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[The Coop]

http://www.download-game.com/Battle_Chess.htm

There's the link I got it from. And should that site not be on the up and up (aka a mod zaps that link)...

http://www.geocities.com/arforfaborb/BTLCHESS.ZIP

... there it is from my site.

[CrowDriver]

A couple of things...

Battle Chess II was dueling 'chinese chess' an ancient traditional oriental variation, there are protecting pawns in front of only half the major backrow pieces. All caution to the wind, bombs away at the major pieces from the start, such as cannon takes knight on move 1!
Less than 1% Xiangqi games are draws in master tournament play. Runs fine in DosBox 0.72.

For easy to win chess, try BFTC (here at abandonia). It also has all the lessons (interactive) from the famous book, no memorization of openings, 'cause that's how Bobby learned to play. Can be set to hard levels, but lower ones are the easiest to beat computer chess anywhere.

CrowDriver!

[Borodin]

Just a bit of an historical sidenote: I was set to review this title for a US magazine, and was told that Brian Fargo (the Interplay CEO) wanted to speak with me about it. He got on the phone and began raving about how it had a much larger database of chess games to draw from which automatically made it the best chess game, not merely for the PC, but in the world. :amused: I interrupted, and said that a chess game was far more than just its database. The AI had to know how to interpret that database and use its information, and that this was the truly difficult part. At that, his pair of PR handlers online gasped audibly, and quickly terminated the conversation.

Was a truly fun game, but even then, it wasn't the best PC-based chess sim around.

[legend789]

Originally Posted by Homestar Runner

first off. to emulate win 3.1, you NEED a copy of it. then just download Microsoft Virtual Pc trial, or VMWARE, and you are set. just start up the machine, install windows, and tri BC.

i have not had a chance to install battle chess so i am not sure if this will work. i have installed windows 3.1 however and it works fine with my yamaha s/card and Nvdia Geforce Chip. k: :w00t:

Actually, I'm theorizing that you don't even need to emulate Windows 3.1.

It's possible, I believe, that you can "trick" the game into playing with sounds, via the battle.ini-file by adding a line that turns sound on.

Of course, to test this idea, I'd have to have an INI file that works, so if anyone has one, I could isolate the line and we could post it up in this forum.

Best thing would be to have the DOS version, I'ver always thought that DOS version > Windows version for most of the older games, until around after the mid Win95 era and when games could run Full Screen in Windows.

Originally Posted by guesst

I recently loaded up this game again, actually I wanted to find the DOS version but aparently the only one I have is for windows, and it doesn't have the digitized sound. What a rip! in XP it thinks it has to play in enhanced mode which apparently can't be turned off with any option I found, so it's a window aproximately 1/6 the size of my screen and silent.

Man, I need the dos version of this game.

A couple of things could be done here:
1. Edit the Shortcut, go to the Shortcut tab, in the third section down (the one with "Start in"), it says "Run:" set that from "Normal Window" to "Maximized".
2. Set the Compatibility > Display settings to Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution.
3. Change the computer's screen resolution to 640 x 480.
4. Make a batch-file that pauses. Set that batch file's Display settings to Run in 640 x 480 screen resolution, and run that file when you need to.

I use a combination of #1 (it covers about 0.64x of the screen), #2 (but it doesn't work, so I also had to use) #4. My computer's resolution doesn't allow me to go that low for #3.

Try different things.

Originally Posted by Guest

I dont know what´s wrong. when i click on the "horse" chess.exe, xp returns "xp cant find this program"???

what happenn?

It's a random problem where XP forgets where everything is. Waiting around works sometimes, and resetting works most of the time, but sometimes you'll have to wait even longer.

Originally Posted by The Coop

A few years between responses? Why not!

Anyway, I believe that a version of the DOS game is freeware. A while back, I was looking around and found a site that had a version of BC listed as freeware. So, I downloaded it, and was surprised to see what's most likely the original DOS version (simpler colors, and PC speaker sound), with a note supposedly from Interplay announcing that this particular version was being given out as freeware due to the success of the original game, and how well the sequel was doing. Here's the version I'm talking about...




... and here's the text from the read me included...





Also, I believe the Windows version is still being sold, as a few years back, CompUSA had a Battle Chess twin pack for sale that included the original BC, and Battle Chess II: Chinese Chess together. You might have to look into this.



Anyway, would you like me to post a link to the version of BC I pictured above?

It looks totally legit.

The CompUSA thing doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't abandonware. I've seen games that were abandonware or even intended to be freeware sold in bundles before. It's because the bundle isn't abandonware but the game (in this case Battle Chess for Windows) is.

Originally Posted by Borodin

Just a bit of an historical sidenote: I was set to review this title for a US magazine, and was told that Brian Fargo (the Interplay CEO) wanted to speak with me about it. He got on the phone and began raving about how it had a much larger database of chess games to draw from which automatically made it the best chess game, not merely for the PC, but in the world. :amused: I interrupted, and said that a chess game was far more than just its database. The AI had to know how to interpret that database and use its information, and that this was the truly difficult part. At that, his pair of PR handlers online gasped audibly, and quickly terminated the conversation.

Was a truly fun game, but even then, it wasn't the best PC-based chess sim around.

Ah, lucky. Working for a magazine is a good job, and it's really interesting too.

[The Fifth Horseman]

I've seen games that were abandonware or even intended to be freeware sold in bundles before. It's because the bundle isn't abandonware but the game (in this case Battle Chess for Windows) is.

Not in our definition. As long as a bundle is sold, the game counts as being sold rather than abandoned, unless it has been officially made freeware.

[carlosalonso]

I tried to install the game after unziping and it doesn't work.
Any tips?

[The Fifth Horseman]

Define "doesn't work". What exactly happens when you try to run the game? Post any error messages in their exact text or take screenshots of them and post these here.

man, i don't get this:
i am googleing "battlechess" to see, if there are any news about an iphone version...
did anybody heard of something like this?

[EDITED]

[The Coop]

Originally Posted by max58

man, i don't get this:
i am googleing "battlechess" to see, if there are any news about an iphone version...
did anybody heard of something like this?

[EDITED]

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Mobil...iew.asp?c=4120

That's the closest thing I could find.

[gumpy]

Great fun! Though I need to brush up on my chess playing skills so I can beat the computer... I lose even at the lowest skill level.