Information About Tetris Friends, etc.

[rockywi]

Here is a lot of questions and topics for discussion if anyone is interested.  As others have posted, I feel a loss from the upcoming Tetris Friends closure.  If anyone can help answer my questions, I will thank you in advance.  I will try to check back and answer any questions anyone else has from my comments.

Just wondering what all the latest news is about Tetris friends, if any.

For the record, I'm 63 years old, and I play Tetris Friends mostly to keep my mind active, my reflexes sharp for my other passion, playing Foosball.  (Of course, I was somewhat younger when I first started playing TF.)  I'm a gamer from way back--I even played in the Video Game World Championships in Chicago in 1981.  (I cashed, but didn't do anything impressive.  But, I did win my trip back to Chicago from Seattle playing in a Centipede tournament.)  I know this is probably not that interesting to you young uns', but the checks bounced from the tournament, but eventually Atari made them good--at least for those who filed to get their money.

I didn't play TF on Facebook.  I just had a normal account.  I tried the Facebook version a couple of times, but didn't like it as much.  

QUESTION:  What other sites do others play at.  I recently started playing at Tetr.js, and found it to be better than Tetris friends for Sprint.  I achieved a score that equals my all time best on TF, which I know is pathetic compared to you younger folks, 1:08.

QUESTION #2:  Do others find the current version of TF "slowed down"?  It is like they removed a server or something.  The lag is especially bad, and it seems just slower in general.  (I'm really curious about this because my computer is different than it used to be, and my internet company is different, too.  So, I wonder if it is my setup that is causing this or if there is a change with TF.)

MORE COMMENTS:  I learned a lot from playing Tetris Friends.  A lot about myself, a lot about computers.  I remember a debate I had about the differences between PS2 keyboards, and USB keyboards.  There is a serious difference of how each works and it "seemed" to affect my Tetris games a lot when I changed over to the "new" USB keyboards.  A lot of people tried to convince me that there was no way those milliseconds could affect my game.  They didn't succeed.  One player mentioned that he played using a cheap-a**ed laptop.  I now wonder if laptops use the same type of keyboard system the old PS2 keyboards used to.  I did a lot better when I had the PS2 Keyboard, my recent Tetr.js score excepted.

My plans are to move to another platform after TFriends expires.  I don't know if the information I saw was correct, but I thought I heard somewhere that a new platform was going to go up right after TF goes down.  I remember that it was going to happen about 3 days later.  This all could be BS, and I can't even remember where I saw that information, or even IF I saw that information.  I could have dreamed it, for all I know--and it might just be wishful thinking.  Q#3:  Has anyone else heard such news?

When I make the change to whatever platform.  I think it might be time for me to change my keyboard pattern and settings.  I'm still using the default settings from my initial signing in to Tetris Friends, and I changed the settings and keyboard functions on Tetr.js to mimic that set-up.  

QUESTIONS #5 & #6:  What keyboard settings do some of you pros use.  And, what tuning do you use on the various other Tetris sites?  (Again, thanks in advance for any information you offer on these two fronts.

Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for any responses you have.

Oh, btw, I went by two 'nyms on TF, "rockywi", and "Mr. PC", if it matters.

.......Rocky

[XaeL]

1) look up jstris, tetrisonline.pl, Puyo Puyo Tetris
2) It's always been pretty laggy. If you play E+ mode it is faster.
5/6) Most players use a default-ish setup; arrow keys for movement, space for harddrop, zxc for (left rotate, right rotate, hold). DAS and ARR are usually 80ms-100ms and 0ms.

[rockywi]

1) look up jstris, tetrisonline.pl, Puyo Puyo Tetris
2) It's always been pretty laggy. If you play E+ mode it is faster.
5/6) Most players use a default-ish setup; arrow keys for movement, space for harddrop, zxc for (left rotate, right rotate, hold). DAS and ARR are usually 80ms-100ms and 0ms.

Thanks XaeL, I appreciate the Info.  I thought that many of the players used different keys.  I use basically the same keys, except I do Shift, Z, Space Bar for my left fingers, arrow keys for my right.

[Blink]

Hey there rocky, nice to see another old school gamer around.  I don't know if you're familiar with the Discord chat application, but a lot of us are more active there (https://discord.gg/harddrop) than on the forums, which in terms of activity are pretty dead compared to years ago.

1. Where's everyone playing?
Tetris99 (Switch): https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/tetris-99-switch/
Puyo Puyo Tetris (PC, Switch, PS4): https://store.steampowered.com/app/546050/Puyo_PuyoTetris
Jstris: http://jstris.jezevec10.com/
Tetris Friends: http://www.tetrisfriends.com/
Tetris Battle: https://apps.facebook.com/tetris_battle
Tetris Online Poland: http://tetrisonline.pl/
Cultris 2: http://gewaltig.net/NullpoMino (Java, harddrop.com server): https://github.com/nullpomino/nullpomino
King of Stackers (browser, turned-based): http://kingofstackers.com/
Worldwide Combos (browser) https://www.worldwide-combos.com/

2. Lag has always been pretty bad, but browser extensions such as Minimal Tetris Friends which strip away all the ads and lower the Flash quality have helped with improving performance in the past.  I think the plugin is broken right now though, and I doubt the author (morningpee) has any plans to update it before TF gets taken down in a few weeks.  You can also try enabling/disabling hardware acceleration on the Flash plugin itself (right click the game, settings tab, checkbox), or testing different browsers.  I have better performance on Opera and Microsoft Edge.

