anyone playing Tetris "by ear"?

[Bobby Stackwell]

Hi everybody!

i'm new around here but i'm a tetriholic since i downloaded NDS_TGM (and Heboris, and Texmaster too :)), but i will introduce myself in the appropriated topic...

I have always wondered: do some people really play "by ear"? I mean, all those TGM sound effects which are supposed to help us spot which piece is coming next are cool, but who actually needs them to play?

I'm aware that my skills are really far from being on par with yours (you guys on the forum, or any good TGM player's), so i can only spot the I and O piece by ear, the rest all sound the same to me...

Moreover, if one gets used to the TGM sound effects, how can they play Nullpomino which has different ones? Or even Texmaster which has none (at least by default)? And i've seen (on YouTube) some pretty good players ripping Texmaster without the sfx...

What do you think, should i learn to play by ear to improve my TGM skills?

[Caithness]

For me, all I can say is that it probably helps, but only on a subconscious level. I haven't actually memorized all the sounds in TGM or in NullpoMino, but I still feel like something's a little off without them.

[muf]

One of our members, sjoecool1991 is colour blind, and he finds playing without the piece sounds impacts his performance-- but that is because he is already at a disadvantage to begin with because 3 out of the 7 tetrominoes appear as the same colour as three of the remaining tetrominoes to him.

[cyberguile]

I forced myself to try and recognize which tetromino makes what sound.
I use the sound of the I for evident purposes and also the sound of the O because it's the worst tetromino for me.

[K]

it don't matter to me. But it can if you work for it

[sjoecool1991]

Yup, Mufunyo is right, I play by ear because green/yellow, blue/purple, and red/brown (sometimes red/orange, depends on the shade) couples look the same.

[Zaphod77]

You do not need to learn to recognize the sounds to play TGM.

They are, however, a tool to be used that is present in every official TGM game, and thus you can rely on them.

FOr those who are color blind, it is a real help. But most people will perform better with the piece sounds on then with them off, even if only slightly. Most people at least start to recognize the sounds of the all important I piece.

The game is designed to tell the players about it's state as rapidly as possible, to allow for high speed performance. For some, the audio cue is the most helpful, so that is why it is present.

[Kitaru]

I feel the sounds help as a cue for timing, but I don't consciously recognize most of them. I know the I piece sound, and think maybe they help as a cue for repeats, but mostly it's a timing thing.

[SYN7HOR]

The sound are never the same. Or am I missing something?

I just tried it in TAP to make sure, and each piece makes different sounds every time they respawn. That's why I never, ever learn which sound corresponds to a certain piece.

[Kitaru]

Preview sound.

[PetitPrince]

Yeah it gives you the next piece rather than the current one.

For me I don't find them that useful (or it works at a subconscious level). Learning the piece color is more important than learning their sound.

[Pineapple]

To the OP: You're one better than most here. Most can only remember the I.

[Bobby Stackwell]

OK, i'm happy to read that!
The I and O pieces are the easiest to remember: the I has the highest pitched sound of all the pieces, and the O has the lowest...

i've seen so many good Texmaster players on YouTube, all playing without the "TGM sounds", that i came to the conclusion that you could very well play without them, but i wanted to make sure :)

[cyberguile]

Yeah it gives you the next piece rather than the current one.

For me I don't find them that useful (or it works at a subconscious level). Learning the piece color is more important than learning their sound.

What if you play in Mono Mode ?

[steadshot]

I rarely play with sound and don't think it's necessary.

Regarding Texmaster: You can set the original TGM sounds for it, check out any of my older performances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y9TuUhbLsA
I can send you the sounds when you want.

And I'd add that preview sounds are only useful for TGM and TAP, as in Ti you want to use more than just one preview.

[Bobby Stackwell]

I rarely play with sound and don't think it's necessary.

Regarding Texmaster: You can set the original TGM sounds for it, check out any of my older performances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y9TuUhbLsA
I can send you the sounds when you want.


Yes please, i would really like to have the sounds for Texmaster. Check your PMs ;)



And I'd add that preview sounds are only useful for TGM and TAP, as in Ti you want to use more than just one preview.

I totally agree. Anyway, i'm unable to play TAP since i tried TGM3 (i mean its clones)... The lack of "hold", "I" floorkicks and just one preview really bother me now.

[Rosti LFC]

What if you play in Mono Mode ?

Then your scores aren't recorded by the game, so who cares? :P

[Jimtopia]

As much as I enjoy the TGM sound effects for each block, I usually mute the game when I'm playing so I can listen to music/talk on skype or whatever.

Regarding Texmaster: You can set the original TGM sounds for it, check out any of my older performances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y9TuUhbLsA
I can send you the sounds when you want.


I'd love to get the TGM sounds for Texmaster, if you're still offering.

[steadshot]

I'd love to get the TGM sounds for Texmaster, if you're still offering.

Sent you a PM ;)

By the way, does anyone happen to know if the Texmaster Hold-sound is equal to the Ti Hold-sound? Might be a dumb question, but I haven't really been playing Ti yet.

[Kasumi]

No, the hold sound effects are not the same.

[System Error!]

I too would appreciate getting the TGM sounds for Texmaster.

As for the topic on hand, I've started poking away at Shirase, and memorizing the sounds would let me concentrate on one less part of the screen, which is plenty useful.

[KevinDDR]

It is not possible to play Ti without looking at the top of the screen. Don't try to get around that.

[colour_thief]

Sorry to pull a Henk tetris/car analogy, but I think it's apt in this case. The piece sounds only tell you about the very next piece, and Shirase is pretty damn fast. You get 3 previews and I do recommend fully using at least 2 of them. Any less is like racing a car down a road at top speed in the fog. You might be ok for a while but you're setting yourself up for a crash. Yes, this means the piece sounds are completely uninformative at top speeds because you should already know what to do with that piece before the sound even plays. Though as Kitaru said the sounds are still helpful for timing and whatnot.

The (previews) top of the screen is random, while the bottom of the screen you should be controlling yourself. Given that the bottom is generally predictable, you want to focusing on the top. The best place to look is as low as you can get while the previews are still in focus. For me on an arcade machine this means looking at about row 15 or 16 or something.

[sjoecool1991]

I also go somewhat by shape by staring a up a little higher on the screen than usual, which is part of the reason I suck at stacking really low.

[GAP]

In TAP,colors are best cues
In Sudden Ti,the sound effect does a little help sometimes
In Shirase 1000-1300,I believe players must play some seconds by ear,
locks under 15 frame are insane XD
Shirase 1000+ gameplay without playing by ear...It's like a faster lock sub-M-roll.
Because when players notice both the next pieces and the field,it's very easy to slip up.

[mikehaggar]

You guys are funny.

If you weren't playing these games in your room on a computer but in a real arcade, you wouldn't hear anything in the game anyway.

Go to HEY in Japan and I dare you to even hear yourself scream.

The point is, if you even begin to rely on sounds in these games, you're fucked if you ever step foot into a real busy arcade to play these games.

[cyberguile]

not sure, since some arcades in japan make a little modification to the cabinet on which you can plug earphones.

[K]

some cab have earplug, but it's not standard. but it don't make much difference to have an earphone if near cab are shouting out loud as hell. Surely if all cab are in silent mode using only earphone. But loud sound are more appealing than silence in "amusement center".