Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!uunet!meaddata!johnt
From: johnt@meaddata.com (John Townsend)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.handhelds
Subject: Re: ML tetris (and Hextris)
Message-ID: <3982@meaddata.meaddata.com>
Date: 17 Apr 91 13:07:58 GMT
References: <1991Apr15.061548.12826@colorado.edu>
Sender: usenet@meaddata.com
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
Lines: 47

In article <1991Apr15.061548.12826@colorado.edu>, frechett@spot.Colorado.EDU (-=Runaway Daemon=-) writes:
|> 
|> Truely impressive.. The smoothness of this one just blows the partial 
|> ML version away.. Unfortunately the key layout is driving me nuts.  If 
|> the keys were in some resonable layout the fact that it also rotates the
|> pieced the wrong direction might not bug me as much.. ;)  I couldn't 
|> play it long enough to see if it gets any faster.. Does it?
|> 

Actually, I find the key layout to be quite usable.  Maybe I'm just naturally
"all thumbs", but if you hold the goddess (aka HP48) with both hands you can
use your left thumb (on the 'left-shift' and '4' keys) to rotate and your right
thumb (on the '5', '6', and 'multiply' keys) to go left, drop, or go right.  If
you happen to be used to one of the other versions making the rounds, I can see
how you might find it a bit awkward at first, but once you get used to this
one, I don't think you'll want to go back.  And why does everyone keep saying
that it rotates the wrong way?  The 'left-shift' key does a "normal" rotation,
and the '4' key is a bonus -- it rotates the other way if you want to.  If
you're like me, though, you can probably push one key three times before you
can make up your mind which of two keys to press and how many times you're
going to press it.  And yes, Virginia, it does get faster.  _God_ it gets fast.
So far, I haven't survived past level 5 (it increments the level every 10 lines
just like the real thing), and it seems that the pieces fall about as fast as
if you were holding down the drop key.  My compliments to the author.

Rather than continuing to beat Tetris to death, I'd like to see someone write
the real challenge: Hextris.  Hextris is much like Tetris, except that each
piece is composed of four hexagons, rather than squares.  Thus there are eleven
different pieces, instead of just seven, and some of them are pretty wild.
They look sorta like this:

   *    *   *    *     *    *   *    *     *   **                  *
   *    *   *     *   *    *     *   **   **   **    and the       *
   *    *   *    *     *   *     *   *     *        nefarious     * *
   *   *     *    *   *     *   *

In addition, each piece can be rotated six different ways, rather than just
four.  THIS is when you need a backwards rotation!  Obviously, the floor and
walls of the play area need to have sort of a "corrugated" look, in order to
fit the pieces exactly, and "lines" are slightly zig-zagged, rather than
straight.  Best of luck to the brave souls who write this for the '48!

--
     John Townsend                 Internet:   johnt@meaddata.com
 c/o Mead Data Central             UUCP:       ...!uunet!meaddata!skibum!johnt
     P.O. Box 933                  Telephone:  (513) 865-7250 
  Dayton, Ohio, 45401