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I don't think the games industry will ever be able to adequately thank or appreciate all that Carmack has done over his career. Most of which because the man i

I don't think the games industry will ever be able to adequately thank or appreciate all that Carmack has done over his career. Most of which because the man is too humble to accept any of it.

Caligula 15y ago
They thanked him by the millions of dollars in licensing and fees paid. He certainly took the money he rightfully earned :)
- arctangent 15y ago
  You're right. But even if money wasn't at stake I think he'd have done it all anyway.
  - VMG 15y ago
    Well he still doesn't release the source code straight away and wants to earn a few dollars with every new game. Remember, this guy has some pretty expensive hobbies.
- peripitea 15y ago
  I'd argue that despite those millions, his wealth_created:income_earned ratio is still exceptionally high. Many people earn far more doing much less for the world.
  - chii 15y ago
    "wealth_created:income_earned ratio is still exceptionally high." i say his ratio is 1:1 - some people have negative (that is, they suck wealth out of the system). Most, normal hardworking people have a ratio of 1:1
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
palish 15y ago
Carmack is my personal hero. I'd like to share this with you: At 09:59 PM 1/27/2008, you wrote: > >Hey John, > >How does someone like yourself become a better engineer? I'm >nineteen, and I dropped out of high school during my senior year to >work in game development. Your work is inspiring on many levels. >Were you simply born with the ability to learn very quickly, or was >it the result of hard work? I'd like to be the best engineer I can, >but I'm not sure how to keep improving. What are your thoughts? Using your time effectively is very important, and there is often a non-linear relationship between the amount of time you can stay focused and the amount that you can learn or accomplish. It is often possible to get more done in a highly focused 12 hour stretch than in a normal 40 hour work week that is interspersed with email, chat, and other distractions. Someone that can be completely obsessive about something does have an advantage, but the same questions about focus apply for any amount of time you choose to devote to an undertaking. Most people work at only a fraction of their potential. John Carmack It profoundly inspired me. From that day to this, I've worked to push my technical ability as far as my brain and body allow. When I someday succeed in my life's work (to build a game studio), I'll owe it entirely to him.
- talmand 15y ago
  Wait, the guy dropped out of high school to work in game development? What does that mean? He dropped out of school to take a job or to pursue a job? If I were an employer I would have to question his commitment and ability to complete projects since he abandoned a rather important one right there at the end.
  - Lambdanaut 15y ago
    But High School isn't the same kind of commitment as your average project, because High School is compulsory. He might have just been waiting until he was old enough so he could commit to his actual ambition.
    - talmand 15y ago
      I would say that completing high school is rather high in the list since a great deal of companies wouldn't look twice at him since they often want to see university degrees. But I guess it all depends on where you live.
aw3c2 15y ago
Oh, he was not humble back in the days. He was often talking about things not even the next-next-next generation would not have and left some people upset. Some random interview from that time http://www.quaddicted.com/magazines/pc_zone_55_october_1997_uk http://www.quaddicted.com/magazines/pc_zone_55_october_1997_... He still delivered amazing technology. I just wanted to make that counterpoint. His personality is rather calm but don't let that fool you.
atomicdog 15y ago
I wish more people would look to John Carmack as their "developer hero" rather the likes of, say, Notch.
- thezoid 15y ago
  Is that because of the technical achievements that Carmack has done (Carmack's Reverse, Fast inverse sqrt, etc.)? You still have to give it to Notch for showing that you can make an extremely entertaining game while not pushing any hardcore boundaries, such as graphics. Perhaps this will inspire more people to get into software development.
  - atomicdog 15y ago
    More due to their attitudes towards source code and supporting a new generation of developers (Notch pays lipservice to open source and claims to be an avid supporter of the Pirate Party and an opponent of IP law yet aggressively pursues any competition that resembles Minecraft in any way with legal threats) In terms of actual code they're not even in the same league so I won't bother comparing anything Carmack's achieved with Notch's magic number and circular reference-ridden Java code.

