Previously overcome with apprehension, despite a desire to post.

[Imperatore_Magia]

I joined over two months ago, but I was a bit hesitant to post, since a cursory snoop of the forums engendered feelings of inadequacy about my Tetris skills.  Averaging about 45 LPM and being unable to beat the speed demons one finds in most competitive modes.
I've been playing Tetris for about six years now, and I find competitive play almost impossible as my preferred version is the old gameboy one, and I am regrettably sans link cable.  
That probably wouldn't make a great deal of difference anyway, considering I don't know anybody in real life that can manage more than about 10 or 20 LPM.  
So, I play solo.

I'm hoping to improve my game to the point where I can become a formidable foe, since I really love this game, despite not being much of a competitive player.  I use it as more of a stress reliever, and playing against other people presently has the reverse result on me.  

Also, will it be possible to break bad habits such as over stacking and not using the counter clockwise rotation?  I find it far too tempting to lapse into these habits.  

T-spins, and combos are also things I need to work on.  I've yet to manage a T-spin triple against another player, and my max combo is around ten.  

So, what would the denizens of this site recommend I do to get better?  


As a side note;  Has anybody here ever played the RPG Maker 2000 version of Tetris?  That is the one that got me into it in the first place, and looking back on it now, it makes the NES versions look advanced.  If anyone is morbidly curious they can download it here.  If it doesn't run, then the run-time package is required.

[crzy242]

45 LPM on where? multiplayer? because that isnt bad at all.


to get better you can look through and jsut find guides on tspins and stuff, and also play blockbox driller modes to help your downstacking + comboing.

[meow]

Welcome.

I am certain you can break bad habits if you practise correctly.

My recommendations:
Blockbox - best single player modes for a browser-based tetris game. multiplayer is also decent. you will improve the fastest by playing blockbox.
Nullpomino - downloadable client. Might be difficult to set up, but if you follow the guide, you should be fine. A LOT of modes and options. Single and multiplayer.
TOJ - best looking tetris. A lot of features are limited unless you pay OR use the patched version in one of the threads here. Controls are not as great as BB or Nullpo.
Tetris Friends - not recommended at the moment. Largest number of users.

If you can expand on which areas you are interested in (single player, multiplayer etc), I can give you more detailed info.

[solo2001]

Why is it that someone Has to sell Blockbox, Nullpo & TOJ On EVERY SINGLE intro thread!?

[Paul676]

Mainly because people coming in without knowledge of these games will not know them. Hence people tell them so that they can improve faster than maybe on other games.

[meow]

Why is it that someone Has to sell Blockbox, Nullpo & TOJ On EVERY SINGLE intro thread!?

He asked for recommendations

[ohitsstef]

Why is it that someone Has to sell Blockbox, Nullpo & TOJ On EVERY SINGLE intro thread!?

recommendations are good
why do you always complain ?  

hello ~ i agree with meow, you should try out blockbox for single player modes

[Someone2knoe]

Why is it that someone Has to sell Blockbox, Nullpo & TOJ On EVERY SINGLE intro thread!?

Also, its probably one of the best advices you can give a new player.

[Imperatore_Magia]

45 LPM on where? multiplayer? because that isnt bad at all.
to get better you can look through and jsut find guides on tspins and stuff, and also play blockbox driller modes to help your downstacking + comboing.

45 LPM in one player games. So, nothing really impressive.  My average is around 25 or 30 against other people, since the garbage they send me breaks my concentration a bit.

I've looked at a few videos and guides, but for some reason, it's difficult to put what I see into practice.  
I tend to learn better when being taught by an actual person.  Most videos I've seen seem to just be somebody showing off.  

Welcome.

I am certain you can break bad habits if you practise correctly.

My recommendations:
Blockbox - best single player modes for a browser-based tetris game. multiplayer is also decent. you will improve the fastest by playing blockbox.
Nullpomino - downloadable client. Might be difficult to set up, but if you follow the guide, you should be fine. A LOT of modes and options. Single and multiplayer.
TOJ - best looking tetris. A lot of features are limited unless you pay OR use the patched version in one of the threads here. Controls are not as great as BB or Nullpo.
Tetris Friends - not recommended at the moment. Largest number of users.

If you can expand on which areas you are interested in (single player, multiplayer etc), I can give you more detailed info.

I actually downloaded Nullpomino and Tetris Online Japan a couple of weeks ago.  I played Nullpomino for about ten minutes, but found myself a bit overwhelmed by the amount of customisation.  Trying it again when I'm more awake might be a good idea, considering more options is generally a good thing when it comes to video games.

As for TOJ, the version I downloaded was a partial English patch.  After playing it for a little over half an hour against some random Japanese people it seems better than Tetris Friends at least.

