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Cool; I just finished "Masters of Doom" by David Kushner. It tells the story of ID Software, the groundbreaking games they developed up to the split of the two

Cool; I just finished "Masters of Doom" by David Kushner. It tells the story of ID Software, the groundbreaking games they developed up to the split of the two Johns and then some. A real interesting read for anybody interested in the subject.

Bamafan 13y ago
After reading this book, I realized I had WAAY underestimated Romero's impact on iD. Point blank - without Romero, there is iD Software (it was his idea to form a new company). There is no Doom. There is no Quake. Romero was one of the primary creative forces behind iD. Carmack was the tech genius who made their ideas come to life.
- talmand 13y ago
  I've not read the book, but I've often wondered if things would have been that different without Romero. Maybe in the beginning he was a driving force but I speculate something changed. Be it something with him, technology changes, or whatever but he later did not seem to have as big an impact. I met Romero back during the beginning of the Ion Storm days and based on that short chat with him I was convinced that Ion Storm would succeed. Sadly it did not. Granted, Ion Storm did turn out some of the best games ever made but not the one that Romero made.
- CaptainZapp 13y ago
  I think it's exactly this, which makes the comparison to Lennon / McCartney so apt. Even as readers of the book learn that they are rather compared to Metallica. I agree that it needed the two Johns to make iD happen. On a sidenote: To me John Carmack is one of the true hacker heroes. That's for his almost militant stance aganst patents and for his generousity in sharing his code.
tripplethrendo 13y ago
I enjoyed this book SO MUCH. I've actually begun learning C++ because of it. The world of programming is just fascinating. I know I'll never be the next Carmack, but I really want to turn some of my ideas for fun games into a reality.

Bamafan 13y ago

After reading this book, I realized I had WAAY underestimated Romero's impact on iD. Point blank - without Romero, there is iD Software (it was his idea to form a new company). There is no Doom. There is no Quake. Romero was one of the primary creative forces behind iD. Carmack was the tech genius who made their ideas come to life.

talmand 13y ago
I've not read the book, but I've often wondered if things would have been that different without Romero. Maybe in the beginning he was a driving force but I speculate something changed. Be it something with him, technology changes, or whatever but he later did not seem to have as big an impact. I met Romero back during the beginning of the Ion Storm days and based on that short chat with him I was convinced that Ion Storm would succeed. Sadly it did not. Granted, Ion Storm did turn out some of the best games ever made but not the one that Romero made.
CaptainZapp 13y ago
I think it's exactly this, which makes the comparison to Lennon / McCartney so apt. Even as readers of the book learn that they are rather compared to Metallica. I agree that it needed the two Johns to make iD happen. On a sidenote: To me John Carmack is one of the true hacker heroes. That's for his almost militant stance aganst patents and for his generousity in sharing his code.

tripplethrendo 13y ago

I enjoyed this book SO MUCH. I've actually begun learning C++ because of it. The world of programming is just fascinating. I know I'll never be the next Carmack, but I really want to turn some of my ideas for fun games into a reality.