I strongly insist you use a program such as "The Games Factory", not Java. Although, in Java it could be posted on the forums... Anyways, look into a different game making program, just as a back-up. I strongly insist.
Good luck to you. Sounds promising
2D Oddworld games rawk. I will sure try to help as much as I can, but I am working on my own Oddworld project at the moment...