Mechanics (NES) - Revision history

Dmwit: /* Turn order */

2025-11-15T04:44:35Z

Turn order

Dmwit: /* Trash */

2025-11-15T04:44:18Z

Trash

Dmwit: /* Trash */ suggested clarification from Discord

2025-11-14T21:42:24Z

Trash: suggested clarification from Discord

Dmwit: /* Trash */

2025-11-13T18:00:03Z

Trash

Dmwit: /* Trash */

2025-11-13T17:58:42Z

Trash

Dmwit: /* Trash */

2025-11-13T17:38:50Z

Trash

Dmwit: /* Trash */

2025-11-13T17:36:00Z

Trash

Dmwit: /* Trash */

2025-11-13T17:35:10Z

Trash

Dmwit: /* Trash */

2025-01-27T15:52:12Z

Trash

Dmwit: /* Trash */ add a key to the frame counter->trash columns table

2024-02-20T23:26:21Z

Trash: add a key to the frame counter->trash columns table

@@ Line 453: / Line 453: @@
 ## Trash (2-player only): If the current player's trash counter isn't zero, some trash is inserted at the top of the board and the whole resolution phase is begun again from the top.
-In other words, the resolution loop ends only when nothing falls and no trash is added. N.B. The exact phase order and the conditions for changing from one phase to another are speculative, based on some observations of the game and educated guesses, but are not the result of careful reading of the source code. Our understanding of the exact details here may change in the future with further testing.
+In other words, the resolution loop ends only when nothing falls and no trash is added. The exact phase order and the conditions for changing from one phase to another are speculative, based on some observations of the game and educated guesses, but are not the result of careful reading of the source code. Our understanding of the exact details here may change in the future with further testing.
 == Draws ==

@@ Line 367: / Line 367: @@
 * Making two 2-combos doesn't actually modify the opponent's final two attack registers, but it does read from them, so they will get trash of a consistent color in the final two columns if you do this repeatedly.
 * When receiving quad trash, you are a bit more likely to receive yellow in the final two columns, because it's so much harder to modify the 3rd and 4th attack registers away from their starting values of yellow.
-* Player 2's attack registers are preserved between matches and even games, giving some hysteresis.
+* Player 2's attack registers are preserved between crowns and even between matches.
 * If you get consecutive trashes, they will always fall in the same columns (if it's the same amount) or share columns (if it's a different amount), because trash falls at a rate of 4 frames per row, so the frame counter will increment by a multiple of 4 and not change what columns are chosen for the trash.
 * The down button is only checked on even frames, and empirically the number of frames spent in post-pill cleanup seems to be even or odd depending on whether the pill is placed at an even or odd height. This means that for the trash being dropped on you, you can prevent half  of the possible 2- and 3-trash placements, and choose which 4-trash placement you like better, by choosing how high to place the pill before the trash appears. Then lock the pill by pressing down (i.e. don't wait for gravity to lock it). Locking the bottom of the pill on the bottom row of the board selects the odd frame counter trash options, locking on the second row from the bottom selects the even frame counter trash options, on the third row odd, fourth row even, and so on.

@@ Line 350: / Line 350: @@
 Making a combo increments the opponent's pending trash counter by the number of clears made in the combo, up to a maximum of 4. Additionally, making any clear (even if not a combo) sets some of the opponent's attack registers, in order of the clears involved: the first clear sets the first attack register to the color of that clear; if there is a second clear, then the second clear of the combo sets the second attack register to the color of that clear; and so on if there are further clears. For ordering of simultaneous clears, horizontal clears are considered first, in English reading order -- left to right, top to bottom. Vertical clears are considered after all horizontal clears have been processed, in Mongolian reading order -- top to bottom, left to right. Once four clears have been processed in this order, all further clears are discarded.
-When the opportunity to make trash arises (see [[#Turn order]] for details on when this occurs) the current player's pending trash counter is consulted to determine how much trash to produce. The positions of the trash always occur in the same pattern:
+When the opportunity to make trash arises (see [[#Turn order]] for details on when this occurs) the current player's pending trash counter is consulted to determine how much trash to produce, then reset to 0. The positions of the trash always occur in the same pattern:
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@@ Line 369: / Line 369: @@
 * Player 2's attack registers are preserved between matches and even games, giving some hysteresis.
 * If you get consecutive trashes, they will always fall in the same columns (if it's the same amount) or share columns (if it's a different amount), because trash falls at a rate of 4 frames per row, so the frame counter will increment by a multiple of 4 and not change what columns are chosen for the trash.
-* The down button is only checked on even frames, and empirically the number of frames spent in post-pill cleanup seems to be even or odd depending on whether the pill is placed at an even or odd height. This means that for the trash being dropped on you, you can prevent half  of the possible 2- and 3-trash placements, and choose which 4-trash placement you like better, by choosing how high to place the pill before the trash appears. Then lock the pill by pressing down (i.e. don't wait for gravity to lock it). Locking on the bottom row selects the odd frame counter trash options, locking on the second row from the bottom selects the even frame counter trash options, on the third row odd, fourth row even, and so on.
+* The down button is only checked on even frames, and empirically the number of frames spent in post-pill cleanup seems to be even or odd depending on whether the pill is placed at an even or odd height. This means that for the trash being dropped on you, you can prevent half  of the possible 2- and 3-trash placements, and choose which 4-trash placement you like better, by choosing how high to place the pill before the trash appears. Then lock the pill by pressing down (i.e. don't wait for gravity to lock it). Locking the bottom of the pill on the bottom row of the board selects the odd frame counter trash options, locking on the second row from the bottom selects the even frame counter trash options, on the third row odd, fourth row even, and so on.
 * Here are all the possible trash patterns you can see, and how they're chosen between based on the frame counter. In this table, <kbd>-</kbd> is a blank space, and <kbd>x</kbd> will be filled in with a colored piece of garbage.
 {| class="wikitable"

