The Tetris guidelines Random Generator is apparently simple.

Thread in 'Discussion' started by colour_thief, 28 May 2006.

  1. In games adhering to the official Tetris Guidelines, most notably TDS, the randomizer is known to not be purely random. In fact, the randomizer's rules are quite simple:


    Give the player each of the 7 tetrominoes, in a random order.

    Give the player each of the 7 tetrominoes, in a random order.

    Give the player each of the 7 tetrominoes, in a random order.

    ...

    and so on


    So, this explains why the randomizer is good enough to give you fairly consistent I pieces, yet bad enough to give you strings like SZSZ.


    This thread has 2 purposes. The first is to discuss the implications of this randomizer on strategy. For example, getting all T-spin singles (which has the greatest return of points per line) would require 40% of the pieces to be T pieces. Obviously this is impossible with this randomizer. What then might the optimal strategy be? Also, if you've got holes in VS that require 2 T pieces or 2 I pieces to repair (and your Hold is empty), then unless you think you can survive 7 pieces on average, you should consider cutting your losses and making a controlled hole instead of waiting and making a potentially worse one.


    The second purpose of this thread is to document which games use this randomizer. Only games made after the formation of TTC (1996 and later) need to be considered. Below is a partial list. If you guys could test any versions you have access to, that would be great.


    Games that use the guideline randomizer:
    -Tetris Battle
    -Tetris Deluxe
    -Tetris DS
    -Tetris The Grand Master ACE
    -Tetris Worlds

    Games that DO NOT use the guidelines randomizer:
    -Tetris DX
    -Tetris The Grand Master
    -Tetris The Grand Master 2
    -Tetris The Grand Master 3
    -The New Tetris


    To quickly see if you have a post-1996 game to check, please consult this list:

    http://www.tetrisconcept.com/tetriswiki/Games
     
  2. will check deluxe soon...
     
  3. Sully

    Sully Unregistered

    Wow. It was brought to my attention a few weeks ago that (in TDS) the first 7 pieces were one of each at random, but I never realized that this pattern continued for the entire game.


    This may be the missing bit of info that I needed to be able to compete with HoLiC.
     
  4. tetris worlds (i can only vouch for the PS2 version) does use this system also, but with one exception: square mode has a more classic random system. This exception is pretty much necessary for square mode, mostly for building the gold blocks, but also for silvers.
     
  5. Thanks, I've updated the list.


    People, check anything you can. Even those handheld LCD versions.
     
  6. here's another:

    the new tetris (n64) does not use the convention you described. Again, this is probably due to the gold/silver block system used in tnt.
     
  7. Guest

    Guest Unregistered

    I checked some TGM3 videos (both rule types) and they don't use this system.
     
  8. Oops. Yeah I knew that one, should have included it.
     
  9. deluxe-yes

    dx-no

    nes-no

    gb-no
     
  10. tepples

    tepples Lockjaw developer

    (title nit: The randomizer is simple but wallkick is not.)


    In the guideline randomizer as you describe it, there are 5,040 possibilities for each sequence of 7. This may even make it mathematically cheaper to generate sets of pieces on really limited hardware (e.g. 8-bit embedded systems).


    How does the randomizer in The Next Tetris (PS1) and Tetris Worlds Sticky decide when and how to generate a multi-color piece?
     

  11. Yeah, that's a goof on my part. I intended to put the word randomizer in there but evidently I did not.


    EDIT

    Cool I can edit the title.

    And... quotes are still broken argh.
     
  12. yeah, they said the new version, which i installed yesterday, would fix the quotes. i guess it doesn't.
     
  13. Sully

    Sully Unregistered

  14. Phydeaux

    Phydeaux Unregistered

    Mmm. Time to turn off guest posting. Had to do that in my kids' forum, too.
     
  15. tepples

    tepples Lockjaw developer

    Or do what nesdev.com's phpBB board has done: a separate forum for guest posting, which is useful as a test forum or to report problems with the phpBB software.
     
  16. tepples

    tepples Lockjaw developer

    Is there an administrator on duty who can grant some emergency moderator powers to clean this up? I'm respected on gbadev.org and nesdev.com.
     
  17. For some reason they really like this topic. I swear I've deleted 10 spam messages, all from this topic. I usually catch them faster... Sorry guys.


    I have a good excuse though. I was at a gaming tournament playing TDS. Video to come...
     
  18. kbr420

    kbr420 Unregistered

    Hi,


    Let me start off by introducing myself. I work for BPS, sole owner of Tetris. If you guys have any questions or comments, please feel free to ask.


    Speaking about the randomizer, known as the "Random Generator", all new games that have been released within the past 5 or 6 years will have the system implemented. Any game that is being released without it, usually is a remake of an older generation Tetris product. But for now, you will see that all current and upcoming games will have 7 Tetriminos in the Random Generator.


    TGM3 is an excellent game. This game has both the Random Generator and the older non-standard system of spitting out Tetriminos.


    I would like some feedback from all of you. Do you like the Random Generator with 7 Tetriminos? Would you rather have more in the system (i.e. 14)?
     
  19. Guest

    Guest Unregistered

    Wow, seems like we have a VIP on the forum...

    I like the random generator for Tetris DS. Maybe 14 pieces would be better, but I don't think that it affects gameplay in a huge way. I like the 7 pieces generator because I can mentally predict how soon I will get a specific piece.

    The 7 piece generator is also fairer online. A completely random generator might leave one player without an I piece for 20 pieces or so.
     
  20. Guest

    Guest Unregistered

    VIP? [​IMG] ....yeah right!

    I agree with you on the 7 piece system currently. There are talks about changing it. But with the feedback I get from the end users, it could be really helpful in making the decision.
     

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