Looking in the mirror I sometimes see a decent, upstanding, mildly stylish and independent/responsible guy. While and after reading David Kushner’s Masters of Doom, a work chronicling the early careers of John Romero and John Carmack, I saw the zombie of a gamer creep out. Having a basic familiarity with some aspects of this saga from being wonderful MMO friends with a Daikatana-era Ion Storm insider made the new perspective all the more enchanting.
Book Report
The Johns had very similar backgrounds: broken families, rejects at school, and an unfettered love for gaming. Most notably they were the best at what they did, programming, and looked down on everyone else who tried but couldn’t compete. From their meeting at Softdisk until the untimely breakup, as lots of people have observed, some of the greatest strides in technical computing were made because of their seismic and magnetic genius. The demise of Romero post-Quake as told through the Ion Storm story and the dwindling of Carmack’s ambition in the face of id becoming rather crowded and corporate were sad, but the happiness that seemed to follow for them both cleared that up.
Plenty of moments that I learned of, like this one, were great.
Romero v Carmack
Clearly, the more technically gifted Carmack probably wins more votes than the brash, arrogant Romero. Upon pondering whether it could have all happened without Romero, though, I think he was just as important and contributed just as much to his success in the beginning.
Never Learned Programming
After reading Rand and seeing the role of things like wood, steel, and electricity played in innovation during the last century, I really strongly believe that programming is the new, almost exclusive tool for innovation today. Not learning this crucial skill has kept me from getting many great jobs (game industry, finance) and is very disappointing.
Rage
Without a doubt, John Carmack is one of the most deft engine programmers ever. Seeing some coverage of his newest project, Rage, excites me oodles and can hopefully reproduce that wonderful, visceral experience that old id games are known for. I’m keeping news-scouring about it to a minimum so I don’t even know if it has multiplayer or anything, but if you’re as excited as I am let me know.
Homo sapiens, or homo ludens?