Digital Monster Ver. S: Digimon Tamers
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| Name | Digital Monster Ver. S: Digimon Tamers |
| System | Sega Saturn |
| Release Date | September 23, 1998 |
| Language | Japanese |
Digital Monster Ver. S: Digimon Tamers (デジタルモンスターＶｅｒ．S デジモンテイマーズ, Dejitaru Monsutā Bashon S Dejimon Teimāzu) is a video game.
Story[edit]
Artificial life-forms known as Digimon have begun to appear on the Network. Raising them as virtual pets has become a popular pastime for Network users known as Tamers, but hackers also use Digimon for criminal purposes.
After accidentally receiving a Botamon from the Digital Monster Laboratory research institution, the player becomes a Tamer and must raise Digimon. Other goals include winning the five Medals from battle challenges in the Digital Monster Virtual Colosseum, and fighting off attempted intrusions and thefts by hackers.
Gameplay[edit]
Digital Monster Ver. S is a virtual pet game, where the gameplay revolves around raising Digimon for use in battles. In order to get the items necessary to care for their Digimon, the player must also engage in various activities to earn the game's currency, Digital Money 「デジタルマネー」 (Đ).
The mechanics of Digital Monster Ver. S are based on the original Digital Monster virtual pet line, but have been greatly expanded with new features.
Digital Monster Ver. S is primarily controlled using a computer-style cursor. As such, the game supports the Sega Saturn's Shuttle Mouse peripheral.
Digimon[edit]
The player may raise up to four Digimon at a time. Digimon must be kept inside folder items.
Stats[edit]
A Digimon's abilities and performance in battles are governed by the following stats:
| Age 「年齢」 |
The Digimon's current age, measured in "years" (actually, days of in-game time). |
|---|---|
| Weight 「体重」 |
The Digimon's current mass. Eating food causes the Digimon to gain weight, while training and battles reduce it. Preventing excessive weight gain is part of raising a Digimon well. |
| Win Rate 「勝率」 |
The percentage of battles won by the Digimon, out of all the battles it has fought. Higher win rates improve a Digimon's odds of evolving to the Perfect generation. Once a Digimon has fought the required minimum of 15 battles to qualify to evolve to Perfect, the "Win Rate" label on the stat screen turns from blue to red to signify this. |
| Hunger 「おなか」 |
The Digimon's current appetite, measured in hearts (from 1 to 4). Depletes both by itself over time, and by conducting training or battles. Refilled by feeding the Digimon. |
| Hit Points (HP) | The Digimon's hit points/health. Equal to the sum of the Digimon's current Strength, Intelligence, Camaraderie, and Speed. Not shown on stat screens; only seen as the Digimon's Life Gauge during battles. |
| Strength 「筋力」 |
Determines how much damage the Digimon's attacks will inflict on opponents. Minimum is 0; maximum is 128. |
| Intelligence 「かしこさ」 |
Determines the Digimon's chance of responding to opponents' attacks with a counterattack. Minimum is 0; maximum is 128. |
| Camaraderie 「人気」 |
Determines the Digimon's chance of inflicting critical hits. Minimum is 0; maximum is 128. |
| Speed 「すばやさ」 |
Determines how quickly the Digimon's Wait Gauge fills during battles. Minimum is 0; maximum is 128. |
| Generation 「世代」 |
The Digimon's current Evolution Stage, ranging from 1 (Baby I) to 5 (Perfect). Generally speaking, Digimon of higher generations have higher natural maximum stats (although this maximum can be increased using .dat items). |
| Affection 「愛情」 |
A hidden stat that factors into both the Digimon's evolution outcomes and the rate at which the Digimon's Support Gauge fills during battles. Minimum appears to be 0; maximum appears to be 128. |
| Attribute | A hidden property that determines which combinations of Digimon will create which Ver. S Digimon when using a New Digitama. Unrelated to traditional Digimon attributes. |
Interaction[edit]
The player may open a Digimon's folder to interact with it directly. The player can perform the following interactions, depending on where the cursor is:
- Patting the Digimon has a chance of increasing or decreasing the Digimon's Affection stat.
