Me and Robert Rodriguez… 1998-ish?!?
Klingon-haired Tom with Robert Rodriguez… I said, for a goofy pic idea: “Let’s throw down gang signs!” Him, proper East Side; me, some kind of trumpet player B.S.
We was really nice. Made me and Romero and Christian tortillas.
waicrag
May 4, 2011 at 11:08 am
Awesome! You still in touch with him?! You should pitch a Keen or Rott film lol
Eder RM
May 5, 2011 at 1:43 am
Cool!!!
justin stewart
May 30, 2011 at 3:57 am
Id hate to bombard you with questions, but is that THE robert rodriguez (spy kids, machete, etc.)? if so, how do you know him, and how do you and romero get to know all the celebrities?
tommune
May 30, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Yup! A producer at ION Storm, Peter Marquardt, was the bad guy in “El Mariachi”, so we got to visit with him once.
Don’t “know” him though!
Only other way we very occasionally meet them is a) they do a voice in a game or b) are a big fan. Happens a lot more for the console game-making folks though!
Eages
May 31, 2011 at 2:51 am
Hi Tom. Do you think ID will ever give you the rights to Commander Keen? I know that every Keen fan out there would love for it to happen but what can be done to convince ID to give you the rights?
Also, what if you were to continue the series as an open source project? Have you considered doing so?
Cheers, Eages.
tommune
May 31, 2011 at 5:01 pm
I wish.
I can’t continue it open-source either…. but would if I owned it…..
Kenny W
June 9, 2011 at 9:21 am
Tom. What you did with Keen is gold. Pure Gold. I owe you so much for giving me that game in my child hood, and that character. The memories.
What exactly does ID own? Commander Keen? Billy Blaze? The Idea? The Concept? The Universe? Vorticon? Everything you created? Or just the Name Commander Keen? Do they have control of an imaginative side-scroller? A pale kid putting on a football helmet and blasting aliens to smithereens?
Heck, if you made anything resembling Keen, The fans would know what it is… Its like, all the good games are dying out. Unless the fans do something. Wishful thinking?
Spaceman Spliff did it pretty good too. You can’t hold an idea hostage. What can the FANS do? What can I do to help?
Eages
June 23, 2011 at 3:34 am
I share this sentiment word for word and would also love to help. But how? What if a pledge were to be started for “a new Commander Keen game to be created by Tom Hall”? If the result is of a reasonable amount, would you feel comfortable approaching id with an offer of say, 10-30% of the final profit going to them and you obtaining all of the rights? I think Commander Keen would do quite well in the rapidly growing indie gaming market which tends to have many challenging/classic-style games.
I say the era of generic FPS games must end one of these days – and when it does – who better to lead a new era of meaningful games than the pioneer of PC platformers – Commander Keen! I miss games that were original, enjoyable, challenging, replayable and pogo-stick-encapsulating.
matt smirnoff
June 16, 2011 at 9:22 am
I have no better place to ask this, but where can I find Hyperspace Delivery Boy for PC? Be cool and link me up, Tom Hall.