I went to the Blockbox site, but oddly I couldn't manage to get it to load properly. My browser has the correct plugins so I don't know what the issue would be.

I've been playing Tetris Friends for a couple of months now, but I mainly play 1989 and N-Blox, as they are more akin to the classic style I'm most familiar with.  
Most of the multi-player modes lag on my computer.  Especially arena.   I wish they would use something better than flash.  Even Java would suffice.  
There was one time the other night when I tried the arena challenge, and it lagged so horridly that it took five seconds for each piece to move, and then they suddenly zipped into place, and ended up making a complete mess of the playing field...  This went on until the game was lost without having cleared a single line.


Interest wise I'm curious to know if there is a two player endless marathon mode?  I know that in practicality it might drag on forever, but if it didn't have infinite spin or piece holding it might work better.  Is there such a mode available in any version?  


Thanks for the replies, everybody.  Hopefully these questions of mine haven't been too noobish.  Since I wouldn't want to come across as such.

[Ravendarksky]

What timezone are you?

I'll hang out and play with you sometime if you want

[EnFuego]

Start doing it one step at a time. If you look at it from the point of view that you need to improve on tons of things it can be overwhelming.

First, I would suggest learning how to double rotate. You can start at a slower rate and eventually you will increase in speed.

For t-spins, I would suggest learning 1 or 2 setups (from the wiki) and practice them. Once you get a good grasp on them you can try learning new ones.

Stacking issues is tough because depending on what game/mode you are playing you need a different strategies. A common rule is to not stack over holes. It may seem obvious but worth noting and making a conscious effort to memorize.

For combos, combo stacking isn't a vital skill. You can be good without being able to combo stack. Sending off combos while you downstack is a good one to send garbage while staying alive. Practicing modes like block driller on blockbox or dig race on nullpomino is a very good training mode to get faster overall.


Don't be afraid to post!! HD is a very nice and friendly place.

[telesto]

Quite frankly, I don't think TF is that bad.  Yes, it lags like a mofo.  Yes, some of parts of the site are wonky, vague, and/or completely broken.  But really, it's a good place to start if you just want to play some casual tetris.  There's a large number of people to play and it's easy to set up for a quick game.

PS: If you show up on TF, I'll play some games with you ^__^  I'm usually hanging around the nonrank rooms because I'm lazy like that.  

PPS: I also have an original gameboy, but no link cable.  So if you live in the Seattle area, we could sit near each other, play solo, and pretend we did have a cable...

[Someone2knoe]

Quite frankly, I don't think TF is that bad.  Yes, it lags like a mofo.  Yes, some of parts of the site are wonky, vague, and/or completely broken.  But really, it's a good place to start if you just want to play some casual tetris.  There's a large number of people to play and it's easy to set up for a quick game.

PS: If you show up on TF, I'll play some games with you ^__^  I'm usually hanging around the nonrank rooms because I'm lazy like that.  

PPS: I also have an original gameboy, but no link cable.  So if you live in the Seattle area, we could sit near each other, play solo, and pretend we did have a cable...

I agree TF is a good place to start. I think the other games are good for serious improvement and competition though.

I hate on TF a lot but I recommend TF to new people interested in tetris. If they want to take it further I show them bb.

The reason I do this because TF is just very noob friendly, and that is an advantage it has over clones. You can learn the basics through TF. But it will start to hold you back if you want to get really good by comparison of other players.

[Imperatore_Magia]

What timezone are you?

I'll hang out and play with you sometime if you want

The mountain time zone, so it was around 10:30 in the evening when I posted this.

PS: If you show up on TF, I'll play some games with you ^__^  I'm usually hanging around the nonrank rooms because I'm lazy like that.  

PPS: I also have an original gameboy, but no link cable.  So if you live in the Seattle area, we could sit near each other, play solo, and pretend we did have a cable...

On Tetris Friends my user name is the same as on this site, so I sent a message to someone with the user name 'telesto' on TF.   I'm hoping it's you.

Unfortunately my present residence is a fourteen or fifteen hour drive from the Seattle area.  Although channels from Spokane used to come in incredibly clear on my on my basic cable package.

I agree TF is a good place to start. I think the other games are good for serious improvement and competition though.

I hate on TF a lot but I recommend TF to new people interested in tetris. If they want to take it further I show them bb.

The reason I do this because TF is just very noob friendly, and that is an advantage it has over clones. You can learn the basics through TF. But it will start to hold you back if you want to get really good by comparison of other players.

Well, a noob friendly environment would be good for me, but I find the lack of stimulation, unfamiliar interface and game play mechanics to be a bit of a pain as I'm not much of a PC gamer.  

[Ravendarksky]

The mountain time zone, so it was around 10:30 in the evening when I posted this.

Doh... I'm GMT which is 7 hours ahead of you. Don't think we will be running into each other very often .