No

Okay
Edit* this is a bit off topic but can you use the pt-test command to create a collision detector?

What do you mean by "gets in the way later" as depending on how it gets in the way I may be willing to use it... Of course if I did I would give you credit:)

The reason it gets in the way, is that you need a tilemap/array to be able to break/place blocks anyway, otherwise I have no clue on how you are going to do that. To make the game feasible, you will need to make more space than just the screen that you are on, so you will need a bigger, not confined "screen space", thus a scroller. And to make a scroller, You should really make a tile map (because it takes less space, and IRL time to make) if you want random generation, I could not possibly think of a way to do it by hand (Random generation) . Since you must scroll the screen and you will need relatively small blocks, thus they will all have to have black borders which don't look the greatest.

Trust me, I have done this project before, and I have created pxl-test collision MANY times before, in the long run it's just not that feasible. If you want I can help you with the tile mapping part, I have some pretty good understanding of it all. Not to mention all of the other great people on this forum, which are infinitely time better at this than me.

I agree with XiiR3CR34T10N, pxl detection is not a good idea. I made that in TinyCraft at first, and it worked well... before the mobs came. And when mobs are off-screen, how do you pixel test ?

Golly I remember trying to do that in mine, what a nightmare! 

But yeah, If you have any questions on tilem mapping, search or ask around. Everyone here is quite helpful.

I've gotten tilemapps to work, but they make future coding so much harder

I believe that the truth is actually quite the contrary. Tilemaps are used to make 2D game graphics easier and usually lend themselves to implementing actual gameplay aspects more easily as well.

What about tilemaps is holding you back? If you have specific questions, hopefully someone can help you through them.

I thought you had a scrolling tilemapper working? That should handle most of the general code and the movement. To place/remove tiles, just change the value of the tile byte in the tilemap that you want to replace. As for changing size (I assume you mean size of tiles), I wouldn't really even recommend doing so, at least until you fully understand how the tilemapping engine works and can write your own.