Tom Hall

Tom Hall ( born September 2, 1964 in Wisconsin, USA ) is a computer game programmer. He studied computer science at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Since 1987, he developed computer games. He is a co-founder of id Software, working on games such as Commander Keen, Doom and Wolfenstein 3D.

After disagreements with John Carmack, id Software, he left and moved to Apogee, now known as 3D Realms. There, he worked on Duke Nukem 3D and led briefly the development of the game Prey, which was, however, later placed on ice. The basic concept was conceived by Hall in 2001 taken up again and carried out by the Human Head Studios.

Later he founded along with John Romero development company Ion Storm. After several games proved financial failures and there were internal disputes, he and Romero Ion Storm left and formed their own company, Stone Monkey Games, which specialized in games for mobile phones and handhelds. Later, Hall moved to Midway Games, however, where he remained only a short time. After a brief period of self-employment as a consultant for independent developers Tom Hall was recruited by the Studio KingsIsle Entertainment, where he was involved until the end of 2010 on the development of two MMOs. He now works with John Romero at Loot Drop.

Hall is also known for the invention of Dopefishs, a character from one of the Commander Keen games, which was later quoted in countless games and is considered as an integral part of the video game culture.