The game is good, but the AI is horrible - you cannot lose, because the computer is programmed to never step in the den (joke? unfortunately not).

Thanks to DirectX update help #53 & 63. It (finally) did the trick. Very frustrating after many attempts, but finally sucessful. I have played a partial game once, and it's a challenging concept. My first comment is that it is very difficult to identify the different game pieces before you want to move them, especially the lion, panther, tiger from each other. The graphics are nice, and the user interface is easy and good. I am sorry that everyone got worn out with the DIRECTX issue and has missed the actual software evaluation. Last instructions were step by step and actually worked, thanks!

Thanks #53 and #63. I first tried to install the newest version of DirectX which dindn't work for the game. Your instructions worked and were easy to follow. Thanks again.

Well, rebooting did the trick... nice game, thanks GAoTD and Merscom

Hi, the program won't install and is giving me the following error:

"Activation module failed to connect ot game.giveawayoftheday.com. ... Please try again later or check your firewall settings."

I've tried disabling my firewall with no success.

Is anyone else experiencing this problem?

#58 : as to the 8MHz, 640MB machines running Battle Chess, the short answer is that Windows happened :-)

The longer version would include better resoloution, but mostly it's Windows and of course inefficient programming. Back then you had to write games like a brilliant book, these days you can just slap something together without having to think about it because you have 1 GHz CPUs.

Oh! and for those worried about letting it through the firewall!!
Well! it's a LAN only multi player game and if that still bothers you , you can set the game to play human vs human mode and still play your buddies on one computer instead of two!
Way cool!
:)

Great game!! (once you get the missing file) Very much like chess,love it to bits.
Thanks!
:)

Thanks, Steve!

A lot of the newer 3D games are starting to require this version of DirectX, so even if you don't download today's game, it might be a good idea to update while you're thinking about it. I recently installed the Overlord demo (WOW!!!) and it wanted this package. I grabbed it from the same link in #53 and it worked perfectly.

This one installed just fine right off the download, didn't need to update my DirectX or anything. The only problem I'm having with it is ME trying to remember which animal tops which animal. :) I love chess, so I'll definitely want to spend a little time figuring this one out. Great game, thanks for the download!

Ah, I love this game! Finally a game I can enjoy from the game giveaway section. The other games were either too annoying or hard for my taste.
Meh...too bad I had to download this DX thing.
Oh, well, it's worth it!

This program seems really buggy. It wouldn't run on my machine and gave me the dll error. Once I downloaded the dll it wanted, then it gave me another error.

Poke holes in my firewall for a game... Uhmmmm NO!
looks like i'll pass on this one. looked nice too.

#59, Swan, you don't need to open any ports to play against the computer. The ports are to play against others on a LAN.

Great funfun :) - the pieces takes a little getting used to, but the animal sounds played everytime you move a piece helps a lot - though they get a little annoying after a while :P

Game play is pretty straight forward - big one eats next big one eats next big one eats next big one until the smallest creature that scares the hell out of biggest one, and the circle is complete :P Very stratego - or stratego is very Xou Dou Qi depending on which game came first.

Love it!

This game is pretty nice. The animal sounds are a nice touch, but they may become annoying after a handful of games.

The AI is nothing special though; I got the gist of the game by blundering about in the tutorial for 20 minutes before winning. Then I quickly won on the hardest difficulty in 59 moves. Room for improvement. I look forward to playing a human opponent though, should be fun.

It is a bit of a problem to see which piece is which, particularly to discern the tiger from the panther. In a future version it would be good with more distinctive graphics or at least a tooltip when hovering over a piece saying which one it is.

Thumbs up!

For those of you having trouble with the d3dx9 issues, here's how to solve them.

First, see comment #53, that link will take you to a page with downloads for the installers. Please note, the first 2 downloads are for regular versions of windows, the 2nd 2 are for 64 bit versions. The d3dx download is the first out of the 2, the file you will need.... the xinput download beneath that is used to allow people with xbox gamepads toplay games on their computer, you do not need this file (not for this game anyway).

Now, go ahead and download the version of d3dx you need, either the regular 32 bit one or the 64 bit one, I recommend saving this file to your desktop so its easy to find.

Once its downloaded, you can unzip the file. This will place another folder on your desktop, open that and then keep going till you find the installer folder, open that too, you should have 14 files in there. The one you need to run is called DXSETUP. This will replace all the missing versions of the files you need. Once the installer has completed, you should not need to reboot your computer and the dame should run.

to all the people that cant install directx...just buy a console.
but buy a wii, the other two may ask you to browse console options too much.
god, there should be a computer licence.

Whoa, this game has multiplayer support over LAN? Nice, not to many games on GGoTD have any multiplayer support, so this is a nice change of pace.

Thanks as always guys!

Finally Got it. Thanks # 53 you have to install the exact .dll file on nessessary the latest. Hope the game is worth over an hour of being stubborn.

Good afternoon everyone,

Is no-one worried about opening ports in their firewall just to play a game?

