How am I doing so far?

[bluedoom57]

Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask, but I was curious as to how well I'm doing in 40 line mode thus far. I've been playing it a bit recently and have gotten my best time down to 1:05:05 (having so much trouble cutting the minute). I've been playing off and on for about a year and a half I believe, and I'm hoping to get even better.
In case it's wanted/needed, I have a vid of this run http://www.twitch.tv/bluedoom57/c/6045978 Apologies for lack of audio, was listening to music and it got silenced ;-;

[Kinac]

You're doing pretty good for a beginner. The most important thing to do if you want to improve is to just play. Spend maybe half an hour a day on 40 lines and you'll improve really fast. Of course there are other things to improve on like controls, DAS etc., but the most important thing is to play more.

[bluedoom57]

Well hey! I made it to 59 seconds this morning! I guess I must be doing something right xD

[Corrosive]

In 40 lines you should just be stacking for tetrises the whole time.

Here is a model to go by:

Also, if you haven't yet, you need to start investing in learning how to double-rotate to make you much faster. My controls are: rotate left Z rotate right UP hold C hard drop X.

Playing a lot of 40 lines and stacking for tetrises is what will gradually make you faster.

[bluedoom57]

In 40 lines you should just be stacking for tetrises the whole time.

Here is a model to go by:

Also, if you haven't yet, you need to start investing in learning how to double-rotate to make you much faster. My controls are: rotate left Z rotate right UP hold C hard drop X.

Playing a lot of 40 lines and stacking for tetrises is what will gradually make you faster.

I generally try to stack for tetrises, I'm just not particularly good at it, so there come many times when I have no idea what to do with my pieces, so I just clear lines with them instead.
What exactly is double rotating?

[Corrosive]

When you are positioning the blocks you will often have to rotate/turn a block 3 times to get it how you want it. Wheras when double-rotating you cut down the number of key presses from 3 to 1 by just rotating in the opposite direction with a different button. When you are going for speed fewer key presses is your friend. I am double-rotating in that video.

[bluedoom57]

When you are positioning the blocks you will often have to rotate/turn a block 3 times to get it how you want it. Wheras when double-rotating you cut down the number of key presses from 3 to 1 by just rotating in the opposite direction with a different button. When you are going for speed fewer key presses is your friend. I am double-rotating in that video.

So just rotating in the correct direction then? I try to do that as much as possible. Same with moving all the way to the wall and pressing the other direction once as opposed to pressing the key 3 times, though it's hard to always do that during a game, I haven't gotten totally used to it yet.

[Corrosive]

You are on the path to success.

And remember,
Don't let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.

[bluedoom57]

I meant to ask this yesterday, but I forgot; at what point is someone considered "good" at Tetris? I don't mean like, 20 second speeds great or anything, just 'good'. Is there any general guideline as to what that point is?

[Kitaru]

What exactly is double rotating?

Double rotating is the TetriNET era term for "rotating both ways." These days I think double rotation usually means "rotating twice [in the same direction]" (i.e., a 180 rotation). As Corro said, avoid rotating 3 times in the same direction and you should be good.

I meant to ask this yesterday, but I forgot; at what point is someone considered "good" at Tetris? I don't mean like, 20 second speeds great or anything, just 'good'. Is there any general guideline as to what that point is?

There are a couple of milestones that I think are good targets. Sub-60 is a good benchmark for a "fairly good" player, so you're pretty close there. From there on out, each 5~10 second milestone approximates a tier of players. I think 40~45s is very good, and 30~35s players are quite strong. Every second beyond that lies the realm of madness.

Also, bear in mind that Sprint times aren't the only indicator of skill. You can be a bit slower and still keep up through efficient decision-making if you're a more analytical type of player. Though, indirectly, being able to play moderately fast is also an indicator of one's understanding of an efficient approach to the game.

[Paradox]

[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]  30~35s players are quite strong. Every second beyond that lies the realm of madness.
[/quote]

Hahaha

By the way bluedoom, there are different benefits to stacking styles. Corrosive suggested you stack for tetrises but you are currently doing what is called free stacking.

