what the level designer of the first parts of Doom and Quake said

It was recently announced that John Romero’s autobiographical book will be adapted into two films at the same time. The first will be documentary, and the second will be fiction. We were introduced to the developer’s revelations Wolfenstein 3D and Quake, so we hasten to tell you about the most interesting moments of his life.

Romero’s fame peaked in the 90s, so not all modern players have heard his name. Let’s not forget that he, along with John Carmack and other guys from id Software, actually invented the mechanics of first-person shooters in their modern form back in 1992. It was then that the revolutionary Wolfenstein 3D. Then there were the first two parts of the series Doom, which took the genre to a new level and made it incredibly popular. And in 1996 we saw a fully three-dimensional one Earthquake.

After this, Romero left id Software and founded his own studio, Ion Storm. Granted, his next shooter called Daikatana was a disastrous failure. In the following years, John repeatedly took part in the development of various games, for example, he released a good strategy about gangsters Kingdom of sin. However, these projects remained little known to the general public.

Today, children and teenagers often play without serious restrictions from their parents. But in the 80s the situation was completely different. Young John in particular was not allowed to spend money on his favorite hobby. And when he encountered the arcade again, he was not allowed to complete the game. Someone grabbed him by the back of the head and pressed him against the screen with all his might, nearly cracking the screen. Romero was already prepared for a fight, but turned out to have been attacked by his own stepfather. As a soldier, he couldn’t stand it when John disobeyed orders.

It is curious that it was the stepfather who showed his stepson the capabilities of computers that were common at that time and used for military purposes. Romero had already read books on programming theory, but he had little practice. When the colleagues of John’s mother’s second husband saw what the man was capable of, they offered him a part-time job. As a result, he received his first money.

id Software acquired the rights to the Wolfenstein series for a ridiculous $5,000. The idea of ​​making a sequel to a classic Wolfenstein Castle in pseudo-3D space was loved by all employees. In the beginning there were many levels with an emphasis on secret passage. It was even possible to hide corpses so as not to cause alarm. However, such moments put a lot of strain on the engine, causing the game’s performance to drop noticeably. And during tests, Romero noticed that quietly eliminating Nazis was much more boring than shooting at them with a machine gun. As a result, it was decided to make Wolfenstein 3D a pure shooter.

John Carmack created technologies unique to his time, and Romero found applications for them. He is responsible for the stunning location design of the first two parts Fate. Each level is handcrafted and designed to surprise players. This effect works even today.

For the soundtrack, John suggested using heavy metal, which he was into at the time. It fit perfectly with Doom’s energetic gameplay with its endless demon shooting.

While creating the cover for the game, Romero found it difficult to explain to the model what pose the main character should adopt to make him look like an action hero. In the end, John couldn’t stand it and showed everything himself. It was his photo that became the basis for the colorful art that appeared on the cover of the game.

Doom was a revolutionary game in many ways. For example, the classic multiplayer appeared, where players shot at each other. Romero called it deathmatch. Together with his colleagues, he spent nights fighting on multiplayer maps. According to him, in this way the developers sought balance and eliminated possible shortcomings. But many people felt that John was just playing around instead of doing business. Carmack, for example, shared this view. When Romero left the team, id Software stopped hosting online battles during business hours.

id Software executives spent time playing the Dungeons & Dragons board game. The game, which lasted several months, gave them the idea that they should develop their own RPG, based on the main character’s battles with various monsters. And the main villain would be a particularly strong warrior known as Quake (translated from English as “Quake”).

However, work on the new 3D engine took longer than expected. While Carmack was writing the code, the rest of the developers toiled at first in idleness, then recreated the same levels several times depending on the current version of the application. As a result, when the technologies were ready, the team did not have the time and energy to create a full-fledged action role-playing game. We decided to release another first-person shooter.

This news upset Romero. He completed his work and rethought the design of many of Quake’s levels. But the man was disappointed and thought about leaving id Software. By then, however, Carmack also decided that the team would be better off without him. As a result, the hero of our article left the studio. Years later, both Johns admitted that they got excited and made a mistake. This conflict could have been resolved peacefully.

After founding his own studio, Ion Storm, Romero acted like a real rock star. He liked to give interviews, drive luxury cars and hire girls with the looks of top models as personal secretaries. The office was located in a luxurious penthouse of the Chase Tower skyscraper and the floor was covered in Italian marble. According to John, the decision to locate the studio in such an expensive place and equip it in the highest class was not his, but the publisher Eidos, who was then concerned about his own status. Frankly, this statement sounds questionable. Such luxury apartments fully correspond to the character and appetite of Romero, who was then at the height of his fame.

In the mid-1990s, shooter fans idolized Romero. At exhibitions you could see a photo: players kneel and literally pray to John. Of course, such an action can be considered a joke. But Mike Wilson, who acted as Daikatana’s PR manager, suggested tapping into fans’ attitudes. The phrase “John Romero is about to make you his bitch” was chosen as the tagline for the game. The hero of our article did not immediately like this idea, but he trusted Mike, which he later regretted. They clearly went too far and irritated the players. The slogan sounded especially absurd given the quality of Daikatana itself.

Daikatana is rightly considered one of the gaming industry’s biggest failures. It required huge investments for that time, cost four years of people’s lives, passed from one engine to another and ultimately proved to be of no use to anyone. The shortcomings are obvious: annoying flying enemies, weak artificial intelligence of allies and the end of the game after the death of a partner. All this was corrected years later with the help of fan patches. But in 2000, shooter fans decided to pay attention to other projects, for example, Quake 3: Arena, on which Carmack worked.

According to Romero, it is a miracle that Daikatana entered the market at all. His team consisted mainly of mudders whose creations John liked. Many of them could not work in a team. They spent a lot of time relaxing, watching movies together and fighting online. Moreover, leaders did not prevent such behavior, but encouraged it.

But soon the trouble started. More experienced employees began to make decisions that irritated the authors of custom adaptations. John could influence this situation: take one side and try to calm the others. But he didn’t. Romero retreated and hoped the situation would resolve itself. The result makes sense: people left Ion Storm one after another. In July 2001, John himself left, after which the studio was closed.

In late 1997, with Ion Storm doing well, the decision was made to open a second location in Austin. Romero hired Warren Spector, known for the early parts of System Shock and Thief. John invited him to create the game of his dreams and gave him complete creative freedom and unlimited funding. Warren wisely took advantage of this opportunity and released the most important masterpiece of his career. Of course we’re talking about Deus Ex, an unusual hybrid of shooter and RPG. Today it is considered one of the best works in the cyberpunk genre.

In his book, John blames himself for his vision problems. Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 and Daikatana, but is proud of having created it Anachronox and Deus Ex. The second game was received after a while a direct sequel and two prequels. Is it true, Human revolution and Mankind Divided was developed by completely different people.

Of course, here we have discussed only the brightest moments in John’s life. If you want details, you’ll have to read his autobiography in person. Please note: it is written in a cheerful, lively language, so you can read it in one sitting.

Are you going to watch movies about Romero’s life? Or are you interested in the fate of other developers? We’re waiting for your thoughts in the comments!