Hall launches 2D platform game creation Kickstarter

Commander Keen developer Tom Hall has launched a Kickstarter project to develop a 2D platform game creation tool.

The World of Wander tool intends to give wannabe developers as easy a time as possible in developing a 2D platformer and to demonstrate its power will use it to create Secret Spaceship Club, a spiritual successor to Id Software's original PC platformer.

Much like tools along the lines of Game Maker, World of Wander will feature an advanced mode which will let you dive further into the actual code and allow greater control over your creations. The tool will also have a "WanDirector" designed to make cut scenes to pepper the game.

Creations with World of Wander will be playable across PC, Mac, iOS, Android and Ubuntu systems.

As well as Id veteran Tom Hall, Chris Burke will be helping to build the toolset. Burke has been lead programmer on several games including Hellgate, Ghost Recon Commander and ports including Mortal Kombat and Sinistar.

World of Wander is requesting $400,000. As of writing, it has nearly hit $20,000 with 24 days to go.

This will mark Hall's second stab at the crowd funding site as in October he was part of the failed old-school-RPG project, Shaker along with Brenda Brathwaite. The pair called a halt to the project when it had not yet raised a quarter of its asking amount with only a fortnight left on the clock.

The original Commander Keen series was one of the first significant platform games to deubt on the PC. Released in the early 90s, it managed to replicate the side-scrolling aspects of console platformers in DOS and was an early champion of EGA graphics. The series is currently available on Steam.