3. A Sanrio themed Tetris online game is coming out on June 3rd.  No other details than that. https://tetris.com/article/209/sanrio-and-t...and-merchandise

4. You skipped #4! TRIGGEREDDDDD

5. I use Left/Right = Left/Right, Up = Soft Drop, Down = Hard Drop, Left Shift = Rotate Left, X = Rotate Right, C = Hold.
I tend to use the fastest AR allowed that isn't instant because I don't like to see the piece teleporting instantly to the side, and DAS around 83-100 ms.

[rockywi]

Blink,

Thanks for all the great information!  Wow.  It's been a long time since I played against you on TF Arena.  (Not that I was any challenge, but it was cool just hanging w/the top dawgs of the day.)

As always you are a wealth of information regarding Tetris.

Yes, I did miss #4, and I could say it was edited out, but I'd be lying.  I just missed it, so, yeah, busted.

Just out of curiosity, what type of computer do you use to play?  I still have yet to find anyone who really knows what the hell I'm talking about when I mention the difference between the PS2 Keyboards and the USB keyboards (other than real high-tech computer experts, not a single one of which played Tetris to my knowledge.  Most of them told me that there was no way I could "feel" a lag due to those milliseconds.  Again, I wasn't convinced.  The only time they said the difference came into play was some very high tech medical equipment.)  For those who don't know, the PS2 Keyboards sent a signal to the tower when any key was pressed, so the information was transferred directly, immediately.  The USB Keyboards scanned the keys to see if any of them were being pushed, and scanning takes milliseconds.  I WILL admit that I could be wrong.  If anyone knows about this, you probably do, Blink.  Just wondering if you play better on one computer than another.  

Don't know "Discord" from a hole in the ground.  I'll try to research it and see if I can get a presence there.  I'm naturally averse to letting my computer know too much about me--one of the reasons I didn't play TF on Facebook.  Often games will make posts on your page, and I don't like that stuff.

Thanks again for all the information.

......Rocky      

Hey there rocky, nice to see another old school gamer around.  I don't know if you're familiar with the Discord chat application, but a lot of us are more active there (https://discord.gg/harddrop) than on the forums, which in terms of activity are pretty dead compared to years ago.

1. Where's everyone playing?
Tetris99 (Switch/PC/PS4): https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/tetris-99-switch/
Puyo Puyo Tetris (PC, Switch, PS4): https://store.steampowered.com/app/546050/Puyo_PuyoTetris
Jstris: http://jstris.jezevec10.com/
Tetris Friends: http://www.tetrisfriends.com/
Tetris Battle: https://apps.facebook.com/tetris_battle
Tetris Online Poland: http://tetrisonline.pl/
Cultris 2: http://gewaltig.net/NullpoMino (Java, harddrop.com server): https://github.com/nullpomino/nullpomino
King of Stackers (browser, turned-based): http://kingofstackers.com/
Worldwide Combos (browser) https://www.worldwide-combos.com/

2. Lag has always been pretty bad, but browser extensions such as Minimal Tetris Friends which strip away all the ads and lower the Flash quality have helped with improving performance in the past.  I think the plugin is broken right now though, and I doubt the author (morningpee) has any plans to update it before TF gets taken down in a few weeks.  You can also try enabling/disabling hardware acceleration on the Flash plugin itself (right click the game, settings tab, checkbox), or testing different browsers.  I have better performance on Opera and Microsoft Edge.

3. A Sanrio themed Tetris online game is coming out on June 3rd.  No other details than that. https://tetris.com/article/209/sanrio-and-t...and-merchandise

4. You skipped #4! TRIGGEREDDDDD

5. I use Left/Right = Left/Right, Up = Soft Drop, Down = Hard Drop, Left Shift = Rotate Left, X = Rotate Right, C = Hold.
I tend to use the fastest AR allowed that isn't instant because I don't like to see the piece teleporting instantly to the side, and DAS around 83-100 ms.

[rockywi]

Just checking around to see if anything has replaced Tetris Friends.  I went to their links and didn't see anything new, except (?) Tetris themed cosmetics???  YGTBK!

I've stuck with tetr.js and have been happy with the challenges there, but would like some competitive action like we had on TF.

I'll try some of the links provided by Blink at some point....

Actually I did check some of them out, and they're pretty good.  Thanks again Blink!  

[Lucas_Bomfim]

Tetris Online Poland is the most similar game to Tetris Friends, give it a try