@@ Line 369: / Line 369: @@
 * Player 2's attack registers are preserved between matches and even games, giving some hysteresis.
 * If you get consecutive trashes, they will always fall in the same columns (if it's the same amount) or share columns (if it's a different amount), because trash falls at a rate of 4 frames per row, so the frame counter will increment by a multiple of 4 and not change what columns are chosen for the trash.
-* The down button is only checked on even frames, and the the number of frames spent in post-pill cleanup is even or odd depending on whether the pill is placed at an even or odd height. This means that for the trash being dropped on you, you can prevent half  of the possible 2- and 3-trash placements, and choose which 4-trash placement you like better, by choosing how high to place the pill before the trash appears. Then lock the pill by pressing down (i.e. don't wait for gravity to lock it). Locking on the bottom row selects the odd frame counter trash options, locking on the second row from the bottom selects the even frame counter trash options, on the third row odd, fourth row even, and so on.
+* The down button is only checked on even frames, and empirically the number of frames spent in post-pill cleanup seems to be even or odd depending on whether the pill is placed at an even or odd height. This means that for the trash being dropped on you, you can prevent half  of the possible 2- and 3-trash placements, and choose which 4-trash placement you like better, by choosing how high to place the pill before the trash appears. Then lock the pill by pressing down (i.e. don't wait for gravity to lock it). Locking on the bottom row selects the odd frame counter trash options, locking on the second row from the bottom selects the even frame counter trash options, on the third row odd, fourth row even, and so on.
 * Here are all the possible trash patterns you can see, and how they're chosen between based on the frame counter. In this table, <kbd>-</kbd> is a blank space, and <kbd>x</kbd> will be filled in with a colored piece of garbage.
 {| class="wikitable"

@@ Line 348: / Line 348: @@
 When the console starts, or on soft resets, all attack registers are set to yellow. Additionally, at the start of every game, the pending trash counters are set to 0 and player 1's attack registers are set to equal player 2's attack registers.
-Making a combo increments the opponent's pending trash counter by the number of clears made in the combo, up to a maximum of 4. Additionally, making any clear (even if not a combo) sets some of the opponent's attack registers, in order of the clears involved [clarification needed: how is the order determined between clears that happen simultaneously?]: the first clear sets the first attack register to the color of that clear; if there is a second clear, then the second clear of the combo sets the second attack register to the color of that clear; and so on if there are further clears [clarification needed: when a combo has more than four clears, what happens? are clears 5 and up discarded, or do they wrap, or do they write into "out of bounds" memory, or what?].
+Making a combo increments the opponent's pending trash counter by the number of clears made in the combo, up to a maximum of 4. Additionally, making any clear (even if not a combo) sets some of the opponent's attack registers, in order of the clears involved: the first clear sets the first attack register to the color of that clear; if there is a second clear, then the second clear of the combo sets the second attack register to the color of that clear; and so on if there are further clears. For ordering of simultaneous clears, horizontal clears are considered first, in English reading order -- left to right, top to bottom. Vertical clears are considered after all horizontal clears have been processed, in Mongolian reading order -- top to bottom, left to right. Once four clears have been processed in this order, all further clears are discarded.
 When the opportunity to make trash arises (see [[#Turn order]] for details on when this occurs) the current player's pending trash counter is consulted to determine how much trash to produce. The positions of the trash always occur in the same pattern: