John Carmack is now the Chief Technology Officer for Oculus Rift

[geo]

Read all about it >> http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/doom-quake-creator-john-carmack-joins-oculus-rift-virtual-reality-6C10868292

[Cupboard]

It's been a long time coming. Good for him.

[MRB_Doom]

Good luck with your future endeavors. So long.

[Khorus]

This makes me happy.

[Jodwin]

Good. Carmack can probably help Oculus Rift and at the same time, less Carmack making games is a good thing for everyone.

[Jonathan]

Some anonymous guy on Reddit who is apparently close to the situation, is claiming that Carmack has stopped doing any work for Id completely, and his continued employment is just a face-saving exercise from Bethesda/ZeniMax. Just rumours, but it seems to fit.

The funny thing is, if Oculus is a success, then it will surely be a prime target for a buyout by a large gaming company or a tech giant like Sony or Microsoft. So in a couple of years, Carmack may end up working for a big corporation all over again. But if that happens maybe he'll just cash out his Oculus stock and go pursue rocketry full-time.

[Shaviro]

Yeah. It's most likely damage control.
Matt Hooper has joined him there.

[Touchdown]

Only two to go... (Kevin Cloud and Tim Willits)

[DooM_RO]

...I'm not sure what to think of this. I wonder what this means for Doom 4 and future Id engines. I hope he does not abandon this completely.

[geo]

Jonathan said:

Some anonymous guy on Reddit who is apparently close to the situation, is claiming that Carmack has stopped doing any work for Id completely, and his continued employment is just a face-saving exercise from Bethesda/ZeniMax. Just rumours, but it seems to fit.

The funny thing is, if Oculus is a success, then it will surely be a prime target for a buyout by a large gaming company or a tech giant like Sony or Microsoft. So in a couple of years, Carmack may end up working for a big corporation all over again. But if that happens maybe he'll just cash out his Oculus stock and go pursue rocketry full-time.

Oh I believe it that Carmack does nothing and if he did something it would just be tweaking his engine daily. If iD is stuck making Doom 4 they probably are fine with the engine. I've read ZeniMax will be using the engine for other projects. Not sure which ones if at all.

If Oculus is a success, its actually Carmack riding on their coattails collecting a paycheck. Oculus is done and kickstarted with millions. There are upgraded versions of the Oculus in the works after the first generation comes out.

All I see this as is a famous guy getting tacked on to a company that already has a lot of steam behind it.

Microsoft and Sony had their chance for a pack in... maybe PS 5 and X-Box Plus 1 will have it.

[Touchdown]

geo said:

I've read ZeniMax will be using the engine for other projects. Not sure which ones if at all.

There are already two games other than DOOM 4 being developed with Tech 5: Wolfenstein: The New Order by Machinegames and The Evil Within by Tango.

[geo]

Touchdown said:

There are already two games other than DOOM 4 being developed with Tech 5: Wolfenstein: The New Order by Machinegames and The Evil Within by Tango.

Very nice, thank you for filling in those gaps. :-)

I reread the article now and I find this quote interesting >> "My time division is now Oculus over Id over Armadillo," Carmack wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning. "Busy busy busy!"

[Jonathan]

geo said:

Oh I believe it that Carmack does nothing and if he did something it would just be tweaking his engine daily. If iD is stuck making Doom 4 they probably are fine with the engine. I've read ZeniMax will be using the engine for other projects. Not sure which ones if at all.

If Oculus is a success, its actually Carmack riding on their coattails collecting a paycheck. Oculus is done and kickstarted with millions. There are upgraded versions of the Oculus in the works after the first generation comes out.

All I see this as is a famous guy getting tacked on to a company that already has a lot of steam behind it.

Microsoft and Sony had their chance for a pack in... maybe PS 5 and X-Box Plus 1 will have it.

I think that's a little cynical. Carmack has been championing Oculus from the beginning and has been visibly involved with the research done by Oculus and Valve over the last year. While I sometimes have problems with Carmack's instincts regarding game design and gameplay, I think he's undeniably an expert on graphics, software and VR in general, and has something to contribute to Oculus beyond his name.

I also don't agree that the Rift is "done". I haven't tried one myself, but most of the reports I've read suggest that while it is hugely promising, it is some way off being a consumer-ready product. There are apparently still a number of hardware and software issues that need to be solved before it's truly ready. Maybe Carmack can help solve them, maybe he can't, but I think his motivation to try is about more than just money.

[kristus]

Carmack was the driving force behind Quake 3. And he's always been a proponent of simplicity over unnecessary guff. Something most modern shooters could stand to pay some attention to.

[Nightmare Doom]

Jonathan said:

Some anonymous guy on Reddit who is apparently close to the situation, is claiming that Carmack has stopped doing any work for Id completely, and his continued employment is just a face-saving exercise from Bethesda/ZeniMax. Just rumours, but it seems to fit.

