Mrs Canning has only what came from the shop, no SQL Server. I will try from a different machine and see if I see an error.

Yes, am on 32bit machine, good spot. Can you get an odbc connection set up from where you are using the connexion string details?

OK, someone has managed to get this going on their machine, I can see an entry on the database. Any tips?

Not sure if this is helpful for any one else or not but I did manage to get the project working perfectly on my Windows 7 64 bit. I will post what I did below, and I assuming you double clicked on his project (and possibly needed to upgrade it as well if you are using vs2010) so all of the settings which the project had are included.

1. Open project, (Upgrade if needed). At the top it will say Any CPU. Open the drop down box and select the configuration manager.
   
2. Once there, click the 'Active Solution Platform' drop down box and select new.
   
3. The first window "Type or select the new platform" drop that down to x86. On the window below, "Copy From". select <Empty>.
   
4. Build the project. DO NOT DEBUG YET AS YOU WILL GET AN ERROR!!
   
5. Open the bin folder, you should now see Release, Debug, and x86. Open Debug and copy the folder Images.
   
6. Next, open the x86 folder and paste the folder inside. You may now debug and get the correct information from the server.
   

I attached a screen shot to show it working on my computer. I do not have SQL Server installed, although, you need to make sure you have .net 2.0 which I believe comes installed anyway with Visual Studio. The Direct3D DLL's did not work in anything but a .net 2.0 platform target on my computer.

[attachment=8727:HexWar.jpg]

As a test I played the map AI Test -- Richie. It was a little confusing at first to understand what was going on, but it only took a minute to learn how to play. Pretty cool concept. If you need any questions about what I did, computer information, or need better directions feel free to PM me or reply below, I will be glad to answer. Hope those interested can get it working!

- iheartyyouxo

Nice one, I'm so glad you got it working and thanks for the positive comment. Realistically if you want to have a go at messing round with the code you're going to need SQL Express.

I am curious in the real world of games how much of the grunt is done by database engines? It's a really convenient way to store the state of the game but I wonder if pros prefer something specifically tailored to what they need to do?

Finally, does anyone know of such a thing as an online sourcesafe type service that's free?