Hello everyone,
I am happy to announce a significant update to the game! This update brings Engine vs Engine (EvE) functionality for the UCI mode, along with a visual refresh and numerous under-the-hood improvements.
New Feature: Engine vs Engine (EvE)
You can now pit two UCI chess engines against each other and watch them battle it out!
Settings: I have added UI controls to adjust the Threads and Hash table size per engine.
Recommendation: Based on my testing, I recommend setting 1 thread per engine. This provides excellent performance without putting excessive load on your CPU. Regarding Hash size, there are limits in place, but I recommend keeping this setting reasonable as well.
Engine Strength: Please note that some UCI engines (for example, Lc0) do not support a "Skill Level" setting. If the game detects that an engine does not support this, that engine will play at 100% full strength, and the difficulty slider will not affect it.
UI & Visual Changes
Difficulty Slider: The engine skill level slider has been moved from the bottom of the chessboard to the Game Setup UI for each "Play vs Computer" mode. This cleans up the main view and unifies the UI experience.
High Score Removed: Along with the relocation of the slider, I have removed the "Highest Score" tracking and display. This feature was a remnant of the early development phase specifically for the internal engine, and I felt it had lost its relevance in the current state of the game with multiple engine options.
New Font: The game now uses a new font type that is much clearer and easier to read.
Lichess Integration Improvements
Login: The Lichess login process has been reworked to be more reliable.
Broadcasts: The Broadcast listing has been improved and now fetches the maximum number of tournaments allowed by Lichess (100 tournaments).
Connectivity: I have improved the network logic to better detect connection drops. The game will now attempt to recover gracefully if the connection is restored.
Steam Achievements
I have decided to temporarily disable Steam Achievements. They were originally designed for the internal chess engine only. With the addition of UCI engines and Lichess features, the old achievements no longer reflect the current state of the game. If achievements return in the future, they will be completely redesigned to fit the new gameplay options.
Bug Fixes
This update includes a large number of bug fixes and stability improvements across the board.
A Note from the Developer
As a solo developer, I have done my absolute best to test these new features thoroughly. However, given the complexity of chess engines and network features, some bugs may still exist. If you encounter any issues, please report them!
Thank you for your support and happy checkmating!