Screenshot of Panther's Chess (3d)

[arn]

Chess is now a full 3d-app

[Powerbook G5]

That's great, I've actually been wondering what the 3D chess looked like after hearing talk of it being remodeled for 3D. Is it still as impossible to beat as ever?

[saint]

Looks pretty cool.

Just needs a bit of smoothing out, and hopefully the viewing angle can be changed as well because it's a bit hard to see from that angle.

[yopro213]

Here are three more pics and a video clip. Enjoy!

yopro213

Chess - main window (http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/panther2/chess.png)

Chess - in "floating board" mode (http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/panther2/chess-floatingboard.png)

Chess - Preferences (http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/panther2/chess-preferences.png)

Chess - rotating the board with the mouse QuickTime movie (http://forums.appleinsider.com/images/panther2/chess-rotation.mov)

[White Fire]

I reckon that the graphics are far from final. I would be very unimpressed if they were, with Apple's standard.

[NNO-Stephen]

it's very cool. several skins to chose from... graphics look quite unfinished though... still a hard freakin game..

it's got some cool variations now though

suicide is fun :) you try to kill off all your pieces first. haha

still hard as hell though.

[mac15]

wow thats kinda funky, showing off cocoa and quartz extreme mainly

[nagromme]

The graphics look very finished to me.

Unless you are referring to the lack of anti-aliasing, which the OS UI as a whole uses throughout. 3D games often don't though, giving 3D edged jagged pixels. I assume that's dependent on the video board. I've never actually seen a game with an AA option, but then I haven't bought too many recent games!

[Bendit]

It just looks really pixelated in still photos, in motion it will look smoother.

And most new games today have Full Screen AA and it is video card dependant.

[Mr. Anderson]

Very cool - I'd like to see more apps done like that :D

Even with the 3D, no window version of the game, though, I'd still not be able to beat the computer. Although this might make me play it a few more times and you never know....

D

[idea_hamster]

Maybe the folks at Apple could include a neat 3D version of Minesweeper to give the switchers a little security blanket....:D

[qazwsxedc30]

Adding Minesweeper to OSX is the best idea i have heard all week:)

[King Cobra]

Apple's Chess must be the easiest program to crash or ******* up for Jaguar.

Make a few moves, and while the computer is thinking on any one move, take back a move. Do this a few times, and you have . . . it's too funny even I can't describe it.

And I have never beaten Apple's Chess.

Also, Apple's 2D version in Jaguar is not only the same, but also requires something bigger than 800 x 600. Well, I guess that's my fault for purchasing a clamshell iBook with a max. res. of only 800 x 600.

I don't think anything will beat Sigma Chess (www.sigmachess.com) for a long time, even if it doesn't have board rotation.


Edit: I should clarify: Free chess software

[Lydiansolo]

I feel that when you look at the board in plan view the bishops and pawns are way too similar in appearance. They need to accentuate the bishop's mitre.

[stockscalper]

Mac chess uses gnu engine, which isn't a very strong engine. Neither is the engine in Sigma. Both are very beatable! The strongest chess program available for the Mac is Hiarcs chess. Unfortunately it runs only under OS 9 and the company who makes it will not update it any further due to poor sales :mad:

~stockscalper
FIDE rated 1966

[Abstract]

The graphics don't look very good. Like others have noticed, the graphics are very pixelated, and the movement of the board in 3-D is quite choppy, in my opinion.

[agreenster]

Originally posted by Abstract
The graphics don't look very good. Like others have noticed, the graphics are very pixelated, and the movement of the board in 3-D is quite choppy, in my opinion.


You are probably noticing the quicktime playback choppiness.

[gregorypierce]

The graphics are fine actually - not pixelated (as its actually a 3D application). It does have some other assorted issues - but NDA restricts me from mentioning those.

[Jesus on OSX]

Is the chess multiplayer over LAN or internet?

[reyesmac]

Apple should do with chess what it has done for icons and the GUI...make it look better than anything else out there today. It would be great if they could use more polygons for all the pieces and better textures. Also drop shadows are a must. It just looks out of place beside all the good looking stuff that Panther has. I would think that making it look more photorealistic or more Pixar-ish is possible with todays technology, am I wrong on that?

