4 ms·

A visit to id software, 1993

72 points by abstractbill 18y ago

swombat 18y ago
Joe Siegler IM'd me a couple weeks ago and said he found a VHS tape that had some DOOM footage on it before its release and if I didn't want it he was gonna throw it out. Do people really throw this sort of stuff away without realising its value?
pxlpshr 18y ago
I love that id has remained a small studio relative to their recognition, and while they might not always hit one out of the park — they love what they are doing and that makes me love their products moreso. I've heard there's a lot of trickle down benefits, respect for each other, and a tight knit crew that keeps a low profile in Dallas-area. With the launch of id North (quake live), I believe this is the first time in their history that there's two distinctively separate teams for game dev. I read an interview w/ Carmack, he said the "web" was more difficult than they had initially anticipated, so I think spinning off a second team for QL and future web projects was the right move — and likely minimize team division/favoritism given their focus.
jonursenbach 18y ago
The commentary during the DOOM segment makes me realize how fucking awesome it was when it first came out.
- swombat 18y ago
  Playing it when it first came out made me realise how fucking awesome it was!
- abstractbill 18y ago
  It was bloody amazing. The first time I played DOOM on my 386, in the dark, with a soundblaster turned up nice and loud, was the first time a computer ever scared me ;-)
fireteller 18y ago
I actually still have my Black Book. The definitive tome of hard core graphics programming. I'd still recommend it to anyone looking to dig deeper into high performance programming (graphics or otherwise). http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Abrashs-Graphics-Programming-Special/dp/1576101746 http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Abrashs-Graphics-Programming-S... Too bad it's out of print, and they didn't do any subsequent editions.
- bd 18y ago
  Full text is available online (with Michael Abrash's permission): http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1698.asp http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1698.asp
mklurfeld 18y ago
This is sort of fascinating from a startup perspective. Small companies that get big still have this sort of vibe to them for the most part. Google was run out of a closet (read: spare space at Stanford) before it became a titan.
mean 18y ago
You've got to eat your ve-ge-tab-les!
mustpax 18y ago
When the hacker is demoing DOOM to his friends, there's something really endearing about the way he points out all the bugs. When you really, really care about something you can't help but notice all the details, and want to make it perfect. Same thing when the composer is going through all the scenes he's composing music for, there's something refreshing about his enthusiasm. I think I know the right phrase: "labor of love."
- nihilocrat 18y ago
  On a similar note, I find it amusing that he seems to be hitting every single secret area on the maps.
- joshuaxls 18y ago
  Yep, I loved that - cracked up every time he pointed out a bug. A great book on Romero and Carmack's journey at id: http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/ http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu... Kind of unrelated, but the second time I watched it I was struck by the fact that there's hardly any cursing by John Romero or anyone watching him play.
phil_collins 18y ago
The moment when I first played doom hasn't been equaled since. Except maybe the first time I played Quake. Since then, nothing really made me realize that I was looking at the future. Graphics keep getting better but it all seems like it's been done before.
- johng 18y ago
  I agree completely. Doom and Quake(world) are the only two games to make my jaw drop. Nothing has rivaled it since and I still remember it distinctly. I ran it on my 386 with 4MB of RAM (had to use QEMM just to free up enough conventional RAM) and in multiplayer I had to set it to postage stamp size on low quality to keep it fast enough for everyone on the game. Playing 4 player over modem (with proprietary ACPi software/hardware) was amazing! I paid long distance to call the BBS's that supported it! I do remember Descent via Kali over modem was also the first truly large scale multiplayer game I played over the modem (with the exception of Air Warrior, which was amazing even over 2400 baud) -- where as Kali required 14.4k at least. Man, old times!
- jonursenbach 18y ago
  The moment I first played Doom was almost instantly recreated when I picked up a Wiimote for the first time.
cubicle67 18y ago
Gotta recommend the book Masters of Doom here http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0375505245 http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu... I love these stories. For some reason they elicit quite an emotional response from me. Don't know what the emotion is though.