I don't think the games industry will ever be able to adequately thank or appreciate all that Carmack has done over his career. Most of which because the man is too humble to accept any of it.

Caligula 15y ago

They thanked him by the millions of dollars in licensing and fees paid. He certainly took the money he rightfully earned :)

arctangent 15y ago
You're right. But even if money wasn't at stake I think he'd have done it all anyway.
- VMG 15y ago
  Well he still doesn't release the source code straight away and wants to earn a few dollars with every new game. Remember, this guy has some pretty expensive hobbies.
peripitea 15y ago
I'd argue that despite those millions, his wealth_created:income_earned ratio is still exceptionally high. Many people earn far more doing much less for the world.
- chii 15y ago
  "wealth_created:income_earned ratio is still exceptionally high." i say his ratio is 1:1 - some people have negative (that is, they suck wealth out of the system). Most, normal hardworking people have a ratio of 1:1

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

palish 15y ago

Carmack is my personal hero. I'd like to share this with you: At 09:59 PM 1/27/2008, you wrote: > >Hey John, > >How does someone like yourself become a better engineer? I'm >nineteen, and I dropped out of high school during my senior year to >work in game development. Your work is inspiring on many levels. >Were you simply born with the ability to learn very quickly, or was >it the result of hard work? I'd like to be the best engineer I can, >but I'm not sure how to keep improving. What are your thoughts? Using your time effectively is very important, and there is often a non-linear relationship between the amount of time you can stay focused and the amount that you can learn or accomplish. It is often possible to get more done in a highly focused 12 hour stretch than in a normal 40 hour work week that is interspersed with email, chat, and other distractions. Someone that can be completely obsessive about something does have an advantage, but the same questions about focus apply for any amount of time you choose to devote to an undertaking. Most people work at only a fraction of their potential. John Carmack It profoundly inspired me. From that day to this, I've worked to push my technical ability as far as my brain and body allow. When I someday succeed in my life's work (to build a game studio), I'll owe it entirely to him.

talmand 15y ago
Wait, the guy dropped out of high school to work in game development? What does that mean? He dropped out of school to take a job or to pursue a job? If I were an employer I would have to question his commitment and ability to complete projects since he abandoned a rather important one right there at the end.
- Lambdanaut 15y ago
  But High School isn't the same kind of commitment as your average project, because High School is compulsory. He might have just been waiting until he was old enough so he could commit to his actual ambition.
  - talmand 15y ago
    I would say that completing high school is rather high in the list since a great deal of companies wouldn't look twice at him since they often want to see university degrees. But I guess it all depends on where you live.

aw3c2 15y ago

Oh, he was not humble back in the days. He was often talking about things not even the next-next-next generation would not have and left some people upset. Some random interview from that time http://www.quaddicted.com/magazines/pc_zone_55_october_1997_uk http://www.quaddicted.com/magazines/pc_zone_55_october_1997_... He still delivered amazing technology. I just wanted to make that counterpoint. His personality is rather calm but don't let that fool you.

atomicdog 15y ago

I wish more people would look to John Carmack as their "developer hero" rather the likes of, say, Notch.

thezoid 15y ago
Is that because of the technical achievements that Carmack has done (Carmack's Reverse, Fast inverse sqrt, etc.)? You still have to give it to Notch for showing that you can make an extremely entertaining game while not pushing any hardcore boundaries, such as graphics. Perhaps this will inspire more people to get into software development.
- atomicdog 15y ago
  More due to their attitudes towards source code and supporting a new generation of developers (Notch pays lipservice to open source and claims to be an avid supporter of the Pirate Party and an opponent of IP law yet aggressively pursues any competition that resembles Minecraft in any way with legal threats) In terms of actual code they're not even in the same league so I won't bother comparing anything Carmack's achieved with Notch's magic number and circular reference-ridden Java code.