About Tom
TOM HALL: A BRIEF BACKGROUNDER
Tom’s strongest asset is his immensely creative imagination that enables him to dream up entire gaming worlds and character designs that are tightly woven and unique in the industry.
HISTORY
Tom started designing games in the 1980s on the Apple II computer. During his career he has progressed from the simple one-person team to working with a staff of over 20 game developers. Tom has the unique ability to conceptualize large-scale game worlds that are well designed and innovative, with an emphasis on story and characterization. Tom’s design abilities extend into all areas of game development such as graphics, world design, sound design, programming, story development and programming.
NOW
Tom is currently working as Creative Director at KingsIsle Entertainment. He is living in Austin, happily married, and making an MMO.
May 6, 2008 at 5:41 am
Anachronox was easily one of the most entertaining games I’ve ever played. Seems that MMO’s is where it’s at today, but I hope to see more games like Anachronox in the future!
May 28, 2008 at 5:03 am
Thanks much!
June 27, 2008 at 10:06 pm
Tom, is there even a MINOR chance for Anachronox sequel ?
I mean, Anachronox was so nicely made game it moved a lot more people then show up in the internet.
I played this game when i was 12 – completed it, i’ve completed it when i was 13,14,15,16,17 and after all these years, Anachronox is one game i still spend my time on.
Why leave such a great storyline on a cliffhanger …
June 28, 2008 at 11:26 am
Hello Tom! I am a huge fan of Commander Keen!
Could you join facebook so I may give you praise daily?
June 30, 2008 at 3:09 pm
I am on Facebook! But keep the praise to weekly.
Now, the question is… can you find me?
July 26, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Hey, just wanted to say your voice acting in Deus Ex is definitely the best I’ve ever heard in any video-game. Gotta love Simons. Anyway, will you be working on DX3?
July 28, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Aw, thanks!
Hey, happy to if they ask me!
July 28, 2008 at 2:58 pm
What games are you working on nowadays anyway, might I ask?
July 30, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Hey Tom, it’s me (Joe). I was wondering if we could arrange to put each other’s sites on our blogrolls. What do you say?
August 8, 2008 at 2:24 am
Tom, Your voice work in Deus EX was incredible. I’m sure you did more than that on the game, but Deus Ex was just incredible. I hope 3 will be a prequil or something that will incorporate the original Deus EX characters/voice actors. All I can say is the voice of Walton will haunt you if you play DX too much, too late at night.
Would you record a message for my answering machine?
August 8, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Aw thanks! Weird thing is… I only got ONE take. I could have done the intro exposition a lot better. Glad you liked it.
No one’s called me for 3 yet….
Haha, that would be great. “Matt’s been infected, and cannot come to the phone… leave a message. One of his relatives will get it….”
August 8, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Wow, you are quick in response, especially with the new project/job/company and all.
It started off as a joke about the answering machine, but just out of curiosity…what would you charge me if you wanted to or could do a custom message. I cannot possibly cannot afford it, can I? LOL. There is just something eerie and cool about how you did Walton’s voice. The pauses, inflection, tone etc.
Oh well, maybe I just need to put my brain and my PC to work so I can spice up the ol’ answering machine message.
Thanks for the response. I wrote you one time before via email, but maybe that wasn’t the preferred medium or maybe with an email address like mine, it went to your spam box.
Thanks all you do for the gamers!! Life would be rather boring without people like you using your talents and creativity!!
I wish you the best.
August 12, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Hi Tom. I stumbled upon your blog because i was checking out if you will be on DX3. Too bad they haven’t called yet, I hope they do. Cant imagine a serius Deus Ex game without Tom Hall.
I am also interested on what kind of mmo the creator of Anachronox will create. I hope it will be something special an not some kind of WoW or lineage crap.. Could you give us(or just me? :p) some informations about it? Just core mechanic stuff..
And as for the answering machine :p “This individual(so anyone can use it
) is currently questioned by FEMA on conspiracy charges. You are required to leave contact information in case we need to question your relationship with the subject.” Or something like that. You are a writer i know you can come up with something. I would kill for this mp3.
Good luck with your new game. I hope it rocks!!
September 3, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Hello Mt. Tom,
I am really so proud to write to you..