72 points by abstractbill 18y ago

Joe Siegler IM'd me a couple weeks ago and said he found a VHS tape that had some DOOM footage on it before its release and if I didn't want it he was gonna throw it out. Do people really throw this sort of stuff away without realising its value?

pxlpshr 18y ago

I love that id has remained a small studio relative to their recognition, and while they might not always hit one out of the park — they love what they are doing and that makes me love their products moreso. I've heard there's a lot of trickle down benefits, respect for each other, and a tight knit crew that keeps a low profile in Dallas-area. With the launch of id North (quake live), I believe this is the first time in their history that there's two distinctively separate teams for game dev. I read an interview w/ Carmack, he said the "web" was more difficult than they had initially anticipated, so I think spinning off a second team for QL and future web projects was the right move — and likely minimize team division/favoritism given their focus.

jonursenbach 18y ago

The commentary during the DOOM segment makes me realize how fucking awesome it was when it first came out.

swombat 18y ago
Playing it when it first came out made me realise how fucking awesome it was!
abstractbill 18y ago
It was bloody amazing. The first time I played DOOM on my 386, in the dark, with a soundblaster turned up nice and loud, was the first time a computer ever scared me ;-)

fireteller 18y ago

I actually still have my Black Book. The definitive tome of hard core graphics programming. I'd still recommend it to anyone looking to dig deeper into high performance programming (graphics or otherwise). http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Abrashs-Graphics-Programming-Special/dp/1576101746 http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Abrashs-Graphics-Programming-S... Too bad it's out of print, and they didn't do any subsequent editions.

bd 18y ago
Full text is available online (with Michael Abrash's permission): http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1698.asp http://www.gamedev.net/reference/articles/article1698.asp

mklurfeld 18y ago

This is sort of fascinating from a startup perspective. Small companies that get big still have this sort of vibe to them for the most part. Google was run out of a closet (read: spare space at Stanford) before it became a titan.

mean 18y ago

You've got to eat your ve-ge-tab-les!

mustpax 18y ago

When the hacker is demoing DOOM to his friends, there's something really endearing about the way he points out all the bugs. When you really, really care about something you can't help but notice all the details, and want to make it perfect. Same thing when the composer is going through all the scenes he's composing music for, there's something refreshing about his enthusiasm. I think I know the right phrase: "labor of love."

nihilocrat 18y ago
On a similar note, I find it amusing that he seems to be hitting every single secret area on the maps.
joshuaxls 18y ago
Yep, I loved that - cracked up every time he pointed out a bug. A great book on Romero and Carmack's journey at id: http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0812972155/ http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu... Kind of unrelated, but the second time I watched it I was struck by the fact that there's hardly any cursing by John Romero or anyone watching him play.

phil_collins 18y ago

The moment when I first played doom hasn't been equaled since. Except maybe the first time I played Quake. Since then, nothing really made me realize that I was looking at the future. Graphics keep getting better but it all seems like it's been done before.

johng 18y ago
I agree completely. Doom and Quake(world) are the only two games to make my jaw drop. Nothing has rivaled it since and I still remember it distinctly. I ran it on my 386 with 4MB of RAM (had to use QEMM just to free up enough conventional RAM) and in multiplayer I had to set it to postage stamp size on low quality to keep it fast enough for everyone on the game. Playing 4 player over modem (with proprietary ACPi software/hardware) was amazing! I paid long distance to call the BBS's that supported it! I do remember Descent via Kali over modem was also the first truly large scale multiplayer game I played over the modem (with the exception of Air Warrior, which was amazing even over 2400 baud) -- where as Kali required 14.4k at least. Man, old times!
jonursenbach 18y ago
The moment I first played Doom was almost instantly recreated when I picked up a Wiimote for the first time.

cubicle67 18y ago

Gotta recommend the book Masters of Doom here http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture/dp/0375505245 http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Cultu... I love these stories. For some reason they elicit quite an emotional response from me. Don't know what the emotion is though.