I'm not suggesting that Merscom has any ulterior motives - but with a need to open ports, comes the eventuality that this information will get around - and trust me, nefarious people will try to exploit this weakness.

If I'm incorrect (and I really hope I am!) I hope someone will set me on the right track, as I really would love to install and play this game.
~ Swan

Yesterdays game had a manual that didn't really explain a thing and did so in bad English. On top of that the game didn't work properly nor did the mimizing feature which one could only truly access with the help of the task manager. Never the less the game got a 70% score.\

Todays game even has .dll issues. It also has some very special English, that or this is a variation with sea food (according to it's discription it comes with two kinds of praws afterall).
Why something like this need a 1 Ghz processor and Direct X 9 only god knows. I can remember when something such as Battle Chess, which by the way was fully animated, would run on a machine with 7 Mhz and 512 Kb RAM.

With all the faults and problems that this program has there are still 79 people (86%) that think this is a good program. I do apologize for disagreeing, I guess I shouldn't be expecting a professional commercial game to work as good as a freeware java applet. So silly of me, I know.

I commented with hope for this game despite the missing dll file and complimenting the help ffrom comments. Alas, though I downloaded the file and put it in my system 32 files, I get an error telling me that this dll file is not a valis Windows file. The site from which I downloaded this file would likely be surprised at this information. I will keep trying whatever I can think of, but if anyone has had a simialr problem, I would appreciate the input. Will check back later because this game seems to have more potential. Thanks to all.

Download was sucessful, can not open due to missing dll. Here's the problem, I uninstalled and re-installed 2x for the game and the "missing" dll,and rebooted. This giveaway is a complete failure due to this flaw, the missing dll should somehow be embedded or updated or something. So please give us step by step directions how to get this essential file and complete the download because obviously more than one of us is having trouble so it's a huge issue. I will check back in a few hours and after hopefully finding a solution, will then be able to evaluate the software itself. There was not enough help in the forums for this issue.

Despite the missing file, for which many GGOTD users provided helpful information for those with rudimentary computer skills (and there are always some of us out there willing to help those who lack these skills!) this sounds like a great game. Really very different from all the Dwarf games. This does, indeed, promise to challenge those who like a thinking game. I can't wait to share it with others.

Thank you much, GGOTD

Works great! And the game looks very good, too. The rules are a bit difficult to remember (which animal is stronger than another) but the gameplay is very good.

The d3dx9_27.dll problem cannot be solved simply by installing the latest version of directx. Micro$uck, in their infinite wisdom, decided it would be a great idea to leave certain key files out of the distributable version of directx 9. The missing files do however come with the direct x sdk (ie the toolkit for writing dx files).

You may however download the missing files from:

http://www.threelights.de/index.php?page=projects/d3dx9_xx_dll_files.php

I suggest getting the latest version (ie the highest number), as it includes all previous updates too. Unzip the file and run the installer, no need to hunt for the right folder to install the needed dll's into (which for the eddification of a previous poster is NOT the game folder, they should go into windows/system32), the installer takes care of all that.

I agree with all the people who have problems with the dll file. I've tried it all. The direct X just dumps a ton of different win-zip files, the other direct x application did not work... This sounds like one of the top games I'd love to try. Hope someone can figure out an easy way to solve this problem. If the problem is that we are running Vista and it does not support this format, can we simply download another video game format or replace whatever Vista is suppose to do?????

I actually have this game on computer disk that I got with my first computer I ever bought years ago, this is a very basic one compared to the one I have on disk..The one I have allows different levels of challenge and also has computer players you can play against and they taunt you and things like that, love the game, if I didn't have this on disk I would download it..Great game..

I am running XP on my system had the same problem with d3dx9_27.dll i was able to fix the problem though go to the link for the dll file and extract it i used winrar and place the dll file in c:\windows\system32 folder and it will work thank you for the link to the dll file Ronald #18. It will also give you directions on that page on what to do hope that helps everyone out that needs it :) Looks to be a very interesting and mind challenging game thank you merscom and GGAOTD we do appreciate you:)

I really want to download this game but am out of town and have a lousy connection. Says it will take over 6 minutes to download and it keeps disconnecting before the download is complete. Is there a way that I can keep reconnecting without having to start the download from the beginning as this is the only way I will be able to get the complete download?

I also am having difficulty with the missing dll file. I have tried to run the latest version of Direct X to no avail. I get a message that the computer was unable to download and to try again later or check my online status. I tried to download the dll thing but cant figure out what to do with it once I get the zipped file. I usually unzip things in my documents and move the files around where I want them. The dll file appearently wants something from me that I do not understand. This is just to difficult for someone who does not have LOTS of computer understanding. Very dissapointing. I was really interested in the game. I am forced to just give up and quit now, having lost over an hour trying to get the game to work. Giveaway and Merscom, It should not be this difficult. You need to work on this problem. I will check again at the end of the day and perhaps someone will be able to discribe in baby language how to fix the problem. Comment #39 did a great job of discribing and I found all the info mentioned, the game play sounds really good and the history of the game as well. Unfortunately , none of that information was helpful in getting the game to install properly and play for me. Any SIMPLE and COMPLETE step by step directions would be appreciated taking into concideration that I my not already know how to do what you are discribing. Thanks and have a great day.

here's the developer's page which has other ancient games:
http://www.exotik-games.com/index.php?lang=EN

Nice graphics and has a tutorial mode too.

