Double Perimeter Defense Formation(4x4)
Double Perimeter Defense Formation, or DPDF, is one of the oldest non-snake formations that is played. Traditionally, it is played with 3 small tiles forming one "perimeter", with a 2x3 block of larger tiles under, and the tiles on the outside forming the second perimeter.
Traditional DPDF (Minsker Formation)
Named after ptminsker, the Minsker Formation starts immediately before a merge to two main tiles in the DPDF space. An example for a 32k endgame is:
4 2 2 _ 256 64 32 8 2k 1k 512 8 16k 8k 4k 16
From here (assuming all 2 spawns), the player can go LLRLUUULUDULURD to set up a very clean formation for the final 128:
4 4 2 _ 256 64 32 8 2k 1k 512 8 16k 8k 4k 16 8 2 2 _ 256 64 32 8 2k 1k 512 8 16k 8k 4k 16 2 _ 8 4 256 64 32 8 2k 1k 512 8 16k 8k 4k 16 2 8 4 2 256 64 32 8 2k 1k 512 8 16k 8k 4k 16 2 8 4 2 256 64 32 16 2k 1k 512 16 16k 8k 4k 2 2 8 4 2 256 64 32 32 2k 1k 512 2 16k 8k 4k 2 2 8 4 2 256 64 32 32 2k 1k 512 4 16k 8k 4k 2 2 8 4 2 256 64 64 2 2k 1k 512 4 16k 8k 4k 2 2 8 4 4 256 64 64 4 2k 1k 512 2 16k 8k 4k 2 2 8 4 2 256 64 64 _ 2k 1k 512 8 16k 8k 4k 4 2 8 4 2 256 64 64 8 2k 1k 512 4 16k 8k 4k 2 2 8 4 2 256 128 8 2 2k 1k 512 4 16k 8k 4k 2 2 8 4 4 256 128 8 4 2k 1k 512 2 16k 8k 4k 2 2 2 8 8 256 128 8 4 2k 1k 512 2 16k 8k 4k 2 2 2 2 _ 256 128 16 8 2k 1k 512 4 16k 8k 4k 4
Some key variations with 4 spawns include:
2 8 4 4 256 64 32 8 2k 1k 512 8 16k 8k 4k 16 | RRDLL 2 8 4 4 256 64 64 4 2k 1k 512 2 16k 8k 4k 4 | LULD 2 8 4 4 256 128 8 4 2k 1k 512 2 16k 8k 4k 4 | LLRRDLD
Minsker formation loses about 1.5% accuracy over optimal play. However, it is a very straightforward and intuitive setup without loads of different variations that the player must learn, so it is still often taught to players who are new to learning DPDF.
Modern DPDF (Eners Merge)
[TODO]
DPDF in variants
[TODO]
See also
Gap, a superior , snake-like formation where the player builds into the 1x2 gap next to the main DPDF block.