Tetris DS Systems Guide
                                     1.2
                            2007-09-20T15:56-06:00
                              [email protected]

Copyright 2006 Nicholas Cannino

The viewer may copy, give, and present this work and make new forms of this
work under these conditions: the viewer needs to credit the work to its author
and may not use this work for profit-making purposes. The author may give up
these conditions if the viewer has his approval.

                                         Play near a clock and get some sleep.

01 Notes
02 Opening
03 Playing Field
04 Tetrominoes
05 Turning
05.1 Middles
05.2 Twists
05.3 Examples
06 Moving
07 Clearing
07.1 Edge Clearing
07.2 Clearing Holes
08 Multiplayer
08.1 Standard
 08.1.1 Clear Values
 08.1.2 Technique
09 Credits
10 History

01 Notes

The author made this using Windows Notepad in font Courier New, size ten
without word wrap.

02 Opening

This guide assumes the viewer knows at least a little bit about the game all
ready. It covers empirical information relating to how the game's engine
works, as well as some mention of general gameplay improvement.

03 Playing Field

The playing field measures twenty columns high and ten rows wide. Letters a
through j name columns, and numbers 01 through 22 name rows. Tetrominoes
(marked by "o") start at unseen rows 21 and 22.

 22:   oooo   :
 21:   ooo    :
 20:xxxxxxxxxx:
 19:xxxxxxxxxx:
 18:xxxxxxxxxx:
 17:xxxxxxxxxx:
 16:xxxxxxxxxx:
 15:xxxxxxxxxx:
 14:xxxxxxxxxx:
 13:xxxxxxxxxx:
 12:xxxxxxxxxx:
 11:xxxxxxxxxx:
 10:xxxxxxxxxx:
 09:xxxxxxxxxx:
 08:xxxxxxxxxx:
 07:xxxxxxxxxx:
 06:xxxxxxxxxx:
 05:xxxxxxxxxx:
 04:xxxxxxxxxx:
 03:xxxxxxxxxx:
 02:xxxxxxxxxx:
 01:xxxxxxxxxx:
    abcdefghij

04 Tetrominoes

Notes

 The underscored letter marks the tetromino's name-- followed by its color and
 starting position.

I

 Cyan

 22:          :
 21:   oooo   :
    abcdefghij

O

 Yellow

 22:    oo    :
 21:    oo    :
    abcdefghij

T

 Purple

 22:    o     :
 21:   ooo    :
    abcdefghij

S

 Green

 22:    oo    :
 21:   oo     :
    abcdefghij

Z

 Red

 22:   oo     :
 21:    oo    :
    abcdefghij

J

 Blue

 22:   o      :
 21:   ooo    :
    abcdefghij

L

 Orange

 22:     o    :
 21:   ooo    :
    abcdefghij

05 Turning

Tetrominoes turn on their middle square. The I, S, and Z tetrominoes
have two middle squares. For I, turning left will make it turn on its
left-middle square and turning right will make it turn round its right-middle
square. For S, turning left makes it turn on its lower-middle square and
turning right makes it turn on its higher-middle square. The opposite goes for
Z. Using this knowledge with respect to direction can lower the number of
times a tetromino needs to move left or right.

 Take an I for example.

  21:          :
  20:   oooo   :
  19:          :
  18:          :
     abcdefghij

 Turning it left will make it turn on the E column (the left-middle).

  21:    o     :
  20:    o     :
  19:    o     :
  18:    o     :
     abcdefghij

 Turning it right will make it turn on the F column.

  21:     o    :
  20:     o    :
  19:     o    :
  18:     o    :
     abcdefghij

05.1 Middles

 Key

  ^

   --middle

  <

   --left-middle

  >

   --right-middle

 I

  22:   o<>o   :
  21:          :
     abcdefghij

 O

  22:    oo    :
  21:    oo    :
     abcdefghij

 T

  22:    o     :
  21:   o^o    :
     abcdefghij

 S

  22:    >o    :
  21:   o<     :
     abcdefghij

 Z

  22:   o<     :
  21:    >o    :
     abcdefghij

 J

  22:   o      :
  21:   o^o    :
     abcdefghij

 L

  22:     o    :
  21:   o^o    :
     abcdefghij

05.2 Twists

 When dead tetrominoes or a wall get in the way of turning, the tetromino will
 twist to other open spaces. It looks through up to five positions. If no open
 spaces match these positions, the tetromino will not turn.

