Delayed Auto Shift or autorepeat refers to the behavior of most falling block puzzle games when the player holds the left or right key. The game will shift the falling piece sideways, wait, and then shift it repeatedly if the player continues to hold the key.
Some games read the keys as on-off switches and implement DAS in software. Others rely on the automatic repeat provided by the hardware or operating system, which the user often has the ability to configure. (In Windows 2000, this setting is Start > Settings > Control Panel > Keyboard > Speed > Character repeat.)
Tactics for placing tetrominoes differ per game based on the speed of DAS and based on whether the player can load DAS during a line clear.
One space from the wall
To place a T, L, or J tetromino with its flat side one square from the side of the matrix at low gravity, it is fastest to rotate the tetromino after moving it. In bounding box based rotation systems such as SRS or its immediate predecessors, this applies to S and Z as well.
Rotate before move, tap tap tap:
Rotate before move, DAS then backtrack:
Rotate before move, DAS then let go before the tetromino hits the wall, leads to misdrops, especially in games with fast DAS:
Let go too late
Let go too early
Move before rotate:
However, at fast gravity, rotation (especially initial rotation) before movement may help the player navigate pyramid structures.
