The history of ID software is depressing. Masters of Doom, though, is a really fun book to read. I’m a video gaming fan, not so much of playing games, but looking into the industry itself and the business. This is a look at the start of ID software, the guys behind it all, and a game called Doom.
I am young enough (28 late this year) that I remember the first company the guys (John Romero, Tom Hall, Adrian Carmack, John Carmack, etc.) worked for, Softdisk. My dad used to buy their bundle packs for me to play with, I loved them, though this was after those guys had left Softdisk.
When Doom hit, I don’t really remember how exactly I felt, but I remember that everyone I knew who had a computer loved it. Commander Keen, which came before that, was pretty darn cool too.
I remember Quake more accurately though. That game hit right in my mid-teens, when I knew a little bit more about computers, and could get an occasional modem game going with a friend. That’s also when I learned how to use the mouse for first-person shooters.
I’ve always known about John Carmack, graphical genius. I knew less about John Romero- I knew he used to work at ID, I knew about the Daikatana fiasco, he sounded like a jackass. I never knew he was (or at least the book claims he was) such a huge gaming icon.
But when you read this book, as you might expect, no one is so perfect, no one is such a jackass.
As the book puts it, discussing the late 90’s at ID, people complained about not having direction, but at the same time people wouldn’t take direction either.
Romero is a guy who loves games, but cannot manage. He’s not such a responsible person in life, but deep down he’s not a bad guy. Carmack, is a of course a technical whiz, but he’s not a great manager himself, and doesn’t really consider other people.
There just seems to be constant trouble at ID for about 5 straight years, from the mid 90’s to around the time of when Doom 3 is announced (that’s when the story ends) and it makes we wonder how the ID Software guys are now. Back then, I always imagined that things were wonderful, but that’s normal for a teenager to think that way. I even remember I used to read the Voodoo Extreme posts of a guy named Brian Hook- he had worked for ID a little, than 3DFX I think, then for Sony on Everquest. He quit ID because he was so frustrated.
In the end, it just feels like if Romero and Carmack could find a way to get back and work together again, maybe they could do something special. Carmack is still fantastic at what he does, but so are a lot of other people- Tim Sweeney (Unreal), Gabe Newell (Half-Life), the Cry Engine guys, it’s not so obvious he’s the best. Even the games themselves, when Quake I was out, holy crap. Now, I barely cared about Doom 3 (it did look amazing), and Quake 4, I wonder if that even sold well.
Romero is off flipping projects, I really think that most people college age right now probably don’t know who he is- they would have been less than 10 when he was a superstar.
On my wishlist is that they somehow make a reunion and try something, even if something small, try to get the magic back.
In the midst of reading the book, I looked up ID on Wikipedia, and it turns out Adrian Carmack left a few years ago. Unfortunate.
The book reminds me of so many people and games of the past, it’s a really interesting read, but much more so if you’re a fan. Duke Nukem, Jazz Jackrabbit, Rise of the Triad, Anachronox (Tom Hall’s game was good, but it’s obvious why it didn’t sell too, it feels like a low-grade Japanese-rpg).
Makes me want to look up Stevie Case again as well…..
 |
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner |
Recent Comments