- Brushing the Digimon has a chance of increasing or decreasing the Digimon's Affection stat, and can also clean dirt off the Digimon.
- Talking to the Digimon will cause it to respond with a special animation and a loud, species-specific cry sound effect.
- Picking up the Digimon's poop allows the player to manually dispose of it in the garbage can, as an alternative to flushing.
- Wiping the folder's interior will clean it and remove any poop stans.
Affection[edit]
A Digimon's Affection stat is not directly shown to the player. Instead, it can only be gauged by observing a Digimon's behavior when idling on the Home screen:
- If Affection ≥96, the Digimon's will occasionally perform a happy animation.
- If Affection ≤41, the Digimon will occasionally perform a disinterested, threatening or angry animation.
At birth, a Digimon's Affection starts at 64.
Generally speaking, Affection is modified by directly interacting with a Digimon on the Home screen, especially by:
- Patting or brushing the Digimon
- Feeding the Digimon types of food that the species prefers
- Manually disposing of the Digimon's poop, instead of flushing or relying on a Robot item
If an interaction increases Affection, then the Digimon will react positively with a speech bubble with a heart in it; and if it decreases Affection, the Digimon will react harshly with a speech bubble with a lightning bolt in it. Affection will also automatically decrease slightly every few minutes, so consistent effort is required to maintain a Digimon's Affection level.
Evolution[edit]
Evolution generally follows the same rules, mechanics, and paths as in the Digital Monster virtual pets. All evolutions are one-way, and occur as in-game time elapses depending on how the Digimon is raised. Unlike the original virtual pets, training has no influence at all on how a Digimon evolves. Instead, the Digimon's Affection replaces training as a factor in what the Digimon will evolve into.
As in the original virtual pets, evolution to the Perfect generation is not guaranteed. Once a Digimon has fought the required minimum of 15 battles to qualify to evolve to Perfect, this is marked on its stat screen by the "Win Rate" label turning red instead of blue.
All Adult and Perfect Digimon from Vers. 1–4 are associated with a Digimon Fragment 「デジモンのかけら」 item. Using a Fragment on a compatible Digimon guarantees that when the time comes for the Digimon to evolve, it will evolve into the species corresponding to the Fragment, regardless of any evolution requirements. Digimon Fragments are only available through the Search system.
New Digitama[edit]
As the player progresses through the game, they will become able to obtain the New Digitama 「ＮＥＷ デジタマ」 item. This item may be used to fuse any two Digimon of Child generation or higher into one of five new Adult Digimon species that did not exist in the Digital Monster virtual pets: Gorimon, Gesomon, Tailmon, Evilmon and Gokimon.
The resulting Digimon is determined based on the Attributes of the two original Digimon, in the order in which they are selected for use in the New Digitama:[1]
| 1st Digimon's Attribute | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | Earth | Wind | Plant | Insect | Fighting | Poop | Water | Ice | Thunder | ||
2nd Digimon's Attribute |
Fire | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Evilmon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Tailmon |
| Earth | Gorimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | |
| Wind | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gesomon | Gokimon | Gokimon | |
| Plant | Gokimon | Gorimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gesomon | Gokimon | Gokimon | |
| Insect | Gokimon | Gorimon | Gorimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gesomon | Gokimon | Gokimon | |
| Fighting | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gesomon | Gokimon | Gokimon | |
| Poop | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | |
| Water | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | |
| Ice | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Evilmon | Gokimon | Gesomon | Gokimon | Tailmon | |
| Thunder | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gorimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Evilmon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | Gokimon | |
| Machine | Gorimon | Gorimon | Gorimon | Gorimon | Gorimon | Evilmon | Gokimon | Gesomon | Gesomon | Tailmon | |
| Tiny | Gorimon | Gorimon | Gorimon | Gorimon | Gorimon | Evilmon | Gokimon | Gesomon | Gesomon | Tailmon | |
| Mystery | Gorimon | Gorimon | Gorimon | Gorimon | Gorimon | Evilmon | Evilmon | Gesomon | Gesomon | Tailmon | |
Any other attribute combination not charted above, including any two Digimon with the same Attribute, will result in Gokimon.