  Key

   T

    --turn left

   0

    --start position

   1

    --position one

   2

    --position two

   3

    --position three

  Notes

   The unseen right turn positions oppositely copy left turn positions. Under
   the pictures, the listed numbers mark which spaces the tetromino will move.

  I

   0T1

    08:          :08:          :
    07:          :07:          :
    06:          :06:    o     :
    05:   oooo   :05:    o     :
    04:          :04:    o     :
    03:          :03:    o     :
    02:          :02:          :
    01:          :01:          :
       abcdefghij    abcdefghij

     1(1) No change
     1(2) Position one left
     1(3) Position two right
     1(4) Position two left and two up

   1T2

    08:          :08:          :
    07:          :07:          :
    06:    o     :06:          :
    05:    o     :05:          :
    04:    o     :04:   oooo   :
    03:    o     :03:          :
    02:          :02:          :
    01:          :01:          :
       abcdefghij    abcdefghij

     2(1) No change
     2(2) Position two right
     2(3) Position two left
     2(4) Position one left and three down

   2T3

    08:          :08:          :
    07:          :07:          :
    06:          :06:     o    :
    05:          :05:     o    :
    04:   oooo   :04:     o    :
    03:          :03:     o    :
    02:          :02:          :
    01:          :01:          :
       abcdefghij    abcdefghij

     3(1) No change
     3(2) Position one right
     3(3) Position two left
     3(4) Position two right and one up

   3T0

    08:          :08:          :
    07:          :07:          :
    06:     o    :06:          :
    05:     o    :05:   oooo   :
    04:     o    :04:          :
    03:     o    :03:          :
    02:          :02:          :
    01:          :01:          :
       abcdefghij    abcdefghij

     0(1) No change
     0(2) Position two left
     0(3) Position two right

  All but I and O (uses J for the example)

   0T1

    07:          :07:          :
    06:          :06:          :
    05:     o    :05:   oo     :
    04:   ooo    :04:    o     :
    03:          :03:    o     :
    02:          :02:          :
    01:          :01:          :
       abcdefghij    abcdefghij

     1(1) No change
     1(2) Position one right
     1(3) Position one right and one up
     1(4) Position two down *
     1(5) Position one right and two down

   1T2

    07:          :07:          :
    06:          :06:          :
    05:   oo     :05:          :
    04:    o     :04:   ooo    :
    03:    o     :03:   o      :
    02:          :02:          :
    01:          :01:          :
       abcdefghij    abcdefghij

     2(1) No change
     2(2) Position one left
     2(3) Position one left and one down
     2(4) Position one up
     2(5) Position one left and one up

   2T3

    07:          :07:          :
    06:          :06:          :
    05:          :05:    o     :
    04:   ooo    :04:    o     :
    03:   o      :03:    oo    :
    02:          :02:          :
    01:          :01:          :
       abcdefghij    abcdefghij

     3(1) No change
     3(2) Position one left
     3(3) Position one left and one up
     3(4) Position one down *
     3(5) Position one left and one down

   3T0

    07:          :07:         :
    06:          :06:         :
    05:    o     :05:     o   :
    04:    o     :04:   ooo   :
    03:    oo    :03:         :
    02:          :02:         :
    01:          :01:         :
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

     0(1) No change
     0(2) Position one right
     0(3) Position one right and one down
     0(4) Position two up
     0(5) Position one right and two up

   * No change for T

05.3 Examples

 Knowledge of how tetrominoes turn can get a player out of trouble at times.

  Notes

   An "x" marks dead tetrominoes.

  I

   05:          :05:          :
   04:xxxxxoxxxx:04:xxxxx xxxx:
   03:xxx  o xxx:03:xxxooooxxx:
   02:xxxxxoxxxx:02:xxxxx xxxx:
   01:xxxxxoxxxx:01:xxxxx xxxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

    If changing position to the second row, turn three times so to twist on
    lower-middle square.

