I think it's potentially a more interesting score attack game than other recent Guideline offerings. Optimal scoring requires using Zone combos at 1/2 gauge (maybe even 1/4) in order to maximize point gain without incrementing the line counter. This also means you're going to have to play quick to make the most of it. Use of Hold, the ability to stack a bit into the vanish zone on the sides, and potentially "card counting" bags makes getting Zone 20's potentially more consistent than we've seen so far, and it's not clear if it's worth significantly more than Zone 19's; I didn't get to compare the score gain while concentrating on playing, so I'll need to go back to the VOD. Anyway, you probably just want to keep an I-piece around from the ending and IHS it out if needed; supposedly there are Initial Systems, although I didn't really try to use them yet. I wasn't really bothered by the effects, but there are options that allow particles to be toned down and piece colors to be restored, if you want to go for that sort of "Quake III competitive visual settings" life. More notably, it seems that there is an option for number of previews which can be set from 1~4, without disqualifying from the ranking. This further mitigates the "luck factor" in getting Zone 20s. In a way I kind of was a fan of forced single preview, but it sounds like you'd just want to go for the most advantageous settings if you're playing for score. I kind of like the VR environments and the guaranteed low latency of the headset. It's not a requirement, but it is kind of cool. I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time with it soon.
So now that the demo has been out for a some days in a few select countries (you can download it with a Japanese account, if you don't see it in your PSN store), what conclusions have been made about the scoring system? I can only imagine that several people have already been digging through it with a magnifying lens. I'm a little confused about how the "zone meter" grows. If you're only making Tetrises, it seems that only every second Tetris will make it grow - however, whenever it does grow it's always exactly 25%, even if it does so for smaller line clears. I guess there's a hidden counter involved, but I'd like to know if it's even worth it going for tetrises, providing zone mode is the big scoring feature here. Also, in that regard, how does the game award stuff like combos, b2b, t-spins and all that other guideline jazz, in comparison to its relevant features? And, of course, how does the zone mode seem to affect the scoring balance? As @Kitaru touched on above, is there a real advantage to going for a 20 line clear compared to the 19 line one? What would be considered the sweetspot for a safe, good scoring zone mode? It looks like people have come to the conclusion that building a 2-wide hole before entering Zone is the most certain way to secure a high line count? However, I personally (from the like 10 minutes I've got to spend with the demo) seem to have better luck with a regular 1-wide, and just waiting for a surefire 2+ successive I-pieces before activating. So I guess I'm doing something wrong? At least having to wait before activating zone is a bit of a waste, I guess. 18-19 feels pretty consistent, but 20 seems to require really pushing it. Finally, it seems that speed doesn't matter at all in the game? Mark MacDonald told me, when they were showcasing the game, that you need to clear lines *as fast as possible* during zone (I specifically asked him if speed was a factor), but as far as I can tell now, that doesn't seem to be the truth, and it just counts a specific number of pieces?
@Sumez -- http://harddrop.com/forums/index.php?s=&showtopic=8014&view=findpost&p=92301 has a description of a number of the things you were asking about. For instance, there is a multiplier applied to lines cleared during Zone, with a higher multiplier applied if 8+ lines are cleared or if the Zone meter is maxed or not. It seems like going for 1/4 or 1/2 meter is ideal, but full is better than wasting a 3/4 charge that wasn't quite all the way to the next multiplier increase. I haven't been able to test Zone heavily to see if it's truly a time limit (with the last piece after time expires allowed to be placed) or if it's a fixed piece count for each segment in the meter, or something in-between. But, as soon as the game officially launches, I'll try to make another quick post.
@Sumez -- Sorry for the late reply. It does seem to be a time limit (you can see it ticking down), just that it always allows you to place the final piece when the time expires rather than do something like automatically hard drop it.
Yeah, it's probably the timing of the last piece that confused me, but it does make the most sense to do it like that. People have been doing 20 line zones with a quarter Zone. And scoring wise I guess it goes without saying that that is optimal. So is 20 lines worth twice as much as 19 lines? Or 1/19 more?
@Sumez -- According to Okey_Dokey, the value of Zone has two components. The first components is a multiplied value of the points you would normally get for those line clears. The second component is just the small "lines x 100 points" bonus shown in the message at the end. The Zone multiplier goes up by one if the Zone meter is full when used, and up by one if 8+ lines are cleared. So, it can be anywhere from 1x (partial Zone and failed 8+ lines) to 3x (full Zone and successful 8+ lines) 1/4 Zone is still optimal compared to full Zone because that's potential for 2x four times vs. potential for 3x once. A good method is to enter Zone with good upstack, a t-spin ready, an I-piece in Hold and an I-piece active; you immediately clear 8 lines, get a b2b t-spin, and whatever additional value you can pick up during the time limit after that.
@Sumez -- You should always go for as many lines as you can possibly manage in the time limit, but there should be a focus on high value line clears rather than doing 20 singles. If you can end with b2b active that's also probably helpful.
Tetris Effect Multiplayer announced Article explains it much better: https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...getting-multiplayer-as-a-timed-xbox-exclusive I might as well save you a click:
