Background:
I wish to make a really flashy chess game. The squares on the board will be unique terrain. The pieces will be colourful images. The pieces will be animated. The pieces will sometimes be overlaid with each other at times. It will have sound, allow saving, and need keyboard input sometimes.
The basic question (tl;dr):
I am looking for a free framework that will allow me to use interactive GUI components as sprites, that would make such a game easy to develop.
Things I want:
- I need to be able to overlay partially transparent/translucent images on some sort of game canvas.
- The images, or an invisible component holding them, should receive mouse events like clicks, click-and-drag, and mouse-over. Pre-defined checking methods/functions are ok too.
- The framework should allow animation of the images.
- The framework must not exclude easy support for music, sound effects, keyboard or file IO. I am happy to use compatible libraries or frameworks top do these things separately, but there's no point saving effort on mouse interaction only to find it has made everything else too difficult.
- The framework and all its dependencies must be free. I want to be able to distribute my game, free or for profit, without ever having to pay money for the tools or frameworks used in development. (Even if you think this is unfair or unrealistic, you won't change my mind.)
- Documentation must be available.
- Cross-platform i.e. should look and behave the same on linux or windows without major tweaking.
Things I don't care about:
- Whether what you suggest is technically a framework, a library, an engine, or even a tutorial on how to easily do it.
- I don't need bleeding-edge performance like you need for a fast-paced shooter.
- The precise language or paradigm used.
- Your (correct) belief that flashy graphics won't improve the chess experience. :-)
- Anything relating to chess AI, marketing, or other important but out-of-scope considerations.
I appreciate any suggestions.
