Any viable way to play TGM3?

bluedoom57 · February 04, 2015, 10:55:18 AM

From what I understand, there's no way to play it on MAME, and when I tried looking for an arcade cabinet, the cheapest I could find was above a thousand dollars, which is something I probably won't be able to afford for the next forever. Are there any other ways to play it? Or am I just out of luck?
P.S. Sorry if this has been answered before.

Kitaru · February 04, 2015, 11:02:34 AM

Unless you're somehow lucky enough to live near an arcade with the game, my suggestion is to use a fan game such as Texmaster. Special Ti and Sudden Ti modes correspond to Master and Shirase modes.

Nullpomino also works (Grade Mania 3 (Master), Speed Mania 2 (Shirase), and Gem Mania (Sakura) with Classic3 or Standard-Hard rotation rules), but it has some problems with input lag that are much more noticeable when playing TGM-style than low gravity 40 Lines or Versus.

bluedoom57 · February 04, 2015, 11:31:41 AM

Quote from: Kitaru
Unless you're somehow lucky enough to live near an arcade with the game, my suggestion is to use a fan game such as Texmaster. Special Ti and Sudden Ti modes correspond to Master and Shirase modes.

Nullpomino also works (Grade Mania 3 (Master), Speed Mania 2 (Shirase), and Gem Mania (Sakura) with Classic3 or Standard-Hard rotation rules), but it has some problems with input lag that are much more noticeable when playing TGM-style than low gravity 40 Lines or Versus.

Alrighty, thanks for the input, I appreciate it! I've played a few game modes on Nullpomino, so I'll probably try that for Grade Mania 3, but I'll also check out Texmaster some time as well. I've looked into a few arcades close by hoping they'd have a machine I could play at, but to no avail.

bigwig · February 04, 2015, 12:08:54 PM

So the average input lag on ti is 2-3 frames right? Compared to 0-1 for tgm/tap? It doesn't seem like it's really possible to get great at ti on a keyboard using the cracked version.

Superjustinbros · February 04, 2015, 12:51:24 PM

Speaking of TGM in Nullpomino, which rule set would I have to select if I want to play with TGM physics/rotation outside of Mania modes?

zaphod77 · February 04, 2015, 02:19:48 PM

Quote from: Superjustinbros
Speaking of TGM in Nullpomino, which rule set would I have to select if I want to play with TGM physics/rotation outside of Mania modes?

Classic 1=tgm
CLassic 2=TAP
Classic 3=TGM3 Classic rotation
classic 0=sega tetris.

Superjustinbros · February 04, 2015, 03:44:41 PM

Quote from: zaphod77
Quote from: Superjustinbros
Speaking of TGM in Nullpomino, which rule set would I have to select if I want to play with TGM physics/rotation outside of Mania modes?

Classic 1=tgm
CLassic 2=TAP
Classic 3=TGM3 Classic rotation
classic 0=sega tetris.

Thank you so much. Somehow I don't get why they weren't called "Mania 0 - Mania 3".

Kitaru · February 04, 2015, 07:06:38 PM

Quote from: bluedoom57I've looked into a few arcades close by hoping they'd have a machine I could play at, but to no avail.

Yeah, there is an incredibly low chance of finding a machine outside Japan. I'm going to work on updating the machine list soon, but (at time of writing) it seems the only remaining Western arcades with any TGM series game are in Texas, Illinois, and France (and given that Arcade UFO's TGM3 is still out-of-commission, the machines I'm speaking of are all TGM1 or TGM2). In the past there were a few TGM3 machines in California and Washington, but no such luck right now.

EDIT: Since I was asked about one of the places I listed, I can at least explain what I know for the time being:

Active last I heard:
RikRic OtakuCafe in San Antonio, TX currently has TGM2+. They have games on a monthly rotation, so it may not be there consistently.
Galloping Ghost in Brookfield, IL has had TGM2+. I can't say for certain if that is currently the case, but I haven't heard anything specifically so it seems fair to include it as a possibility.
Game Spirit in Lyon, France has TGM2+. (Thanks to cyberguile for lending his PCB!)
Neo-Arcadia in Toulouse, France had TGM1 at one point. I can't say for sure if they still do.
Arcade Street in Paris, France has TGM2+ (though last I heard the joystick was set incorrectly, so please pester the shop to set them to 4-way if you're local ).

Inactive, but could return?:
Arcade UFO in Austin, TX had TGM1 once and then TGM3, but TGM3 is out of order. Anyway, neither is in at the moment.
Super Arcade (previously Walnut, CA, but in the process of moving) also had TGM3 at some point (not sure operational status of the kit), and I heard rumblings of it possibly returning when they move to their new location.