by Edward D. Collins
Note: I've switched
interfaces. (WinBoard
4.1.0)
But I'll leave this page up as a tribute to the interface I used for so long. |
I believe at some point I've tried every chess server interface that exists and for three consecutive years, the DOS based ZIICS interface (version 1.31) written by Andy McFarland was still, in my humble opinion, the best one available. Many months ago I came across this web site http://www.goober.demon.co.uk/review/review.html which I just found out today (9/13/98) no longer exists. If you had seen it, it showed a screen shot of ZIICS which I did not think gave the program any justice at all. I put together a much nicer screen shot and e-mailed it to the author of the page but alas, he never bothered to replace the old one. So I thought I would take the time
to devote a page on my site to the (Note that if you are viewing this page at a resolution of 1,024 by 768, which I recommend, then this and the other screen shots can be seen here in their entirety, that is, without having to scroll.) This is one of my favorite color configurations. Each of the colors you see (the color of the pieces, the color of the board, the text, the buttons, etc.) can be configured to your own liking. (I think the colors of this board are very close to the standard roll-up boards most of us play on when we play in tournaments.) And I strongly believe the size of this board and the design of these pieces you see here has yet to be surpassed. It is a delight to play on. |
Here is another screen shot with the same chess font & size but with different colors. I enjoy playing with this color configuration too. |
I'm also rather fond of this board size. This is the board I use when I'm watching a game, especially a popular tournament match, for it not only allows me to watch the game but I can also easily read the kibitzes, whispers, shouts, etc., from the other players who are also watching it. |
And yet another board size (still the same chess font) I enjoy playing with.
In all of the above screens shots, I've been using the Chess Assistant font for the pieces, which happens to be my favorite. However, the program comes with many other different chess fonts and sizes to choose from. Here are partial screen shots of just a few more: |
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The beauty of this interface lies with its simplicity -- it has but two screen modes. With a simple right-mouse click, the chessboard screen disappears and this "chat mode" area appears. This mode is very convenient if you're not playing a game but reading someone's finger notes or chatting with someone or reading the help files, etc. A further right-mouse click will display the "board mode" again. Simple... and elegant. |
It almost goes without saying you can configure these text colors to your individual style and taste too. My shouts are currently red, my chess shouts are pink, challenges to me are green, other player's seeks are blue, etc. Occasionally I change these colors just for variety. Note that at the top of the screen are my customized buttons. I currently have 40 of them. (I think many players are probably content with just 20, though.) Each and everyone of these buttons can be configured for often-used commands... whatever command you want! I cannot stress how wonderful and convenient this is. For example, this first button below, titled "Inficad," connects me to my local Internet provider. After connecting, I then choose one of the next four buttons. The first one, FICS, will connect me to the FICS chess server under my registered handle. FICS-unr is for when I wish to sign on to FICS and play unrated games under a different handle, etc. |
The "Greeting" button is simply a friendly hello I occasionally issue after just starting a game. "Sought" will display a list of seeks that match my current formula. "Sought All" will display a list of all the current seeks. I find myself fingering my friends a lot, checking to see how they've been fairing. So I set a few buttons to facilitate this. I periodically read the on-line help files, many of which are more than one page in length. Here is where my "next" button comes in handy. Altogether, you can configure 40 different buttons if you so desire! |
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Other wonderful options and features of the program are:
There are dozens of other options and features. You'll have to read the enclosed documentation file for more. Is ZIICS the perfect interface? Alas, no. If I could add just a few options / features to it, here is what I would start with...
Alas, I do not expect to ever see these or any other changes. I do not believe Andy is supporting this version of the program anymore. I believe he has moved on to his Windows version for the majority of users that have TCP/IP, PPP and SLIP connections. This is unfortunate since this DOS version of ZIICS is still an absolutely wonderful interface. My friends and I, as well as many other players I know, still prefer it. The amount of time he put into this program can clearly be seen! If it is true he is no longer supporting it, maybe we can convince him to release his old source code into the public domain for the many of us who still prefer it. Shoot, I wouldn't mind working on it myself, and I don't even know Pascal! Happy playing everyone! |