Fairtris — a fair implementation of Classic Tetris®

[Chronos]

Fairtris can now run on Linux. You can find Linux fork here: https://github.com/chronoscz/Fairtris

It is also available for various Linux distributions as a snap: https://snapcraft.io/fairtris

[flowCRANE]

Good job! Soon I will update the readme and add a link to your fork and snapcraft.

But this is not the end of work as far as this distribution is concerned. There is no release in your repository and also no cloned wiki. In order for Linux users to have material explaining how to use the game, the wiki must be cloned and its contents changed to remove the information related to Windows and replace it with Linux guidelines (even the About section in your repository still says the game is for Windows).

If you would like and have time in the near future then please update the repository information and also add the wiki. Also add a link to my repository in the Bindings section of the readme.

Thank you very much for the port, I will announce that it exists on the web in a moment.

[Chronos]

My goal was to try to port your game to Linux and release it into snap store. I don't plan to develop separate different Linux version. So less changes needed, better for the Linux port. You have already stated that you are not interested in maintaining Linux support but still you can consider some multi-platform programming recommendations and merge some of my changes back to your code so Linux fork would need to have less number of changes.

For example to use DirectorySeparator constant instead of Windows directory separator "\". Or use target executable name without .exe extension in project options as it will be added on Windows anyway.
Also you want your game to be distributed simply as zip file which is ok. But for Linux deb packages of snap, there is need to separate read-only application asset files and configuration files. On Linux configuration files and other modifiable data are usually placed in /home/username/.config/appname directory. Also executable file is placed in /usr/bin directory. Yes, it is pretty complicated in comparison for example Windows. But also Windows has Program Files read-only for normal users so at least configuration files needs to be placed in user home directory in C:\users\username\AppData\appname directory on Windows.

One more suggestion. It may be good idea to have predefined keyboard (and controller) mappings. So settings.ini file can be created as a new file during first start. You already have default values for other fields so this should be easy code change. Mappings for keyboard should be pretty standard and user can change it if needed. Also controllers can have different mappings but still one default mapping can be useful.

Anyway, your game is well programmed and thanks to SDL it was easy to port it to Linux. I will merge your future changes into the fork and update snap package. Snap store provides metrics for number of installations so I will watch it to see how many users have the game downloaded.

[Seenkao]

translate: The Tetris game is already 37 years old. 

The first version for Electronika 60 computer was created in 1984, not for NES consoles.

By the way, the NES version was created in 1989, so it has 32 years old. So it needs to be corrected anyway. 

И Nintendo не имела прав на неё, пока не получили разрешения! Почитайте пожалуйста историю.

Я извиняюсь, но просьба указать на истинную дату появления игры тетрис.

Google translate:
And Nintendo didn't have the rights to it until they got permission! Please read history.

furious programming, Chronos - I'm sorry, but please indicate the true date of the appearance of the Tetris game.

[flowCRANE]

I don't plan to develop separate different Linux version. So less changes needed, better for the Linux port.

I also have no plans to further support and develop this game, not even for Windows. What is now its final version.

You have already stated that you are not interested in maintaining Linux support but still you can consider some multi-platform programming recommendations and merge some of my changes back to your code so Linux fork would need to have less number of changes.

If I wanted cross-platform code, I would just write it, instead of asking for a fork and distributing a separate version. But I didn't want to, because I don't have the experience, time and hardware/software to test such code. I preferred to deal with the version intended only for Windows, because I have known and used this environment for 20+ years.

Also you want your game to be distributed simply as zip file which is ok.

This game was meant to be portable so I didn't make an installer for it. In addition, it was not intended to be a product, but only a tool to test various aspects of Tetris on the NES console. The development of this project has come to an end.

But for Linux deb packages of snap, there is need to separate read-only application asset files and configuration files. On Linux configuration files and other modifiable data are usually placed in /home/username/.config/appname directory. Also executable file is placed in /usr/bin directory. Yes, it is pretty complicated in comparison for example Windows.

Which is why I don't want to complicate the code for this game and do something that I have no idea about. Better a separate port should be handled by someone who knows Linux very well and knows how to adapt the code to these systems.

One more suggestion. It may be good idea to have predefined keyboard (and controller) mappings.

The configuration file already contains the default keyboard mapping. In addition, it also includes default controller mappings in line with the universal controller mapping standard. So the player can plug in their controller and play right away, no matter what controller it is.

So settings.ini file can be created as a new file during first start.

It may be, but it doesn't make any sense. All information contained in this file and supplied with the game contains default data, universal for all computers, keyboards and controllers. There is no reason why this file should be created on first boot.

Mappings for keyboard should be pretty standard and user can change it if needed.

And it's pretty standard and the user can change it at any time by going to the game settings screen and then to the keyboard/controller mapping screen. The configuration file should not be modified manually, the more that the player does not have a list of scancodes for keys, axes and controller buttons in his head.

I will merge your future changes into the fork and update snap package.