   05:          :05:          :
   04:    o     :04:          :
   03:   xox    :03:   x x    :
   02:xxxxoxxxxx:02:xxxx xxxxx:
   01:xxxxo   xx:01:xxxxooooxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

    If changing position to the right columns, turn right. If left, turn left.

  T

   05:          :05:          :
   04:          :04:          :
   03:     oxxxx:03:      xxxx:
   02:xxxxoo xxx:02:xxxxoooxxx:
   01:xxxxxoxxxx:01:xxxxxoxxxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

   05:          :05:          :
   04:          :04:          :
   03:     oxxxx:03:      xxxx:
   02:xxxxooxxxx:02:xxxxo xxxx:
   01:xxx  oxxxx:01:xxxoooxxxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

   05:    oxx   :05:     xx   :
   04:   ooox   :04:      x   :
   03:xxxxx xxxx:03:xxxxxoxxxx:
   02:xxxx  xxxx:02:xxxxooxxxx:
   01:xxxxx xxxx:01:xxxxxoxxxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

  S and Z

   05:          :05:          :
   04:          :04:          :
   03:   o xxxxx:03:     xxxxx:
   02:xxxoo xxxx:02:xxx ooxxxx:
   01:xxx oxxxxx:01:xxxooxxxxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

    If using S, turn right. If using Z, turn left.

   05:          :05:          :
   04:   o      :04:          :
   03:   oo     :03:          :
   02:xxxxo xxxx:02:xxxxooxxxx:
   01:xxx  xxxxx:01:xxxooxxxxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

   05:          :05:          :
   04:   xo x   :04:   x  x   :
   03:   xoox   :03:   x  x   :
   02:xxxx oxxxx:02:xxxxooxxxx:
   01:xxx  xxxxx:01:xxxooxxxxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

    If using S, turn left. If using Z, turn right.

   05:  xxoo    :05:  xx      :
   04:  xoo     :04:  x       :
   03:xxx xxxxxx:03:xxxoxxxxxx:
   02:xxx  xxxxx:02:xxxooxxxxx:
   01:xxxx xxxxx:01:xxxxoxxxxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

    If using S, turn right. If using Z, turn left.

  J and L

   05:          :05:          :
   04:          :04:          :
   03:   oo     :03:          :
   02:xxxoxxxxxx:02:xxxoxxxxxx:
   01:xxxo  xxxx:01:xxxoooxxxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

   05:   o xx   :05:     xx   :
   04:   ooox   :04:      x   :
   03:xxxxx xxxx:03:xxxxxoxxxx:
   02:xxxxx xxxx:02:xxxxxoxxxx:
   01:xxxx  xxxx:01:xxxxooxxxx:
      abcdefghij    abcdefghij

06 Moving

All but two tetrominoes start one column nearer to the left than to the right.
Any tetromino will need to move five spaces or shorter.

 Notes

  A "{...}" lists the lowest number of moves needed for all drops from left to
  right.

 I

  Flat

   {3,2,1,0,1,2,3}

  Up-and-down

   {4,3,2,1,0,1,2,3,4}

 O

  No change

   {4,3,2,1,0,1,2,3,4}

 T, J, and L

  Flat

   {3,2,1,0,1,2,3,4}

  Up-and-down (turn left)

   {3,2,1,0,1,2,3,4,5}

  Up-and-down (turn right)

   {4,3,2,1,0,1,2,3,4}

 S and Z

  Flat or Up-and-down

   {3,2,1,0,1,2,3,4}

07 Clearing

Single

 clearing one line. All tetrominoes may clear a single.

Double

 clearing two lines at the same time. All tetrominoes may clear a double.

Triple

 clearing three lines at the same time. All tetrominoes but O may clear a
 triple.

Tetris

 clearing four lines at the same time. Only I may clear a tetris.

07.1 Edge clearing

 A player clears an edge to keep from making holes or to keep from topping
 out. Edge clearing uses the edges formed from broken lines.