Maybe they can use the Quake 4 engine to run it or something. ;)

[alset]

Originally posted by reyesmac

Maybe they can use the Quake 4 engine to run it or something. ;)

LOL! That is the best idea I have heard all day.

Dan

[danielgrenell]

god it's beautiful!

[mymemory]

We are now where Atari ST computers were 15 year ago!!!

May be in 10 more years Apple would realise animated chess characters!!!

"The emperor has no clothes" that was the best description.

[MhzDoesMatter]

Originally posted by mymemory
We are now where Atari ST computers were 15 year ago!!!

May be in 10 more years Apple would realise animated chess characters!!!

"The emperor has no clothes" that was the best description.

That is sarcasm right? You can't possibly be mad that Apple updated their chess game? Or that it's not an actual 3D battle chess simulation.

You do know that it's the Macintosh Minesweeper right? Not an iApp, not ChessPlayerPro. Just a legacy app that was once symbolic, and quite indicative of the nature of the platform (as a juxtaposition of solitaire as the flagship game of the Windows platform,) right?

None of your post was more than just a slightly misaligned attempt at a jovial jest of this news item, right?

Oh, ok. Just making sure.

-Hertz

[King Cobra]

I'm glad to know that the previous two posters were focused on the graphics preview, rather than the game of Chess. All they had to do was scroll up to the beginning of this thread and make a comment.

All right. Let me give everyone here something other than graphics to look out for:

Does the knight actually become a horse?
Does the rook have people living in it?
Is the board really an undersized floor tiling?
What happens if the pawn falls on the floor?

Let's keep in mind that Apple's version of Chess is sufficient to the experienced and well-performing chess player. Difficulty is one thing to keep in mind.

How about stats? The link I previously provided goes to a site hosting Sigma Chess. The game keeps nearly every statistic under the sun throughout the game. Some examples:
-->In progress score
-->Node counts
-->Nodes per second
-->Difficulty levels ranging throughout the proper 2500 = maximum ELO scale (I think that references the ELO scale for most computational sports games)

Other things that Sigma Chess has that Apple's version of Chess should consider:
-->Different board sets
-->Custom board designs for 2D and 3D
-->Customize your own board color

Now, no more complaining of the graphics provided in the screenshot of Apple's Chess, which, by the way, is in beta mode. We don't want to attract graphics trolls because of this thread. But now that I've said so, I bet you someone just got an idea.

[sparks9]

Looks ugly they should smoothen it a little.

[newmanium]

Looks fine to me, any enhancements to an already great (and free) program is welcome.

it ain't effing wizard chess, there's no need to be so critical, heh.

[etoiles]

pretty neat, I wonder if the geometry for the pieces is stored in some 'open' format so that 3D users could tweak/create their own ?

[spazum64]

It would be really awesome if it had Rendezvous support so you could automatically play with anyone else running it on your network. Maybe they'll add that by the time it's released. And of course I hope they fix up the models and rendering. Finally, on my chess wishlist: use a newer version of GNUchess! The current engine used in Chess.app is ancient - the 10.2 version uses the 1988 version of the engine! (I have 10.3, but it's on my iPod, and I don't feel like connecting it and checking if it uses a newer version.)

Yeah, it would be good if they integrated the newer engine. I should think that the AI would have gotten a bit better over 15 years.

[Phil Of Mac]

When I heard Panther had 3D chess, I was hoping they meant the 3D chess from Star Trek!

[White Fire]

I do believe that this (http://www.opensource.apple.com/projects/others/chess.tgz) is the source for Apple's Chess, only it isn't the 3D version everyone is talking about...

[spazum64]

Yes, it actually looks like an older version than the one included in Jaguar.

Any of us under the NDA, with access to Panther, has the right to demand a copy of the source code of the new Chess, because of the conditions of the GPL (under which GNUchess, and, because of the "viral" aspect, Apple's Chess, are distributed). Further, anyone with that source (or even the binary) can redistribute it.

