I don't know how, but I managed to read through all of that!! Interesting read though, I must say. You have a similar gaming past to me, though I've tried more game engines, but we have like-minded ways when it comes to ideas forming and such.
I was wondering what Diego's role was in the actual development of TRS, and now I have a better idea. He definitely sounds invaluable! TRS is a two-man project, and that's even better, since great minds think alike.
I'll keep this short, since many of my online posts on forums can get out of my control (especially bug-testing), so I'd suggest a couple game engines for you to try (they're also on my itch.io Creator Page):
Whimtale. The creator is a great guy with a programming background and also being a teacher. I strongly recommend his tool, as it employs his own unique way of coding an online game engine: he uses Twine-like branching with a Bitsy-like fork. Don't be fooled into thinking it's just another Bitsy. I believe you'd appreciate this nice engine.
OHRRPGCE. Very similar to RPG Maker (ah, my RM days!), but in a DOS-like environment. You can easily get OVERWHELMED with this engine, and keep forgetting where exactly you found important tools within it (as I have a few times!). Another one I strongly recommend.
But hey, keep-up with TRS because as I've said in other posts, this one caught my attention to the point that I've been making Game WIPs left and right!