Questions about Shimizu Tetris

Thread in 'Research & Development' started by Zowayix, 6 Apr 2011.

  1. The wiki has very little info on Shimizu Tetris, so can someone who knows more about it help me out?

    True or False?
    - The game's speed curve had multiple levels like Sega Tetris (Easy/Medium/Hard/etc.) that maxed out at 1G, but also had 3 special "modes" where gravity was fixed at 2G, 3G, and 20G.
    - It uses Sega Rotation with no wallkicks.

    I've also heard that there are a number of other modes besides gravity that uniquely affect gameplay. I've heard various scattered mentions of doubles mode (like TGM2 - how wide is it?) and pentomino pieces (O_O) but no other info at all.

    Other questions:
    - Is there a ceiling?
    - Is there IRS? (20G without IRS would be very difficult.)
    - How many next pieces are there? The wiki says "0-2" so I'm guessing this either depends on mode or is adjustable.
    - Is there a shadow/ghost piece? The only videos I can find show off 20G which obviously never shows a ghost.
    - What are the timings in the game? (DAS delay/speed, ARE, lock delay, line clear delay)

    Any help would be appreciated.
     
  2. Zaphod77

    Zaphod77 Resident Misinformer

    You have heard correctly.

    It uses sega rotation, and has a rotation ceiling.

    It does allow rotation both ways.

    It allows you to change the width if the field.

    The games' timings try to replicate sega tetris, except when using a boosted mode, like 2,5 or 20cell.

    No IRS due to rotation ceiling, so 20g is indeed very difficult.

    Synchros do NOT work in 20g at all! That and no IRS is why well width of 4 was so popular for 20g play.

    It only has two rotation buttons. I'm not sure if synchros work in 1g play.

    It does indeed have pentomino mode, and doubles, with adjustable well width.

    It also has versus, and even flash point mode.
     
  3. If you're interested, there's really nothing stopping you from just trying it.

    If no one has any objection, I'll post the rom and an emulator for it.

    It was a freely distributed fan game as I understand it, so there isn't much reason not to share it, right?
     
  4. Muf

    Muf

    Go for it, Kasumi.
     
  5. (The anonymous post that hasn't been admin approved was me. Figured out my password, so feel free to clear it from the queue)

    Emulator: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=Q70AED2M

    Game: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8LAHSNX7

    This is just the first emulator I could find that I could get working. I've used it for a while, and it seems stable, but for all I know, there's a better one.

    To Setup: Unzip both files. Start the emulator, Click FDD0 and select the .dim file. Default keys are the arrow keys, X = select the current menu option/rotate counter-clockwise, Z = go back to the previous menu/rotate clockwise.

    I've never got the game to work with z(counter-clockwise)+x(clockwise) as rotation buttons. The default is those two, but reversed. I always just use the Key Assign to set them to a+s. When I change to them z+x in the right order, they don't work at all. *shrug*

    Changing the game speed is done by pressing up and down in between games. (IE, the well is showing, but no pieces are falling.) Left+Right changes the well size in between games.

    Under Timing Adjust/(Tetris/Pentis) WAIT FIX is lock delay, WAIT NEXT is ARE. REPEAT (SIDE) is DAS.

    If you have any questions about other options, ask, but there are a few I haven't quite figured out.

    Edit: Some day I'll start a Shimizu 20G leaderboard, but I'm not dedicated enough to keep it updated at the moment.
     
    Last edited: 28 Apr 2011
  6. Zaphod77

    Zaphod77 Resident Misinformer

    Disable Joy2key mode, and it will work right.
     
  7. Zaphod77

    Zaphod77 Resident Misinformer

    The game has taken a few steps forward from sega tetris, and a few steps back.

    Improvements

    1) You can rotate both ways. (the big one)
    2) 20G mode. (the other big one)
    3) "Speed Up!" lol gradius sound effects. They are from the game the computer CAME WITH, though, so i'd say it's fair use.
    4) changing piece patterns
    5) doubles, 2p, versus included, as well as flash point. You can even have it so players can overlap pieces in doubles (!)
    6) random block spawn mode. it either spawns when placing a non clearing piece, or after every placement. It places one in the lowest row that has more than one empty cell each time.
    7) adjustable timing options, as well as many other options to adjust and reset to defaults.
    8) Keyboard and joystick control, supporting many popular sticks for x68k, and user defined keyboard for both players.

    But it also has a few steps backwards.

    1) only ONE rotate button for each direction. This is a wee bit of a problem, though the ability to rotate either way helps mitigate that.
    2) processing order is wrong. Sega does rotate before move, and this game gets it backwards. This ruins all your sega tetris synchros. This is a serious issue at speeds 1g or higher.
    3) come one, if they weren't gonna include sega's music, they could at least have included korobeiniki, or some cool gradius music. :)
     
    Last edited: 6 Apr 2011
  8. Thanks guys, I didn't know there was a way to play this on a standard PC. I've been wanting to try it out.

    Just two more questions:
    - The lock delay is step reset, right?
    - What's the randomizer in the game? I'm guessing psuedo-Memoryless like Sega Tetris.

    If someone could add this stuff to the wiki, that would be cool. I would but I don't know the first thing about formatting stuff so... :|
     
  9. Zaphod77

    Zaphod77 Resident Misinformer

    Yes, it's memoryless, and collects no entropy during game.

    It even uses the same one each level in flash point mode.
     
  10. And lock delay is step reset, like Sega's Tetris.
     

Share This Page