There will be no further changes to the code for this game as development has now been completed. What is now is its final form, unless someone finds a bug, then I will fix it, and that's it. Everything I wanted to do and test has already been done and tested—now I will start my next project.

All I am asking is to adapt your repository to Linux conditions so that Linux users have a knowledge base for this game's port in your repository, not mine. Please adapt the readme, About section and tag cloud to Linux, and also upload my wiki to your repository, with the corrections applied (removed Windows information in favor of Linux). It won't take more than one evening of work. So I'm just asking you to take care of every detail in your repository so that it looks professional, not like a messy fork.

Google translate:
And Nintendo didn't have the rights to it until they got permission! Please read history.

furious programming, Chronos - I'm sorry, but please indicate the true date of the appearance of the Tetris game.

Nobody cares about the first Tetris, made at Elektronorgtechnica, because this version has nothing to do with Fairtris. Fairtris is a direct and faithful port of Tetris released by Nintendo in 1989 for NES and Famicom consoles, so the date 1989 is absolutely correct. So stop insisting because you are wrong and instead of criticizing, read the description in the readme of this project with understanding.

[Seenkao]

Я всего лишь просил вас указать издателя.
The Tetris Company - изучите, компания существует по сей день. Если вам нет дела, то тогда можете удалить свою игру она нарушает права The Tetris Company и вам могут предъявить претензии по поводу распространения вашей игры, а так же удалить её без вашего ведома. The Tetris Company могут и в суд подать. Вы не имеете ни какого права создавать игру тетрис, пока не получите это разрешение от The Tetris Company.
Тетрис вообще не принадлежит NES.

google translate:
I just asked you to name the publisher.
The Tetris Company - learn the company still exists today. If you don't care, then you can delete your game, it violates the rights of The Tetris Company and you can be made claims about the distribution of your game, as well as delete it without your knowledge. The Tetris Company may also sue. You do not have any right to create a Tetris game until you get permission from The Tetris Company.
Tetris doesn't belong to the NES at all.

Уважайте авторское право!!! Ни какого уважения к работе людей. Это и ко многим другим относится.
google translate:
Respect copyright!!! No respect for people's work. This applies to many others as well.

[lainz]

There is the concept of fan game as well, if you're not making money at all why this will be a legal problem... Or it will be?

[Seenkao]

Автор имеет полное право делать так, как ему вздумается. Как проигнорировать, так и подать в суд.
Eng:
The author has every right to do as he pleases. How to ignore, just sue.

[flowCRANE]

@Seenkao: what the hell is wrong with you? I don't need any permission or rights to reconstruct any game myself, from scratch, whether it's Tetris or Super Mario, Doom or Rayman, if it's a fan project (as pointed out by @lainz) and I'm not making money on it. So both TTC and Nintendo and even the DMCA can't do anything to me (to put it mildly).

Fairtris is a fan project, free and open source, with the identification of the owner of the rights to the product on NES (Nintendo) and the rights to the brand (TTC), I am not making money on it and I am not going to—as well as dozens of thousands of other developers providing various Tetris clones in their repositories. Nobody needs any permits, because they don't publish the products and they don't make money on them, so TTC has no interest in pursuing and suing them, on the contrary, such people and projects only increase the popularity of this brand, which suits TTC.

Sober up first, before you start raving, panic, and slander someone.

[trev]

In Tetris Holding, LLC v. XIO Interactive, LLC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74463 (D. N.J., May 30, 2012) the Court ruled that a clone of Tetris was a breach of copyright.

If you just want an executive summary, the Court found that the clone  of Tetris (named Mino) strictly copied the exact rules and functionality of the game, but the clone's version of the artwork and audiovisual display was so similar as to be easily confused with Tetris even by those familiar with both games. The Court concluded that it was "the wholesale copying of the Tetris look that the Court finds troubling more than the individual similarities each considered in isolation".

Yes, it's a minefield, at least in the USA. However, I don't believe there's any case against an individual making a non-commercial clone of a game for the obvious reason that should a copyright owner decide to take action against such a person, that person would do whatever was needed to avoid being subject to any legal action and the consequent financial costs.

[Seenkao]

@Seenkao: what the hell is wrong with you? I don't need any permission or rights to reconstruct any game myself, from scratch, whether it's Tetris or Super Mario, Doom or Rayman, if it's a fan project (as pointed out by @lainz) and I'm not making money on it. So both TTC and Nintendo and even the DMCA can't do anything to me (to put it mildly).

Fairtris is a fan project, free and open source, with the identification of the owner of the rights to the product on NES (Nintendo) and the rights to the brand (TTC), I am not making money on it and I am not going to—as well as dozens of thousands of other developers providing various Tetris clones in their repositories. Nobody needs any permits, because they don't publish the products and they don't make money on them, so TTC has no interest in pursuing and suing them, on the contrary, such people and projects only increase the popularity of this brand, which suits TTC.

Sober up first, before you start raving, panic, and slander someone.