I just wanna you tell me if there’s any plan to build new Commander Keen Game? because i am mad about this game , and looking forward to play the new editions under windows platform..
I think it’s good idea to re-release new edition, and would be so interesting to many keen lovers, and to others who didn’t play Keen Before..
Please email me, and tell me if you are looking to build new Game or Not..
Thank you very much..
September 8, 2008 at 8:54 am
Please reply?
September 8, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I always want Keen back, and should I ever get him back, there will be a new Keen for sure.
September 8, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Heh. The complete Keen collection (except for the long-lost #6 and Dreams, of course) was available for $2.50 on Steam this past weekend. Couldn’t pass that up at that price.
Too bad HDB isn’t there too!
October 4, 2008 at 2:06 am
I actually emailed a complaint about the commander keen complete pack not having all the games to steam and got my own custom sent responce:) I plan to print it off and frame it. And of course when I saw commander keen on steam I of course couldn’t pass up a chance to relive the old memories.
PS:If Tom the GODLY happens to read this your games were such an impact on my childhood (I’m 14 now) that when I found an old floppy disk burried in my dads desk labeled commander keen+some mouse game I locked myself in my room and there went my school hollidays(that was about 5 years ago).
October 4, 2008 at 2:21 am
I really hope Tom doesn’t mind me saying this, but I did a bit of searching and according to wikipedia the mmo Tom the GODLY is working on is called wizard 101 and it even has its own funky looking website and looks pretty good, it has card battles and other cool things.
PS:I haven’t really looked around this site so Tom might of already announced it :0
October 5, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Jorpho: yeah, stinks, HDB’s kinda holding up on biz stuff right now.
Avion: Aw, thanks! Playing the early Apple II games is what got me started, so know the feeling!
I don’t mind you saying that, but though the super-fun Wizard 101 is from my company (and it has lots of cute characters and humor), I didn’t work on it. It’s made by the guys that did the MMO Shadowbane. That’s all them baby!
I think I did mention it here…. didn’t I?
October 12, 2008 at 5:24 am
Hey Mr. Hall, how’s it hanging? Just wanted to drop you a line saying that I’m playing through Anachronox again, for about the 10th time. Thanks for all the fun!
November 6, 2008 at 10:38 am
wow….tom hall mentioned my comment. This is the best feeling I’ve had since I found that floppy disk…
November 21, 2008 at 12:47 am
Hello!
Me bothering you again Tom
I was thinking about the (cliffhanger) ending of Anox, and was thinking that if, someday, you completely gives up hope of making another Anox game (please don’t give up), you could post to us fans how the story would end.
The ending was quite mean, you see, because in the end after all we didn’t save the universe, lol
Chatagra released, Grumpos gone with them, Sly and party on to another universe… Man, since I first played Anox I’m dying to know how it would actually end 
Anyway, I’d rather wait twenty years for a new game instead of just reading the plot.
Get trillionaire like Bob Page and get the rights, Tom
Btw, I just found out “googling” around that Jake Hughes and Richard Gaubert are involved in the Watchmen Motion Comic. I need to see this! Watchmen is great, and Hughes and Gaubert rox. Wish you 3 could work together again.
Thx Tom. Take Care.
Eder R. M.
November 26, 2008 at 4:44 am
Hi Tom!
I just found your website… and I HAVE to ask… (I know you should have been asked the same question like a million times, but I really wanna know)
What prevents you from having the Commander Keen rights?
I’d really like to play a new Keen game… it was the first PC game I’ve ever played (I was like 4 or 5 years old then… now I’m 18). I still LOVE it.
That’s it. Take Care. (And I hope you answer me =P)
…an old Chilean fan of C.K.
November 26, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Ben: you’re welcome!
Avion: now you’ve been mentioned twice!
Fushigi: that would be because id owns them. Love to have the rights back…. would make a bunch o’ Keen!
November 27, 2008 at 5:09 pm
But HDB first, right?
December 4, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Aww, I kinda liked the old layout of your site.
I’m glad to see things are still going well for you guys, and FI’s Totem rocks!
Hope you had a good thanksgiving!
December 4, 2008 at 7:21 pm
TAJ: Heh, yeah it was cool… but BOY is this more convenient to update.
Jorpho: yeahhhh yeahhhhh workin’ on it.
