Until I get a little more time to polish this page, I'm leaving it up in it's rough form.
These are exerpts from the discussion at the group.
Using the mode button, you can choose between three modes (use the pink "gotchi head" button to enter):
No icon lit is a normal calculator, it doesn't do anything when you add (etc.) stuff.
The "Mametchi Head" icon is what I'm going to call the "Mechagotchi" mode. The Tam character at the left does things as you make calculations based on what the total is when you press "=". It doesn't seem like you don't have to do anything to keep it alive or happy, it's more of a "mascot". There's no "check-meter", or anything like that.
You start with just an egg; once you have a character hatched (more on that later) it will do the following things:
If the total is exactly 1: fall asleep.
If the last digit is 0: get sick.
If the last digit is 2: eat a "meal".
If the last digit is 4: shake head "no".
If the last digit is 5: poop.
If the last digit is 7: cheer.
If the last digit is 9: eat a "snack".
To hatch characters, you have to get certain two- or three-digit numbers as the last two to three digits:
Tarakotchi: last two digits are 38.
Kusatchi: last two digits are 93.
Nyorotchi: last two digits are 26.
Takotchi: last two digits are 88.
Kutchipatchi: last two digits are 91.
Hashizotchi: last two digits are 83.
Maskutchi: last two digits are 56.
Zukitchi: last two digits are 21.
Genjirotchi: last two digits are 28.
Pochitchi: last two digits are 11.
Mametchi: last three digits are 123.
Mimitchi: last three digits are 333.
Once you have hatched some characters, you can switch between them using the pink button. It will also automatically switch to a character if its number comes up again. There is probably at least one more character not listed; I still have an egg I can switch to, and there's a picture of Sekitoritchi in the instructions, but I haven't come across the number for him yet.
The "ball and bat" icon allows you to choose between three games using the pink button. Pick no1, no2, or no3 and hit the divide key to start the game.
Game 1 is some kind of weird blackjack game. The left number shows an "H" for the hole card and another number. The right number is your total. You use the pink button to "stand" or the multiply button to "hit". After you push a button, the hand is over and the two totals are displayed. After 10 hands the win/loss is shown and the Tam character will react accordingly.
Game 2 is the normal P2 "high-low" game, except the numbers are from 00 to 99. Push "+" to guess "higher" or "-" to guess "lower". Best of 10 again.
Game 3 is a memory game. It will flash a number on the screen, then when the "H's" appear on the screen you have a short amount of time to type the number in. This game will keep going until you type a wrong answer or take too much time; once you lose it will show how many rounds you "passed" and the 'gotchi will cheer for you if you beat your previous high score.
In the "Mechagotchi" mode, the different characters cause different "animations" of the numbers on the calculator screen when the total comes up; they seem to be based on the personalities of the P1/P2 characters. For example, Mametchi and Mimitchi display the total instantly. Kutchipatchi and Hashizotchi, on the other hand, take about two seconds to finally come up with the answer. Ginjirotchi and Potchitchi "play around" with the display a bit; the numbers sort of spin through like a slot machine or something and then "stop" on the answer. The other three pairs have their own "number animations" too. Kind of a nice touch, I thought. :)
In the "normal calculator" mode, of course, none of that stuff happens; it just displays the total immediately. It *always* beeps when you hit "=",
To turn the sound OFF
"Hit Mode key until any number/digits disppear from the screen, then hit Mode key again until the Mametchi Head icon lights up (still with no digits on the screen). Hold down AC and Pink Gotchi Head key to turn on/off the sound. Then hit Pink Gotchi Head again to get the digit/number back on the screen to resume calculator function."
*(thanks for the sound OFF instructions Nikitta ;0))
The *most* important thing I figured out (after 30 minutes of trying to get it to do something) is to get it into "Mechagotchi" mode by making sure the icon that looks like a Mametchi head is lit up. (Select it with "Mode", then hit the pink button.) Nothing will ever happen with the egg in "normal calculator" mode. Once you have it in Mechagotchi mode, you'll hatch characters eventually just at random by using the calculator (like I did, until I figured out the same number always got the same result). That actually seems like more fun than knowing all the numbers and putting them in, to me. Though if you wanted a certain character, the number codes are handy...
the code for Sekitoritchi! It's a *four*-digit number... the last four digits must be 1051 to hatch Sekitoritchi. His "number animation" is unfortunately quite annoying; the answer blinks like a VCR clock until you push a button again. And, I *still* have another egg. I guess I can expect to find Oyajitchi, too... I'm tired of typing "plus, one, equals, plus, one, equals" for now though. Maybe tomorrow. ;)
All credit for this information goes to SFGMaster in the VPetsML group. Thanks a bunch!
code for Oyajitchi, it's 1081. I *still* have an unhatched egg that I can select; maybe that means there are more secret characters? Guess I'll keep trying....
