Tetris trainer

[jujube]

This is something I've been working on for a while and I hope everybody will try it. It's multiplayer against yourself, a tetris trainer. All you have to do is keep your kpt under 1.5 and you "win". You have to make the game random to do that, so no two games are the same. You can challenge yourself to survive the mode, or top out, but it doesn't really matter if you keep your kpt in the green.

The controls are ASDFJKL; and you'll figure out what does what. Let your unfamiliarity with the controls be the "randomness" at first. It's zero pressure, you and the game, so don't get frustrated if it feels weird. It's not about records, just about training. Topping out doesn't matter because you can just start over if you want. As long as your kpt was under 1.5 you learned something, that's the whole point. Whether you were learning the controls, basic concepts, or theoretical masterpieces, you won if you kept it in the green, that's it.

Thanks to Javier Lopez Lopez who made a basic C++ project I expanded on to make this. It only runs in windows for now but I'll provide the source on request if anybody wants it. I don't really have time to work on it anymore but I might put it up on sourceforge sometime. Here's the trainer: http://www.sendspace.com/file/56hkdg

[XaeL]

lame...

[Panda]

Jujube this is a fantastic concept and application! I've just tried it out and I must admit the controls were indeed counter-intuitive, but I suppose that was the purpose

Would you mind elaborating in more detail regarding each control and also the main purpose behind this concept? I very much respect your dedication/efforts in Tetris and encourage you to develop even more concepts in the future.

And Xael, let's not discourage the community from advancing and reshaping the world of Tetris. It's fine to have negative opinions, but just phrase them in a mature intellectual manner, a manner that does not discourage the current generation of Tetris pioneers.

[UJS3]

You weren't kidding about the controls  
I managed to do 40L with 1.39 KPT, but it's a five minute game...

I still don't understand the piece movement though, using J and T you can do this:
[fumen]110@7eA2MWJAwLlaEzoo2AqAAAAKessnbusEcAwNWAwLla?Ezoo2AB2STASYKNEM388AQ/AAAKeUKnbVKobus5bAwNLASo?krDhNVTAS4eBA[/fumen]
What's the rule that makes the T move in frame 3?

[Blink]

Nice client juju.  Really simple concept, with a clean interface.  I never really got into Keyblox but I'll give this a more serious try.

[Extruderx]

The trainer is cool in my opinion, and deserves to be worked upon for more time. It's no less interesting than Keyblox, yet it takes less time to learn (that helps!). A few notes though:
1) I didn't understand earlier that {;} after ASDFJKL was also a working button. Now I know that it's possible to keep 1.5 kpt with reasonable speed.
2) Spacebar works as an "undo" button.

[jujube]

Would you mind elaborating in more detail regarding each control and also the main purpose behind this concept? I very much respect your dedication/efforts in Tetris and encourage you to develop even more concepts in the future.

The purpose is to provide more easy placement options than in most games, so you'll inevitably learn new ways to approach situations simply by doing the easiest thing physically in this trainer. It can help you break out of patterns you may be stuck in from always doing the easiest thing physically/mentally with standard controls and game behavior. It's not going to make you a perfect player by itself, just more well-rounded if you challenge yourself to go down paths you hadn't considered before. You have almost as many easy placement options as in Keyblox but with less keys (8 instead of 13-16) and your fingers can stay rested on the home keys. The controls are actually much closer to standard than to Keyblox. There are 4 movement keys, 3 rotation keys, and sonic drop. It's very comfortable when you're used to it, which I think helps for getting in the right state of mind.

I guess I should have explained the controls before. I was trying to keep everything in the spirit of self-imposed challenge but maybe that wasn't fair  Here they are:

A- sonic drop (for center placements, not used much)
S- rotate 180
D- rotate CCW
F- rotate CW
J- far left
K- 1 left
L- 1 right
;- far right

The piece falls when you press a movement key but you can still control it. It locks when you release the key(s).

You weren't kidding about the controls  
I managed to do 40L with 1.39 KPT, but it's a five minute game...

What's the rule that makes the T move in frame 3?

That's a great KPT

The way it works is, if you press a movement key first you'll get a diagonal gravity effect when you release the key(s). If you rotate or sonic drop it first then it'll lock wherever you leave it.

Imagine a "W", or a dual funnel. Whichever side of the playing field you move the piece to it'll try to slide one step towards the center of that half of the field when you release, if you pressed a movement key first. So by changing the order of inputs you'll have a good amount of placement options, and you can often put the piece anywhere you want with 1 or 2 keys. Here are some examples:

[fumen]110@gdA3nbB3mbC3lbD3kbE3jbF3ibG3hbH3gbI3pbEfi7?eCMcpGAy3WeD0oBAAMrOLAmCyTAS4Q5DHt+CAAwNHAyokrD?hNdCAMdwNnbxNnbwN6cEXpAA7eDEGqLAmCyTAS4Q5DHt+CA?MLqLAy3WeD0488Awk8BAsvOHAyokrDhNdCAAwNAAVdwNnbx?NnbwNxcEnb7eDEGqLAmCyTAS4Q5DHt+CAsPqMAy3WeD0488?Awk36CM0OHAyokrDhNdCAAAAedwNnbxNnbwNocEXpAA7eCM?cpLAy3WeD0488Awk8BAs4OJAxno2Ayeh1DUBAAAAwNHAyok?rDhNdCAndwNnbxNnbwNfcEXpAA7eCMcpLAy3WeD0488Awk8?BAM9OHAyokrDhNdCAAAAwdwNnbxNnbwNWcEXpAA7eCsbpMA?y3WeD0488Awk36CsBPHAyokrDhNdCAAAA5dwNnbxNnbwNNc?EXpAA7eCsbpMAy3WeD0488Awk36CMGPIAxno2AsI/dEAwNH?AyokrDhNdCACewNnbxNnbwNEcEXpAA7eDkcqIAxno2AsI/d?EMmqMAy3WeD0488Awk36CsKPHAyokrDhNdCAAAALewNnbxN?nbwN7bEXpAA7eCsbpGAy3WeD0oBAAMPPKAmCyTASYjrDG/B?AAAwNHAyokrDhNdCA0dAAnbBAmbCAlbDAkbEAjbFAA3Qpgb?AAhbBArbEXpAA7eCk7cEgBAAAeexNobxNvbEnb7eCk6cEgB?AAAeexNobxNvbEnb7eCk8cEiBAAAiexNobxNrbEnb7eAE+c?jeRpobQprbAQpaAk+7xDPG0CEFbMwDyCb5D0W98AQ5r4Ds9?BAAaeRpmbxNRpmbwNrbAQpMAsng/Dzoo2AoIyrD[/fumen]

