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This is a Tool-Assisted Speedrun of Game Boy Tetris, Mode B, played at level "9 heart" with an initial height of 5.

Game objectives and categories

  • Emulator used: VBA 1.7.2.560 v19.3
  • Uses a cheat at the title screen to access the "heart levels"
  • Beats "Mode B" at level "9 heart" with an initial height of 5
  • As fast as possible (real time)
  • Input is ended when the last piece is dropped
  • Best ending (which is the same as plain level 9 though)

Comments

This is the other project I've been working on in the past few days. I remember I managed to beat level "9 heart" with height 5 (which actually means 5×2=10) on my real Game Boy a few times when I was younger, and I know other people could do that as well (there's even a video on Youtube by some guy). This to prevents comments like "hey this can be done in real time". Yes, yes I know, just like it's possible to get 999999 points in NES Tetris. But this is faster once TAS'd! Also I dare you delete two Tetrises in real time. So I decided to make this TAS since there are already Tetris movies for NES and N64, but not for the Game Boy. The "heart levels" are accessed by pressing down at the title screen when selecting "1 player". They are 10 level numbers faster than the regular levels, so level "9 heart" is as fast as level 19. However, internally there is no distinction between regular levels and "heart levels", so the scoring system is exactly the same (level "9 heart" gives you as many points as level 9, while the real level 19 gives you many more), and also the ending scene is the same as plain level 9, there is no extra reward in that matter. The input ends when the last piece is dropped. I don't enter the name in the high score table. This is by far the TAS on which I worked the most, I had to rerecord a lot of times to get the correct combinations of pieces. Also I tested several combinations of key inputs, because the drop doesn't work in a linear way. While the fastest way to move pieces to the left and to the right is to press the directional keys every other frame (no matter even and odd, as long as they're alternated), the down key doesn't work in that way. Sometimes it's faster to alternate it, sometimes it's faster to keep it pressed for two consecutive frames and then release it; in no circumstances (except for the very beginning when the piece would stand still at the top) it's faster to keep it always pressed. This has required me to check several patterns for each drop. I think they're all frame perfect. In this movie there are no speed/entertainment tradeoffs whatsoever. I aim only for speed. I don't care about the score, though it's implied that I should delete as many lines as possible at the same time since the deletion takes time. For this reason I delete a Tetris twice. It wasn't possible to delete it more times because of the very limited area I have at the beginning.

Stage by stage comments

There are no stages here. I just delete 25 lines as fast as possible.

Other comments

<Explain here things the audience would probably like to see>Everyone loves Tetris. <Explain also things that could be improved in your movie>Maybe by delaying some frames at the title screen and/or somewhere else it might be possible to manipulate other starting fields. This one was good enough for me. <You may also suggest screenshots.>No idea. But I have an encode: [EDIT: remove dead link] (please note that it's not captioned, it's just an encode of the raw emulator output, I hate to work with a 160×144 screen).


