Thursday, October 07, 2010

Configuring BabasChess to look like Fritz

I am constantly surprised, when talking on-line chess with people, how many haven't heard of FICS or BabasChess - one of the many clients that interfaces with FICS.  In the next few posts, I'll discuss setting up BabasChess to look like Fritz and then how to log onto to FICS and issue simple commands.  For me, having a nice interface really enhances the on-line playing experience.

A number of years ago, I found someone who was able to configure BabasChess to look like Fritz' board.  I really liked that setup.  I've had my set up the same ever since.

Step 1:
Download and install BabasChess (click here).

Step 2:
Download this zip file to get the data needed for this theme (click here)

Step 3:
Extract the files under the Data directory to their proper folders.  In other words, go to the Data directory where BabasChess was installed on your PC and then copy the data from the zip folder to the matching folder.  So the file in the Fonts directory in the zip file will go in the Fonts directory in the Data file.

Step 4:
Import the BabasFritz.bcpref theme from the zip file.  Click 'File' then 'Import Preferences' then choose the BabasFritz.bcpref file.

Step 5:
Click on the 'Preferences' button in BabasChess (or hit F11) and configure the board settings as per the screen shot below

If the setup worked it should look very similar to the Fritz Wood setup

The first screen shot is Fritz while the second is BabasChess configured to look like Fritz.


23 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for sharing this info - I would love more than anything to get BabasChess to look just like Fritz, as you have shown.

    One question - it seems like the ZIP file is missing either a VPIECES or PIECES folder, that would contain the data that would allow us to select the "FritzRight" pieces in the Board/"Pieces and Squares" preferences screen for BabasChess (as shown in your screenshot)?

    The ZIP file does come with the "BabasChess FritzRight.ttf" TrueType font included, but that does not seem to be enough to make "FritzRight" appear among the menu choices in the PullDown menu for pieces in BabasChess (under "Vectors"). In my install of BabasChess, I only have the original selections available (Alpha, Harlequin, Lucena, etc), but sadly not FritzRight!

    If this was just an omission when creating the zip file, would you be able to re-upload a zip file that would include the VPIECES subfolder as well?

    We would all be so immensely grateful if you could do so!

    Thank you very much!

    Best regards,
    Hank

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  2. Hank - yes - I missed some other folders. I've re-uploaded the zip file. Let me know if that does the trick now.

    Thanks!

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  3. Thanks so much - it works perfectly now, and I'm thrilled! :) :)

    -- Hank

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  4. Great...looks awesome...I owe you a game now hehe
    regards Rascian

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  5. fritzright vector doesn't work on my Win& x64 home prem. why?

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  6. Mark - I don't know. It works fine on my PC which also runs Win 64 home premium.

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  7. Hey Rocky. Any idea how to make a set of vector pieces from scratch? I have tried and and doing something wrong cuz my set still shows the wrong characters.

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  8. Tim - sorry. I found the files years ago from someone else.

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  9. kay left this comment on another post ... copying it here for reference: It just rocks :). But I have a minor irritant. Could you please help me out?
    I have the following distracting white areas that does not go away.

    I would like the white areas also to be black :).
    Could you please help me out?
    http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/6c2d767fdf.jpg

    And the solution to this problem is the type of image you select for the wallpaper or background. It has to be a bitmap image (.bmp) If not, then it'll have the exact problem you're describing.

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  10. It seems that the 4shared link stopped working :(
    Could you upload the theme in other place?
    Thank you very much!

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  11. Mantini - I just verified the link is working. I clicked on the link - took me to 4shared - clicked download - waiting for the ad to disappear and then it downloaded.

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  12. Yup it seems link is not valid anymore :-(

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  13. Sorry everyone ... I tested the link (yet again) and indeed found that it is broken. I've put the .zip file in another location and updated my link. Try it now. It's now a direct link to the .zip file.

    Again, sorry for the broken link and thanks for letting me know!

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  14. This is perfect.
    Thank you very much :-)

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  15. Sorry, I'm totaly new with this. To wich babas folder should I copy the file? By the way thank you very much. I'm looking forward to use it.

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  16. Hello Rocky, I keep having an error report "error while loading pieces" The interface is permanently changed. Remove Babaschess and reinstall doesn't work either. Is there a way you can help me out with this? In my Babaschess folders there aren't any folders like "font" "pieces" etc to copy the Fitz files to as you mentioned. I've copied all to the layout folder in Babas.

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  17. NomenNescio - I am running Windows 7. BabasChess is installed to C:/Program Files/BabasChess ... if you go to the BabasChess folder, you will see 5 more folders. One of those is Data. Under Data, you will see several folders. This is where you will copy the data to from the zip file.

    It's best to open two windows ... one window is the zip folder you download above and the other window is C:\Program Files\BabasChess\Data

    Now ... you go to the zip folder window, open the the Fonts folder, copy that file there. Now to go the C:\... window, open the Fonts folder there and paste the file you copied.

    You would have to do this for all the folders ... copy from the zip file into the BabasChess file on your C drive.

    I hope this makes sense. It helps to have a basic understanding of how Windows file structures work.

    Good luck!

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  18. Hello Rocky, Thanks for your answer. I've found the files. My mistake was looking for the Babaschess files in "documents-Babaschess" those were empty. I think it will all work out now.

    Thanks a lot!

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  19. Thank you, the chess look nice. :D

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  20. Is there a recipe for cloning a setup from one PC to another?

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  21. Hi Peter - I'm not aware of a process that will clone the setup. It has to be done manually on each PC you have BabasChess installed on.

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  22. Anonymous1:34 AM

    Looks great, thanks! The only problem I have is that it's looking for the background file CherryWood01.bmp, which it can't find, so the player names, clocks, and captured pieces are just on black. Any suggestions?

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  23. sorry bikingbrian, not sure what is causing that problem. ive not used babaschess in a few years now.

    lichess is my preferred chess playing site now and it has this color scheme.

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