The funny thing is, if Oculus is a success, then it will surely be a prime target for a buyout by a large gaming company or a tech giant like Sony or Microsoft. So in a couple of years, Carmack may end up working for a big corporation all over again. But if that happens maybe he'll just cash out his Oculus stock and go pursue rocketry full-time.

If true, I knew this would happen.

I kinda predict that John Carmack from now on is going to work on other tech related stuff (Oculus Rift, Rockets, etc) than making games since he isn't enthusiastic about that anymore and he is now interested expanding his tech related horizons as if he's now moved past games.

[geo]

Jonathan said:

I think that's a little cynical. Carmack has been championing Oculus from the beginning and has been visibly involved with the research done by Oculus and Valve over the last year. While I sometimes have problems with Carmack's instincts regarding game design and gameplay, I think he's undeniably an expert on graphics, software and VR in general, and has something to contribute to Oculus beyond his name.

I also don't agree that the Rift is "done". I haven't tried one myself, but most of the reports I've read suggest that while it is hugely promising, it is some way off being a consumer-ready product. There are apparently still a number of hardware and software issues that need to be solved before it's truly ready. Maybe Carmack can help solve them, maybe he can't, but I think his motivation to try is about more than just money.

Yes it is cynical :-) Championing, but not working for. If anything he can be a spokesperson, but its a new challenge to improve the tech.

Is any piece of tech ever really done?

[geekmarine]

If anything, Carmack has always been about advancing technology. Looking at his history, I think it's clear that his goal has always been to show the world something that was thought couldn't be done. As a software engineer, he's kind of hit the plateau, though. Graphics have become advanced to the point where new innovations are hardly noticed. We were blown away with the move from Wolf-3D to Doom. We couldn't believe Quake was fully 3D. Doom 3 gave us real-time lighting. But what about RAGE? A good engine, no doubt, but it didn't really stand out the way Carmack's previous engines did.

So yeah, in terms of his association with Oculus Rift, I think it makes perfect sense. He's come to a point where he can't really stand out on a software level, but helping to develop this new hardware still gives him the chance to be a part of delivering an experience that was never thought possible. I really don't think he's in it for the money - I think he's in it for the ego. I think he misses the thrill of being the first, and he wants to try to recapture that.

[DooM_RO]

I think it's both good and bad.

On one hand, we don't know how future engines will turn out but on the other hand the games won't be constrained by technology anymore. Doom 3 had amazing graphics and the hardware relative to that time could certainly deliver a satisfactory experience but...not more. Simply put, the cramped corridors and darkness were a result of hardware limitations caused by his relentless push for tech

I can't wait to see his work on the Rift, I imagine Doom 4 is going to be one of the most refined Rift experiences considering he is working there now. Still, I'm rather sad he's gone now. Hope we'll still get to see him at Quakecon.

[Sgt_BFG]

I imagine this would affect the development of Doom 4 very little, the engine is complete and they've been using it a while, Carmack can keep on revolutionising and hopefully iD will release Doom 4 some time this decade.

[Caffeine Freak]

Some of you people should seriously consider working for a celeb gossip magazine.

[Netherstorm]

I wish the best of luck to him .

I wonder what this means for Doom 4 now.

[Doom_Dude]

Good for Carmack on there. At least he gets to do something he enjoys.

As for Doom 4, I wouldn't mind playing that sometime before the sun goes boom.

[Hellbent]

New Oculus Rift cover shooter is so realistic, players warned not to lean on virtual objects

[DooM_RO]

Holy shit man, imagine Doom 4 with THAT! My gut tells me that D4 will be specially tailored with Oculus Rift in mind. Imagine a more refined version of this game, it could have the same impact as the original or Quake!

[Jodwin]

DooM_RO said:

My gut tells me that D4 will be specially tailored with Oculus Rift in mind.

Sure. If they'd want to make a multi-million game for a target audience of 100 people.

[SavageCorona]

Didn't BFG Edition already have Oculus Rift support hence why they have all these "3D effects" which are really just splitscreen showing the same thing?

[DooM_RO]

Jodwin said:

Sure. If they'd want to make a multi-million game for a target audience of 100 people.

Quake made people buy 3D accelerators, maybe Doom 4 will do the same with Oculus Rift.

[Avoozl]

I just hope that the software for such a device isn't restricted to any sort of drm and that there will be a way to make it work with older games by the users if the developers of such older games won't add support to their older games.

[DooM_RO]

There is already such socftware but I forgot its name. Check out mtbs3d.com

[SavageCorona]

I want there to be a source port of the old Dooms where you need Oculus Rift to run it. That would be awesome. (Except it would cost fucking $300)