  Example of a normal tetris clear

   07:xxxxxxxxx :
   06:xxxxxxxxx :
   05:xxxxxxxxx :
   04:xxxxxxxxxo:
   03:xxxxxxxxxo:
   02:xxxxxxxxxo:
   01:xxxxxxxxxo:
      abcdefghij

  Examples of edge clearing

   07:xxxxxxxooo:
   06:xxxxxxxxxo:
   05:xxxxxxxxx :
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxxxoo:
   06:xxxxxxxxxo:
   05:xxxxxxxxxo:
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxoooo:
   06:xxxxxxxxx :
   05:xxxxxxxxx :
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxxxoo:
   06:xxxxxxxxoo:
   05:xxxxxxxxx :
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxxxo :
   06:xxxxxxxxoo:
   05:xxxxxxxxxo:
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxxoo :
   06:xxxxxxxxoo:
   05:xxxxxxxxx :
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxx o :
   06:xxxxxxxooo:
   05:xxxxxxxxx :
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxxo  :
   06:xxxxxxxooo:
   05:xxxxxxxxx :
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxxooo:
   06:xxxxxxxo  :
   05:xxxxxxxxx :
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxxxo :
   06:xxxxxxxxoo:
   05:xxxxxxxxo :
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxxxoo:
   06:xxxxxxxxo :
   05:xxxxxxxxo :
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

   07:xxxxxxxxo :
   06:xxxxxxxxo :
   05:xxxxxxxxoo:
   04:xxxxxxxxx :
   03:xxxxxxxxx :
   02:xxxxxxxxx :
   01:xxxxxxxxx :
      abcdefghij

07.2 Clearing holes

 In order to effectively work on holes, a player needs to carefully drop
 tetrominoes so they do not make things worse by seeing what holes lie below
 the baseline. The baseline marks the highest broken line without any holes
 over it.

  04     xxxx
  03 xx xxxxxx
  02 xxxxxxx x
  01    xxxxxx

     abcdefghij

   Row 03 marks the baseline. A player will need to clear this row before
   moving on to the rows under it. In addition, the player will need to clear
   not less than two lines before working on row 02, as rows 03 and 04 cover
   row 02. If the player needs to keep making tetrises, the player will still
   uncover the hole at row 02 so long as the player will not drop any
   tetrominoes over column h at or over row 06. In this way, the player needs
   to additionally watch row 01. By dropping less tetrominoes over columns a,
   b, and c, the player will not need to clear as many lines with respect to
   row 01.

  04         x
  03 xx    xxx
  02 xxx  xxxx
  01  xxx xx x

     abcdefghij

   Row 02 marks the baseline. Making a tetris from row 01 at column e will
   only make a triple. The player may better work on this by putting an I
   or J to cover column e and start working on a tetris for row 02 at
   column d. In the same way, a player may do without sliding (moving a
   tetromino under future possible holes) by simply dropping tetrominoes over
   the row in question so to clear and come back to it when no dead
   tetrominoes cover what needed sliding.

08 Multiplayer

08.1 Standard

 Standard multiplayer introduces the garbage system. A player uses garbage to
 force his opponent to top out.

  Single

   adds no garbage lines to opponent

  Double

   adds one garbage line to opponent

  Triple

   adds two garbage lines to opponent

  Tetris

   adds four garbage lines to opponent

  Back to Back Tetris

   adds five garbage lines to opponent

  T-Spin

   adds no garbage lines to opponent

  T-Spin Single

   adds one garbage line to opponent

  T-Spin Double

   adds four garbage lines to opponent

  T-Spin Triple

   adds six garbage lines to opponent

  08.1.1 Clear Values

   A person may find the value of each line clear, measured in tetromino
   advantage, by muliplying five-halves (two and a half tetrominoes clear a
   line) by nine-tenth of that line (garbage leaves one hole open) by the
   number of garbage lines sent subtracted by five-halves of whole line clears
   and one-forth of lines cleared from garbage (garbage lines only require
   one-forth of a tetromino).