TASVideoAgent
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This topic is for the purpose of discussing #2274: nineko's GB Tetris in 00:39.92
Editor, Expert player (2080)
Joined: 6/15/2005
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Seeing that this run exists and the pieces move faster, I don't think we need a run for this one. I'm not yet convinced that this was the best way to manipulate the pieces, or that there was no other method for manipulating.
Active player (279)
Joined: 4/30/2009
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FractalFusion wrote:
I'm not yet convinced that this was the best way to manipulate the pieces, or that there was no other method for manipulating.
I would concur with this point. I'm sure there is room for improvement either from a different starting layout, or getting drops that give early doubles or even triples rather than the number of singles.
Skilled player (1410)
Joined: 5/31/2004
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FractalFusion wrote:
Seeing that this run exists and the pieces move faster, I don't think we need a run for this one.
Yeah, I agree... this movie has the exact same goals basically... I also don't think we need a movie with these goals. Putting all that aside though... a line clear takes really long... and the 25 lines should be completed with 7 line clears (6 tetrisses + a single line, or a variation on that). You had 13 line clears, which is really unacceptable. I don't know if the input is really optimized or not, but even completely unoptimized TASing, with more planning could get a time that's faster than this.
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Baxter wrote:
Putting all that aside though... a line clear takes really long... and the 25 lines should be completed with 9 line clears (8 tetrisses + a single line, or a variation on that). You had 13 line clears, which is really unacceptable. I don't know if the input is really optimized or not, but even completely unoptimized TASing, with more planning could get a time that's faster than this.
The range of places you can move pieces is much smaller than you seem to realize. Getting all tetrises is likely impossible, or at the very least would require so much luck manipulation it would be faster to just not bother.
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Xkeeper wrote:
Baxter wrote:
Putting all that aside though... a line clear takes really long... and the 25 lines should be completed with 9 line clears (8 tetrisses + a single line, or a variation on that). You had 13 line clears, which is really unacceptable. I don't know if the input is really optimized or not, but even completely unoptimized TASing, with more planning could get a time that's faster than this.
The range of places you can move pieces is much smaller than you seem to realize. Getting all tetrises is likely impossible, or at the very least would require so much luck manipulation it would be faster to just not bother.
Oops... I obviously meant 6 tetrisses and a single line clear... which means 7 line clears in total is possible... this only makes the 13 lines clears worse. But 6 tetrisses aren't really needed... 3x 3lines and 4x a tetris is obviously also good. If you want, it's easy to incorporate the top line in a 3 line at the start, giving you more space IF it would be needed. Anyway... I will prove that it's possible to do it in 7 line clears if this movie gets published.
Joined: 5/2/2009
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Ok, this is the REAL Tetris version, at least for me. I'd prefer seeing this one obsoleting the NES one, but I'll abstain from voting this time.
My first language is not English, so please excuse myself if I write something wrong. I'll do my best do write as cleary as I can, so cope with me here =) (ノಥ益ಥ)ノ
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OmegaWatcher wrote:
Ok, this is the REAL Tetris version, at least for me. I'd prefer seeing this one obsoleting the NES one, but I'll abstain from voting this time.
Besides the quality being not nearly the same as the NES oneS, the goals aren't either...
Joined: 5/2/2009
Posts: 656
Baxter wrote:
Besides the quality being not nearly the same as the NES oneS, the goals aren't either...
Quality about the movie or the game? About the movie well.. That's why I'll not vote, I don't really know it this is better than NES one or not. But I disagree about the game. The GB's tunes are way above the NES' ones, and the "ending" looks better too.
My first language is not English, so please excuse myself if I write something wrong. I'll do my best do write as cleary as I can, so cope with me here =) (ノಥ益ಥ)ノ
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According to google, Tetris is becoming 25 years old today. Good timing! The GB version is the only version I know very well and that I have played when I was younger. It's also a very good game in terms of music and graphics etc. I think I have to trust Baxter (the Tetris master ;)) about the 7 line clears here and thus I'll probably vote meh on this. Good luck next time, I'd like to see more GB Tetris TASing. ^^
Joined: 11/4/2007
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I'd be happy to upload this to youtube, but uh, it'd be better if you uploaded it onto your channel, unless you really want me to upload it to mine. ^.^
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MUGG wrote:
I think I have to trust Baxter (the Tetris master ;)) about the 7 line clears here and thus I'll probably vote meh on this.
I, instead, demand evidence of that. Because unless proven otherwise this is the fastest completion currently available and therefore should be accepted as such. I've seen runs published where improvements were known, now you're suggesting this should be rejected because improvements may exist. Why do I see double standards implied in your words? I don't know if luck could be manipulated better, but I know that I couldn't delete any more rows at the same time, because each time I tried I died, so I backtracked and deleted fewer lines until I could survive. I spent several rerecords to do this so I seriously think this is the fastest I can get.
MUGG wrote:
Good luck next time
Next time? Are we at this point already? This is not rejected yet. We all know it will be (despite the poll is saying that some people liked this run), but for now it's not, so please don't talk like that.
Gone.
Editor, Expert player (2364)
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Ok, I want to apologize for my rash actions. In fact, I already voted yes before Baxter first posted in this thread because the submission looked good enough. On second thought, considering it 'only' has 1000 re-records and that 7 line clears vs. 13 line clears debate I think my vote would still have been justified. This is the currently best record but I feel you didn't try long enough. It feels like you did this movie within a span of... 3 hours maybe. I don't know how long you worked on it, I'm just saying it feels like it wasn't a tedious job to create it. (Note to self: I should learn to think twice before voting -_-)
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nineko wrote:
I, instead, demand evidence of that. Because unless proven otherwise this is the fastest completion currently available and therefore should be accepted as such. I've seen runs published where improvements were known, now you're suggesting this should be rejected because improvements may exist.
From experience, it's often about how things look, rather than what they are, as much as TASVideos is about entertainment rather than speed.
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MUGG wrote:
It feels like you did this movie within a span of... 3 hours maybe.
Considering the rate of submissions from nineko within those 2 last weeks i think you might be correct yeah
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Actually I've been researching on Tetris since several days ago, and the submitted run in particular took me 3 days. I was planning to submit it sooner, but FBA being approved led me to clean up my OverTop run first. However this is not a rushed project, but thanks for believing so.
Gone.
Skilled player (1410)
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nineko wrote:
MUGG wrote:
I think I have to trust Baxter (the Tetris master ;)) about the 7 line clears here and thus I'll probably vote meh on this.
I, instead, demand evidence of that. Because unless proven otherwise this is the fastest completion currently available and therefore should be accepted as such.
Well... I clearly stated what part of the run could be improved... I don't really see how this is any different from pointing out improvements at other runs. This was indeed the fastest completion currently available... but it was also the only completion available. At any rate... I don't want to be all talk... here's your proof.
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Fair enough, now we're talking. I'm actually happy to see your submission, at least mine will go to the gruefood with good reason. Canceling.
Gone.
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