Tetris Effect timer glitch results in easy SS ranks

[p_m_zero]

I'm posting this here because I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere else on the web. The other day I surprised myself by getting SS on Ultra mode in Tetris Effect, on what I thought was a fairly mediocre run. I clicked the Share button to clip the video and here's where things get weird.

As you can see, the timer is moving substantially slower than real time. It's so slow that it outlasts the audio track, leaving the last 30-40 seconds completely silent (I had sound off and didn't notice this at the time). The full "3 minutes" ends up being about 4 minutes 7 seconds in real time. My actual score after 3 minutes would've been ~29,000, not even an S.

I've looked at other videos of Ultra mode on youtube and there is no such disparity between the game clock and real time.

I decided to look at an SS rank I had received four days prior, this time on Sprint:

Here the timer is also off. By my count my run takes around 1:12, but it registers in-game as 1:07. Since 1:10 is the cut off for SS rank, that makes an entire letter grade's difference.

I recorded two fresh clips today of both modes and there was no disparity in game time and real time.

I am playing on a regular PS4 (ie not a Pro) and I have noticed some mild slowdown or stuttering in certain effects-heavy parts of journey mode, but I didn't think it would be an issue on Effects Modes, which are comparatively very restrained. Plus I turn off all the visual effects the game allows you to turn off. I play on a monitor, not VR, if that makes any difference.

It's kind of gutting, actually. I was really proud of myself for starting as a rusty C-rank player and gradually pushing myself further and further until I earned the trophy for getting SS rank everywhere possible. And now I have no idea if any of those scores were legit. Even if I go back and double check the timers from now on, how do I know if something like Master Mode is moving at proper speed, when even the timer is susceptible to this issue? Modes like Combo that add time to the clock continuously would be impossible to fully vet. I hadn't been this excited to get an achievement in a game in a long time, now I'm just let down and confused. It seems like something that Enhance should at least address.

Edit: Enhance rep on twitter says they're looking into it.

[p_m_zero]

Tonight I did some grinding and posted a time just over 1:10. Thought this would be a good occasion to check it against a timer and sure enough, it was about 1:15 real time.

So now I'm trying to A-B test this a little. I had been playing for quite some time when I got that run. After reviewing the video, I closed the Tetris Effect application and restarted it, and recorded another clip. Right away I noticed that the game felt more responsive to my inputs, almost like I had turned on video game mode on a TV (I'm playing on a PC monitor so input lag is pretty minimal). I played a round and recorded it, checked it with a stopwatch, and sure enough it was perfectly in time.

So it seems the slowdown is creeping in as I play longer, which also makes it harder to perceive due to the fatigue of a long play session.

Another possible variable - due to playing on a PC monitor I have no sound output. That should make no difference in the video whatsoever, but in the past I've seen an inconsistent audio source (bluetooth headphones) make a media player start altering the framerate (stuttering) to compensate for the lagging audio. This will be hard to test because I will have to play another really long session (but with speakers plugged in) and I'm loath to do that if its just gonna be a waste of time in terms of results.

Apparently I'm the only one with this issue but I'm going to keep posting results/testing here anyway. If nothing else just to vent

[p_m_zero]

My thesis is basically holding true. Haven't noticed any timer slowdown since I started periodically closing and restarting the game (plus not leaving the game open while in Rest Mode).

Sometimes I do feel like I'm getting input lag, even without the timer situation changing. It's odd and it's hard to figure out because I'm definitely not an elite Tetris player, so when my results change my first thought is that it must be something mental on my part. But watching Blink's Twitch stream the other day, I noticed he said something about feeling some lag and needing to reset the system. I didn't get a chance to ask for more details (plus he was streaming) but I really know nothing about how input lag on Tetris Effect or Tetris titles in general works.

I'm also hooking up speakers to my monitor and it *feels* like I don't have that aforementioned input lag when I do that? Again, very hard for me to tell, because my results are still all over the place, but it distinctly feels different. More responsive.


I found a video of my SS run in Master and confirmed, to my despair, that the timer slowed down in that mode too. Even though it's not a time-limited mode, I feel like that means there was significant game-altering amounts of slowdown, and I didn't really "earn" the SS. Back to the pile it goes.

On the other hand I easily redid SS rank on all the other Effects modes (except Mystery, which I haven't bothered with. ugh).

Got my "legit" sprint down to a 1:13. Hopeful I can get the SS for real. I've never even approached this level of play, so I fear if I take a week or two off it'll all leave me