The trainer is cool in my opinion, and deserves to be worked upon for more time. It's no less interesting than Keyblox, yet it takes less time to learn (that helps!). A few notes though:
1) I didn't understand earlier that {;} after ASDFJKL was also a working button. Now I know that it's possible to keep 1.5 kpt with reasonable speed.
2) Spacebar works as an "undo" button.

I agree that it's easier to learn than Keyblox, it's just a little weird at first. And yeah I forgot to mention you can use spacebar to reset the current piece or go back up to 3 positions. This won't undo the keys you've pressed though, and the clock keeps running.

Thanks everybody for trying it  Glad to get your feedback.

[XaeL]

The purpose is to provide more easy placement options than in most games, so you'll inevitably learn new ways to approach situations simply by doing the easiest thing physically in this trainer. It can help you break out of patterns you may be stuck in from always doing the easiest thing physically/mentally with standard controls and game behavior. It's not going to make you a perfect player by itself, just more well-rounded if you challenge yourself to go down paths you hadn't considered before. You have almost as many easy placement options as in Keyblox but with less keys (8 instead of 13-16) and your fingers can stay rested on the home keys. The controls are actually much closer to standard than to Keyblox. There are 4 movement keys, 3 rotation keys, and sonic drop. It's very comfortable when you're used to it, which I think helps for getting in the right state of mind.

I guess I should have explained the controls before. I was trying to keep everything in the spirit of self-imposed challenge but maybe that wasn't fair  Here they are:

A- sonic drop (for center placements, not used much)
S- rotate 180
D- rotate CCW
F- rotate CW
J- far left
K- 1 left
L- 1 right
;- far right

The piece falls when you press a movement key but you can still control it. It locks when you release the key(s).

That's a great KPT

The way it works is, if you press a movement key first you'll get a diagonal gravity effect when you release the key(s). If you rotate or sonic drop it first then it'll lock wherever you leave it.

Imagine a "W", or a dual funnel. Whichever side of the playing field you move the piece to it'll try to slide one step towards the center of that half of the field when you release, if you pressed a movement key first. So by changing the order of inputs you'll have a good amount of placement options, and you can often put the piece anywhere you want with 1 or 2 keys. Here are some examples:

[fumen]110@gdA3nbB3mbC3lbD3kbE3jbF3ibG3hbH3gbI3pbEfi7?eCMcpGAy3WeD0oBAAMrOLAmCyTAS4Q5DHt+CAAwNHAyokrD?hNdCAMdwNnbxNnbwN6cEXpAA7eDEGqLAmCyTAS4Q5DHt+CA?MLqLAy3WeD0488Awk8BAsvOHAyokrDhNdCAAwNAAVdwNnbx?NnbwNxcEnb7eDEGqLAmCyTAS4Q5DHt+CAsPqMAy3WeD0488?Awk36CM0OHAyokrDhNdCAAAAedwNnbxNnbwNocEXpAA7eCM?cpLAy3WeD0488Awk8BAs4OJAxno2Ayeh1DUBAAAAwNHAyok?rDhNdCAndwNnbxNnbwNfcEXpAA7eCMcpLAy3WeD0488Awk8?BAM9OHAyokrDhNdCAAAAwdwNnbxNnbwNWcEXpAA7eCsbpMA?y3WeD0488Awk36CsBPHAyokrDhNdCAAAA5dwNnbxNnbwNNc?EXpAA7eCsbpMAy3WeD0488Awk36CMGPIAxno2AsI/dEAwNH?AyokrDhNdCACewNnbxNnbwNEcEXpAA7eDkcqIAxno2AsI/d?EMmqMAy3WeD0488Awk36CsKPHAyokrDhNdCAAAALewNnbxN?nbwN7bEXpAA7eCsbpGAy3WeD0oBAAMPPKAmCyTASYjrDG/B?AAAwNHAyokrDhNdCA0dAAnbBAmbCAlbDAkbEAjbFAA3Qpgb?AAhbBArbEXpAA7eCk7cEgBAAAeexNobxNvbEnb7eCk6cEgB?AAAeexNobxNvbEnb7eCk8cEiBAAAiexNobxNrbEnb7eAE+c?jeRpobQprbAQpaAk+7xDPG0CEFbMwDyCb5D0W98AQ5r4Ds9?BAAaeRpmbxNRpmbwNrbAQpMAsng/Dzoo2AoIyrD[/fumen]
I agree that it's easier to learn than Keyblox, it's just a little weird at first. And yeah I forgot to mention you can use spacebar to reset the current piece or go back up to 3 positions. This won't undo the keys you've pressed though, and the clock keeps running.

Thanks everybody for trying it  Glad to get your feedback.

lies keyblox is ezpz