Fairtris Versions Save

The final stable version of the Fairtris game.

Full functionality is implemented, mechanics and controls are extensive and responsive, generators are balanced, the compliance of the selected mechanics with the original is maintained, all modes work flawlessly. Taking this into account, the development of this project is complete. This release is the last — all components worth testing have already been tested, the game contains everything what is needed to play and compete on-line.

The main change in this version is the modification of the control mechanics, making the classic controls fully compatible with the original. If CLASSIC control is set, "soft-drop" is reset when spawning, while in MODERN controls, a "multi-spawn soft-drop" is available. Additionally, the "hard-drop" function has been modernized, making it easier and more convenient to use.

The last change is another calibration of the BALANCED generator. The maximum length of drought and flood has been reduced, so it is possible to play perfectly. This change does not affect the quality of the generated sequences — the sequences are still highly unpredictable and challenging.

The main change this version brings is a massive expansion of the game modes. Free games are now available broken down into marathons and speedruns, and support for the qualification system for tournaments and matches has been added.

Free games provide fun to polish your skills and beat your own and other players' results. You can play a marathon where the highest possible score counts, or a speedrun where the goal is to get to level 19 as fast as possible, starting from level 0 (you have a maximum of 10 minutes to do this).

Qualifying modes allow you to play for a limited time and collect the highest scores and best times in a dedicated list. The qualification timer is set in the pre-game menu and its status is visible in many game scenes. Match modes, on the other hand, allow you to play against each other online (via the MaxoutClub and NestrisChamps platforms), providing the same set of pieces, regardless of the RNG used and the style of playing. Seed is set in the pre-game menu.

Improvements to the generators, interface and menu controls have also been added, and the sound palette has been expanded. And many other small tweaks to the game experience.

Fourth additional version of the Fairtris game.

In this version the only change is the improved SDL subsystem initialization, so that Fairtris only uses initialization of the required SDL modules (video, audio, joystick and events only). This prevents the problem with initialization of the "sensor manager" module, which occurs on some computers.

The third additional build of the Fairtris video game.

This version introduces fixes related to the exclusive video mode support and the management of the game window position. To avoid errors related to the video mode and multiscreen workstation, the video mode is always started on the main screen and in its current resolution (resolution is never changed). Additionally, the image is always rendered with the 4:3 aspect ratio, regardless of whether the exclusive video mode is active or not (previously this was supported only in windowed mode).

However, in windowed mode, its size and position are preserved, no matter what monitor the game window was on before closing the game. Of course, windowed full screen mode is possible to use on any screen, so there are no limits here.

The second additional build of the Fairtris game.

This version features even more extensive mechanics, fixing the problem of a piece not being able to rotate if it is at the edge of a stack. The basic wall kick increases the responsiveness of the controls, and also increases the pool of possible moves to be made. On the other hand, this functionality doesn't allow you to bounce off the contents of the stack, as is the case with modern games (the kick only applies to the X axis, so the advanced spins and twists are not possible). The allowed moves follow the classic approach to mechanics, but are richer and more intuitive than in their protoplast.

No other changes was made.

The additional build of the Fairtris game.

This is a special build that breaks compatibility with the original Tetris® mechanics for the NES console. Given that the original piece control mechanics are broken and inconsistent, it has been fixed. The charging of the DAS has been cmodified so that it doesn't disturb the player and doesn't force him to perform unnatural maneuvers to keep DAS charged. Now the controls are responsive, so the player can focus on stacking and using advanced and aggressive techniques for the best possible results.

The second important change was the unification of control over tucks and spins. To tuck a piece, you can press the ← or → button earlier and the piece will slide into the slot automatically as soon as it reaches the desired row. However, the spin — in the original game — cannot be buffered in this way, so to perform it, you must press the B or A button at the right moment. Therefore this has been corrected and now both spin and tuck can be buffered.

The third thing added is the new generator — named BALANCED. This RNG works very much like the CLASSIC and as in the original, the differentiation of the pieces is significant and uneven, but has been balanced in such a way as to exclude severe droughts and floods. This makes the generated sequences challenging but, on the other hand, doesn't prevent it from being played perfectly. Although only the best players in the world would be able to play in such a way as to keep the TRT at 100% until the killscreen.

A stable version of the second installment of the Fairtris game.

Final and stable version, implementing all fixes and improvements from the three previous beta versions. The last modification is the rendering of the window just after waiting for the next frame, which better imitates the NMI of the NES console (get input, handle logic, wait for the interrupt and then display the image on the screen).

The third edition of the beta version of Fairtris game.

This version introduces minor improvements to the game interface. Adapted to resume and reset the game to fixed keys, both in the game pause menu and in the summary screen. The opening of help has also changed — now pressing the F1 key (or selecting HELP in the main menu screen) doesn't minimize the window, but only turns off the video mode, if it is active. Selective opening of wiki pages has also been added to make it easier to get helpful information.

The second beta version of the Fairtris game that uses the SDL library. The main mechanics of the game have not changed, so the gameplay works as before. On the other hand, many things have been tweaked to do their job better, and a few small bugs have been fixed (mostly related to different in-game menus). There are also two major improvements.

The first major change is the implementation of a set of separate keys to operate all the game menus. As of this release, the ↑ ↓ ← → keys are used to operate the menu, and the Enter and Escape keys are used to navigate through the menu. As a result, the controls have become more convenient, intuitive and compatible with other games. More about this in the project wiki, on the Default controls page.

The second significant improvement is the extended support for USB controllers. Now Fairtris supports up to 32 controller buttons, up to 8 basic axes and up to 2 hats, so you can also use more advanced controllers with tons of buttons, analog sticks and other quirks. This is important because, for example, some controllers have a D-pad mapped as hat, not the X and Y axes. Something like that is the norm these days.

Also new is the completed README of the project, as well as the Fairtris wiki where you can find out everything you need to know.