I am developing a 2D multiplayer online browsergame.
On the backend I have set up a Node.js server. Everything works perfectly.
On the frontend I will use jQuery and several libs for collision etc. so far.
I will not use canvas, Audio nor massive player numbers.
My question is, what is the best library for 2D animations?
Libs I know: craftyjs
"Animation" means: advanced moving/calculating of elements, keyboard movement, if possible collision detection
Since you don't want to use Canvas I would look into Spritely or gameQuery. Note that both are plugins for jquery, which you are already using.
As an alternative to CraftyJS, consider these possibilities:
Which is "best" is going to take us into a discussion that's outside the scope of GameDev, as well as very subjective and very much dependent on your needs. But the websites for these should give you an idea of their relative features.
I will not use canvas; the options you listed are for HTML5
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