bigmessowires
Well-known member
Oh yes, this is happening. This is the moment. Put your peril-sensitive sunglasses on, warm up your wrists, and prepare your ergonomic keyboards. Saturday October 14 at Mactoberfest Meetup will feature the first-ever public Tetris Max high score contest, with the winner taking home a complete and newly-restored Performa computer system plus other fabulous prizes TBD, and international acclaim as Tetris Max World Champion. There's also an online competition category that I just made up this very second. You won't want to miss it. ESPN has nothing on the excitement of this sporting event!
Secret Bonuses?
What better time than now to drop some secret knowledge? There are two hidden bonuses in Tetris Max, both worth a major amount of points. They're hinted at in the game's instructions, but never explained. Bonus 1 is worth an extra 2500 points if you clear a row that's entirely made of a single color. Bonus 2 will gain you a hefty 10000 extra points if you clear the entire playfield, with no squares remaining visible. Each bonus has a special accompanying sound effect too. Go try it!
Contest Rules
To keep the contest as fair as possible, we need some ground rules. The contest will run from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm Pacific Daylight Time or UTC−07:00 on Saturday October 14. Practice all you want before then, but qualifying high scores must be set during this time window. Games already in progress at 3:30 pm may continue until finished. The score must be achieved on a real 68030 or 68040-equipped Macintosh (no emulators) with CPU speed of 25 MHz or faster, with ADB keyboard (no USB adapters), and with Tetris Max v2.9.x as the only open application. The minimum qualifying high score is 30000 points. In case of any rules ambiguity, the contest organizer will make a final decision. Check later posts here or at bigmessowires.com for possible rules updates.
Live Contest at Mactoberfest
To be eligible for the live contest you must be physically present at Mactoberfest Meetup in Belmont California, and set a high score on a computer at the meetup. I will have two computers prepared for the contest, and other computers can also be used as long as they meet the contest rules criteria. The highest scorer at the end of the contest will win a Macintosh Performa 460 system, recapped and recently restored by me, with an Apple Extended Keyboard II, mouse, and LCD monitor. There may be runner-up prizes as well. You must be present at the meetup at 3:30 pm to be eligible for a prize.
Online Contest
High scores must be set during the same time window as the live contest, with computers meeting the same rules criteria. The entire game session from start to finish must be recorded in one continuous video with no cuts. If you achieve a high score over 30000 then KEEP RECORDING and include these at the end of the video, with no cuts:
Draft Moose
I developed Tetris Max when I was a college student living in a dormitory, where it was played constantly among a large circle of friends. One of my friends and neighbors named "Moose" was the undisputed Tetris Max champion of the day, and was able to draw out a single game into an hour-long marathon. I don't remember his best score, but it was certainly over 100000 and I think it was probably over 200000. Maybe it was Moose's 6'6" frame and lanky fingers that gave him an advantage, or maybe the tetris processing center in his brain was packed with extra neurons, but he had something special.
Here's the pitch: Moose hasn't played Tetris Max in several decades, and doesn't live anywhere near the Mactoberfest location, but I'm hoping to entice him to visit as a celebrity guest. It's a once-in-a-generation chance for the champ to defend his title against all the newcomers and prove that he's still got the magic touch - or be beaten at the finish by an upstart 19-year-old from Omaha. Such excitement, such drama! And yet somehow Moose doesn't think this is a good reason to spend money on airfare and a weekend of travel. I need YOU to write messages of encouragement to Moose, cajoling or shaming him into attending. I'll share these with him and together we'll get him to the meetup.
Do you have what it takes to set the high score? You've got two weeks to practice. Get going!
disclaimer: not responsible for causation of severe carpal tunnel syndrome
Secret Bonuses?
What better time than now to drop some secret knowledge? There are two hidden bonuses in Tetris Max, both worth a major amount of points. They're hinted at in the game's instructions, but never explained. Bonus 1 is worth an extra 2500 points if you clear a row that's entirely made of a single color. Bonus 2 will gain you a hefty 10000 extra points if you clear the entire playfield, with no squares remaining visible. Each bonus has a special accompanying sound effect too. Go try it!
Contest Rules
To keep the contest as fair as possible, we need some ground rules. The contest will run from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm Pacific Daylight Time or UTC−07:00 on Saturday October 14. Practice all you want before then, but qualifying high scores must be set during this time window. Games already in progress at 3:30 pm may continue until finished. The score must be achieved on a real 68030 or 68040-equipped Macintosh (no emulators) with CPU speed of 25 MHz or faster, with ADB keyboard (no USB adapters), and with Tetris Max v2.9.x as the only open application. The minimum qualifying high score is 30000 points. In case of any rules ambiguity, the contest organizer will make a final decision. Check later posts here or at bigmessowires.com for possible rules updates.
Live Contest at Mactoberfest
To be eligible for the live contest you must be physically present at Mactoberfest Meetup in Belmont California, and set a high score on a computer at the meetup. I will have two computers prepared for the contest, and other computers can also be used as long as they meet the contest rules criteria. The highest scorer at the end of the contest will win a Macintosh Performa 460 system, recapped and recently restored by me, with an Apple Extended Keyboard II, mouse, and LCD monitor. There may be runner-up prizes as well. You must be present at the meetup at 3:30 pm to be eligible for a prize.
Online Contest
High scores must be set during the same time window as the live contest, with computers meeting the same rules criteria. The entire game session from start to finish must be recorded in one continuous video with no cuts. If you achieve a high score over 30000 then KEEP RECORDING and include these at the end of the video, with no cuts:
- show the contents of the "About This Macintosh" window
- show the actual Macintosh the game is running on
- open news.google.com in your phone or PC browser and show the current news headlines
Draft Moose
I developed Tetris Max when I was a college student living in a dormitory, where it was played constantly among a large circle of friends. One of my friends and neighbors named "Moose" was the undisputed Tetris Max champion of the day, and was able to draw out a single game into an hour-long marathon. I don't remember his best score, but it was certainly over 100000 and I think it was probably over 200000. Maybe it was Moose's 6'6" frame and lanky fingers that gave him an advantage, or maybe the tetris processing center in his brain was packed with extra neurons, but he had something special.
Here's the pitch: Moose hasn't played Tetris Max in several decades, and doesn't live anywhere near the Mactoberfest location, but I'm hoping to entice him to visit as a celebrity guest. It's a once-in-a-generation chance for the champ to defend his title against all the newcomers and prove that he's still got the magic touch - or be beaten at the finish by an upstart 19-year-old from Omaha. Such excitement, such drama! And yet somehow Moose doesn't think this is a good reason to spend money on airfare and a weekend of travel. I need YOU to write messages of encouragement to Moose, cajoling or shaming him into attending. I'll share these with him and together we'll get him to the meetup.
Do you have what it takes to set the high score? You've got two weeks to practice. Get going!
disclaimer: not responsible for causation of severe carpal tunnel syndrome