December 18, 2008 at 2:44 am
Hey Tom, I just read on Doom-Wiki that you originally wanted to make a third trilogy of Commander Keen instead of doom back in ‘92! Well, it turns out I’m a BIG fan of the Commander Keen series (specifically Episode 1 and Episode 4–gotta love all those secrets!) and Doom! I still make maps for Doom and have dappled a little in CK mapping (you could say I’m a bit nostalgic for the glory days of id…) and was wondering if there is still any hope for Commander Keen to be blazing his way into the 21st century? I think there is a market for simpler games and a new CK game would be very exciting. I have never been too much a fan of the more “mature” directions the gaming industry has gone. Keen had the perfect mix of adventure, charm and character! Let me know!
thanks,
Jason
December 19, 2008 at 11:09 pm
Mr. Hall, I just recently reinstalled Anachronox and as I was looking around for patches I stumbles upon your blog. I just wanted to say thank you and tell you how much I enjoyed your game. it was one of the very first RPGs that I ever enjoyed and the first one i actually finished.
Thank you and the team again for hours of entertainment.
David.
December 25, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Hey Tom,
I just finished Anachronox (found it on ebay) and had to thank you for that game. Weird, emotional, funny, exciting, epic – all at once, it really is an unbelievable achievement. All the ideas you guys put into this one game is simply amazing. My life certainly is richer thanks to Anachronox. I hope you get to make a sequel someday.
Happy holidays
Jüri
January 24, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Mr. Hall, would it be possible for you to just make a new Keen, a sort of franchise reboot in the fashion of the new Bond and Batman films, and them just release them for free online, anonymously? Granted, you’d lose out on the millions of dollars. But, you’d be immortal in the gaming communinty for your bold deed. Indeed, everyone would know it was you, and you would know it was you, but you could deny the whole mess of pancakes to ID or whoever owns Keen right now. Also, did you play the fanmade Keen 7: Keys of Krodacia? Did you like that at all? A Commander Keen story telling on par with Mario RPG and gameplay on par with Zelda, and an epic scope on par with Fable and the like would be a sure way to reinvent the franchise. At least I’d like to think so. You could up the weirdness and make the humor more adult. Not hookers, booze and the like, but just smarter humor. Not that I don’t laugh at some of the old Keen jokes. Last night I inscribed the Standard Galactic Alphabet onto the wall in my basement… You see how I feel about this then, right Tom? Sure, I shot Keen in Doom 2, but I didn’t mean it. Did anyone just quit playing Doom cold turkey at that point? I would applaud them if they did. Quite the restraint. Quite the maturity.
-Matt
January 26, 2009 at 11:42 pm
I would only do another Keen if I got the rights back, free or not.
Haven’t played Keys of Krodacia…. will try that sometime…..
February 11, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Hi Tom. I remember seeing a game called Penultima on a friend’s computer back in the 80s (either an Atari 800 or Apple II – he had both). This game was very similar in appearance to the Ultima series and I thought it was either shareware or freeware, but I don’t know for sure since it wasn’t my computer or game. I am looking to see if it is still available and your web site seems to be place to reference the game. Is this still available for download? I would be very interested in playing it if it is.
Thanks,
Matt
February 11, 2009 at 10:02 pm
I did a game called Penultima. It was a parody of Ultima. You just walk around and do three things, seriously, if you know where you are going, gameplay takes about 1 minute.
It was just a one-off joke for the April Fool’s issues of Softdisk.
Not available for download… I will see if I get my old disks archived. If I do that, I will try to get a disk image of that old thing.
June 5, 2009 at 6:19 pm
Hello again. Back in February, you mentioned that you would try to get some old disks archived and if you did, you would try to get a disk image of Penultima. Have you had any luck?
Thanks again,
Matt
February 14, 2009 at 5:32 pm
Hi Tom Hall
My name is Nick. I love the work you’ve done with Keen and Wolf3D, both are games I grew up with. Have you by any chance visited the Public Commander Keen Forum? (at: http://www.pckf.com/) It’s the last of the Keen community.
Many thanks,
Nick (aka lava89)
February 15, 2009 at 12:18 am
Hey, Tom. I emailed iD about giving you the rights to keen. i hardly expect a reply though as they don’t even read mail let alone email.