Вы его можете использовать для себя (если автор об этом не знает). Распространять вы его не можете! А вы его распространяете! Мало того, что вы не указываете истинного автора, вы просто указываете, что TTS не является автором продукта!
И это со мной что-то не так? 

Google translate:
You can use it for yourself (if the author does not know about it). You can't distribute it! And you distribute it! Not only are you not stating the true author, you are simply stating that TTS is not the author of the product!
And is there something wrong with me?

трев, in the link I posted (partial clippings)

In May 2010, lawyers representing The Tetris Company sent Google Violation Notice regarding clones available for Android.[15] Google responded by removing the 35 games listed in the notice even though, according to one developer, the games contained no references to Tetris.

In April 2021, a YouTuber called JDH made an operating system that only runs Tetris. Two months later, his GitHub repository was taken offline by The Tetris Company because of copyright infringement.

I don't think much has been published yet.

[440bx]

<snip> it violates the rights of The Tetris Company and you can be made claims about the distribution of your game, as well as delete it without your knowledge. The Tetris Company may also sue. You do not have any right to create a Tetris game until you get permission from The Tetris Company.
<snip>
Respect copyright!!! No respect for people's work. This applies to many others as well.

Disclaimier: I am not a lawyer but, I think you're way overreacting.

Take two cars of similar size from different companies, they will have _thousands_ of things in common yet, unless one is an _almost perfect_ copy of the other, there is no copyright infringement.  The same applies to countless other items (all hammers are very similar but, one hammer manufacturer isn't infringing on the copyrights of the other, unless it's a close to perfect duplicate, in which case, it could be a counterfeit (particularly if it is sold with a very similar trademarked name.)

Another example, Lazarus and Delphi share quite a number of common characteristics.  That in no way means that Lazarus is infringing on Borland's/Embarcadero/owner_of_the_day copyrights.

Tetris is just a dynamic puzzle.  That idea is neither patentable nor copyrightable as Apple was clearly told by the courts when it sued Microsoft and HP for "appropriating" ideas they claimed to be theirs - in spite of the fact that they copied those from Xerox.  Gotta love  the display of moral and ethics in that case... I stole it!.. therefore it's mine!!  (sure, it is!)

[Seenkao]

Tetris is just a dynamic puzzle.  That idea is neither patentable nor copyrightable as Apple was clearly told by the courts when it sued Microsoft and HP for "appropriating" ideas they claimed to be theirs - in spite of the fact that they copied those from Xerox.  Gotta love  the display of moral and ethics in that case... I stole it!.. therefore it's mine!!  (sure, it is!)

Нет, Тетрис - это компьютерная игра-головоломка, аналогов настольных игр нет. За выпуск игры Тетис компании боролись, чтоб получить лицензию на право выпуска игры на своей платформе. Все крупные компании, которые воспроизводят тетрис для пользователей имеют такую лицензию. В противном случае на них подают в суд. С компаниями даже обсуждать это не будут. Как и в случае Tetris-OS.
Если вы сомневаетесь, свяжитесь с компанией The Tetris Company и обсудите с ней всё. Я думаю вам предоставят лицензию на пользование и распространение игры, только какую сумму с вас затребуют?

google translate:
No, Tetris is a computer puzzle game, there are no analogues of board games. For the release of the game Tetris companies fought to obtain a license for the right to release the game on their platform. All major companies that reproduce Tetris for users have such a license. Otherwise, they will be sued. The companies will not even discuss it. As in the case of Tetris-OS.
If in doubt, contact The Tetris Company and discuss everything with them. I think you will be given a license to use and distribute the game, but how much will they demand from you?

[440bx]

No, Tetris is a computer puzzle game, there are no analogues of board games.

There cannot be analogues of Tetris in a board game.  It's like there cannot be a board game analogue of Asteroids or Mario.  The essence of the game depends on it being dynamic which means it needs to be implemented on a computer.

For the release of the game Tetris companies fought to obtain a license for the right to release the game on their platform. All major companies that reproduce Tetris for users have such a license. Otherwise, they will be sued. The companies will not even discuss it. As in the case of Tetris-OS.
If in doubt, contact The Tetris Company and discuss everything with them. I think you will be given a license to use and distribute the game, but how much will they demand from you?

The last thing I'd do is contact the Tetris Company, they obviously are not interested in supporting/approving-of anything that competes with their game. 

The _idea_ behind Tetris is neither copyrightable nor patentable.

If someone makes a game that is likely to be confused with the game from The Tetris Company then, they have a basis to sue (and probably win.)  If someone makes a game that _works_ like Tetris but cannot be confused with the game from The Tetris Company, they can still sue but, if the defendant has enough financial resources to fight it in court, the Tetris Company will lose, just as Apple lost in court.

Ideas are neither patentable nor copyrightable.  Their specific implementations are.

[dbannon]

Debian has 24 games in its repository that it describes as "Tetris like". And believe me, Debian are very serious about respecting copyright !

"Debian Games Tetris packages", some certainly seem to have a Tetris look and feel to me. But have not played it for a long time. See https://blends.debian.org/games/tasks/tetris

Davo