   ((5/2)(9/10))n-(((5/2)x)+((1/4)y))

    n = garbage sent

    x = normal line clears

    y = garbage line clears

   Clear     x y n  Leverage

   BTBtetris 0 4 5  10.25

   Ttriple   2 1 6  8.25

   Tetris    0 4 4  8

   Tdouble   1 1 4  6.25

   Ttriple   3 0 6  6

   Tetris    1 3 4  5.75

   Tsingle   0 1 2  4.25

   Tdouble   2 0 4  4

   Triple    0 3 2  3.75

   Tetris    2 2 4  3.5

   Tsingle   1 0 2  2

   Double    0 2 1  1.75

   Triple    1 2 2  1.5

   Tetris    3 1 4  1.25

   Single    0 1 0  -0.25

   Double    1 1 1  -0.5

   Triple    2 1 2  -0.75

   Tetris    4 0 4  -1

   Single    1 0 0  -2.5

   Double    2 0 1  -2.75

   Triple    3 0 2  -3

  08.1.2 Technique

   By adjusting a few gameplay decisions, a player can maneuver more quickly
   effectively.

    Rotate both clockwise and anticlockwise.

    Rotate and move at the same time.

    When moving left and having to rotate, use anticlockwise-- inverse for
    right. The tetromino will need to move once less.

    During line clear frames, hold left or right with respect to where you
    will drop your next tetromino.

    Pay attention to how many movements each drop for each tetromino
    requires. Burning these movements into the brain will eliminate mostly all
    misdrops. One way to learn-- practice without the shadow.

    Hard drop.

    Avoid situations where you must slide. If a situation happens, like say
    the first two tetrominoes come S therewith Z, try to stack so to only need
    to soft drop and slide once instead of twice-- find a way to soft drop
    only when absolutely necessary.

    Do not excessively hold tetrominoes. Albeit holding works more preferably
    to soft dropping-- do it only when necessary. Hold I tetrominoes, but do
    not become attached to this habit. If the first tetrominoes come I then Z,
    do not hold the I-- this will require a soft drop. If you have four rows
    lined up for a tetris, do not hold the I-- use it, as no reason justifies
    wasting a frame on holding it. If you get a tetromino which will result in
    a soft drop later, hold it-- but next time stack better.

    Keep an eye on those next-coming tetrominoes. While waiting for lines to
    clear-- have a better look at them.

    Vertical I, L, J, T and O require more movements to get them all the way
    left or right-- so try to limit your far-right/left drops to horizontal
    orientations.

    Stack evenly. When garbage comes, you want to stay as close to the
    baseline as possible.

    If you leave a side open for tetrises, use the right side. If you leave
    the middle open for tetrises, use the right-middle. Since tetrominoes
    spawn closer to the left, placing the open column to the right will
    require them to move less.

09 Credits

Koryan

 his helpful work on turning properties at http://www.din.or.jp/~koryan/.

Spindizzy

 his helpful work on general Tetris theory at http://hellfire.darktech.org/.

Billmaan

 his insights and findings on how the game rewards T-Spins and BTB tetrises.

10 History

0.1 2006-01-20T04:30-06:00

 Started working on this and formed a simple structure.

0.2 2006-01-20T23:47-06:00

 Put together some of the designs for the playing field, tetrominoes,
 operation, and turning parts.

0.3 2006-01-24T00:06-06:00

 Nearly completed turning parts and worked on moving parts.

0.4 2006-01-26T22:39-06:00

 Worked on clearing parts and completed turning parts.

0.5 2006-02-13T20:07-06:00

 Completed clearing part. Cleaned up things here and there.

0.6 2006-03-20T13:42-06:00

 Cleaned up everything with help from colour_thief.

1.0 2006-03-30T11:43-06:00

 Completed multiplayer parts. The guide looks pretty much full.

1.1 2006-03-31T02:38-06:00

 Added more to the multiplayer section.

1.2 2007-09-20T15:56-06:00

    Thus, like trout swimming upstream, all dedicated Tetris players strive
    for the distant goal of emotional union with one's soul, more commonly
    known as Tetris enlightenment. --MC Lenin

                                                 http://www.tetrisconcept.com/

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