PS:
tried it
grapics not bad
but.....
not the classic way of playing......
kind of dissporting :(

this game is a lot like stratego. but just not as complex

classic Chinese game
played it a long time ago on board
very easy to learn
very hard to master

ooh nice wikipedia page with rules and more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shou_Dou_Qi

woohoo! Is this the same or a variation on Xiangqi(Chinese Chess)? Big thumbs up.

Aha, found it: "Shou Dou Qi" The Battle of Animals
http://www.chessvariants.com/other.dir/animal.html

-----------------------------------
For more on Chinese Chess(Xiangqi): perhaps the most popular board game in China & Hong Kong. (mahjongg maybe?)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiangqi

Java online game: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Grid/6544/cccintro.htm

http://www.chessvariants.com/xiangqi.html
http://www.clubxiangqi.com/
http://boardgamecentral.com/games/xiangqi.html

If you're missing d3dx9_27.dll, you're probably running vista. Vista dosn't come with the full directx.

Finally, an original game :)

After reading everyone's comments above, I thought I'd post this when I read it during the Xou Dou Qi Install Program :

Please note, certain firewalls, like ZoneAlarm, need to be set either manually, or be deactivated before running the game, due to the fact that this software is incompatible with Direct3D (see further on).

- In the case of firewalls which display a dialog box asking if the game is authorized to connect to a Local Area Network or Internet.
You just need to hit the « alt tab » key when you try to create / list a multiplayer game or to connect to Exotik-games.com. This keyboard shortcut gives you access to a dialog box allowing the game to connect.

- In the case of firewalls explicitly asking ports to be opened.
It may be necessary for you to open the following ports:

1900 User datagram protocol (UDP)
2234 User datagram protocol (UDP)
2300 to 2400 User datagram protocol (UDP)

Consult your firewall guide for more information concerning the process of opening ports.

For those who wish to install to a specific area in their computer so they know where to "find" the game:
1. During the Xou Dou Qi Install Program, a window will say
Directory
Choose an installation folder and click NEXT to continue
2. A box showing where the game intends to be installed, probably
C:\Program Files\BipMedia\Xou Dou Qi
3. I think "Bip Media" is the name of the French company that developed the game. Other games you would download by that company would also be installed to that folder.
4. After installation, look for the folder "BipMedia" in your Program Files and click on it.
5. Xou Dou Qi will be there.
6. HOWEVER, if you wish to install the game to a different folder, click the box next to the folder that is marked "..." (if you really don't understand this stuff, just follow 1-5 above)
7. There is an opportunity to click "View Help.htm" and uncheck the automatic "Launch Game" feature.
8. The "View Help" will launch a browser window to a VERY complete explanation of the game,and further info on Zone Alarm and other computer questions. I recommend reading it - fascinating history lesson of the game and other Chinese games.

Hope this wasn't too long, and helps. :)

looks fun and the graphics look nice too

i will be downloading this later

thank gotd

It's an incredibly bad idea to download a specific DLL (which is posted in violation of Microsoft's copyrights), nor is it necessary to download a massive 53.6 MB redistributable that's intended for developers, not end users. Just run (run, not download) the DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer (preferably every month; the link is generic and there are updates most months) which will keep all versions of DirectX fully updated on your computer. For most true 3D games, you should also keep your video card drivers updated.

The game was alright something to do while I was board but i think it could be better.

Heh. The wife looked over my shoulder, and asked, is that "You dookie"? ROFL. I'm not trying this one...if I want my brain to hurt I'll go to work. Speaking of which...feh.

Why does this company Merscom have to make the games so difficult for people like me who are not computer savy to download and install? The other games given here by all the other company's were easy to install. I've passed on all Merscom games because they are not easy for me to install. Not everyone here is that computer knowledgeable and when I read that there was a file missing and you had to do something else to install this game I've given up on Merscom games forever. Please tell the company to make it easier to install their games Please.

Thanks #19 for the tip! It worked once I realized you had to do more than just drop it into the file. For those of us who are not so savvy, after you send the download to the Win32 folder, you need to go into the Win32 file and run the DX setup file (created 6/07)!

Glad to see that Merscom does have Vista compatable games; the last few were no good for me.

This is a 2-player logic game so think chess, checkers and the like. You can play the computer or with another user. The other user can be together on your computer, on a network or over the internet.

The instructions, even in the tutorial game, are not good at explaining the play but fortunately you can experiment with your moves to see the affect and undo the moves if they are bad.

I will keep this in the game box as an alternative to boredom game.

great game, still remember playing this as a kid

Thanks!
Pleasant game with an interesting stratege.
Yes, nice for learning chess later.
By the way, don't forget to update DIRECT X (June version is needed).