[lj65/tetramino] Center-Slow and Bottom-Slow

[tepples]

LJ65 (http://lj65.org/), formerly "Tetramino", is a GPL falling block game for Nintendo Entertainment System.

In LJ65, combos (line clears with successive pieces) are worth slightly more than line clears that aren't part of a combo. For example, a double is worth 400 points, and a double-double combo is worth 400+800 points. A triple is worth 900, a homer 1600, and a triple-homer combo 900+2800, more than two homers. The included manual explains the details.

Post your records for recent versions of LJ65. Make sure to let us know what emulator you use (or if it's an actual NES), and what kind of controller you use. No Game Genie codes, no TAS, make sure your emu is running at 60 fps. (In PocketNES, turn on the PPU hack.)

Some versions of the game have changed the rules in a way that affects the rankings:
0.34 fixed a bug that happened at 1/3G.
So: DQ all scores from <0.34. 0.39 added bottom rotation, but in 0.39 and 0.40, it's broken on the right side. In fact, the player on the right can change the rotation of pieces on the left. These have been fixed in 0.41.
So: Add board for bottom rotation, and DQ scores from bottom in 0.39-0.40 whose screenshot shows a nonzero score on the right side. Prior to 0.40, the game stopped speeding up after hitting 20G. As of 0.40, lock delay begins to decrease.
So: Rank pre-0.40 scores over 200 lines from 0.34-0.39 by estimating the score at 200 lines assuming constant points per line: RankScore = Score * 200 / Lines.
But incidentally, this did not affect ranking in the bottom table at all.
version 0.34-0.41 NTSC (rotation: center; speed: slow; garbage: off)
Name Score Lines System/Emu Controller Date
===============|========|=====|=============|===== ============|============
tepples 100992 192 NES Std. controller 2009-03-15
rednefed 89939 220 FCE Ultra Keyboard 2009-04-24 [est. 81762]
Ai 73427 193 FCE Ultra Keyboard 2009-05-17
jujube 110781 340 FCE Ultra Logitech pad 2009-01-20 [est. 65165]
Meroigo 64492 195 Jnes Arcade Stick 2009-04-25
Burbruee 55678 183 PocketNES GBA 2009-01-20
Ray Ayanami 49869 113 Nestopia Keyboard 2009-04-28
bistro 40520 120 FCE Ultra Keyboard 2009-02-09


version 0.39-0.41 NTSC (rotation: bottom; speed: slow; garbage: off; left side in 0.39-0.40)
Name Score Lines System/Emu Controller Date
===============|========|=====|=============|===== ============|============
jujube 128988 291 FCE Ultra Dual Shock 2009-05-13
rednefed 92361 221 FCE Ultra Keyboard 2009-05-12
Ai 88729 279 FCE Ultra Keyboard 2009-05-11
Ray Ayanami 72748 220 Nestopia Keyboard 2009-04-28 [est. 66134]
an ass 71856 260 Nestopia Dual Shock 2009-05-03 [est. 55723]
Kasumi 47302 178 NesterJ Keyboard 2009-04-28

[rednefed]

score is invalid.

[tepples]

Oh fsck, I found a bug in the speed curve code, which causes the game to stop speeding up around the 1/3G point. Locking topic until 0.34 is out.

EDIT: Unlocked and cleared. Only scores from 0.34 will be accepted.

[tepples]

And now that 0.34 is out, and I've verified that it speeds up as expected, we can start this up again:

http://pinocchio.jk0.org/lj/tetramino_0.34_58440.png
Tetramino 0.34
Score 58440, 189 lines
Input: Logitech Precision gamepad (Precision? bah! My N64 pad feels like my NES pad, and both feel much tighter than this one.)
System: Nestopia 1.37

Video: YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcVGsOpw3Xw)

As for Atari rotation + lock delay, you could always see how it feels in Lockjaw (PC, GBA, DS).

[tepples]

Tried again on an NES and did much better:
http://pinocchio.jk0.org/lj/tetramino_0.34_85577.jpg
Tetramino 0.34
Score: 85577, 223 lines
Input: NES controller
System: NTSC NES

[Kasumi]

Score: 40,658
Lines: 156

System: NTSC Wii
Emulator: FCE Ultra GX
Input: Horizontal Wiimote.

[Burbruee]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3529/3184954240_59dae4f0f5_o.png

Score: 52 615
Lines: 149
Version: 0.34

System: GP2X
Emulator: GPFCE
Input: GP2X digital stick (which is NOT good to play block-games with, I only used soft drops in order to avoid accidental drops)

[Ai]

Tetramino 0.34
Score: 56172
Lines: 161
Input: Logitech MX 3200 Cordless Keyboard
System: FCE Ultra 2.0.3

It feels like it's been ages since I last played SRS style Tetris. I can't handle the FAST speed setting.

[rednefed]

Forgot to post my high score here after getting 0.34.

