Kyka Posted July 4, 2021 (edited) This is a wonderful video, full of interesting stories about those early days at id software, predominantly about quake, with a few Doom anecdotes thrown in too. Well worth your time! But in the second half of this video, Sandy Petersen describes how id software was destroyed around the release of quake, with many people (including himself,) leaving due to the toxic environment and says "this was all the doing of one person who had the ear of John Carmack." He goes on to say "Because this person had issues with quake, 7 of the team left for good. On a team which is maybe like 11, 12 people, that's crippling. That explains why id software was never really the same after quake." He goes on to say that "person X" actually did intentionally manipulative things to undermine others. There is only a very limited number of people it could have been. I am pretty sure I know who it is. Anyone wanna speculate? (Hint: It is clear from the video that it isn't either of the two John's, American McGee, Tom Hall, Paul Steed, Mike Abrash, Adrian Carmack, or obviously, Sandy himself.) Edited July 4, 2021 by bLOCKbOYgAMES 21 Share this post Link to post
Gez Posted July 4, 2021 3 minutes ago, bLOCKbOYgAMES said: I am pretty sure I know who it is. Anyone wanna speculate? I believe it's someone whose name can be written with just five consonant and one vowel. 7 Share this post Link to post
Kyka Posted July 4, 2021 Just now, Gez said: I believe it's someone whose name can be written with just five consonant and one vowel. haha well done! Because there is no "i" in "teamwork" as the old saying goes. There may however be "i's" making guest appearances elsewhere however. 1 Share this post Link to post
General Rainbow Bacon Posted July 4, 2021 ^There are two "i"s in idiot though. 6 Share this post Link to post
deus-ex Posted July 4, 2021 1 hour ago, bLOCKbOYgAMES said: Hint: It is clear from the video that it isn't either of the two John's, American McGee, Tom Hall, Paul Steed, Mike Abrash, Adrian Carmack, or obviously, Sandy himself. It's also clear from the video that it isn't Dave Taylor. Interestingly, Sandy didn't mention Kevin Cloud in the video. But it's also not him, Kevin worked as an artist at id and didn't do any level design. That leaves only one person that wasn't mentioned throughout the entire video but worked on the game. Read the comments below the video on Youtube to learn about the name and even more revealing stories about this person. Quite surprising and eye-opening. 3 Share this post Link to post
Kyka Posted July 4, 2021 Oops I forgot Dave Taylor in my list, and Kevin Cloud, iirc, did a lot of the Doom models along with Adrian Carmack. you know what? I didn't even think to read the comments below the video, though often I will do that. Thanks for the heads up. I actually thought I was pretty clever to work out who it was lol, but from what people have written here, it seems that it is pretty obvious who Sandy was referring to. Cheers. 1 Share this post Link to post
Roebloz Posted July 4, 2021 Just now, Endless said: Why he wouldn't even hurt a fly. what the hell is that picture. And who is that? 2 Share this post Link to post
P41R47 Posted July 4, 2021 (edited) Its really interesting that he wasn't even part of Id until later. And maybe his sister is the one who do the legwork... We can't know for sure... Maybe thats was the real problem :/ Sad story, for sure. 1 Share this post Link to post
out_of_service Posted July 4, 2021 25 minutes ago, Endless said: Why he wouldn't even hurt a fly. He lost a LOT of hair. 1 Share this post Link to post
TeK (⌐■_■) Posted July 4, 2021 40 minutes ago, Roebloz said: what the hell is that picture. And who is that? Spoiler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Willits 0 Share this post Link to post
LadyMistDragon Posted July 4, 2021 2 hours ago, Endless said: Why he wouldn't even hurt a fly. Oh my fucking GOD, he looks just like you'd expect a sadistic nerd who likes pulling the wings off flies and plotting world domination to look like. I'm sure even Theresa, his sister would probably admit he had dreams of world domination when he was 8. FUCK this dude and fuck the new Evil Dead game he's overseeing. 6 Share this post Link to post
deus-ex Posted July 4, 2021 These days Tim Willits is pulling the strings to his favor at Saber Interactive as a Chief Creative Officer (CCO). Interestingly, he left id quite shortly after the release of the game Rage 2. That seemed kind of odd to me and I felt, it certainly wasn't all decided by himself. Now we can assume what probably has led to these events. Saber Interactive has close business relations with id, so he isn't quite out of sight. 0 Share this post Link to post
Murdoch Posted July 5, 2021 1 hour ago, LadyMistDragon said: Oh my fucking GOD, he looks just like you'd expect a sadistic nerd who likes pulling the wings off flies and plotting world domination to look like. I'm sure even Theresa, his sister would probably admit he had dreams of world domination when he was 8. FUCK this dude and fuck the new Evil Dead game he's overseeing. Ha, I thought pretty much exactly the same thing. Some people you can look at them at just immediately know they are a douchebag. 4 Share this post Link to post
