Thread: Masters of Doom

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    Masters of Doom

    FYI, I just read the book Masters of Doom, by David Kushner. It was written in 2004 and chronicles the lives and careers of John Romero and John Carmack, creators of the Doom and Quake epic first person shooters.

    It was a good study in the contrasting personalities of the two and how they meshed to revolutionize the industry. I'd recommend it if you liked playing the games.

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    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by medievalelks View Post
    I'd recommend it if you liked playing the games.
    If I liked?
    Son, Doom is the game I played most in my life. Just 6 months ago I was playing I and II again. I own the boxset of I and II (not the expansion packs unfortunately) although the floopies don't work anymore. I've owned the expansion packs but lost them to the traditional borrow-it-and-never-see-it-again. I've built maps, tried mods, even got sacked because of it...

    I've read the book too a couple of years ago. Did find it a little romanticized sometimes. But certainly a good read even if one is not an aficionado. For one it describes in non programming way, the process of game planning, game development and the genius behind it. But is invaluable also as an essential read for anyone interested on gaming history.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mario F. View Post
    If I liked?
    Son, Doom is the game I played most in my life
    If that's true, you're a little young to be calling me "son"...

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    Supermassive black hole cboard_member's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by medievalelks View Post
    If that's true, you're a little young to be calling me "son"...
    Actually - and I don't know why - I've got Mario pegged as 30-40 (sorry if that's insulting ).

    I've read Masters of Doom, more than once actually since the first time I borrowed it from a friend back in 2005(ish), then bought it myself about a year ago. T'is a good read.
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    Quote Originally Posted by ahluka View Post
    Actually - and I don't know why - I've got Mario pegged as 30-40 (sorry if that's insulting ).
    Not insulting to me. I'm 42 in a month.

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    l'Anziano DavidP's Avatar
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    dang yall are old. haha.
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    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    I'm 39. Anyways, if I used to name my father "son", when I was lecturing him, I'll certainly call you son when I'm lecturing you. And you gotta catch me first if that offends you that much.

    EDIT: BTW, what do you mean by "If that's true, you're a little young to be calling me "son". We are obviously almost the same age... so what makes you think it's not possible for someone our age to have played Doom more than any other game before or after that?
    Last edited by Mario F.; 05-07-2008 at 12:07 PM.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mario F.
    We are obviously almost the same age... so what makes you think it's not possible for someone our age to have played Doom more than any other game before or after that?
    I think medievalelks misread "Doom is the game I played most in my life" to be "Doom is the game I played for most of my life", though you must have been very precocious to have been playing Doom when you were a baby or a toddler.
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    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Well, Doom was launched when I was 23. Looks like the perfect age to get addicted.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mario F. View Post
    I'm 39. Anyways, if I used to name my father "son", when I was lecturing him
    You...lectured your father?

    I'll certainly call you son when I'm lecturing you.
    If you say so.
    Last edited by medievalelks; 05-07-2008 at 01:27 PM.

  11. #11
    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Roll your eyes all you want, but I find it a little enervating, the fact you can't accept that as a simple innocuous expression to add some flavor to the argument. But to each his own. I'll remember to not get friendly with you next time.

    And yes, I used to lecture my father. When you get to 87 after an hard life of work to give your children the opportunities you never had, your mind is probably not your best asset. Then your children will be lecturing you on many issues; from telling you to take a bath, to insist on you to eat proper food and dress better. He never complained.

    It would have been meanwhile much more interesting to keep discussing the book. Something that is apparently ruined.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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    I read masters of doom, it was a good book.

    On a realistic note, I think that a lot has changed in the industry since then, so I wouldn't really get to pent up on expecting to make it big in such an unconventional way these days.
    I'm not immature, I'm refined in the opposite direction.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mario F. View Post
    Roll your eyes all you want, but I find it a little enervating, the fact you can't accept that as a simple innocuous expression to add some flavor to the argument. But to each his own. I'll remember to not get friendly with you next time.
    Sorry, didn't see a smiley, and have long since grown tired of the irreverent "Gen-X" crowd, especially on the internet.

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    (?<!re)tired Mario F.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BobMcGee123 View Post
    On a realistic note, I think that a lot has changed in the industry since then, so I wouldn't really get to pent up on expecting to make it big in such an unconventional way these days.
    I agree.

    I think it's still possible for someone to come up with something new and groundbreaking. And it's probably still a rule of thumb that 9 out of 10 times this will happen in some garage and not from within the industry.

    The problem however is that indeed it may be much harder these days to plant your foot inside the industry and compete with the million dollar companies. It's much easier to sell yourself and your work.

    The thing I find interesting about these two fellas, besides their geniuses, is how they were able to actually work together.
    Originally Posted by brewbuck:
    Reimplementing a large system in another language to get a 25% performance boost is nonsense. It would be cheaper to just get a computer which is 25% faster.

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    I havent read the book myself, but Doom was created by ID Software, but what has always thrown me is why did they make some of source code ( especially "Quake - Arena" ) open source? Surley, it opens itself up to some form of copyright, and if a budding coder implemented what they saw, there is nothing ID could do about it.
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