[pygame] Portraying Height In 2D

[Kris Schnee <kschnee@xxxxxxxxxx>]

A graphical question: is there a good way of portraying an environment 
with height using 2D graphics without permanently obscuring the 
background? It seems to me the alternatives are to either use full 3D, 
ie. OpenGL, and lose Pygame's convenient text-drawing and other 
features; use isometrics and have to convert everything to 
iso-coordinates; or use the traditional "3/4 overhead" view seen in 
games like Final Fantasy I-VI and have high-up areas represented in a 
way that's hard to distinguish from "north."

The best example of the 3/4 overhead perspective I've seen is _Seiken 
Densetsu 3_ (Secret of Mana 2), shown here:
http://www.zoggles.co.uk/asp/tutorials.asp?tut=17&page=62
(That's part of a great pixel-art tutorial, by the way.)

What do you think is the best graphical method for a game with 
non-tile-based movement, in any 360-degree direction along a plane and 
to some extent vertically, when there are underwater areas and 
mountains? I'd like it to look 3D and have implemented basic 360-degree 
movement physics, but am using a dummy graphics engine at the moment.

Kris