I'll get the ball rolling with this one: Sometimes when I play TAP I have it set to where I can see the internal grade points, so I know how close I am to getting the next internal grade... is this considered cheating? I've noticed that when I've hit level 700 or so I'm not even looking at it anymore.
How do I show the internal grade points in TAP? In case this isn't the place to ask such question just ignore/pm me.
I would say that any record set with it is invalid. There are many forms of "cheating", and it's a pretty subjective thing at times, but I'd class the grade points being displayed as definitely gaining an ability/advantage which players who play conventionally or on an arcade machine do not get. If you don't actually look at it, then just get rid of it altogether and then there's no case. To try and clarify, on Blockbox, I would say using macros isn't cheating, because there's not much you can do with a macro that can't also be done with the in-game settings. However, using one on Tetris Friends would be cheating, because you're overcoming a limit of the gameplay which regular players have to put up with. Players of TAP were never intended to be able to see their own grade points. Therefore I would say that using a code that allows you to see it is cheating.
TAP Master basically boils down to playing quickly and efficiently, making tetrises (or, at least, non-singles). That's all I worry about once Im past the speedup at level 700. I combo to try to get 2-3 internal grades at once (which leads to my unnaturally high score by 999) since line clears are "free" timewise after 800. Obviously, it's not necessary to combo - the only time where I'd say it's truly worth it is S2 -> S4 - but it's fun.
REGRET is either too slow of a section time or bad stack condition (I don't know much info on this). They do not kill you, but it can be used as an indication that your game will end soon. (e.g. if you are getting several of them, you will likely not hit Lv.500 in time to continue play)
TI has two types of regret. 1) Section Time REGRET. This is when you complete a section too slow. This is -1 actual grade, and getting even ONE instantly disqualifies GM. 2) Hole REGRET. Bad stacking will give you this message. It has no direct effect on your grade, and should be seen as a warning that you are badly screwing up and need to pull it together fast, or you will soon lose.
Why did they make the S and Z green and red when so many people are red-green colourblind? I'm not, so I don't know how different they look in brightness or whatever, but it does seem kind of strange that they wouldn't have used green and red for pieces that are less likely to be confused with each other.
For the mirror image pieces, TTC uses colors that are opposite on the color wheel. The primary colors of paint are red, yellow, and blue, which results in a color wheel opposing red against green and blue against orange: see pic. And this pic is what the color-blind spectrum looks like. At least in fan games, you can often add unique textures to the blocks. I haven't seen that in an authentic Tetris game since Tetris DX.
And here's supposedly what the pieces look like if you're colour blind: http://171.64.204.83/uploads/124185045918546/ The S and Z look so similar that they really should have opposed red with blue and green with violet for the mirror pieces.