Anyway, A program called Clone Keen Plus is being made as a fanmade improvement thing. It could involve multiplayer in a while. Can you imagine that? I reckon 4 was the best. Someone’s also making an open source port of keen for the DS called “Commander KeeNDS”.
Everyone at pckf.com wishes you the best of luck in getting keen back.
March 10, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Thanks for shaping my childhood.(I mean that in a non creepy way)
Rinpoche Mr.Hall, rinpoche.
March 10, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Aw, that’s a nice thing to say…. I dunno if I’m much of an incarnate lama, but thanks!
May 14, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Me and my buddy/ brother were talking about the legendary dopefish
He was filling me in on the timeline of dopefish and all that dopefish has done. He also filled me in on YOUR timeline. He said you can sniff out a great company in the making.
2 words. Legendery LEGEND
Me and my brother have been playing Duke Nukem since the age of five (now 15)
Nintendo version
The best….
I leave you by saying, “Swim swim Hungry”.
May 14, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Forgot to say
Nice work on C. Keen
May 23, 2009 at 11:56 am
Commander Keen occupied many a night for me when my family was struggling and down on their luck. I must have spent months traveling through episode 4 alone. I couldn’t get enough. And even though we couldn’t afford to buy the second episode, I just made up adventures for Keen in my head and wrote them down sometimes. Eventually, it’s what convinced me to become a writer. I am now only months away from publishing my first novel through ACE fiction… and it’s all thanks to Keen.
Thanks, Tom… and if I ever catch a Dopefish, I’ll put it in a pool and name it after you.
-Dave
May 26, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Av: haha
And thanks!
Dave: aw that’s cool, glad to hear it helped you through tough times. Thanks for sharing that! Well, hopefully you can inspire someone else through your writing, too! Best of luck with that.
June 4, 2009 at 4:12 pm
‘Tis the Grand Intellect Himself! Mr. Hall I just wanted to tell you that Commander Keen is the greatest thing that ever happened in my life. I was like 3 years old when I played Keen 6 for the first time! Bloogs are so cool!
I just can’t get enough, so I have been playing a lot of Keen mods lately. It’s amazing how many fans are out there who are willing to carry on the legacy of Billy Blaze.
Keen rules!!!
June 4, 2009 at 4:30 pm
Awwww, that’s cool…. Bloogs are cool! Well, for Bloogs!
Awesome… glad ya loved Keen!
June 4, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Thanks for the reply Mr. Hall. Just a question if I may? What ideas were you planning for the next Keen game?
June 4, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Well, I ain’t planning on it until I, if ever, get the rights back. id owns them.
If I haven’t finished the Keen story by the time I’m 50, I’ll release my original story plans to folks, heh.
June 4, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I would really love to see the official Universe is toast! I’ve been playing the mod version for a while now. Another question, what are your thoughts on the gameboy version of Commander Keen?
July 8, 2009 at 8:34 am
WALTON SIMONS!! Ha! Dude you will go down as a legend.. in the calmest of calm sunny afternoons, when all is silent and life is drab, you can rest assured in that beautiful moment that millions if not hundreds of thousands of innocent strivers were touched, non-remiss, and stricken with fear the day they all ever met the immortal, walton. Dude, I salute you, and get on DX3 those suckers don’t have a clue
deus ex forever
peace x
July 8, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Byron, I personally don’t consider that Keen “canon” by any means. I tried to play it, wasn’t fun.
Clive, heh, garsh thanks…. it was fun voicing him.
September 16, 2009 at 11:08 am
Deus Ex was such a great game. It meant so much to me that I actually have the DX logo tattooed on my arm! How about that part where Simons approaches JC Denton in the final area (if you didn’t fight him initially) and compares his presence to a “Hall” of mirrors? J.C.’s response is priceless.
When can I expect Rise of the Triad 2, where the H.U.N.T. discovers that El Oscuro has not only risen from the dead, but has enlisted the help of a zombified Dopefish and the ghost of Hans Grosse???
September 16, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Heh, it was a great game.
The guys are Apogee are “rebooting” the ROTT franchise… we’ll see what that means I guess!
October 30, 2009 at 4:01 pm
Hi Tom,
You should consider doing an AMA (Ask me anything) on Reddit!