This engine was my senior thesis in school, and a hobby before that. It started out with me wondering if I could reimplement RPG Maker XP in Java, using open-source libraries. Turns out I can, and I did enough of that to satisfy me. Java was too slow (or, more appropriately, I didn’t know enough to write it efficiently in Java), so I ported it to C++. The C++ port done, and a variety of scripting languages embedded and removed, I got bored and starting reimplementing it in a variety of languages as a learning tool. I did Python, Ruby, and later C#/XNA.
When I got my first Flash job offer, I decided I needed a portfolio piece, and this engine seemed a good enough choice.