Game Engine Remake - Trouble Choosing a Language /API(Java or Python)
At the end of the day if you're passionate about the project and committed to getting the most out of the language you choose, the performance difference between java and python will be minimal if non-existent.
Personally speaking, the biggest challenge is finishing the project once it loses novelty and initial momentum.  I suggest you go with whichever language you're more passionate about and are interested in plumbing the depths of, or one that could boost your resume.
Secondly, as you mention you're hoping to attract contributors, you may want to factor that into your decision.  I can't comment much here, but have a look at similar projects with lots of activity.
Good luck!
The engine I've been wanting to remake is from a PlayStation 1 game called Final Fantasy Tactics, and the game is basically a 2.5D game I guess you could say. Low-resolution sprites and textures, and 3D maps for battlefields. The plan is to mainly load the graphics from a disc, or .iso (I already know the sectors the graphics need to be read from) and fill in the rest with game logic and graphics routines, and probably load other things from the disc like the map data.
I want this to be a multiplatform project, because I use Linux and would like for more people to join in on the project once I have enough done (and it's easy to get more people through platforms like Windows). I'll be making a website to host the project. Also, none of the graphics will be distributed, they'll have to be loaded from your own disc. I'd rather not have to deal with any legal issues.. At least not soon after the project is hosted on my site. 
But anyway, here's my dilemma- I know quite a bit of Java, and some Python, but I'm worried about performance/feature issues if I make this engine using one of these two languages. I chose them due to familiarity and platform independence, but I haven't gotten too into graphics programming yet. I'm very much willing to learn, however, and I've done quite a bit of ASM work on the game- looking at graphics routines and whatnot. What would be the best route to take for a project like this? Oh, and keep in mind I'll eventually want to add higher-resolution textures in an .iso restructuring patch or something.
I'm assuming based on my results on Google that I could go with something like Pygame + OpenGL, JOGL, Pyglet, etc. Any suggestions on an API? Which has plenty of documentation/support for game or graphics programming? Do they have any serious performance hits?
Thank you for your time.