3D Scacchi Simulator

• Release Date: 1991
• Genre: Traditional
• Style: Board Game
• Similar Games: Chessmaster (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

3D Scacchi Simulator is a solitaire chess game pitting you against a variable level computer. You always take the first move by typing it on the move list screen. Although you can change to a tilted 3D graphical display of the chessboard and see a visualization of the current position by pressing the F1 function key, you must always be on the text screen to enter a move.

The board is labeled A to H along its bottom edge (left to right) and one to eight along the side (one being closest to you). To enter a move, you type in your desired move using the grid notation as reference points -- the starting square of the piece you're moving followed by the destination square.

If the move is legal, the board is updated and the computer determines its next move. For example, if you want to move the pawn from in front of your queenside rook two squares forward, you A2 followed by A4. The goal, as in all games of chess, is to manipulate pieces, attacking and defending, until capture of your opponent's king is imminent and can't be avoided by the other player on his or her next move -- the condition known as checkmate.

The game features several options such as automatic movement for both sides by the computer (it basically plays itself), rotation of the game board, solving for checkmate, hints or suggestion for moves, toggling sound on or off and printing the move list.

Roots & Influences

3D Scacchi Simulator is an electronic version of Chess.

Review: Overall

For those who don't know, Scacchi is Italian for chess and, although 3D Scacchi Simulator is about chess, it's neither 3D nor a simulator. More importantly, it's not fun. Immediately noticeable is the lack of graphics. Following the title screen, you face a mostly empty text screen designed for entering chess moves. If you're not familiar with the standard chess grid notational system, you have to learn it to play the game.

After you've entered a move (and you always move first), the computer spends time "thinking" before responding with its move. You can spy on the move being considered at any given moment by watching a display on the bottom right of the screen. After the computer decides on a move, a notation of the move list is made and it's your turn again. Play continues until the game is won, lost or drawn.

Fortunately, for players without an eidetic or photographic memory, the game provides a visual means of viewing the chess pieces on the board at any given time. When you press the F1 key, the game switches to a 3D display of the board that is slightly tilted for ease of viewing. Unfortunately, the pieces are terribly drawn and the coloring looks as if a child used a crayon but couldn't stay within the lines. In fact, colors bleed onto the background in places while some parts of the actual piece are left untouched.

As the game progresses, the horrible color scheme, combined with the shallow angle at which the board is tilted, makes it impossible to accurately discern where pieces are relative to others, effectively negating the playing board as a viable venue. Since no moves can be made on the board itself, the typed notational move list is the real heart of the game and relegates the board to nothing more than 3D fluff.

The simulator mentioned in the title is questionable. In effect, the game has delusions of grandeur but falls short of being even moderately good or challenging to a veteran chess player. The options don't always work correctly and the AI isn't particularly good at ferreting out proper move responses. Even more exasperating is the time the computer takes to "think" before making even a simple move.

3D Scacchi Simulator is a forgettable chess game that should be avoided in favor of more accurate and usable chess games on the market.

Review: Enjoyment

The AI isn't particularly strong as chess games go and not being able to use the chessboard to make moves hurts the continuity factor that relies on visualizing moves.

Review: Graphics

The graphics are some of the worst you'll see. Whether by design or simply from bad programming (it's difficult to tell), colors bleed to the point of creating an unidentifiable mess when pieces are in close proximity. Compounding the problem is the lack of tilt to the game board, making it tough to accurately see where pieces are if they have other pieces around them.

Review: Sound

The one sound effect the game plays each time a piece is moved is loud and obnoxious.

Review: Replay Value

With no two-player option, gameplay is limited to the fairly predictable AI routines.

Review: Documentation

None observed.

Production Credits