chessbuilder 0.2.1

A chess game builder with customizable rules and mechanics

Chess Builder

A custom chess variant in Pygame featuring:

• Gold Collection: Pawns can accumulate gold.
• Gold Transfer: Gold may be transfered between friendly pieces with the same logic as captures.
• Piece Purchases: Spend gold to buy and place new pieces near your king.
• Promotion Choices: Pawns can promote with an interactive menu.
• Optional Time Controls: A built-in chess clock for timed games.

Features

1. Gold Accumulation

   • When it's your turn click a pawn you've already selected once to collect gold.
   • Captured pieces add their accumulated gold to the capturing piece.
   • To transfer gold click the transfering piece and then click the friendly piece you wish to recieve the gold. The recieving piece must be in a square that the transfering piece could move to.

2. Purchases

   • Kings can open a purchase overlay by clicking on them again (when it's your turn).
   • Spend gold to place new pieces next to your king if it does not leave you in check.
   • Each piece has a cost (Pawn=1, Knight=3, Bishop=3, Rook=5, Queen=9).

3. Promotion Menu

   • When a pawn reaches the last rank, a promotion menu appears so you can choose a new piece.

4. Time Controls (Optional)

   • A chess clock can be activated, with multiple standard time options.
   • Each clock runs only during its respective turn.

5. Draw/Win Conditions

   • Threefold repetition and the 50-move rule trigger draws.
   • Standard checkmate/stalemate detection for wins/losses.

Installation

Option 1: Install from PyPI (Recommended)

pip install chessbuilder

Option 2: Install from Source

1. Install Python (3.7+ recommended)

2. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/badgkat/ChessBuilder.git
   cd ChessBuilder
   

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

Development Setup

If you want to contribute or modify the code:

1. Clone and install dev dependencies:

   git clone https://github.com/YourUsername/ChessBuilder.git
   cd ChessBuilder
   pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
   

2. Install in editable mode:

   pip install -e .
   

3. Run tests:

   pytest
   

Running

Within the project directory, run:

python main.py

(or python3 main.py on some systems)

Usage

• Start New Game
  Press New Game in the pause menu (hit Esc). You may be prompted to select a time control if you've enabled the chess clock.
• Moving Pieces
  Click a piece to see valid moves/captures.
• Collecting Gold
  If the currently moving side is not in check, and you have a pawn selected, click the same pawn again to collect gold.
• Buying Pieces
  Select your king, then click the king again to open the purchase overlay if you have enough gold.
• Promotion
  When a pawn reaches the last rank, a promotion menu appears so you can choose a new piece.
• Pausing/Exiting
  Press Esc to toggle the pause menu or exit the game.

Controls

• Esc: Toggles the pause menu or closes overlays.
• C: Copies the move log to your clipboard.
• Mouse Wheel (over the right panel): Scrolls the move log.

Chess Clock (Optional)

• At game start, select a time format (e.g. "3|2") if time control is enabled.
• Each player's clock runs only during their turn.
• When you end your turn, any increment is added to the side that just moved.

Code Organization

• board.py: Contains constants for the board (dimensions, colors), plus the Piece class, and movement logic.
• clock.py (optional): Implements a chess clock with starting time, increment, and methods for updating.
• game.py: Holds the primary Game class, controlling board state, gold mechanics, promotions, overlays, and drawing calls.
• main.py: The main entry point with the game loop (main()).

To Do

• General UI beautifying.
• Adding Animations.
• Add an AI.
• Add non-local play.

Known Limitations

• No castling. As the king must move to build a rook there is no situation where castling would be possible.
• En Passsant logic only covers standard piece movement, not placed pawns.

Contributing

Pull requests and suggestions welcome! If you have ideas or new features, open an issue or submit a PR.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.
See the LICENSE file for details.

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Enjoy building armies of gold-accumulating pieces and exploring this unique twist on classic chess!