Speed

[StevieSmiley]

I've been playing for a few years now, but my speed has seem capped right around the 60 LPM and was wondering why.

I recently moved from Tetrisfriends to TOP mainly because flash in my browser has been acting broke - somehow freezing the rooms and pissing people off. Besides, I was getting a bit tired of the lag. I wasn't able to enjoy TOP previous to this until I came across wonderland mod, which is great btw. The first thing I noticed was there's more Koreans than anyone else there. And practically everyone is 3 x faster than I am. There's lag, but very little compared to TF. Perhaps TF's lag was capping my progress all along?

The other thing I thought about was possibly keyboard layout. I'm not even sure why I chose the buttons I use, but now I'm wondering if having the hard drop as the top arrow slows me down.

z,x ( rotations ) space ( hold ) left and right arrows ( placement ) up and down ( hard and soft drop )

I don't really want to change this because I'm so used to it now.  But would it hinder my speed at all?

[Goldenshadow]

If you are looking to increase your in game speed one way to do it is by isolating different skills within the game- then practicing them individually. I've seen many players who have fast 40 lines times who are slower in game because their t-spin sight or down stacking ability is lower. The time it takes to think about those aspects of the game slows down their average speed.

The reverse is also true, some players that are strong when it comes to t-spinning or downstacking can be slow because their stacking speed is slow. My advice would be to identify what skills are relatively weak in your game and then work on them. Need to get better at knowing how to downstack? Play some dig related game. Speed? 40 lines. Tspinning? Ultra.

Another reason some people slow down in Tetrisfriends or TOP is because of line clear delay. So if you watch yourself breaking a lot of unnecessary lines that don't send garbage then try to work on your piece efficiency. Watch a player like Hebo-Mai, or some other top level guideline player, you will see that their pieces are used very efficiently. That leads to a minimization of slowdown from breaking unnecessary lines.

Another common slowdown reason is holding pieces too often. Keep an eye on your piece previews and incorporate them into your stacking plan. There will be less holding and a constant rate of speed.

Remember that the goal isn't just to play fast, but to play fast while playing well.


It's very doubtful that your keyboard layout is a significant factor in your speed. I have known fast players that have used all sorts of keyboard layouts. Personally I use, "F" for left rotate, "D" for 180 rotate, and "A" for hold. But just find something you're comfortable with and stick with it.

[Master]

hmmm you want to be fast ...? finger pushups ...        

[StevieSmiley]

hmmm you want to be fast ...? finger pushups ...        

I wont even laugh  because I've actually heard of it for card flourishing/manipulation./sleight of hand

[Swarley]

Let's define the term speed as your brain's ability to place a Tetromino in a pretedermined position. In other words, how quickly you can find a spot for your Tetromino upon first seeing it in your preview queue.

Improving your speed in Tetris is different for everybody, some people have gotten a sub 30 in a matter of months ( Xenoslash ) , while others can't sub 60 (Aaron ) even if they play for 5 years.
If this has to do with muscle memory, your ability to process the previews, your reflexes, reaction time... Who knows?
These forums are plentiful with tips and tricks by people who want to help you "get faster", such as:

* Finesse
- Not holding
- Utilizing rotations to their full potential. (Clockwise and counter-clockwise, or even 180° rotation)

* Stacking methods
- 6-3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIJWtMb9xWE)

* Physical improvements
- Usually "get a mechanical keyboard" or something along those lines.
- Finger/tapping techniques
- Efficient control scheme

All of the above have something in common that's not immediately apparent.
None of them actually work on improving your speed, they are just ways to make the most out the abilities you already possess.

There is a suggestion user Okey_Dokey (I think that's their name.. I have trouble keeping track of someone who switches their username as much as me) often gives players seeking advice, and that is to reduce the number of previews that are shown in your queue.
While I have never tried this myself, it intrigues me, considering it would hypothetically give your brain fewer options to consider, thereby doing it quicker.

This turned out to be more of a general rant than advice to you StevieSmiley, but I hope it helped in some way regardless.

If you could post a video of your gameplay, it would be easier to give you some more pinpointed advice!

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]The first thing I noticed was there's more Koreans than anyone else there.[/quote]
They're Japanese

[StevieSmiley]

Finger/tapping techniques I'm not familiar with.

I've been playing now for nearly 5 years myself ( maybe longer? hard to keep track )

Some of the players that also talk English has stated that they were Korean. I don't know any of those languages. It all looks like alphabet soup with unrecognizable letters.

[Okey_Dokey]

There is a suggestion user Okey_Dokey (I think that's their name.. I have trouble keeping track of someone who switches their username as much as me) often gives players seeking advice, and that is to reduce the number of previews that are shown in your queue.

I switched name so often because of multiple personality. I prefer 2 or 3 previews and cover the remaining previews with cellotape and paper if necessary. Some Koreans do that, too.

--------------------
9 out of 10 voices in my head tell me I am not crazy ... the 10th hums the Tetris theme.

[StevieSmiley]

Here's a typical 40l sprint and yes my stacking still needs some improvement. ( unless im going slower )

I can actually get the same results if not better just keeping the stack very low on the ground, as though I were in a garbage race. But understandably that's a line clear delay problem ( not in nullpo though ) [attachmentid=923]

[Okey_Dokey]

I am not a very fast player myself but here's what I think.

Your speed is pretty consistent, but there was no piece you dropped very. I think most time loss comes from the brief pause that happens before you begin to move the active piece. My suggestion would be to test 2 previews and maybe playing some Cultris 2.

Also note that different games require different techiques to play fast. In Cultris 2 you want to drop the current piece as fast as possible (2-step finesse), such that you see the next preview. In Tetris Friends (with its slow Delayed AutoShift and relative fast AutoRepeat Rate), preserving DAS is recommended when you want to drop 2 successive pieces on the same wall (keep Left resp. Right pressed while pressing harddrop). This way, you can create a valley and chain a T-Spin into a small combo. On the other hand, you don't really need DAS preservation in Cultris and NullpoMino, and it's rather unimportant in TOP.