5 ms·

Blockbattle.net - multiplayer tetris / TetriNET using JavaScript and Tornado

69 points by martythemaniak 16y ago

FreshCode 16y ago
Awesome.
philipDS 16y ago
Really addictive! Any plans on writing a blog post on how it was built?
kin 16y ago
This is awesome. Sadly, I've become too used to www.tetrisfriends.com
avolcano 16y ago
I'm not a huge fan of the Tetris implementation - I need my hold pieces and the little shadow at the bottom (child of the 90s, sorry to all you purists ;]) - and items are kinda difficult to use in this one, but it's still /totally awesome/ as a technical project! I love that there's no sign up and you just share the URL; that seems so obvious but I don't see many other games doing it.
- jestor 16y ago
  Hi, I'm one of the three people who helped work on this project. It was a fun exercise to learn about real-time browser-based communications. For the next release we are planning on running a vote to find out which features are the most requested. Many people are already asking for hold piece. We have a lot of ideas about what new items could be implemented.
toblender 16y ago
I play this ALL the time at work.
danenania 16y ago
Just played for a bit. It's awesome! Very smooth gameplay on chrome and a nice retro ui. My only criticism is the op is really hard to beat :P
- martythemaniak 16y ago
  I believe that's a side effect from testing ;)
  - rgbrgb 16y ago
    Should have used a functional language.
newchimedes 16y ago
I like the fact that you don't need to login to play... The only issue was i couldn't find any opponents to play :( Tetris Battle on Facebook is pretty addictive...they always seem to have someone to play against (though sometimes I think I'm playing against AI opponents).
- David 16y ago
  Actually, tetris battle pitts you against replays of other people's games, unless you actually challenge another player. Even then it's not 100%... A friend of mine once challenged me and ended up playing a replay. (Actually, he let me play myself. I lost. )= ) I'm not sure how they handle bombs, since certain moves only make sense given bomb timing and positioning. Also not sure how they handle moves that become impossible at the very top of the screen -- if line timings are different, the replay ends up trying move to a place that a real player actually can't get to. Edit/Note: If you're playing someone live, it'll say so under your names -- one of you will have 'host' and the other 'live.'
- pharrington 16y ago
  When you play the AI in FB Tetris Battle, the player's name is A.I. Other than that people are just really good at Tetris. It seems like the issue with blockbattle is that you might get dumped into a fresh lobby with no players yet, although active players are in other lobbies. Perhaps "Find Opponents" should always dump you in an active lobby and an option should be added to create a new lobby?
light3 16y ago
Big Tetrinet fan here, I used to play the modified version Tetrifast a lot(no new block delay) which is the same as this, you can lay blocks with speeds of 120+ ppm(pieces per min) depending on the keyboard repeat and initial delay settings(usually needs to be reduced). One flaw I see is there is only a key to turn the pieces one direction, and not he other, this should be implemented to increase speed of laying. Also, it would be cool to have customizable keys for those of us who don't use standard, I tend to use(may not be optimal): down: drop, e/r : turn piece left/right, up: faster descent Unfortunately very very few people play Tetrinet anymore, I wish you the best to revive what was a great game!
- light3 16y ago
  Bugs/changes from original: Sometimes at the edges if you turn a piece full circle, the position changes(this shouldn't happen). More powerful special blocks from original removed, when you clear 4 lines with a special block in it you only get 1 as opposed to 4 special blocks in the original. Both these changes will favor those with faster laying speed. Keyboard repeat/delay is too long, would be great if these were customizable. Suggestions: Match people with similar ppm Show the winner(wasn't obvious to me)
gobongo 16y ago
Nice site! All of this attention means you're going to get a nice C&D letter from the lawyers of Henk Roger's Tetris Co. LLC real soon, though.
maxguan 16y ago
You might want to be careful about using the Tetris name or doing something smilar. Tetris owns the copyright. There is reason why only one tetris game on AppStore. Also remember OMGPOP? They used to have tetris..
- lxb 16y ago
  Where is it called tetris? All I see blockbattle and tetriNET
  - maxguan 16y ago
    doesn't matter. The Tetris company can also sue you for the gameplay.
- vikramhaer 16y ago
  I used to love playing Blockles on OMGPOP. I doubt the name is the only factor in Tetris choosing to shut it down though since Blockles didn't use Tetris anywhere.
Osiris 16y ago
Playing it right now. Very addicting. When my brother was around 17 or 18 he wrote a game called Tetrix for the Commodore that was very creative at the time, including head-to-head and different obstacles. So this is a big nostalgic for me. Very well done.
shawndrost 16y ago
Fun! Ratings?
sgt 16y ago
Very well done! I'm going to have lots of fun with this. There's one problem though, I played, and suddenly everything just stopped. I'm on http://blockbattle.net/f/BeJegHPARhCc4uteNaVuPg==/1/ http://blockbattle.net/f/BeJegHPARhCc4uteNaVuPg==/1/ and my user is called TOBIE. Could be my connection but have other connections alive and well right now.
xiaoma 16y ago
My latest flash game was a variation on the theme: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Xiaoma/block-merchant http://www.kongregate.com/games/Xiaoma/block-merchant
FreshCode 16y ago
What is this built in?