Score: 56668
Lines: 158
Keyboard on FCEUX

[tepples]

http://pinocchio.jk0.org/lj/tetramino_0.34_87781.jpg

score: 87781
lines: 237
gamepad on NES

TIP: The game will go back to the title screen 1024 frames (17 seconds) after the Game Over message fully scrolls onto the screen. To give yourself time to take a picture, plug the controller into the other port and press A+B.

[jujube]

score: 76508
lines: 248
Logitech Dual Action gamepad (using L2 and R2 for firm and soft drop because the D-pad sucks) on FCEU

nice game tepples, wish i could play it on the NES. i wonder if it would be possible to make the firm drop button lock on release (this would only be useful if the NES accepts 8-way input of course) because i find it a little hard to slide a piece before it locks. i usually soft drop instead to be safe.

[tepples]

Standard NES controllers and NES Advantage joysticks accept 8-way input; ask anyone who's played Contra.

I have the same Logitech controller, and its directional pad is nowhere near as nice as that of an N64 or PS1 controller through an adapter. The Xbox 360 wired controller doesn't need an adapter, but I've been told that its D-pad isn't the best either. I don't regularly visit anyone who owns a PS3, so I have no idea how a SIXAXIS would work. Perhaps you could map L1 to up, wait 1 frame, then left, and R1 to up, wait 1 frame, then right, if your emulator supports it.

[muf]

I've heard the NES Advantage can be Sanwa modded http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_exclaim.gif

[jujube]

Perhaps you could map L1 to up, wait 1 frame, then left, and R1 to up, wait 1 frame, then right, if your emulator supports it.
nah, sounds like cheating, even if it is just to play faster.

new score (same details):
score: 86148
lines: 337

edit january 20:
http://i41.tinypic.com/2pzcmmb.png

[Burbruee]

Score: 55678
Lines: 183
Emulator: PocketNES on a GBA.

I won't bother posting a photo as I didn't beat anyones score.

[tepples]

Not catapulting to first place, just cementing my second place position with 13-line combos.

http://pinocchio.jk0.org/lj/tetramino_0.34_91451.jpg
0.34
SC 91451
LINES 226

[lgb]

Slow, no garbage:
bistro - 40520 - 120 - FCE Ultra - Keyboard - 2009-02-09

*powerslides into really-close-to-second-to-last-but-ultimately-last place*

Emulator is FCE Ultra v0.98.12. Keyboard is an old Compaq keyboard of some sort.

[tepples]

I will catch jujube someday.

http://pineight.com/nes/records/tetramino_100992.jpg
version: 0.36
system: NTSC NES with standard controller
score: 100992
lines: 192

[jujube]

grats on passing 100k tepples http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif

[Ray Ayanami]

Testing out nesDS.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/gs68/tgm/other_tetris/DSC06576.jpg

Name                 Score   Lines  System/Emu    Controller        Date
===================|========|=====|=============|= ================|============
gs68                  39201   135   nesDS         DS Lite           2009-04-23     
nesDS kinda sucks for tetromino games, because B is mapped to Y and A to B, instead of B to B and A to A like in Tetris DS and default NDS_TGM setup.

[rednefed]

rednefed              60452   119   FCE Ultra     Keyboard          2009-04-24
A piece didn't kick how I thought it would near the top of the stack, leading to an untimely demise. But I abused the combo scoring for a higher point total.

Edit:
rednefed              89939   220   FCE Ultra     Keyboard          2009-04-24
Is there a description of the kick tables? I seriously think a T warped over a spike...
These are on 0.38 btw.

[Xkeeper]

Is there a description of the kick tables? I seriously think a T warped over a spike...
These are on 0.38 btw.
SRS free-space + ARS kicks. http://jul.rustedlogic.net/images/smilies/ewww.gif

[tepples]

It's not "abuse" to figure out that a combo of seven singles averages the same 400 points per line as a home run. So I try to open each game with several >=10 combos. One drawback of combos is that you don't get as many drop points because you have to build higher.

Is there a description of the kick tables? I seriously think a T warped over a spike...
Tetramino uses the same rotation system as TOD (http://www.tetrisconcept.com/wiki/index.php/TOD), whose article has a bunch of twist examples. Free space rotations are like SRS; kicks for all pieces are right 1, left 1, up 1. And that's straight up, not diagonally up like TDX and SRS that confuses a lot of players switching from ARS.

[muf]

Speaking of TOD. I've been playing some TOD, and I must say the lock delay system and the wallkicks are totally unintuitive and annoying. Just try doing this with a piece near an overhang: down, tap right, up.

[Ray Ayanami]

Just figured out how to tweak nesDS's settings. It's kinda not obvious; you have to touch the touch screen.
Name                 Score   Lines  System/Emu    Controller        Date
===================|========|=====|=============|= ================|============
gs68                  41338   146   nesDS         DS Lite           2009-04-24     
More points, less lines.
Conclusion: 4-liners are the way to go.