Battles[edit]
Like the Digital Monster virtual pets, battles play out automatically for the most part with only limited player control. Battles revolve around the filling of two gauges:
- The Wait Gauge 「ＷＡＩＴゲージ」 (red):
Digimon will automatically and immediately attack each time that its Wait Gauge gauge fills to maximum. The gauge constantly fills by itself over time, at a rate based on the Digimon's Speed stat. - The Support Gauge 「応援ゲージ」 (yellow):
Each time that this gauge fills, the player may press a button at any time to activate one of three effects:- A Button: "Critical!" 「必殺だ！」
The Digimon's next attack is guaranteed to be a critical hit. - B Button: "Quick, attack!" 「速攻」
Instantly fills the Digimon's Wait Gauge to maximum, causing them to attack immediately. - C Button: "Hit 'em!" 「当てろっ！」
The Digimon's next attack is guaranteed to hit.
- A Button: "Critical!" 「必殺だ！」
- The Support Gauge is filled by mashing the A, B and C Buttons. The higher the Digimon's Affection stat, the higher the rate at which its Support Gauge fills.
It is possible for attacks to miss. It is also possible for Digimon to counterattack incoming attacks, in which case they take no damage and inflict a small amount of damage to the attacking Digimon.
There are two attack types, physical and projectile. They appear to be purely a cosmetic difference that the computer picks at random, with the exception that only physical attacks can be counterattacked.
If a Digimon loses a battle, there is a chance that it may be inflicted with the Injured 「ケガ」 status ailment. This requires use of an Ointment item or a Panacea to cure.
A Digimon cannot be used in battles if it is in the Baby I or Baby II generation, has a status ailment (including Injured), is asleep, or is dying.
Hacker Battles[edit]
As in-game time passes and certain criteria are met, the player may be interrupted on the Home screen by an encounter with an enemy Hacker. The Hacker will challenge the player to a Digimon battle, and if the player wins the battle, they will be rewarded with an item.
If the Hacker defeats the player, the Hacker will steal some of the player's money and, in the cases of the Boss Lady Hacker and certain special encounters with the Minion Hacker, will also steal a Medal from the player, requiring that it be earned again from the appropriate Virtual Colosseum facility.
Hackers only appear if the player currently has at least one Digimon capable of battling (i.e. Child or higher, no ailments, not dying, not sleeping).
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Minion Hacker 「ザコハッカー」 |
Frequently appears at random. Also appears when the player earns their 1st through 4th Medal, in a special encounter in which the player will lose a Medal if defeated. | (random Digimon, out of the following:[2]) |
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Mad Scientist Hacker 「マッドサイエティストハッカー」 |
Appears whenever one of the player's Digimon evolves into a Machine-attribute Digimon. | Monzaemon |
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Pirate Hacker 「海賊ハッカー」 |
Appears whenever one of the player's Digimon evolves into a Water-attribute Digimon. | (random Digimon, out of the following:[2]) |
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Superhero Hacker 「スーパーヒーローハッカー」 |
Appears whenever one of the player's Digimon evolves into certain dark/evil Digimon species (e.g. Devimon). | (random Digimon, out of the following:[2]) |
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Funky DJ Hacker 「ファンキーDJハッカー」 |
May appear when the player's Digimon are starting to go to sleep. | (random Digimon, out of the following:[2]) |
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Money Hacker 「マネーハッカー」 |
Appears once the player's total money exceeds 20,000Đ for the first time. | (random Digimon, out of the following:[2]) |
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Boss Lady Hacker 「女ボスハッカー」 |
The game's final boss. Appears once the player has earned all five Medals. | Lady Devimon |
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Digimonkey 「デジモンキー」 |
Appears between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM when the Sega Saturn system clock is set to one of five specific dates in September/October 1998 (September 29, October 6, October 13, October 20, October 27). | Etemon |
Home Screen Facilities[edit]
The game's menus and facilities are accessed from a strip of icons along the top of the Home screen.
Digimon Care[edit]
The first group of six icons are options for caring for Digimon.
