I've been playing TGM and TAP for 3 months by now, and I am currently facing what all players are facing at that time I guess. I am feeling my rate of progression decreased badly this month, and I would like to know how and what I am supposed to do to keep the faith I only have one goal : becoming GM at TGM. In order to achieve this goal: -I bought a HRAP thanks to your good advices -I watch regularly videos on Youtube to get used with speed and good players' technique. -I studied a lot to learn the 20G pieces positions and possible/impossible moves. -I am playing everyday, TGM normal mode and 20G mode. -I am playing TAP Death Mode too, just to destress The 1st 2 months were pretty encouraging, I was able to see my progression each games, but I stopped to get new update records on the beginning on this month. Then something like 2 weeks ago, I had the illumination, I suddenly saw the game better, it became much more clear in my head. I started to do better and cleaner stack in both TGM 20G and TAP Death, even if I obv scrubb down pretty quickly. But it was an improvement for me. I wish it last longer, but unfortunatly, I am facing again a big wall, as I do not improve as I would like to, for more 2-3 weeks. My goal is to become GM, but right now, I would just like to become able to finish TGM, no matter the time, but I feel like TGM harder than TAP on that matter. Is it me, or stacking properly on 20G TGM is more difficult than TAP Death? I found TAP DEath more natural to stack than TGM. After 3 months, I am here: TGM: 588 S3, TGM 20G: 350 (but usually 200 is my best) TAP :622, Death: 230 I know becoming able to finish TGM is a matter of months/years, so i guess I won't be better than jago in one season, but I would like to know how you felt YOUR progression was, and what do you think I should do to be able to reach my goal? Did YOU see your margin of progression increase naturally playing eveyday? Or was it like you found "the" trick that allowed you to progress significantly in a short period? I am wondering if I keep on playing like this, I will improve one day, and in which way? How was it for you, GMs? Thanks for your advices and help EDIT 00:08 AM Well, I guess whinning at you guys relieved me, I played a game before going to sleep and I got Lvl 699 / S5 . Guess I will see sweet dreams tonight
Everyone runs into walls, and there's not really any one trick to get past them. Just keep playing the modes that you think are fun, and you'll gradually improve. Maybe try some new ones for variety, like Big mode or Items mode in TAP. Lots of people have found that when they take a long break from one mode or from TGM in general, they've improved noticeably when they return to it.
stacking in 20G (or at all) is very hard. it will take you a long time to train your brain to do only solid moves. if you keep at it gradually you will learn.
I think progress is almost never linear, there are always ups and downs. Sometimes you'll feel no improvement for weeks only to eventually find yourself playing way better than before. I got my first TGM1 Gm after 7 months by playing a lot. Maybe you can get it a bit faster if you watch videos of good players regularly and play a lot of 20G. Also, TGM1 stacking is indeed slightly harder, because of the way the randomizer works. If you're interested, check out the wiki entry. That being said, good luck on your way to Gm!
tgm 1 is the most difficult game of the tgm series I would consider learning 20g stacking by using the 20G code on TAP first and come back to tgm1 when you got used to it.
play 20G and try to do as many tetrises as possible first(be careful to keep your 5th row higher than the others in order to keep maximal mobility), then consider learning manual locking then finesse moves.
Thanks for your answers. Why? The stacking on TGM is supposed to be harder, so I'd think it would be better to train on TGM rather than TAP to improve, no? What are you calling manual locking and finesse moves? I saw these terms through the forum, but wasn't able to find their definitions. Btw, I heard that double tap (AC, instead of AA) is very usefull to become faster. At my level, I cannot why, it doesn't seem so different to me. Does it really do the cut? Currently, in 20G, I can stack for 2 or 3 Tetris in a row, but not more. It's still much better than 2 months ago, so I guess I have to keep on playing regularly and keep on reading your usefull advices. Thanks for your help!
I use only two rotation buttons (A and B ). AC can flip a piece 180 degrees quickly and allow more placements but save it for when you're a bit more advanced. Manual locking is forcing the piece to lock down before the lock delay expires. In TGM1 this is simply achieved by pressing down. In TGM2 and TGM3 you can press down to drop the piece as in TGM1. But you can also press up to move the current tetromino as far down as it will go without locking (allowing you to perform slide moves). Then you press down to lock.
Both game system are identical, except for the randomizer. I think he suggested you that because TAP randomizer is less prone to screw you over than TGM1; in TGM1 you need to be less... ambitious in your placement and play more conservatively than in TAP. I would train with the 20G code in TGM1 instead, because basic survival is really the essential skill that you should learn first. Finesse moves are the act of placing a piece with the maximum efficiency. Roughly speaking, basic finesse is using both rotation buttons, not rotating too much and using DAS, intermediate finesse is knowing when to use DAS and when to use double tap, advanced finesse uses wallkick to further optimize movement (and surely other advanced techniques) AA is slower than AC. I don't if it really save time, but at high speed (I'm thinking about Death300+, way above your level for now), it is the only way to safely do a double rotation.
