Sometimes, I wonder... [id caring about Doom]

[Job]

I can't help but think that we care more about Doom than its original creators (most of them, anyway).

[Kaiser]

actually I care about the oringinal creators... maybe except Sandy Peterson..

[Bloodshedder]

I think he means we care about Doom more than its original creators care about Doom.

[Regen]

Romero is still with the game. he deathmatch's with his new wife and sons whenever he can:

http://rhaluka.smugmug.com/gallery/568210/14/51743515

[Cauldronborn]

Which is even more bizarre, given that back in '98(ish), when the entire DooM fanbase was screaming, "Give us DooM ]|[!!!" He responded with "Nah, I'm *so* past DooM. I'm gonna create the shittiest FPS'er I can think up: DaiKatana! YEAH! THAT WOULD SO ROCK!"

So he released it, and everyone said:

W...

T...

F?!

[Dr. Zin]

I wonder what port he's using.

[Lizardcommando]

Looks kinda like Zdoom to me.

[Bloodshedder]

The HUD on the leftmost computer makes me think it's Legacy, and Romero has expressed his affinity for Legacy several times before.

[LexiMax]

Bloodshedder said:

The HUD on the leftmost computer makes me think it's Legacy, and Romero has expressed his affinity for Legacy several times before.

Any particular reason why Legacy, since most of us seem to use a particular verison of ZDoom (I use ZDoom 1.22, there is a sizable community for later versions, and both major online source ports use ZDoom as a codebase)?

Also, the ghosting on the rightmost LCD... D:

[Hobbs]

Job said:

I can't help but think that we care more about Doom than its original creators (most of them, anyway).

From my understanding id has always been a "forefront of gaming" sort of company, and this seems to be what most of the employees back when doom was made keep as their personal opinion.

[myk]

Of the original developer and designers only the two Johns were really gamer-like, more so Romero, and except also Tom Hall who left before the game was done, and because the game was going where he didn't want it. Romero does indeed seem to care about the games he's worked on, and DOOM seems like one of his faves in some way, even after leaving the company where he worked on it. Carmack has always had little technical attention span, displaying the kind of attitude HobbsTiger1 mentions in general due to his innovative attitude (he doesn't "look back" much), but to me it seems his motivations to make DOOM 3 were affected by a certain appreciation of DOOM, retrospectively.

But as for us; we're fans of the DOOMs in particular (in addition to any other things we like), so it's not surprising that we're usually more into the games than they are.

[Graf Zahl]

All I can say is that I don't particularly care about the games I make at work. It's a job I earn money with and the things my company makes don't necessarily appeal to my tastes. It wouldn't surprise me if some people who worked at Doom have a similar attitude.

[amberleaf]

myk said:

Of the original developer and designers only the two Johns were really gamer-like


Carmack has always had little technical attention span

Not true at all, Carmack could'nt be considered a gamer in the modern sense. During development of Doom Carmack worked from 9pm till 9 am. Developing quake almost drove Carmack insane. I think he has a large attention span.

[myk]

amberleaf said:
During development of Doom Carmack worked from 9pm till 9 am. Developing quake almost drove Carmack insane. I think he has a large attention span.

Making a game isn't playing a game (or games) and his attention span is focused on his work at hand. I said technical antention span; look for Carmack interviews and quotes and see how he does not "stick with" old stuff: When an id game is made Carmack works on the engine's core, which is what he likes, and often while the rest of the company is still working on some earlier project, and once he's done with the main stuff he moves off to something else (which could be building rockets or another engine for the next game, for instance) and doesn't really like to get too involved in the level-based design process where the maps are made (while he displayed evident enthusiasm in the early stages, he said the later part of DOOM 3 development was a drag for him, for example.)

He likes games and he's even showed up to play a bit in conventions, but he's more of an engine mechanic and innovator than an all around gamer (like Romero is.)

[Kelzam]

John Carmack is definitely on a list of people I want to meet some day.

[Wobbo]

Daikatana is easily the most underrated game of all time

[Jehar]

Graf Zahl said:

All I can say is that I don't particularly care about the games I make at work. It's a job I earn money with and the things my company makes don't necessarily appeal to my tastes. It wouldn't surprise me if some people who worked at Doom have a similar attitude.

That is quite a disturbing notion, one that I really don't see the logic in. If there can be one game that could be described as a labor of love, Doom would be the proverbial 'it', I believe. Look at the size of the team of people who did it, who most of us know by name. Development was tight, speedy, and above all, enthusiastic.

