TIGSource Forums

Tetris Fight Club
(http://www.draknek.org/games/tetris-fight-club/screenshot-2011-02-28.png)

Play online (Flash):
Updated build with music (http://www.draknek.org/games/tetris-fighter/)
As submitted to Versus competition (http://www.draknek.org/games/tetris-fighter/versus.php)

AI vs. AI video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HDPAulOGbM)

Started for MiniLD 24, theme "Tetris is now a <genre other than puzzle> game!".

Thanks to Sos for motivating me to start it and to everyone who playtested it.

Original post:

Not very happy with the jump attack for a few reasons including that if both players try to jump at the same time that is more than 3 keys pressed at once. But not sure what to do about that.

Have only managed to play one game with another human (embarrassingly, he wiped the floor with me) so reports of trying it out with two people would be really helpful.

Better name suggestions welcomed.

Try mapping player 2 controls to the arrow keys, that way you can get around the generic 3 key limit for keyboards.

I was under the impression that the arrow keys were also affected by that issue.

Wondering if any musicians want to make a mashup of the Mortal Kombat theme and Tetris music.

Updated (http://www.draknek.org/games/tetris-fighter/): both players now start with 10 lives and the round finishes when one player runs out.

Also added a sort of introduction.

Wanted to get differently shaped blocks done tonight, but didn't have enough time.

Updated again (http://www.draknek.org/games/tetris-fighter/). People were having issues with keys interfering with each other when one player charged up a jump so I've moved to a three-button system.

Don't think I like this new control scheme much, but can't see much of an alternative. :(

This was a fun little game. I played it with my brother and we had a good time. The jump felt a bit underused, though, since it takes just long enough to charge that you're already dead, unless it's the first thing you do - are there any techniques that make better use of it?

Not that I'm really aware of, however I've found when someone starts charging the jump when I'm not expecting it, I often don't have time to react. So it's a risky strategy but it can sometimes pay off even at short ranges.

I am not opposed to replacing the jump behaviour but currently don't have any alternatives in mind. It needs to have a long charge-up time because it gets past blocks.

Glad you had fun!

Working on some AI: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HDPAulOGbM

I love how slamming them into the wall removes a line.

You can now fight the AI yourself (http://www.draknek.org/games/tetris-fighter/): I would appreciate feedback on the difficulty.

I BEAT IT :epileptic:
difficulty was ridiculous, it took a very long time to get a hang of the metagame before i beat him. It would be very very good to put in a flash or something right as the jump starts charging so it's more obvious, otherwise it's really the problem.

Yeah that's super hard. Won a couple of rounds out of about 10. I think it's probably just too aggressive, for beginners at least. And when it does defend it immediately capitalises when you attack it and bounce off, which seems like a pretty advanced tactic?

New version! (http://www.draknek.org/games/tetris-fighter/)

Changed the jump mechanic completely, now there's no more charge jump, jump still beats block but attack beats jump. I would really appreciate feedback on this change, especially two-player feedback if you can grab a friend.

AI difficulty noted: this has a new AI which is hopefully better? Though probably still quite hard... The old version still has the old AI.

Whoa, the AI is still pretty hard. It's a cool concept, though. The jump could use a little explaining -- I kept trying to tap it and then press attack, fighting-game style.

Do the different blocks shapes affect the game much, or is it all visual?

EDIT: actually, I think I'm getting the hang of this. Different AI levels could be helpful, even if they're "fake" -- as in, just weakening the strength of their attacks. It seems like it's at a good place for someone who's played a couple of rounds, but it's definitely pretty tough for those first few tries.

God that AI is pretty hard.

So if I figured this out right, attack beats jump, jump beats block, block beats attack?

It's pretty fun :)

LOLZ at RPGMaker sound effect :P


Good job. Loved being able to select and turn my piece, and how winning a round makes a coloumn disappear.

So the version as of now is the official competition build, I might try sneaking in a couple more small changes though.

Hmm, noted.

It's just visual at the moment, I wanted to add different movement characteristics but I only just had time to add the different shapes, let alone making them distinct.

Hmm, physically weaker AI is probably a sensible suggestion but from an implementation perspective it's unlikely to happen (AIs are treated as just another source of key input).

That's correct.

Which sound effect is that? I think I got the sound effects from freesound.org.

Increpare, Terry Cavanagh, Sophie H and I tried this game for a while.

- Rock Paper Scissors mechanic works great, especially with the timing and responses.
- Tetris theme underutilised
- Lots of fun, especially when trying to guess the opponents next move. Well balanced. Nicely timed matches.
- would love to see more player feedback

You are doing a great thing with all these reviews. :)

Not sure what kind of player feedback you mean?

Paul Forey has made an excellent Mortal Kombat/Tetris mashup song, will be adding an updated version later today with that included.

'Successful block' feedback animation and sound, for example. Obviously the animation reflects that, by the fact that you weren't knocked back, but the player ought to feel like they succeeded rather than didn't fail. Similarly with the knock back, it's vivid but might be nice if the failing player was clearer that they were the one that messed up.

There is already a different sound for successful blocking. Not sure what I could add to make it more obvious. I also don't have any ideas I like for how to integrate the Tetris theme into it more.

New! I have uploaded a new version with music from Paul Forey. Playable here (http://www.draknek.org/games/tetris-fight-club/).

That also fixes a bug where by default the AI was using the wrong AI controller. Oops...

Oooh, ok. I see how this works now. We tried it yesterday but couldn't get the hang of it. We didn't know what did what. It seemed as though holding ATTACK was unbeatable, (but really you just have to BLOCK and then ATTACK.)

First impressions: we really liked the presentation. Something about the visuals worked well. Loved how the piece pop into place when you lose. Unfortunately we didn't have any idea how to play!

We didn't know when you lost ground, why it happened. Was your attack blocked? Or did the opponent attack you?

Some ideas:

• Simple in-game instruction screen. (What beats what?)
• Maybe on option for a wider play area (or you lose less ground at a time) to make mistakes more forgiving?

Ideas for distinguishing the feedback:

• Tinting or coloring the whole block, instead of just the border. (The border change is very subtle).
• Try using more distinctive sounds. They all sound like "pops" to me.

Overall well done! I want to try this again now that I understand how to play.