Topic: Tetris from the Top: An Interview with Henk Rogers

[Jonnyboy117]

Please discuss my interview with Henk Rogers, found here:

http://www.planetgamecube.com/specialArt.cfm?artid=11267

[Shecky]

On the whole spinning thing people tend to complain about...  it doesn't seem all that bad.  Once you hit level 20 and beyond it's necessary to a degree.  Heck my gripe is that I can't clear small hills at those levels, especially with a straight piece (ie trying to get the piece to the far left or right).  FWIW, the spinning was worse in Tetris DX.

[JHarris]

T-Spin IS in the game, as are T-Spin Singles, Doubles and Triples, with Back-to-Backs as well.  Word is that a T-Spin Triple, which is an arcane move <a href="http://www.tetrisconcept.com/tetriswiki/Twists">that relies on a quirk of the Tetris rotation scheme that has been standardized[/url], sends over six lines in a versus game, and a Back-To-Back T-spin sends over seven.

It's obvious to see that a player that can do rapid T-Spin Triples would be practically unbeatable in versus play, but it requires an exacting setup, much trickier than just Tetrises.

[UncleBob]

Faceball kicks ass on the original GameBoy.  One of these days, I'm going to splurge and buy 15 more copies so I can finally try the 16 player mode.  There still isn't a portable game that supports that many players.

[Pale]

Man, I never knew Tetris was so standardized.  I still don't understand the design decision for the infinite spin.  As MegaByte pointed out in his marathon thread, it kind of breaks the game.  Granted MegaByte is pretty skilled because I couldn't keep a marathon going that long, but still.

I miss the days when my sister would say "Tetris is the only game I'm better than you at." because she could get 111 lines on the NES release and I could only get 93.  There is something to be said for having that hard limit...  

[MegaByte]

That was my thread :-p

[Bloodworth]

LOL, the new staffers can't keep each other straight.

[S-U-P-E-R]

READ MY NEW ARTICLE AT INSERT CREDIT

[UltimatePartyBear]

Quote
Originally posted by: Shecky
On the whole spinning thing people tend to complain about...  it doesn't seem all that bad.  Once you hit level 20 and beyond it's necessary to a degree.  Heck my gripe is that I can't clear small hills at those levels, especially with a straight piece (ie trying to get the piece to the far left or right).  FWIW, the spinning was worse in Tetris DX.

So don't leave the space for the straight piece at the side.  Leave it in the middle, so all you have to do is turn it vertical and drop it into place.

As soon as I read that there were guidelines that had to be followed, I knew he was going to say infinite spin is a permanent part of Tetris.  I don't fully accept the argument that you don't have to use the new features.  If he's so big on accomplishments, then the game should be able to record that I didn't use it.  I'd like to see a separate list of high scores for every set of options, or at least a nice long score list with all the details from the game, like total lines cleared, number of special moves accomplished, number of each tetrad that fell, and of course how many times I used the hold function and whether or not I had "super rotation" enabled.  Then when someone saw my high score, it would be clear how I earned it.

Furthermore, recovering from mistakes is half the fun!  I pull some of my best moves when I'm under that kind of pressure, and it isn't really fair for the game to be changed for the benefit of a certain group of players when the silly thing could have been an option in the first place, like the next piece display, and the more recent ghost piece.

At least there's the possibility that Tetris will be modular in the future, allowing you to pick which features you want.  That's very interesting.

[Pale]

Quote
Originally posted by: MegaByte
That was my thread :-p

oh shits...

:runs to the corner and hides:

[Jonnyboy117]

Quote
Originally posted by: PartyBear
As soon as I read that there were guidelines that had to be followed, I knew he was going to say infinite spin is a permanent part of Tetris.

It's not necessarily permanent, as the guideline is revised anually.  But it is currently required, which I think was evident anyway.

Quote
I pull some of my best moves when I'm under that kind of pressure, and it isn't really fair for the game to be changed for the benefit of a certain group of players when the silly thing could have been an option in the first place, like the next piece display, and the more recent ghost piece.

I agree that all non-original features should be optional, even if they are turned on by default, and I think it's a fine idea to award bonus points for not using those features.  But it actually sounds like they are headed in this direction with the modular concept...I just don't understand why these things aren't options in recent games like Tetris DS.

[Ian Sane]

Reading the interview the whole Tetris "standard" that everyone has to follow reminds me a lot of Star Wars.  People like the original Star Wars but for some reason the creator, George Lucas, doesn't.  So he tinkers with the franchise to fit his "vision" and pisses off a fair bit of purists in the meantime.  But no one can do anything about it because technically it's his baby.

Same thing here.  Tetris is the Tetris company's baby and they're tinkering with it and no one can do anything about it.  Kind of a bummer.  I really question their need to "improve" Tetris and move Tetris forward and all this other junk.  I see Tetris as a rare game that pretty much nailed it perfect on the first try and thus doesn't need any changes to the gameplay because doing so would just affect the perfect balance the game already has.

The Tetris company isn't the only one doing this sort of thing.  It's somewhat of a "problem" with the whole industry.  When a game is re-released it's very common for changes to be made that make the game easier or add modern sound or graphic trends or add storyline elements and such.  Nintendo themselves are guilty of this as well.  It's too bad there's not much effort to preserve historical accuracy.

[KDR_11k]

Tetris is the Tetris company's baby and they're tinkering with it and no one can do anything about it.

Well, doesn't stop the millions of clones from coming out. If you don't like the official Tetris, there's alternatives like Tetanus on Drugs or Tetrinet.

[Jonnyboy117]

Ian, I think your comparison is valid except that Lucas will probably never allow the original versions to be released on DVD or Blu Ray or whatever, whereas The Tetris Company apparently is going to provide an option to eventually play stripped down Tetris on newer systems, through this modular strategy.