Hi, I'm BonzaiRob and I'm teh Music Lead at PT. I'll also be helping with coding (and doing the Mac dev probably). I'm here to answer a few queries, because Matt told me to.
I think you guys should use rmxp.
The main problem with RMXP and other game makers is they're not Mac or Linux compatible. I use a Mac and FMY, the other coder, uses Linux, so we're not likely to code for a game we can't use. Python is compatible with just about every OS out there. Pygame is a GUI library specifically designed for games, so we're fine there. Another thing is that game makers won't give us the customisation we need for a great Pokmon game, or the online support for teh MMORPG side. That's right, we're doing that.
You guys are going to learn what is effectively a whole new programming language for this game? That will probably take you a couple of years
If it weren't for my OS needing updates, I'd be coding for PT right now. Python is a simple language and the developers have worked to keep the syntax clean. Me and FMY are both fairly experienced coders (we can both code php with our eyes closed, and I also program Flash games with Actionscript, so I know about object-orientated coding). I estimate, once coding proper begins, this will take us just over two months, if we get a couple more people to help out.
Also, having sprites and pokmon info all laid out for us will speed the process, since it's all ready and waiting. Anything that needs finishing can be done while we're coding.
we have none of the cool online features to work with.
Actualy, I found an open-source program called Cherry Chat that we can customise, it's an IM program. There's also some pretty codes for server sockets and suchlike, so we can make this MMO if we want.
So, give us a few months (or me 140 for Tiger) and we'll let you know..
(BTW, I had to write this post twice, aargh)