Doomkid Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) The nanosecond I initally heard about all of this, I just thought "who's the one guy that isn't Romero who worked at id who claimed he invented deathmatch maps again?" Quote In an interview with PCGamesN during this year's annual QuakeCon, id Software veteran and Quake Champions director Tim Willits claimed to create the concept of building FPS maps explicitly for deathmatch. Fellow id vet John Romero disputed Willits' recollection of events in a detailed blog post. According to Willits, who also claimed to design the first episode of Quake—which was distributed as shareware—he got the idea to piece together map fragments into multiplayer-only arenas. "I came into the office one day and talked to John Romero and John Carmack," Willits said. "I said 'I've got this idea. I can take these map fragments and I can turn them into multiplayer-only maps, maps you only play in multiplayer.' "They both said that was the stupidest idea they'd ever heard. Why would you make a map you only play multiplayer when you can play multiplayer in single-player maps? So I said 'No, no, no, let me see what I can do.' And that's how multiplayer maps were started. True story." Romero caught wind of the story and consulted with other Quake designers including American McGee, Adrian Carmack, and Shawn Green. After comparing their memories of Quake's development, which ramped up in earnest in late 1995, Romero feels confident in disputing Willits' version of events. "The story told about how he came into the office and talked to me and Carmack about his idea, and we responded with how it was the stupidest idea we'd ever heard," Romero wrote in a blog. "This never happened. In fact, we had been playing multiplayer-only maps in DOOM for years already. There had been hundreds of maps that the DOOM mapping community had made only for deathmatch by that time. DWANGO was a multiplayer-only service that had many multiplayer-only maps that are legendary today. American McGee even released a multiplayer-only map in November 1994 named IDMAP01. The incredible DOOM community invented the idea of designing maps only for multiplayer mode, and they deserve the credit. The game owes so much to them." EDIT: Just to add to this history a little, the first deathmatch-only map was CROSS.WAD, one of the first custom maps ever built for Doom. (March 11th, 1994 - just 4 days after ORIGWAD, meaning it's probably among the first 2-3 custom Doom levels ever) Edited July 5, 2021 by Doomkid 12 Share this post Link to post
Lizardcommando Posted July 5, 2021 I had no idea Tim Willits was such a scumbag. I only recognize the name because that name was on some crashed drop ship in Quake 2. 3 Share this post Link to post
deus-ex Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) 4 hours ago, Doomkid said: [...] "who's the one guy that isn't Romero who worked at id who claimed he invented deathmatch maps again?" It wasn't about death-match but multiplayer-only maps, specifically crafted for Quake: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Tim_Willits#/Controversy 1 Share this post Link to post
printz Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) Wait, didn't Doomworld praise him as a top level designer during its 5 years of DOOM celebration? https://5years.doomworld.com/topten/winners/timwillits/ Here's a notable quote from that page: Quote Being hired by the creators themselves instantly has to say something for the talent of this man, who has since gone on to help create the levels of Quake and Quake2. Few can say that there Doom levels inspired so much respect from id to actually be hired by that company. Level designers have come and gone from the Doom community, but one has gone passed the hills and vistas of the the other Kings to sit atop Mt. Olympus itself, and watch over the world from his lofty perch. 1 Share this post Link to post
IvanDobrovski Posted July 5, 2021 7 minutes ago, printz said: Wait, didn't Doomworld praise him as a top level designer during its 5 years of DOOM celebration? https://5years.doomworld.com/topten/winners/timwillits/ Here's a notable quote from that page: Haha that didn't age well at all. 4 Share this post Link to post
Biodegradable Posted July 5, 2021 (edited) Where were you lot two months ago? :^P Anyways, this video rules. I keep forgetting to subscribe to Sandy's channel, so I better rectify that now. 6 Share this post Link to post
MajorRawne Posted July 5, 2021 The first few posts in this thread genuinely read like clickbait. 1 Share this post Link to post
Doomkid Posted July 5, 2021 2 hours ago, deus-ex said: It wasn't about death-match but multiplayer-only maps, specifically crafted for Quake: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Tim_Willits#/Controversy lol, yeah, that's why I said "the one guy that isn't Romero who worked at id who claimed he invented deathmatch maps" :P 1 Share this post Link to post
KubaloBlackMT Posted July 5, 2021 This kind of stuff is why I like that Sandy still occasionally brings up the interior workings of ID Software. The other guys at ID are never as full to the story as him since Sandy doesn't really have to care anymore. 3 Share this post Link to post
omx32x Posted July 5, 2021 tim willits is a real piece of shit anyone who tries to claim others work as theirs can fuck of to me 1 Share this post Link to post
Steve D Posted July 5, 2021 I'm sorry to hear all this because I'm such a fan of They Will Repent, with its wonderful layout by his sister Theresa. Now, every time I play it, I'll think about what a backstabber Tim Willits was. On a happier note, I thought Sandy Petersen was really cool. I subbed his channel and watched several more fascinating videos. 6 Share this post Link to post
Chris Hansen Posted July 5, 2021 I like the short hizzing noises he makes when he takes a super short breath because he talks so fast! I like him a lot! :D Super nice video, thanks for the heads up. 2 Share this post Link to post
Kyka Posted July 5, 2021 Perhaps I should save this next comment for the Controversial Opinions thread: In spite of everything, thought some of Tim Willits mapping was pretty good. 2 Share this post Link to post
IvanDobrovski Posted July 5, 2021 You know I've been thinking and have talked to a few friends, they told me that Sandy Petersen would sometimes recall things incorrectly and that John Romero would correct him for those. I've looked up and indeed he would, on twitter. Now I wonder if there's a chance Sandy messed up on this one too, or if these are all indeed accurate. 2 Share this post Link to post