FreshCode 16y ago

Awesome.

philipDS 16y ago

Really addictive! Any plans on writing a blog post on how it was built?

kin 16y ago

This is awesome. Sadly, I've become too used to www.tetrisfriends.com

avolcano 16y ago

I'm not a huge fan of the Tetris implementation - I need my hold pieces and the little shadow at the bottom (child of the 90s, sorry to all you purists ;]) - and items are kinda difficult to use in this one, but it's still /totally awesome/ as a technical project! I love that there's no sign up and you just share the URL; that seems so obvious but I don't see many other games doing it.

jestor 16y ago
Hi, I'm one of the three people who helped work on this project. It was a fun exercise to learn about real-time browser-based communications. For the next release we are planning on running a vote to find out which features are the most requested. Many people are already asking for hold piece. We have a lot of ideas about what new items could be implemented.

toblender 16y ago

I play this ALL the time at work.

danenania 16y ago

Just played for a bit. It's awesome! Very smooth gameplay on chrome and a nice retro ui. My only criticism is the op is really hard to beat :P

martythemaniak 16y ago
I believe that's a side effect from testing ;)
- rgbrgb 16y ago
  Should have used a functional language.

newchimedes 16y ago

I like the fact that you don't need to login to play... The only issue was i couldn't find any opponents to play :( Tetris Battle on Facebook is pretty addictive...they always seem to have someone to play against (though sometimes I think I'm playing against AI opponents).

David 16y ago
Actually, tetris battle pitts you against replays of other people's games, unless you actually challenge another player. Even then it's not 100%... A friend of mine once challenged me and ended up playing a replay. (Actually, he let me play myself. I lost. )= ) I'm not sure how they handle bombs, since certain moves only make sense given bomb timing and positioning. Also not sure how they handle moves that become impossible at the very top of the screen -- if line timings are different, the replay ends up trying move to a place that a real player actually can't get to. Edit/Note: If you're playing someone live, it'll say so under your names -- one of you will have 'host' and the other 'live.'
pharrington 16y ago
When you play the AI in FB Tetris Battle, the player's name is A.I. Other than that people are just really good at Tetris. It seems like the issue with blockbattle is that you might get dumped into a fresh lobby with no players yet, although active players are in other lobbies. Perhaps "Find Opponents" should always dump you in an active lobby and an option should be added to create a new lobby?

light3 16y ago

Big Tetrinet fan here, I used to play the modified version Tetrifast a lot(no new block delay) which is the same as this, you can lay blocks with speeds of 120+ ppm(pieces per min) depending on the keyboard repeat and initial delay settings(usually needs to be reduced). One flaw I see is there is only a key to turn the pieces one direction, and not he other, this should be implemented to increase speed of laying. Also, it would be cool to have customizable keys for those of us who don't use standard, I tend to use(may not be optimal): down: drop, e/r : turn piece left/right, up: faster descent Unfortunately very very few people play Tetrinet anymore, I wish you the best to revive what was a great game!

light3 16y ago
Bugs/changes from original: Sometimes at the edges if you turn a piece full circle, the position changes(this shouldn't happen). More powerful special blocks from original removed, when you clear 4 lines with a special block in it you only get 1 as opposed to 4 special blocks in the original. Both these changes will favor those with faster laying speed. Keyboard repeat/delay is too long, would be great if these were customizable. Suggestions: Match people with similar ppm Show the winner(wasn't obvious to me)

gobongo 16y ago

Nice site! All of this attention means you're going to get a nice C&D letter from the lawyers of Henk Roger's Tetris Co. LLC real soon, though.

maxguan 16y ago

You might want to be careful about using the Tetris name or doing something smilar. Tetris owns the copyright. There is reason why only one tetris game on AppStore. Also remember OMGPOP? They used to have tetris..

lxb 16y ago
Where is it called tetris? All I see blockbattle and tetriNET
- maxguan 16y ago
  doesn't matter. The Tetris company can also sue you for the gameplay.
vikramhaer 16y ago
I used to love playing Blockles on OMGPOP. I doubt the name is the only factor in Tetris choosing to shut it down though since Blockles didn't use Tetris anywhere.

Osiris 16y ago

Playing it right now. Very addicting. When my brother was around 17 or 18 he wrote a game called Tetrix for the Commodore that was very creative at the time, including head-to-head and different obstacles. So this is a big nostalgic for me. Very well done.

shawndrost 16y ago

Fun! Ratings?

sgt 16y ago

Very well done! I'm going to have lots of fun with this. There's one problem though, I played, and suddenly everything just stopped. I'm on http://blockbattle.net/f/BeJegHPARhCc4uteNaVuPg==/1/ http://blockbattle.net/f/BeJegHPARhCc4uteNaVuPg==/1/ and my user is called TOBIE. Could be my connection but have other connections alive and well right now.

xiaoma 16y ago

My latest flash game was a variation on the theme: http://www.kongregate.com/games/Xiaoma/block-merchant http://www.kongregate.com/games/Xiaoma/block-merchant

FreshCode 16y ago

What is this built in?