Perhaps wall finesse? That is, when placing one space away from a wall, DAS to wall, return to neutral, then rotate (as opposed to multiple taps or Initial Rotate + DAS then tap back). This is nice to have at 20G when IRS + DAS will send the piece past the intended position with no way of returning, whereas DASing the piece unrotated will stop it right where you need it.
<KevinDDR> NO <KevinDDR> NEVER <KevinDDR> TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP <KevinDDR> I WILL NEVER LEARN THIS MOVE <KevinDDR> I REFUSE
Thanks for your replies. I keep on training 20G, and I can see slow improvements. I've reached 399 in 20G, and several S4 + S5 since my last post. I gave a try to double-tap too. I can reach pretty regularly Lvl. 500 now, so I guess I have to focus on 20G to be able to clear the game. I will take care of speed and GM rank after that . Anyway, I found Petit Prince advices pretty useful, as his wiki page + the NoLife TV program with Amnesia. Question : did you guys become able to clear the normal mode before or after becoming able to clear the 20G mode? Btw, I went to a Game Center of Akihabara this week-end, I stayed like 30 minutes, but I saw 2 guys, one clearing Ti (normal) in front of me, one hitting Shirase at 700 without the Hold fonction I will go this w-e to a TGM tournament, I guess I will meet guys like 777
No, you don't need to clear 20G mode in order to get Gm in the normal TGM mode. Of course if you can reach the end in 20G mode it's a very good sign that you're already or very close to normal Gm. But by no means do you need to clear the game with the 20G code first. In my case I reached the end of 20G mode before getting normal Gm. My 20G stacking was pretty bad at first and I had a lot of trouble getting the 126000 points necessary for Gm. Frustration was building so I decided to focus on 20G mode exclusively for a while to improve clean stacking and survival skills. After completing 20G mode with S8 it didn't take me too long to get regular TGM Gm. It took another 6 months before I obtained 20G Gm. As soon as you can get to level 500 in 20G mode quite often, you'll have a serious chance at finishing the nornal game. Hopefully you won't struggle too much with the time and score requirements for Gm. Tell them I said hi if you meet them during the 36th Masters. I bet they'll be able to help you out. Good luck obtaining Gm.
Hey guys, thanks to your advices, I'm feeling right now I'm not so far from being able to get the GM rank within the 2-3 next months I guess (hope). Basic questions ! Must I manual-lock during a game to become GM ? I mean, if I do not manual-lock at all, will I have the chance to complete the game within 13:30 ? Or I must, somewhere in the game, manual-lock the most I can ? Same with early high stacking. Must I stack high to clear the game in time ? I would just like to know if it's possible to play keeping concentrated on clean stacking and tetris rather than speed, in order to get the GM rank, or if I absolutly have to be fast too.
You definitely have to manual lock. But get used to it, the sooner the better. However, there's a difference between locking like crazy and normal locking. If you're in trouble, stop locking for a few pieces, that's perfectly fine. Your main focus should be doing as many tetrises as possible, really. By the way, can you beat the first time barrier 4:15:00 @ 300? No, stacking high is overrated. You can neglect the marginal time benefit you gain by stacking high for now, just try to tetris a lot and avoid singles as much as possible. Good players could even get sub11 without stacking high in the beginning. Well, it depends on your level. 20G may feel fast for you now, but after a while you'll get used to manual locking and it will feel pretty slow. I'd say after two weeks manual locking will become second nature and you won't want to miss it.
It is not something directly visible under the leaderboard, so maybe you missed it : Code: 000 - 100 ---> 85 sec ---> 1:25 100 - 200 ---> 85 sec ---> 2:50 200 - 300 ---> 85 sec ---> 4:15 (!) 300 - 400 ---> 85 sec ---> 5:40 400 - 500 ---> 80 sec ---> 7:00 500 - 600 ---> 78 sec ---> 8:18 600 - 700 ---> 78 sec ---> 9:36 700 - 800 ---> 78 sec ---> 10:54 800 - 900 ---> 78 sec ---> 12:12 900 - 999 ---> 78 sec ---> 13:30 (!) I tried to propose standart flag time at each section, I think you can have a good "fil conducteur" with this. Don't forget the intermediate torikan at 300. Maybe you can get 13min30 at the end with a perfect stacking, no step reset waste, no level stop and probably a sub 5min at 500.
Yes Manual locking is important, but it's not like if it was mandatory to get GM. Use it but stay confortable with it... if you make too much misdrop because of it then melow your gameplay... (beginner and intermediate player tend to get stiff gameplay) your real objective is keeping stuff clean, aiming for tetris, and AVOID as much as you can SINGLES ! (as example take your last completed run and count the single you made * ~1sec). NO it's shitless if you aren't able to beat the game every time. You taking more risk at the beginning of the game whereas your goal is to beat 999. you have to keep concentrate on clean stack.. but recovery is a big part of the skill (so don't suicide game)
