BlockBox Manual
Getting StartedThe first step would be to go to the
site and register for an account. Registration is free, and is required to save settings and records. It is however possible to play without registering.
Once you’re registered, you can login and proceed to the game. You should have the latest version of Java installed for the game to run properly. The first screen you will come across asks you to pick a server. Currently all servers are open to all skill levels and members.
Main ScreenOnce inside a server the game will load and you will come to the main lobby screen:
1 –
Player Info – Displays your username and current multiplayer rating.
2 –
Start Button – Click this to start a game of BlockBox
3 –
Player List – Lists all the players currently on the server, with their multiplayer rating displayed. It also indicates their status on the server (Administrator, VIP or regular user) and players who are currently in the middle of playing a game are denoted with an L-block icon.
4 –
Buddy List – Lists all of the players who you have set as your buddies in the game, showing who is online and who is not. All online buddies have a number to the left of their name, indication which game and server they are playing on.
5 –
Open Games – Lists all games which are currently in the process of being started. If they are open multiplayer games, you can join them in this window by clicking the “join” button on the game.
6 –
Started Games – Lists all games which are currently running. Clicking the “snoop” button will allow you to watch the game being played. For multiplayer games, you can join any open slots by first snooping and then clicking the “join” button on an empty playing-field while watching.
7 –
Chat Lobby – Displays the in-game chat, with tabs for the general room, VIP room and the room for the players participating in the same game as you.
8 –
Info Box – If a player is selected with the cursor, this box will display the profile information and current records for that player. If a game is selected, the box will display the game settings and any players currently in that game.
9 –
Chat and Sound Settings – Used to change whose messages are displayed in the chat, your personal status, and the sound settings for the game.
Game SettingsClicking the start button will display the game settings menu:
Game TypeSolo Play - Displays the single-player modes to choose from
VS Play - Displays the multi-player modes to choose from
Team Play – Displays the team modes. See the team section of the guide for more information.
Game OptionsBig Piece – Displays the next piece as a large image of the piece on the background of the well.
Rotation System – Allows you to change the rotation system used to play.
Ghost – Displays a ghost piece of where the piece will land if you drop.
Game & VIP OptionsNo Guests – Will stop anyone from joining the game once it has started
With Approval – Will ask for your approval to allow a new player to join the game
Invite Only – Will only allow players to play if you have invited them. To invite a player, right-click their name in the user list and select ‘invite’.
No Observers – Will stop anyone from observing your game
Without Points – Causes the multiplayer match to have no effect on your ratings.
Only VIPs/Super VIPs – Will not allow players to join unless they have VIP/Super VIP status.
Players - Displays the list of players who have currently joined your game
Records – Displays the leaderboards for the selected game mode
Cancel – Cancels the game select and goes back to showing open and current games.
Start – Starts the game
ControlsClicking the controls tab at the top of the game options screen brings up the controls menu. This allows you to change the controls used in the game.
If you’re coming from TetrisFriends and want to start playing seriously, I’d recommend keeping the default controls and trying to get used to them. The standard controls on TetrisFriends are not good for speed.
Expert Controls8-way – Sets the controls to work in 8-way mode, meaning that diagonal directional inputs are possible.
Double Rotation – Turns on double rotation and sets the button used for it. The double-rotation button performs a 180° rotation with a single button press, as well as still having the two 90° rotation buttons.
Shift gravity – Changes the speed at which the pieces move sideways when left/right is held. The value is the number of frames between each sideways movement, so a value of “1” will move one space sideways per frame.
Custom DAS – Changes the delay, in frames, between left/right being pressed, and the auto-shift moving the piece sideways. Using lower value allows for faster play, but could cause difficulty in keeping control of the pieces.
Team Side – Chooses the preferred side to be on when playing Team games.
Load Soundpack – Allows you to upload a custom soundpack to use for the in-game sounds.
Solo modesClassic – A basic mode, aiming for a high level and score. This mode has a very low level of difficulty.
40 Lines – Time attack mode. The objective is to simply clear 40 lines as fast as possible.
Block Driller – The field starts with 18 lines of garbage. The aim is to clear the bottom line in the quickest time possible.
Block Survivor – Garbage lines rise up from the bottom of the field at an ever-increasing rate. The goal is to hold out for as long as possible before topping out.
Expert TA – This mode is based on the TA Death mode in TGM2. It has a higher level of difficulty than most modes, and extremely high difficulty using ARS rotation. It has 999 levels in total, but will stop at 500 if the time is slower than 3:25
Expert Ti – This mode is based on the Shirase mode in TGM3. It has a lot of emphasis on maintaining a very high speed. The mode has 1300 levels, but will stop at 500 if the time is slower than 2:28 (ARS) or 3:03 (SRS).
Marathon 1 – This mode is based on TGM1. It has a reasonable level of difficulty in the speed, but a far easier grading system than the other marathon modes. Grades range from 9 to 1, and then from S1 to S9, and then finally Gm.
Marathon 2 – This mode is based on the Master mode in TGM2. It has the same speed as Marathon 1 to start with, but the speed required continues to increase after level 500. Grades range from 9 to 1, and then from S1 to S9, finally with M for unlocking the invisible credit roll and Gm for completing the invisible credit roll.