My record is ~24 seconds but it's been a while since I've played so here is some advice I can offer:

Tetris Stacking

Pros:
Easy to understand
Flows easily

Cons:
Sometimes hard to end with ~100 pieces
I piece reliant, sometimes forcing you to hold a piece if you don't know a clever solution

Free Stacking

Pros:
More efficient with key presses
Flexible
Easier to stack low by the end, less pieces wasted

Cons:
Hard to understand
Complex scenarios

--------

It seems like free stacking is what you are already doing so I recommend that you keep doing it.
Note that it is only better when there is less line clear delay. It works better with Nullpomino for that reason.


[!--quoteo--][div class=\\\'quotetop\\\']QUOTE[/div][div class=\\\'quotemain\\\'][!--quotec--]I meant to ask this yesterday, but I forgot; at what point is someone considered "good" at Tetris?[/quote]

There are many ways to play tetris and therefore many ways to be good at it. It is also obviously a matter of opinion. For 40 Lines I consider anything below 45 seconds to be in the realm of 'good'.

Good luck, I'm happy to answer any questions.

[Corrosive]

Today Sprint is just good for getting faster and breaking your record. It may be better for you to stay away from it because the style of play in sprint (constant tetrising) is obviously not what you want to use against people. There used to be a time where there were no spins and comboing - just tetrises, and the resulting garbage lines were randomized and not just a straight row like today. After coming back to the game I'm learning that leading with a tetris or t-spin on people is completely useless because it sends your opponent a straight row of easy garbage to attack you with.

I'm currently changing my own style of play to try to not use them at all except for when I have my opponent up near the top and I need to flood them with lines. As far as just getting better I would stick with 1v1ing people. Free-for-all games are long and exhausting imo.

[bluedoom57]

I've more or less always stacked the same way, I've just gotten a bit better at it over time. I've been trying to play more games without a hold function as well to get better at that, since I find myself relying on it a bit too much at times. There are still a lot of times that I make really bad mistakes that I'm not sure how to fix (Like having nowhere to put an O piece for example). But I'm still getting better as I go.

Also, to respond to Corrosive, I don't play multiplayer all that often anymore. Not that I never do or anything, but I find that I get far more frustrated with it than playing by myself, so I don't do it often. That said, when I *do* play multiplayer, I stick to using 2 and 3 wide combos.

As for questions, I recently got my best time down to 57 seconds, and I'm still working on it, but I was wondering if there were any particular things I should focus on, aside from just playing more and getting faster? http://www.twitch.tv/bluedoom57/c/6069741

I feel like this is a long post, but nevertheless, I appreciate all the input thus far

[Corrosive]

If it were me I would get rid of that 3-block piece preview thing above your ghost piece. Go for all tetrises like you see everyone else doing in their replay vids like the one of mine I showed you above. You want to keep your stack built up/supported primarily on the area right beside your well/stick hole. Unlike what you would do in multiplayer, you need to be stacking really high so that you can bang out the consecutive tetrises.

Instantly restart every time it starts you with a S or Z piece.

Also, try playing with and without all the sound effects & music and see which one helps you focus the most.

[bluedoom57]

If it were me I would get rid of that 3-block piece preview thing above your ghost piece. Go for all tetrises like you see everyone else doing in their replay vids like the one of mine I showed you above. You want to keep your stack built up/supported primarily on the area right beside your well/stick hole. Unlike what you would do in multiplayer, you need to be stacking really high so that you can bang out the consecutive tetrises.

Instantly restart every time it starts you with a S or Z piece.

Also, try playing with and without all the sound effects & music and see which one helps you focus the most.

I do try to go for tetrises, I just suck at it  And I tend to continue when I start with an S or Z piece simply for practice, as I do with most failed runs (Unless I myself just make tons of irritating mistakes).

I can't play without sound effects, it throws me off. I can play with or without music, though I usually have other videos playing in the background instead. The main reason I have music in my videos is because I tune into Rainwave so there's something else going on while I stream the game. It's more enjoyable for the viewers when there's something to listen to. (Not that I get viewers that often, but still).

I've been meaning to turn off the 3 block preview thing you mentioned, I just keep forgetting. Thanks for the input though, I appreciate it a lot