITLES ARE RECOMMANDED THAT ARE IN STORES?
RPGs: AD&D's Slayer, Guardian War
Space RPG: Star Control II
Racing: Road Rash
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
Shooter-Arcade: Total Eclipse
Shooter-FMV: Burning Soldier, Microcosm
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
* WHAT ARE THE PACK-IN GAMES?
Panasonic FZ-1 : Twisted and Pebble Beach Golf
Goldstar : Shock Wave and Putt-Putt (edutainment)
CL 3DO Blaster : Shock Wave and Gridders
* 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, if you thought of upgrading your 486 to a full blown Pentium to play
that game, wait until the 3DO version comes out (Early Jan. 95); you
might end up paying 299$ instead of 2000$ to play it!
* 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!
* 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.
* WHEN WILL THE FLIP-TOP PANASONIC 3DO BE RELEASED IN NORTH AMERICA?
The FZ-10 is scheduled for release in late Jan/early Feb 1995. Price is
still unknown, but should be 50-100$ less than the present FZ-1;
supposedly no pack-in games are bundled. The M2 accelerator will be set
to work for this model as well.
* WHEN WILL THE MPEG ADAPTORS BE RELEASED?
The Goldstar DVM should be available in early Jan 95, whereas the
Panasonic VideoCD adaptor should be released in late Jan 95. Because the
A/V port of each machine is different, you cannot use a Goldstar MPEG
card on a Panasonic, and vice-versa.
* 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.
N.B.: Walmart stores will be carrying 3DO nationwide progressively.
The official price is 399$ with 2 titles; the rumours that the price
should 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).
The best prices on software are found at ComeBack Video Distribution;
examples are: FIFA Soccer (MSRP 59.95$) for 46.50$,
Road Rash (MSRP 69.95$) for 52.50$.
You can reach them at (800)647-2045; ask for Howard.
The best price for hardware is found at ?????????????;
You can reach them at (xxx)xxx-xxxx.
* HOW MANY DIFFERENT COMPANIES ARE MAKING 3DO's, 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).
* 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$.
The official importer is World Import Center at (305)668-0141.
* IS DOOM COMING OUT ON THE 3DO?
Yes. Id Software licenced DOOM to a development company, according to
a french magazine. The company is ART DATA. There will also be a
multitude of DOOM-clones very soon, as this type of game is very popular.
This is a rumour; don't hold me responsible for it! But, all clues
seem to indicate that this rumour is true (there was an interview with
Art Data about it).
* 3DO HAS 1 RISC 32 BIT PROCESSOR, SATURN & 32X HAVE 2 RISC 32 BIT
PROCESSORS; ARE THEY BETTER?
Let's see for the 3DO: 1-ARM60 32 bit RISC CPU, 2-32 bit VIDEO PROCESSORS,
1-20 bit DIGITAL SOUND PROCESSOR, 1-32 bit MATH CO-PROCESSOR, and various
other controllers and converter chips. Nope, that's about 6 chips right
there! But, the number of processors doesn't always means faster or
better games; don't count on the # of bits or # of processors to give you
an indication of the system's FUN factor! You just have to try it out
for yourself!
I think the best answer to that question comes from Simon Powers:
> A 32 bit risc processor is not a unit of power like watts on a stereo. You
> can't go for number of 32 bit processors = power of system. With all the
> next gen. consoles a lot of support is done by dedicated chips. In the
> case of the 3DO it's the twin CELL engines that make it excellent at
> sprite expansion and textures.
* WILL THE 3DO HARDWARE BE GOOD ENOUGH TO KEEP UP WITH SEGA/NINTENDO/SONY's
SYSTEMS?
Although not up-to-par with Sony's system, the user base and early start
are on the 3DO's side; already over 100 titles are available, which might
take some time for competitors to match. By the time these companies
release their systems in North America, 3DO Company will have revealed
their 3DO upgrade system (a card which will plug on the side of the
present 3DO-1 systems) which would make the PSX look like a 286...
Price of this upgrade should be ~150-200$, and has a 64-bit PowerPC CPU.
More details on the 3DO-2 will be released next year.
In other words, even if you buy a 3DO-1 now, by next 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 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:
> 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 (no scrollers or games with
> sparse/simple graphics or only partial 3D elements).
>
> I won't draw any system conclusions from these numbers, just that at about
> 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
> ----- -------
> Jag
> * Cybermorph: 10-16 fps 13 fps
> * Alien/Predator: 7-10 9
>
> 3DO
> * Monster Manor 20-30 27
> * Total Eclipse 14-24 20
> * Shockwave 13-20 17
> * CrashnBurn 12-16 14
> * Road Rash 10-16 13
Other interesting tidbits about the Jag's audio capabilities:
> > Actually, the Jaguar *appears* to have some advantages over the 3DO in
> > its audio hardware.
>
> Interesting. I've heard reports (third-hand, but allegedly originating
> from a guy who worked on the Jaguar's sound-driver software) that the
> Jag hardware is actually rather cripped in at least one respect w/r/t
> audio.
>
> What I was told (and it may or may not be correct) is that the Jaguar's
> chips were originally designed to run at about twice the clock rate
> that's actually used. The silicon implementors weren't able to actually
> build the chips to work at that speed, and had to cut the bus clock rate
> in half. This cut by 50% the number of memory access cycles available
> to the hardware.
>
> The Jaguar video circuitry uses high-priority bus cycles, and has a very
> high demand for data and very tight latency requirements - I infer that
> this is due to the fact that the image tends to be composited during
> every field on a line-by-line basis, rather than displayed out of a
> full-screen, dual-ported-VRAM framebuffer. The video-DMA memory demand
> is so high that it can "lock out" the audio circuitry from being able to
> access memory for audio samples... and the lockout contention time is
> enough that it can "starve" an audio-playback which is trying to run at
> full CD-Audio rates (44 kilosamples/second, two bytes per sample, two
> channels). This leads to glitches in the audio during times of heavy
> video DMA activity... and even a one-sample glitch is audible.
>
> If this is correct (and I don't know for certain that it is) then the
> Jaguar may never be able to do a reliable job of playing CD-quality
> audio, even if you hang a CD-ROM drive off of it.
* 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.
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.
* 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This FAQ was put together in order to help answer the many questions from
new user 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 ain't working for 3DO Company!!!
I'll try and post this mini-FAQ every week, to help out for the X-Mas season.
Send any comments/additions to RIOUX_S@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!!!
FINGER RIOUX_S@dd.palmer.edu for the latest FAQ version.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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From: rioux_s@dd.palmer.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.video.3do
Subject: >>>>NEW 3DO USERS FAQ v1.6<<<< Lotsa new info!
Date: 30 Nov 1994 02:39:13 GMT
Organization: Palmer Chiropractic University
Lines: 354
Message-ID: <3bgokh$4or@insosf1.infonet.net>
Reply-To: rioux_s@dd.palmer.edu
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