hi, i'm new, and have some questions Options

[daskrip]

I've been playing Tetris DS for a few years. I would say I'd play at about 1 line per second, or a bit faster, when warmed up.
Now I'm transitioning into PC Tetris so I can play online and save replays. I tried out LockJaw, and I mainly play NullpoMino. I'd like to know anything I need to know. Here are my main questions:

1. What is a good control scheme to use? Do people normally use specific buttons for far right and far left, or do people normally just hold right/left to make the piece move to the wall? If people use those, what buttons do they set them to? Same question, but with 180 rotation.

2. What is the difference between MIN DAS and MAX DAS? I have both of them at 7 right now.

3. What does AR mean? I saw someone say that they used an AR of 0.

4. What is a good online multiplayer Tetris game? I don't like Tetris Battle/Friends because they have cash items, no delay customization, and not that great of a layout IMO. Is there a standard online Tetris that people here play? I heard of one that allows spectators for online matches, but I don't know what it is.

5. To play background music in NullpoMino (specifically, 40 line clear mode), do I need to add an ogg file to musiclisteditor?

Thanks in advance.

[DarthDuck]

hi, welcome!

1. A good control scheme lets you rotate with one hand and move left-right with the other. Less than a handful of top players have been able to make it without having that balance. You can find the controls that everyone uses and why here: http://harddrop.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2983

And here is a smaller thread on the topic: http://harddrop.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2749

I personally spent a lot of time trying everything I could and ended up with this, which made me considerably faster after a couple weeks:

a: soft drop
s: left rotate
d: right rotate
f: hard drop

j: move left
k: move right

spacebar: hold

To summarize what you will find in that larger thread on controls, the consensus is that space bar should not be used for hard drop. I like to use my index finger since it's faster than a thumb. Also, all of my keys are on the center typing row so they are easy to find (just feel for the j and f grooves. But most importantly, left and right rotate are next to each other (unlike default) and are on a separate hand than my left-right. If you've been reading through these forums at all I'm sure you've noticed the high frequency of recommendations to rotate with both directions to improve your speed/finesse.

2. I have asked this question several times and no one really knew the answer, but the consensus I gathered was that they need to be the same value. The intuitive explanation, which Kitaru and Wojtek still have not corrected me on (game developers), is that having different values will create a window for when your DAS will fire off rather than make it consistent. You do not want to risk that because you want your DAS to be predictable. What 7 MIN DAS literally means is that 7 frames will go by after holding down your left or right key before it starts to slide to the side. So a max DAS that's higher implies that it can take longer for it to kick in, which would hurt your feel of the game.

3. ARr is Auto Repeat rate. Most of us have it on 0; I know Blink uses 1. That's how fast your piece starts sliding once your DAS kicks in. On the nullpo menu, it's called DAS Delay. I am yet to see anyone who uses 1 AR account for why they like this delay, although one of our players, aaron, says he likes to add 1 AR for multiplayer and he does pretty well. I still prefer 0 for multiplayer (as do most).

4. Disclaimer: Hard Drop is not affiliated with Tetris Online Poland. But... it is probably the best. All the upgrades are free, soft drop is almost instant, it's less laggy than TF, and there is no line clear delay. Content edited out.

5. I've never changed the music in nullpo, I just keep it on silent and listen in the background, but if you want to change the files this looks like a promising place to do it: Nullpomino folder > musiclisteditor.bat


As far as nullpomino settings, one that I recommend in general options is next display type: side (big). That makes it easiest (for me) to see the piece preview. I would also turn down the sound effects considerable, and certainly put an X after line clear animations (I think everyone can agree on that last part).

[daskrip]

Thank you! That answers almost everything. The one thing I still want to know is whether it is common for people to use buttons for "piece moves far right" and "piece moves far left" or not. Judging by your answer, I'm guessing that people don't use buttons like that. Having a low DAS would be pointless if people used buttons like that.
So, there are certain games affiliated with HardDrop? What does this mean exactly?
Thanks for the welcome.

[DarthDuck]

Thank you! That answers almost everything. The one thing I still want to know is whether it is common for people to use buttons for "piece moves far right" and "piece moves far left" or not. Judging by your answer, I'm guessing that people don't use buttons like that. Having a low DAS would be pointless if people used buttons like that.

That's a very creative question, and something like that potentially would be implemented, but you are right that it would undermine the current DAS option. It would also mean more keys to press, which might get annoying, and would ruin my one-keyboard-line system. Also, there is 180 rotate which you will need to ponder on eventually. I didn't mention that, but my 180 rotate key is E. I don't use it much though because ToP has no 180 rotate and I don't want to be dependent on it when going back and forth.

So, there are certain games affiliated with HardDrop? What does this mean exactly?

Well... we are trying to maintain diplomacy with The Tetris Company (just in case they every decide they care about something besides merchandise). We want them to open up their minds enough to have a player-based feedback loop, and that probably wouldn't happen if we explicitly endorse fan-created ports/clones. It's a bit ironic that we are not affiliated with ToP since it was created by our community members: Wojtek, virulent, mino, meow, gif, magnamious, and BigAI95 (not sure who that is). And personally, I think it's appropriate to share that information with a mild disclaimer like I did because I honestly think the TTC wants us using these fan-made clones. The reason for this is they can continue not to do anything to improve tetris and leave it the way the millions of casual players like it. So rather than pester them for changes that will not affect their profits, we can satisfy our own urges to push the game and everyone wins.

[caffeine]

To the best of my knowledge, Harddrop doesn't allow linkage to TOP-relatrd content because "no illegal content" is one of the ground rules here, and TOP is technically warez.

[daskrip]

That was very helpful. I actually wanted to know about the 180 rotation, as I don't know what button people usually map it to.
I played Tetris DS for years and recently finding out about these games that allow delay customization is a revelation for me. I really think that mainstream Tetris games need to add this as a feature, so I agree with you wholeheartedly. Hopefully this will be achieved with the next iteration of Tetris from TTC.

EDIT:
caffeine:
I somehow doubt that. If that were true, links to anything wouldn't be allowed.

[DarthDuck]

EDIT:
caffeine:
I somehow doubt that. If that were true, links to anything wouldn't be allowed.

I have learned never to doubt what caffeine says unless he's trying to be humble. Hyperlinks removed and PM me if you still need them.

[Paradox]

we're not allowed to link to *LINK REMOVED* ?

[caffeine]

we're not allowed to link to *LINK REMOVED* ?

Isn't it like linking to a pirated copy of Adobe Photoshop?
I don't speak for HD, so perhaps the mods would be able to say what's okay or not.

[Blink]

Yeah, keep it off the public forums, what you guys share in private messages is your own business. You guys already know this by now. The TOP project has its own forums, use that instead.

The reason it's not allowed on HD is the same reason you can't share mp3s or TGM emulation on here. I think it's a cool project but it wouldn't be responsible for me as an admin to allow it on here.

ALSO: welcome daskrip!