This page will give you some basic info on the D-3 and how it works. I designed this page mainly for people who are thinking about buying a D-3, but who want more info first. However, this page will also help you if you already have a D-3 because it will give you some basics on battling and a way to play the slot game safely without adding steps to the distance you need to travel.

Basically, the D-3 is a type of virtual pet. However, there are some extra features added, and you don't have to worry about cleaning up virtual poop like you do with most other v-pets ~_^ At the beginning of the game, you are given a choice of five Digimon to be your partner. You choose from Veemon, Armadillomon, Gatomon, Patamon, and Hawkmon. You'll get the rest later, so it doesn't really matter which one you choose. However, Armadillomon is considered a good choice for beginners, because his Champion form is the strongest. In case you're wondering, yes, Wormmon is in the game too, but you can't start with him. You will find him on level 2. Once you get your Digimon, the game will start. Use the belt clip to attach the D-3 to your belt and walk around with it, or just shake it up and down. You have to make your Digimon walk to move through the game. While you're walking, random events will occur. Sometimes you will find a Digiegg, and sometimes you'll find an enemy Digimon that wants to battle. When this happens, you can make your Digimon Digivolve either naturally or with a Digiegg, or you can fight the battle with your Rookie Digimon. That's not always a good idea though, since Rookies aren't very strong. You can't always Digivolve naturally, however, and you can't ArmorDigivolve if you don't have the Digiegg that your Digimon can use. Choose "Fight" on the menu after you've Digivolved, or choose it from the beginning to fight as a Rookie. The word "Count" will appear on the screen. Shake the D-3 for 3 seconds. After the three seconds are up, the screen will display the power you gained from shaking. These power points determine how strong your attack will be, and how many times you attack. Sometimes, Armored Digimon are able to do a level 4 attack, which looks like a giant fireball, and it does 4 HP damage! There is no way to guarantee that this will happen though. I've gotten level 4 attacks with 40 power points, and normal attacks with 90 power points! It seems that only Armored Digimon can do attacks at different levels.

I should also explain what HP, AP, and DP are, since I refer to them many times throughout the site. HP is a Digimon's health points. If your Digimon's HP reaches zero during a battle, it will lose. During battle, HP for both your Digimon and the opponent Digimon are displayed as bars on the sides of the screen (left side for the enemy Digimon, right side for yours.) The Digimon whose HP runs out first is the loser. The amount of HP lost for each attack that hits depends on AP, attack power. AP determines how much damage the Digimon's attack will do. Level 1 does 1 HP damage, level 2 does 3 HP damage, and so on.

DP, or D-Power, is what you use to Digivolve. Each time your Digimon Digivolves naturally, you will lose some DP. It takes 8 DP to reach the Champion level, 12 for Ultimate, and 16 for Mega. You can regain DP by walking, at the rate of 1 DP per 100 steps, and by winning battles. Sometimes after you win a battle, you will be awarded a DP bonus of between 4 and 7 DP.

I won't go into detail about the menu features, since they are relatively self explanatory. I do, however, want to mention something about the slot game. Playing the slot game can reduce the number of steps you need to take in order to clear the level you're currently on if you line up two partner Digimon on the reels. Unfortunately, you run the risk of adding steps if you line up two enemy Digimon! You can avoid this, however. When you start the reels spinning, press B once to stop the left reel. If it stops on an enemy Digimon, a D-3, or an egg, press C to exit. If it stops on a good Digimon, you can stop the right reel with no danger of adding steps. The reason you shouldn't keep going if the left reel stops on an egg or D-3 is because if the right reel stops on an enemy Digimon, the egg will not effect the outcome, which means steps will be added to the distance. The D-3 doubles the value of the other reel, so if the other reel stops on an enemy Digimon, 200 steps will be added to the distance!

If you want to get Digieggs though, here's a tip submited by Squall_LeonHeartilly:

but if you are stuck in a situation where a digi-egg broke or if you wanna collect 'em all, and you get a digi-egg in the 1st slot:
let the right one roll and it takes time and practice, look for that black dino digimon thingy...it's obvious in some sort, it goes black dinosaur, unimon, monochromon, then the digi-egg. when you hit it on the black dino, it skips uni and monochromon, and lands on the digi-egg. when you hit it on this dino guys, you should get the digi-egg. if you miss and you see the digi-egg (with the question mark on it) go by, you have ONE last slim chance, before the slots stop, press C really fast and you can get out without any steps added (after the digi-egg is this flying digimon thingy) a lil helpful tip ^_^
 

The other game features are explained in the other pages. If you still have a question, though, you can e-mail me.

Additions: 3/17/01 I just thought I'd add something about how to get more power from shaking before battles. It doesn't really matter how hard you shake, it seems to have more to do with shaking evenly. If you shake the D-3 at a steady pace you're more likely to get 90 power points. This doesn't guarantee a level 4 attack, though! I often get a normal attack with 90 power points. Also, shaking does affect Champion, Ultimate and Mega Digimon! They can't do attacks any stronger than what they usually do, but the power points determine how often they attack. If you get a low number, your Digimon may not attack at all, but if you get a high number they may attack every turn! This is true of Digimon at all levels.

One other thing, I forgot to mention that your Digimon will go to sleep if you leave them alone for a while. This doesn't really mean anything, it's just something that happens if you don't shake the D-3 or push any buttons for a while. You can wake up your Digimon by shaking the D-3 or pressing the A button.