- Food 「フード」
Opens a list of food items in the player's possession. Select a food item to feed it to the currently selected Digimon. - Toilet 「トイレ」
Flushes away any and all poop in the currently selected Digimon's folder. - Light 「ライト」
Toggles the lights in the currently selected Digimon's folder. Lights must be turned off when Digimon go to sleep. - Medical 「メディカル」
Opens a list of medicine items in the player's possession. Select an item to administer it to the currently selected Digimon. - Items & Eggs 「アイテム＆タマゴ」
Opens a list of miscellaneous items, including Digitamas, in the player's possession. Select a item to use it on the currently selected folder/the Digimon in the currently selected folder. - Change 「チェンジ」
Allows the player to swap Digimon between folders.
Training[edit]
The Training 「トレーニング」 menu (2nd icon group, 1st from left) hosts four facilities which can be used to increase Digimon stats.
- Jump-Rope 「なわとび」
Training that increases Speed. - Sandbag 「サンドバッグ」
Training that increases Strength. - Personal Computer 「パソコン」
Training that increases Intelligence. - Sparring 「スパーリング」
Training that slightly increases Speed, Strength and Intelligence, but decreases Camaraderie.
Each time that a training facility is used, the Digimon undergoes three rounds of training, and has a random chance of passing or failing each round. The more rounds of training it passes, the greater the stat boosts that it receives at the end will be.
Upgrade items for the Jump-Rope, Sandbag and Personal Computer facilities may be purchased in the Shop, or found via Search. These unlock the option to undertake higher-level versions of the training (LV1–LV5; LV1 is the default level available at the start of the game). The higher the level of training undertaken, the greater its the stat increase yield. Only one level of Sparring is available and the facility has no upgrades.
Each session of training that is undertaken has a chance of inflicting the Wounded 「キズ」 status ailment, which requires use of an Adhesive Bandage item or a Panacea to cure, on participating Digimon.
Digimon who currently have any status ailment (including Wounded) are unable to participate in training, as are Digimon who are asleep or dying.
Shop[edit]
The Shop 「ショップ」 option (2nd icon group, 2nd from left) opens the Digital Monster Item Shop 「電脳怪物雑貨店」. Here, the player may use earned currency to buy and sell items, including Digitamas.
Each day, the Item Shop will have one hour in which its items are discounted. The hour is always reported in a post on the Digi-Mon Forum.
Search[edit]
The Search 「検索」 option (2nd icon group, 3rd from left) opens a minigame where the player may send their Digimon to conduct searches of areas on a map in order to retrieve items and money, in exchange for a small fee.
The map is divided into a grid of 45 blocks, each of which is associated with a URL address. Only 15 of these blocks are available to search when the game is first started, and the rest must be unlocked by inputting their URLs (via the Address 「アドレス」 option at the top-left of the screen). As the game is played, the player can receive URLs for new blocks from emails and forum posts in the Net menu.
Each block has a different set of potential rewards. The player will only receive one of these rewards, at random, from each search. Rewards include large sums of money, items, and a prompt to choose one of three options to get a particular reward. Many of the item rewards from searching are rare and unavailable for purchase in the Shop. These include the Digimon Fragments, customization items, and special stat boosters.
Each search that is conducted has a chance of inflicting the Fever (「熱」) status ailment on the participating Digimon; some map blocks have an elevated risk of causing the ailment. The player must use an Anti-Pyretic item or a Panacea to cure the Fever ailment.
Digimon who currently have any status ailment, including Fever, are unable to conduct searches, as are Digimon who are asleep or dying.
Battle[edit]
The Battle 「バトル」 menu (2nd icon group, 4th from left) opens the "Digital Monster Virtual Colosseum" 「デジタル モンスター バーチャル コロシアム」, which hosts five facilities for battling. Part of the player's objective is to clear all five facilities and collect their Medals.