So anyone with a copy of Panther (legally, of course) can get the source from Apple, or post the source or binary. Unless I'm severely mistaken about some aspect of the GPL, and I find that unlikely since I've read the whole thing several times.

Yes, I just read it (and it turns out it's under its own GNUchess License, which predates the GPL- this is ancient!) and Apple must give the source to anyone who asks, as long as they also legally obtained the binary.

[MikeH]

3d chess - great.

That's it, it's just an ***** freeby - will everyone who's whining about it stop, it's not as if it's going to ruin your workflow within OSX.

If is ruining your workflow you are clearly not busy enough to need OSX, get a PS2 or X-Box.

[edenwaith]

Kind of cool. I've been toying with some ideas to create a two part chess game. The front end would be the interface, 3D board with easily skinnable pieces. The backend would be a chess evaluator which could be used by other programs.

But, hopefully, a few more options will be added, with an easier mode! For those of us not named Garry Kasparov, Chess on easiest mode is still fairly difficult. I had it play Chessmaster, and it was still beating players at 1500 ranking.

[jbomber]

Originally posted by qazwsxedc30
Adding Minesweeper to OSX is the best idea i have heard all week:)

i agree.

PC users need solitaire, minesweeper, and MS Word in order to switch platforms. I think the vast majority of them use these 3 apps in that order.

[elmimmo]

Originally posted by nagromme
Unless you are referring to the lack of anti-aliasing[...]. 3D games often don't though, giving 3D edged jagged pixels. I assume that's dependent on the video board. I've never actually seen a game with an AA option

I simply have not seen an AA option in any game for Mac OS. Which is simply pathetic, considering how long graphic drivers for Windows include that option even for the present day's crappiest cards out there. In Windows that is a system setting, not a per-game settings, so it is either Apple, ATI or nVidia to blame for that.

[King Cobra]

I also agree with OS X Minesweeper.

I used to have an OS 9 version called Turtle Minesweeper, which nearly mimics the Windows version. I would start up Classic just to play that game. The only problem with it was your first click could be a dud. :eek:


Still complaining about Chess graphics? I heard Apple is coming out with Bowling as well. Here is a pin...

[KingJobs]

NICE :)

[ronb]

Can anyone say BattleChess? Anyone remember it from OS 7 days? It had animated characters that did real battle as is Star Wars; Harry Potter's - Wizard Chess.

...Ron

[Cochrane]

Originally posted by qazwsxedc30
Adding Minesweeper to OSX is the best idea i have heard all week:)

If a little advertising is allowed, I wrote a little Minesweeper for Jaguar. It's rather slow and quite buggy, but since I haven't seen a free Minesweeper for Mac OS X so far I had no other choice and made this. You can download it from http://kammer.bei.t-online.de/imine.zip

Oh, and by the way: Why would anyone need a newer, better AI in Chess? I have no chance of winning at the easiest stage even now and I am not really interested in making it even harder.

[thebossisback]

I hope it works better than the chess they have now

[Lebannen]

Spazum, it's much easier to get the source than to email Apple about it.

Anyone who has Panther (I don't), go to the 'About' menu option in Chess, and hey presto! A link to download the source.

:) Niiiice.

[spazum64]

Originally posted by Lebannen
[B]Spazum, it's much easier to get the source than to email Apple about it.

Anyone who has Panther (I don't), go to the 'About' menu option in Chess, and hey presto! A link to download the source.

That simply takes you to <http://developer.apple.com/darwin/projects/misc/>, which has the source code of version 1.6. The Panther version is labeled as 2.0, and the source for it is nowhere to be found.

I don't really have any need or desire for the source now, but I just wanted to mention that Apple has to give it to anyone who asks, in case anyone else would like to see the source of the new version.

[MacBandit]

I miss chess on my old Amiga. We had a Chess game with animated 3d characters. When you moved say the Queen across the board she would walk across the board swinging her hips and with her gown swaying side to side. Also it was quite violent as the players would run each other through and bludgeon opponents with their weapons