[Meroigo]

http://www.pici.se/pictures/bqwYbpCJD.png
Name                 Score   Lines  System/Emu    Controller        Date
===================|========|=====|=============|= ================|============
Meroigo               58092   153   Jnes          Arcade Stick      2009-04-24
Thought I'd try this game out. I topped out because when it got faster, the game didn't work quite as I expected it to. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_biggrin.gif


Edit: I saw there was a newer version of Jnes. Checked change history. Said something about a POV hat fix. Downloaded and played again. I missdroped alot less with this version. http://www.tetrisconcept.net/forum/images/smilies/icon_razz.gif
http://www.pici.se/pictures/bMDDWhMmH.png
Name                 Score   Lines  System/Emu    Controller        Date
===================|========|=====|=============|= ================|============
Meroigo               64492   195   Jnes          Arcade Stick      2009-04-25

[Ai]

nesDS kinda sucks for tetromino games, because B is mapped to Y and A to B, instead of B to B and A to A like in Tetris DS and default NDS_TGM setup.
You can remap the buttons by selecting the input tab in the configuration menu. To enter the configuration menu you only need to tap on the touchscreen. ^^

I haven't played in a while. I might give the new version a try when I have some time during the week.

EDIT:

Wow nice play with arcade stick Meroigo!

[Meroigo]

Ai: Thanks. When I play Tetris games with my stick, where you instant hard drop with Up, I use to map the Up in the game to be the Down on my stick (and Down in the game to be Up on my stick). Then it's almost like playing 20G if you look at the ghost, but with much more mobility before it actually reach 20G. ;D

[Ray Ayanami]

Time to break in Bottom rotation.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/gs68/tgm/other_tetris/t_001.png

Had a run where I got 15k in <20 lines thanks to a 15 combo, but I screwed it up pretty fast.

[Kasumi]

Thank goodness for bottom rotation. Didn't pass anyone, but cleared more lines/got higher score.



Kasumi 47302 178 NesterJ Keyboard 2009-04-28 Bottom

[rednefed]

Bottom rots:
http://defender.arcimpulse.com/TC/t-1.png
508 lines
173833 points

[tepples]

I think you found the key to high scores: the game stops speeding up around 240 lines. So if you're a GM at TGM1 (like rednefed), you can go forever in Tetramino. I need to fix that.

[rednefed]

May I suggest lowering lock delay past about 300 lines?
http://defender.arcimpulse.com/TC/t-2.png

Decided to stop after breaking 200000
201207 pts, 505 lines.

[Ai]

Impressive control in both rotation systems rednefed!

I played a few ARS games in the latest version and got this:



Ai                    80127   230   FCE Ultra     Keyboard          2009-04-28   Bottom
This feels a lot easier than playing SRS. Can you keep my SRS score on the leaderboard too? I will try to improve both. ^^

[Ray Ayanami]

Considering that some of are able to kick more arse with BOTTOM than CENTER, I suggest splitting the leaderboard, Tepples.

[Ray Ayanami]

Thanks.

Also,
Center rotation:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/gs68/tgm/other_tetris/t_002.png
Name                 Score   Lines  System/Emu    Controller        Date
===================|========|=====|=============|= ================|============
gs68                  49869   113   Nestopia      Keyboard          2009-04-28

Bottom rotation:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v473/gs68/tgm/other_tetris/t_003.png
Name                 Score   Lines  System/Emu    Controller        Date
===================|========|=====|=============|= ================|============
gs68                  72748   220   Nestopia      Keyboard          2009-04-28

[an ass]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v249/anass733/TETRAMINO-2009-05-03-1540.png

bottom rotation, emulator was nestopia, controller was a dualshock

[tepples]

Rules are updated. I decided not to disqualify pre-0.40 scores with more than 200 lines. Instead, I adjusted them based on estimated points per line, and only jujube's score in center lost any positions.

[jujube]

bottom rotation, Playstation2 gamepad, FCEU emu:

http://i44.tinypic.com/119oyyq.png
i had a great start but kind of messed up towards the end.

Rules are updated. I decided not to disqualify pre-0.40 scores with more than 200 lines. Instead, I adjusted them based on estimated points per line, and only jujube's score in center lost any positions.
D'OH!

[Ai]

Ai                    88729   279   FCE Ultra     Keyboard          2009-05-11
Bottom rotation.

I don't think those estimates are really representative. rednefed would easily get much higher. ^^

[rednefed]

I gave it one try (all I have time for; I'm busy lately)
92361 score, 221 lines. (Bottom rots of course)
Don't think I hit 20G yet but a series of misdrops took me to the top of the stack where I survived making about 40 singles and doubles, but then succumbed to the randomizer.

[jujube]

bottom rotation, same details as before.

http://i44.tinypic.com/2e2i5a9.png

almost reached my goal of 130k.

[Ai]

Ai                    73427   193   FCE Ultra     Keyboard          2009-05-17
Center rotation.

Massive combo abuse in the beginning. ^^;

It would be nice if the game saved the highscores for the different modes, but I'm not sure that's possible. And the game should show what rotation mode is being used somewhere next to the current score.