A Visit To ID Software - Video from 1993

[dg93]

I don't know if this has been posted on the forums, but this is a cool home video of the guys at ID Software from 1993. From 9:34 they show an early version of DOOM E1M1.

[Waffenak]

doomguy93 said:

I don't know if this has been posted on the forums, but this is a cool home video of the guys at ID Software from 1993. From 9:34 they show an early version of DOOM E1M1.

It has been but I never get tired watching this, ah the old school game developing without corporations breathing down someone's neck

[dg93]

Waffenak said:

It has been but I never get tired watching this, ah the old school game developing without corporations breathing down someone's neck

Crap, I really hope Bloodshedder doesn't lock this thread lol. I love watching this video too. It's cool to see how laid back ID's office environment was like at the time. I sometimes wish they weren't owned by Bethesda.

[Avoozl]

I always wish they weren't owned by Bethesda. :P

[dg93]

Avoozl said:

I always wish they weren't owned by Bethesda. :P

lol agreed. Poor ID Software :(

[Patrol1985]

doomguy93 said:

lol agreed. Poor ID Software :(

Sadly, it's the necessity of the times. You can't expect to be a small studio and release a top-notch game anymore.

Regarding the video, who's filming? Is it Tom Hall?

[dg93]

Patrol1985 said:

Sadly, it's the necessity of the times. You can't expect to be a small studio and release a top-notch game anymore.

Regarding the video, who's filming? Is it Tom Hall?

It is sad to say that game developers require the assistence of companies like Bethesda or Activision to promote/fund their games.

I think Dan Linton recorded the video.

[Enjay]

All depends what is meant by a "top-notch" game. Flashy, next-gen is not the same as good. It's not even necessarily the same as successful (financially or otherwise).

[DooM_RO]

Avoozl said:

I always wish they weren't owned by Bethesda. :P

Bethesda is exactly what Id needed. They need a slap on the wrist for all those mismanagement issues. Bethesda was responsible for cancelling COD Doom and I fail to see how that wasn't a good thing.

[Gez]

That video even has a wiki article.

Avoozl said:

I always wish they weren't owned by Bethesda. :P

Good thing that they aren't, then!


(They're owned by ZeniMax.)

[EvilNed]

E1M3 has the music track for Map 18 of Doom 2 in that video c

[MFG38]

Damn, I love nostalgia trips.

[Enjay]

I dunno. They're not what they used to be. ;)

[EvilNed]

Note to self: Finish NJDoom.wad...

Thanks for the reminder (by your presence alone), Enjay.

[Patrol1985]

Enjay said:

All depends what is meant by a "top-notch" game. Flashy, next-gen is not the same as good. It's not even necessarily the same as successful (financially or otherwise).

It isn't "the same" for sure, but advanced graphics certainly help. Doom was the epitome of 3D graphics when it came out. Sure, the gameplay was awesome, the features were abundant and innovative, but the fact that the graphics looked as good as it possibly could certainly helped. Not much has changed in this regard.

And yes, financial success IS what matters most for game developers. It's hardly a surprise, that's what they do for a living. And if you want to succeed financially within the FPS market nowadays, you have to make a game which will challenge CoD / BF / whatever is popular among people nowadays, also on the field of graphics.

[Enjay]

Depends. Minecraft, for example, would probably not have been described as "top-notch" (no pun intended) by many people before it went viral but no one can reasonably argue that it wasn't financially successful. That's the kind of thing that I had in mind. i.e. it is possible to make a game that wouldn't be described by many as "top-notch" (where the definition usually comes down to it being an AAA title) but a game can still be good, fun and financially successful ("top-notch" by other measures) despite that.

Honestly, if the big AAA game studios all folded and thereby stopped chasing mega $ that they only need to chase because they already spent mega $ on making the game in the first place things might actually be more fun for everyone.

Maybe.

However, I accept that I was perhaps taking a meaning from "top-notch" that you hadn't specifically intended.

[Ledillman]

I love those old school videos from ID software, I was also reading Masters of Doom, it's nice to know about ID's history :-P

[Patrol1985]

Enjay said:

Depends. Minecraft, for example, would probably not have been described as "top-notch" (no pun intended) by many people before it went viral but no one can reasonably argue that it wasn't financially successful.

You're correct, but Minecraft's success stems purely from CONCEPT. It's a game about building a world - that in itself was very innovative. Doom cannot really rely on new concepts, because it's an FPS... and actually that's what I (as a potential buyer) WANT it to be - an FPS. Unless there are things that could still revolutionize this genre, but I doubt it.

Besides, wasn't Minecraft free to play at first? That in itself is a very good method of promoting a game, but AAA games cannot really use it. Too many people worked too hard and too much money has been invested to release such stuff "for free".

Also, it's a "hit or miss" really. Minecraft became a product for which you have to pay and people accepted it. Quake Live introduced "premium accounts" which have access to content previously available to everyone and bashing of this idea lasts to this day.

[dg93]

Ledillman said:

I love those old school videos from ID software, I was also reading Masters of Doom, it's nice to know about ID's history :-P

I'm eager to read Master's of Doom. One day I will get my hands on a copy of it :)

[Gez]

Patrol1985 said:

Besides, wasn't Minecraft free to play at first?

No, it's just that it was cheaper back when it was in beta.

[Patrol1985]

doomguy93 said:

I'm eager to read Master's of Doom. One day I will get my hands on a copy of it :)

I've recently ordered mine. Still have to pick it up from the post office :D

Gez said:

No, it's just that it was cheaper back when it was in beta.

It's true that there is a world of difference between "cheap" and "free", but big productions cannot even afford "sell it cheap for some time" method, so that's not how Doom will gain popularity anyway... even though it originally did with the whole shareware distribution model :D

[Tango]

Gez said:

No, it's just that it was cheaper back when it was in beta.

I thought it was actually free in its alpha stages?

[marver0PS]

Tango said:

I thought it was actually free in its alpha stages?

It was just cheaper than the beta.Only very earlier versions of the game were free.