Marathon 2.5 – This mode is based on the TGM+ mode from TGM2. It is essentially identical to Marathon 2, but with a set garbage pattern rising up from the bottom.
Marathon 3 – This mode is based on the Master mode from TGM3. The rate at which the speed increases depends on your performance, with COOLs increasing both grade and speed, and REGRETs decreasing grade and speed. Grades range from 9 to 1, then S1 to S9, then M1 to M9, then Master, MasterK, MasterV, MasterO, MasterM and finally GrandMaster.
Marathon 3.5 – This mode has a timer of ten seconds below the well. When the level hits the level-stop at x99, the counter will start counting down, only stopping when you pass the level-stop into the next section. There are 1500 levels and the aim is to perform well enough at skipping the level-stops to get to the end without the timer running out.
Multiplayer modesRated - This is the standard multiplayer setting, for up to five players. Rotation and sideways delays are determined by the player’s settings. Garbage is random and all players receive the same pattern of holes. Clearing two lines sends one garbage line, clearing three sends two, and clearing four sends four. All players also receive the same piece sequence.
Custom settingsRotation system – forces all players to use a specific rotation system
Gravity – sets the gravity speed in G (rows fallen per frame)
ARE – sets the delay in frames between one piece locking and the next piece spawing. Any inputs given during ARE will be applied when the piece spawns.
ARE+line – sets the ARE when a line is cleared
Line Clear Delay – sets the amount of time, in frames, it takes lines to clear
Lock Delay – sets the number of frames between a piece touching the top of the stack, and the piece locking.
DAS 4 Everyone – when this is set to “enabled” it will prompt players to enter their own settings for shift gravity and DAS when they join. When set to “disabled” it will force all players to use the settings which you have specified for the game.
Lockdown – sets the manner in which the lock delay behaves.
Floorkicks – sets the number of floorkicks players can have per piece
Hold piece – turns use of hold on/off.
IRS – turns initial rotation (during ARE) on/off
Garbage – sets how the garbage behaves, and the chance of the hole changing column between lines. GM garbage works by sending the lines cleared, but with the hole being wherever the final piece which cleared the line was situated.
T-Spin – turns t-spins on/off
B2B – turns the back-to-back bonus on/off. When it is on, successive clears of four lines with no other clears in between will send an extra line of garbage.
Number of preview – sets the number of piece previews that players see, providing the setting is turned on.
TeamsTeam modes have two players playing cooperatively. Both players have a ten-wide field each, and these are combined to form a twenty-wide well. To clear lines both players need to complete the same line in their respective fields. To create teams, select the team tab on the info box in the bottom left, and choose an empty team slot to create a team. You will be prompted for a team name and to select a player to invite to the team. You can have a maximum of nine teams.
Team modesVS – this is the same as normal rated VS, except two teams of two players battle head-to-head.
Nordic Walk – This mode is Marathon 2 but for two people
Marathon – This mode is Marathon 3 but for two people
Expert – This mode is Expert Ti but for two people
Frequently Asked QuestionsQ: Blockbox won’t work for me. What can I do to fix this?A: Firstly make sure that you’re using the latest version of Java. On Windows you can do this by going to the control panel (in classic view), selecting the Java Control Panel , going to the update tab and choosing “update now” in the bottom right corner.
If you’re using a Mac and Blockbox won’t run, this is most likely because the support for Java isn’t very good on Macs. Other than waiting for Apple to fix this or getting a different OS, I don’t know any way to fix this.
Occasionally you’ll get an error saying you do not have Java installed/updated when you in fact do. Usually clicking ignore will solve this.
Q: Blockbox runs slowly for me. What can I do to fix this?A: Firstly, try running the game in the Chrome web browser for best performance. Secondly, open the task manager (ctrl+alt+del), go to the “processes” tab, right-click java.exe and set the priority to “high”.
Q: A lot of modes are locked for me. How do I unlock them?A: Getting to level 20 on Classic will unlock Marathon 3. Reaching 300 on Marathon 3 will then unlock all other modes.
Q: What are the differences between rotation systems?A: SRS is the rotation system used in the official western games, such as Tetris DS or TetrisFriends. It is fast for playing with low-gravity and makes it easier to play at high-gravity, but it behaves less intuitively under high gravity settings.
ARS is the rotation system used in the Japanese TGM arcade games. It is designed to provide far more of a challenge, as the lock-delay only resets when the piece moves down a row, unlike SRS where it resets with each sideways movement or rotation. The behaviour is usually more intuitive than SRS at 20G, but it is slower with low gravity.
BRS is Blockbox’s custom rotation system. It has SRS like behaviour, but with different wallkicks under 20G. It also has two double-rotate directions, depending on if the rotation buttons are pressed simultaneously or if one is held down and then the other is pressed.
Q: What can I do to play faster?A: Learn to rotate both ways and practice. There are other guides on how to be a better player, go find them.
Written by Rosti LFC
Version 1.01 - Added BRS info
Version 1.0 - Release
BlockBox Manual, Get Started Playing The Best Game Ever!
Jul 16 2009, 03:43 PM