- Water (open on Wednesdays)
The player must win a series of five consecutive battles (against a Betamon, a Coelamon, a Whamon, a Shellmon and a Gesomon) to win the Water Medal. - Sky (open on Mondays)
The player must win a series of five consecutive battles (against a Piyomon, a Birdramon, an Airdramon, a Unimon and a Holydramon) to win the Sky Medal. - Grass (open on Thursdays)
The player must win a series of five consecutive battles (against a Patamon, a Greymon, a Mojyamon, an Orgemon and a Saber Leomon) to win the Grass Medal. - Cave (open on Saturdays)
The player must win a series of five consecutive battles (against a Numemon, a Vegimon, a Scumon, a Nanimon and a Gokimon) to win the Cave Medal. - Arena (always open)
The player may fight single battles against random Digimon opponents.
In order to win the Arena Medal, the player must win a battle with the arena's boss, a Megadramon nicknamed "NEO Custom" 「ＮＥＯ カスタム」, who only appears on Fridays between 17:00 and 18:00.
Once a facility's Medal has been earned, it remains permanently open and can be attempted again at any time.
Album[edit]
- Main article: Digital Monster Ver. S: Digimon Tamers/Album
The Album 「アルバム」 (2nd icon group, 5th from left) maintains a record of all Digimon species that the player has raised in their save file to date, in the form of collectible cards.
In the Album, Digimon are sorted into their Version of origin and arranged into their evolution trees. Selecting a Digimon from an evolution tree brings up its card and a profile blurb that describes them.
Net[edit]
The Net 「ネット」 menu (3rd icon group, sole icon) provides access to an in-game Web portal, where the player can access information about the game.
Mail[edit]
The Mail 「メール」 option opens the player's email inbox.
As the game is played, the player will receive emails from other Tamers. In many of these emails, Tamers will share their discoveries about game mechanics, evolution criteria, URLs for Search, and other information. Some emails are purely social, and their writers update the player on their lives as the game progresses.
With the exception of the first email that the player receives (from the DigiLab upon starting the game), the player will be prompted upon reading an email to send a reply. For each email, the player is given a set of three replies that they may send. In some cases, the player's choice of reply may affect which emails the Tamer in question will send the player in future.
DigiLab[edit]
The DigiLab 「デジ研」 option opens the website for the Digital Monster Laboratory research institution. The website has three options:
- Headline News 「最新ニューズ」
Opens the most recent news post from the Digital Monster Laboratory. In these news posts, the Laboratory shares discoveries from its research into Digimon, including care information, Digimon Fragment locations, and the development of the NEW Digitama. It also reports on the player's victory over the Boss Lady Hacker. - Playback News 「プレイバックニューズ」
Accesses an archive of past news posts. - Digi-Mon[sic] Forum 「デジモン フォーラム」
Accesses a message board where other Tamers report on their findings related to Digimon care and evolution, the Search menu, and other features. The player is served a set of five random forum messages per day, including a message from the Item Shop reporting its discount hour for the day.
Sleeping Botamon[edit]
Sleeping Botamon 「ボタモン熟睡中」 is a minigame in which the player must protect a Botamon by swatting the flies that are attempting to bite it. The game is divided into levels, where the player must swat all flies to progress, and on each successive level, more flies will spawn. The game ends if a fly reaches and bites the Botamon.
Playing the minigame rewards the player with a sum of money equal to:
- (Đ reward) = (# of flies swatted) × (Rate)
System[edit]
The System 「システム」 menu (4th icon group, left icon) allows the player to save, load, configure the game's settings, customize the cursor, customize the Home screen's music and wallpaper, and customize the wallpapers and frames of each Folder. Customization options can be expanded by purchasing/collecting .bac, .fra, .int, .poi, and .bgm items.
Help[edit]
The Help 「ヘルプ」 menu (4th icon group, right icon) provides a set of nine guides on the basics of Digimon care.
Obtainable Digimon[edit]
- Main article: Digital Monster Ver. S: Digimon Tamers/Album
Digital Monster Ver. S features 70 species of Digimon, including the complete rosters of the original virtual pets Digital Monster Ver. 1–4. The game also introduces fourteen new Digimon species to the franchise; these Digimon are categorized by the game separately as the "Ver. S" Digimon.
Image Gallery[edit]
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| Front Cover | Back Cover | Game Disc |
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| Digital Monster Ver. S promo art | Digital Monster Ver. S magazine scan | Digital Monster Ver. S magazine scan |
Additional Information[edit]
| References | Notes |
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