"Schach3D"

Options

- Computer opponent: Choose a computer opponent from the list. The opponents differ slightly in strength and style of playing, additionally you can adjust the strength for the choosen opponent with the listbox beside. Choose <none> in case of a networkgame or to play both sides simultaneously. The listbox Opponent plays determines the color of the AI opponent, the player who plays the white side always begins the game.
- Level: The playing strength of the computer opponent. Higher strength means more time for calculating the move, this can last up to several hours for higher values. Lower Strength means more simple playing because the computer opponent doesn't look forward as wide. You can stop the computer player calculating the next move at anytime by pressing the button.
- Choice of environment: Use the image list box on the top right side of dialog to set up an environment for playing. The first one in the list switches to the 2D board, the others are different kinds of 3D environments.
- Set of pieces and material: You can adjust the default settings of the choosen environment for the chess board and/or the pieces by choosing another board and/or piece set from the list boxes. The list box Set of pieces contains different sets of standard, non animated chess pieces as well as several animated piece sets. Additionally you may switch the Material for the non animated chess pieces.
- Size of pieces and uplift (3D): To alter the Size of the pieces and the way the computer pieces will move on the board, drag the appropriate bar by holding down the right mouse button and moving the mouse to the left or to the rightinside the bar. The Uplift value determines the elevation height for the none animated opponent pieces when they move. If this value is zero the pieces will just slide on the board, otherwise they will elevate when moving to the target field according to the Uplift setting.
- Board reflection (3D): This option adds a mirror effect to the chess board. However this effect needs additional cpu power, if you notice that the performance of the game is slow on your computer you should turn this feature off. Also this effect is only available if your graphics card supports this feature.
- Piece reflection (3D): Turns the calculation of light reflections on figures on/off. If this option is on the chess pieces will look more realistic but older graphics cards may not support this feature.
- Shadows: Switches shadows on/off. Additionally you can set the shadow quality withe the list box beside. Because this effect needs a high amount of additional rendering time it is recommended to turn this feature off in case of a slow game performance.
- Multi sampling: This option slightly improves the quality of the scene by smoothing the edges of the geometry. Older graphics cards may not support this feature.
- Animation (3D): Turns the animation of the chess pieces on/off in case that a animated set of pieces is chosen. If this option is turned off you can move the pieces of an animated piece set in the same way as the standard pieces by taking a figure with the mouse and dragging it to the target field. If this option is turned on you just have to click on the figure and the target field to enter a move, animated pieces will walk to the target field by itself. Use the Speed of move bar to adjust the general move speed and the animation speed for animated piece sets by dragging the bar holding down the left mouse button to the left or to the right inside the bar.
- Sound effects: Turns the sound effects on or off. Use the Volume bar to adjust the volume of the sound effects by dragging the bar holding down the left mouse button to the left or to the right.
- Music: Turns the background music on or off. Use the list box to choose a piece of music, you can add additional music pieces by copying a midi file into the midi folder of the program folder. Use the Volume bar to adjust the volume of the soundeffects by dragging the bar holding down the left mouse button to the left or to the right.
- Window mode: Use this button to switch between Fullscreen and Window mode. The Window mode enables resizing and replacing of the window.
- Board coordinates: Shows or hides the board coordinates at the border of the chess board.
- Teaching mode: Turns teaching mode on/off. If this option is turned on, the program marks all possible target fields on the board for the choosen chess piece and shows threatened pieces with flashing colors.
- Openings library: Switches the usage of the openings library on/off. If this option is turned on, the computer opponent first looks for a standard move in the library before calculating one.
- Physics engine : This option enables or disables the integrated physics engine for the chess pieces. If this option is enabled the pieces will react quite realistic to collisions with each other. The positions of the pieces are reseted automatically after every move or by pressing .
- Network game: Click the Create button to start a network game. The other player must then enter your IP adress and click on the Connect button to establish a connection. Your IP adress can be either your adress in a local network or your internet IP. It is shown next to the Create button after you started a network game. Please note that if you are connected to the internet by using a router your opponent has to know your router IP instead of the IP shown in the options dialog to establish a connection via internet. Please refer the router configuration or a website like http://checkip.dyndns.org for your internet IP adress. After the connection is established, the player who connected to the game gets the color which is currently choosen in the list box Opponent plays. You can change the color for your opponent as long as no move is made by you or your opponent. Press oder to send a text message to the other player. To disconnect from a network game simply click the button Create or Connect again. If a firewall is installed port 20000 tcp must be given free on both sides to enable a connection.