To imply that Doom-era iD had the same grindwork-to-get-a-product work ethic so many companies have today is... a bit bewildering to say the least.

[Technician]

Wobbo said:

Daikatana is easily the most underrated game of all time

FINALLY! It is a fun solid creative game. I wish people would get past the shitty swamp map and see how fun the game is before they criticize.

What I can make of id just wants to forget about its previous games. Besides the only guys left from Doom are Carmack and Tim. Luckily Activision loves to make money so they occasionally bring Doom out of the closet. Although I always feel bad for ids Bastard child Quake. Its gets no recognition and it’s a classic.

[myk]

Technician said:
What I can make of id just wants to forget about its previous games.

Not sure what that's supposed to mean, though Tim Willits didn't work on DOOM; he just mapped for E4. Though now without Adrian Carmack they might move toward less gory games (because Adrian was all for darker themes and against lighter ones).

[Use]

Technician said:

Luckily Activision loves to make money so they occasionally bring Doom out of the closet. Although I always feel bad for ids Bastard child Quake. Its gets no recognition and it’s a classic

Aside from Doom, Quake is my favorite id game.

[Technician]

myk said:

Not sure what that's supposed to mean, though Tim Willits didn't work on DOOM; he just mapped for E4. Though now without Adrian Carmack they might move toward less gory games (because Adrian was all for darker themes and against lighter ones).

Sorry I meant Cloud.

[Vegeta]

Well, in the "10 years of DOOM", id only said something like "Wow, DOOM is 10 years old, talking about DOOM look at the DOOM 3 site you can preorder the game there".

[DoomGater]

Yes, id did not care about the classic doom anymore. They still missed to publish an _official_ patch for Final DooM TNT:Evilution's map 31 Pharaoh ;-)

I think with romero id lost its soul.
And from my side I would prefer to meet John Romero and not John Carmack. It should be more fun to be fragged by the man that invented the term 'Deathmatch'
than to talk about some dry-as-dust technical topic with a bloodless top-notch-engineer.

[myk]

DoomGater said:
Yes, id did not care about the classic doom anymore. They still missed to publish an _official_ patch for Final DooM TNT:Evilution's map 31 Pharaoh ;-)

id Software merely published the wads, and to a good degree Final DOOM was the distributors' initiative (as was The Ultimate DOOM). I'm a fan of the game but I don't think the id guys are under any obligation to go back to DOOM and do anything for it. They made it, which is more than enough, and they speak well of it when they refer to it, Romero has stuff about it on his site, and id still sells it directly (as opposed to ignoring its value). They aren't supposed to "care" the way we do; that's our prerogative, since we work on the game and play it regularly.

[Craigs]

For them, Doom was just another product. A way to pay the bill and feed their children. For us, it's a hobby, a backbone to a small society.

[Job]

DoomGater said:

I think with romero id lost its soul.

lol lost soul

[DaniJ]

For them, Doom was just another product. A way to pay the bill and feed their children.

DOOM represents far more than that to its creators. Through the success of DOOM they "created an empire and transformed pop culture".

Not to mention that after DOOM, they'd need not have to worry about bills or feeding their future children - for the rest of their lives.

Quite what some of you guys expect them to do, to show that they still care about DOOM, I don't know.

[Slink]

actually I care about the oringinal creators... maybe except Sandy Peterson..

Whaddaya got against Sandy Peterson? :?

[Slink]

Jehar said:

That is quite a disturbing notion, one that I really don't see the logic in. If there can be one game that could be described as a labor of love, Doom would be the proverbial 'it', I believe. Look at the size of the team of people who did it, who most of us know by name. Development was tight, speedy, and above all, enthusiastic.

To imply that Doom-era iD had the same grindwork-to-get-a-product work ethic so many companies have today is... a bit bewildering to say the least.

I've always kind of had the impression that Doom and Wolfenstein were labors of love for id, while their later efforts were soulless exercises in engine-making. Doom always has, and always will have a special place in my heart, but for some reason none of id's later games have ever really found their way there. Maybe it's just because I played Doom first, but it's the one I still play while all of the Quakes are uninstalled and gathering dust.

[Slink]

Wobbo said:

Daikatana is easily the most underrated game of all time

I can think of quite a few games more deserving of that title.

I personally thought Daikatana was horrid, but I sympathized with Romero's efforts in making it. It felt like a game that wanted to be released four years earlier. It's excruciating public gestation certainly didn't help any either.