MiKoChess (Irrlicht)

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MikoChess is another “game design study” I did to learn the basics of game programming (using the Open Source Graphics Engine “Irrlicht3D”, the 3D modeller Milkshape3D and other tools). This time, it is a graphical frontend for a chess engine. Yes, still sticking to board games…

Program Features

  • Play offline chess games against computer opponent
  • Using the chess engine Abrok 5.0 (UCI protocol)
  • Using the 3D engine Irrlicht
  • Windowed mode only. Fixed size 1024×768

Note: The Chess engine’s power is rather weak currently, due to massive timing restrictions from the client’s side. Don’t blame the engine for this.

Program Operation

  • F1 invokes help text (F1 or esc closes)
  • Toggle debug window via the help menue
  • Toggle moves history window via the help menue
  • Show chess engine info via the help menue
  • When your move is due, the characters and numbers aside the board are hilighted
  • Rotate board view by pressing left mouse button and moving the mouse
  • Move board view by pressing right mouse button and moving the mouse
  • Zoom in/out by pressing both mouse keys and move the mouse horizontally
  • Select a field/item by left-clicking on it
  • Unselect an item by right-clicking
  • Change to standard views be pressing buttons in the lower left screen corner

Program Rules

http://www.chessvariants.com/d.chess/chess.html

Note: taking en-passant and stale mate not implemented yet. This special situations could cause the game to lock up.

Credits

Irrlicht homepage: http://www.irrlicht3d.org
Milkshape homepage: http://www.milkshape3d.com
Abrok homepage: http://romankorba.homepage.t-online.de

Screenshots

mikochess_1
mikochess_2

Downloads

FileDateSizeRemarks
mikochess_0.2.zip10/29/20061.1 MBCompiled Windows exe only (DX9)