This section provides some tips for the following related areas:

• Control Pad Input and the 3DO DataStreamer
• Other Input Devices
• Saving Games and Scores

Applications that use the 3DO DataStreamer need to prepare the stream file appropriately so that branching point have markers associated with them. This is discussed in some detail in the chapter “Inside Streaming:User Input” in the 3DO DataStreamer Programmer's Guide manual in the volume “3DO Tools for Programming I (blue cover).

The 3DO system can accommodate a wide variety of user input devices. This manual provides information about currently available devices in the following chapters:

• Peripherals Overview briefly describes the peripherals available for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer system, suggests the most suitable kinds of applications for each peripheral, and explains how they interact with the event broker. This overview chapter also discusses daisy-chaining of currently supported peripherals.
• The Light Gun describes the light gun and covers installation, configuration, and test procedures. This chapter also provides a short discussion of light gun behavior with different display monitors, and offers some helpful hints for programming for this device.
• The Extended Joystick describes the extended joystick and covers installation and test procedures. The chapter concludes with some programming considerations and recommendations for setup.
• The Mouse describes the mouse and covers installation and test procedures, and includes five sample programs to aid in programming for this device.

Example code is available in the Examples folder.

To enable the end user to save games and scores, the title should use the NVRAM Manager discussed in the section “Working With NVRAM” in Chapter 11, “The Filesystem and the File Folio,” of the manual “Programming the 3DO Portfolio System.”