Editing Id Software (section)

=== Formation ===
The founders of id Software – [[John Carmack]], [[John Romero]], and [[Tom Hall]] – met in the offices of [[Softdisk]] based in [[Shreveport, Louisiana]], developing multiple games for Softdisk's monthly publishing, including ''[[Dangerous Dave]]''. Along with another Softdisk employee, Lane Roathe, they had formed a small group they called Ideas from the Deep (IFD), a name that Romero and Roathe had come up with.<ref name="gspy origins" /> In September 1990, Carmack developed [[adaptive tile refresh|an efficient way to rapidly side-scroll graphics]] on the [[IBM PC compatible|PC]]. Upon making this breakthrough, Carmack and Hall stayed up late into the night making a replica of the first level of the popular 1988 [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]] game ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'', inserting stock graphics of Romero's Dangerous Dave character in lieu of Mario. When Romero saw the [[game demo|demo]], entitled ''Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement'', he realized that Carmack's breakthrough could have potential. The IFD team moonlighted over a week and over two weekends to create a larger demo of their PC version of ''Super Mario Bros. 3''. They sent their work to [[Nintendo]]. According to Romero, Nintendo had told them that the demo was impressive, but "they didn't want their intellectual property on anything but their own hardware, so they told us Good Job and You Can't Do This".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Frank |first=Allegra |date=December 14, 2015 |title=Doom dev shares rare Super Mario Bros. 3 PC demo |url=https://www.polygon.com/2015/12/14/10123754/john-romero-super-mario-bros-3-pc-demo |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713212017/https://www.polygon.com/2015/12/14/10123754/john-romero-super-mario-bros-3-pc-demo |archive-date=July 13, 2021 |access-date=July 13, 2021 |website=[[Polygon (website)|Polygon]]}}</ref> While the pair had not readily shared the demo though acknowledged its existence in the years since, a working copy of the demo was discovered in July 2021 and preserved at the [[Museum of Play]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gurwin |first=Gabe |date=July 13, 2021 |title=Id Software's Super Mario Bros. 3 PC Port Found In The Wild |url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/id-softwares-super-mario-bros-3-pc-port-found-in-the-wild/1100-6493889/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713200251/https://www.gamespot.com/articles/id-softwares-super-mario-bros-3-pc-port-found-in-the-wild/1100-6493889/ |archive-date=July 13, 2021 |access-date=July 13, 2021 |website=[[GameSpot]]}}</ref>

Around the same time in 1990, [[Scott Miller (programmer)|Scott Miller]] of [[3D Realms|Apogee Software]] learned of the group and their exceptional talent, having played one of Romero's Softdisk games, ''Dangerous Dave'', and contacted Romero under the guise of multiple fan letters that Romero came to realize all originated from the same address.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 15, 2006 |title=Interview with John Romero |url=https://legacy.3drealms.com/news/2006/05/the_apogee_legacy_19.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110121949/http://legacy.3drealms.com/news/2006/05/the_apogee_legacy_19.html |archive-date=November 10, 2014 |access-date=July 12, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=August 21, 2009 |title=20 Years of Evolution: Scott Miller and 3D Realms |url=http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4112/20_years_of_evolution_scott_.php |url-status=dead |website=[[Gamasutra]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808123226/http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4112/20_years_of_evolution_scott_.php |archive-date=August 8, 2013 |access-date=July 12, 2010|author-last1=Edwards|author-first1=Benj}}</ref> When he confronted Miller, Miller explained that the deception was necessary since Softdisk screened letters it received. Although disappointed by not actually having received mail from multiple fans, Romero and other Softdisk developers began proposing ideas to Miller. One of these was ''[[Commander Keen]]'', a side-scrolling game that incorporated the previous work they had done on the ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' demonstration.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Orland |first=Kyle |date=July 13, 2021 |title=Museum obtains rare demo of id Software's Super Mario Bros. 3 PC port |url=https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/07/museum-obtains-rare-demo-of-id-softwares-super-mario-bros-3-pc-port/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713220727/https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2021/07/museum-obtains-rare-demo-of-id-softwares-super-mario-bros-3-pc-port/ |archive-date=July 13, 2021 |access-date=July 13, 2021 |website=[[Ars Technica]]}}</ref> The first ''Commander Keen'' game, ''[[Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons]]'', was released through Apogee in December 1990, which became a very successful [[shareware]] game. After their first royalty check, Romero, Carmack, and [[Adrian Carmack]] (no relation) decided to start their own company.<ref name="NGen30">{{Cite magazine |date=June 1997 |title=Does John Romero Still Enjoy Shooting People? |url=https://archive.org/stream/NextGeneration30Jun1997/Next_Generation_30_Jun_1997#page/n9 |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |issue=30 |pages=8–12}}</ref> After hiring Hall, the group finished the ''Commander Keen'' series, then hired Jay Wilbur and [[Kevin Cloud]] and began working on ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]''.{{r|lombardi199407}} id Software was officially founded by Romero, John and Adrian Carmack and Hall on February 1, 1991. The name "id" came out of their previous IFD; Roathe had left the group, and they opted to drop the "F" to leave "id". They initially used "id" as an initialism for "In Demand", but by the time of the fourth ''Commander Keen'' game, they opted to let "id" stand out "as a cool word", according to Romero.<ref name="gspy origins">{{Cite web |last=Keefer |first=John |date=March 31, 2006 |title=GameSpy Retro: Developer Origins, Page 15 of 19 |url=http://www.gamespy.com/articles/697/697083p15.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609133106/http://www.gamespy.com/articles/697/697083p15.html |archive-date=June 9, 2007 |website=[[GameSpy]]}}</ref> In September 1991, they relocated to [[Madison, Wisconsin]].<ref name="mastersdoom pg 87">{{Cite book |last=Kushner |first=David |author-link=David Kushner (writer)|title=Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created An Empire And Transformed Pop Culture |title-link=Masters of Doom |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=2003 |isbn=0-375-50524-5 |page=87}}</ref> Later on April 1, 1992, they relocated to an office in [[Mesquite, Texas]].<ref name="mastersdoom pg 105">{{Cite book |last=Kushner |first=David |author-link=David Kushner (writer)|title=Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created An Empire And Transformed Pop Culture |title-link=Masters of Doom |publisher=[[Random House]] |year=2003 |isbn=0-375-50524-5 |page=105}}</ref>

The shareware distribution method was initially employed by id Software through Apogee Software to sell their products, such as the ''Commander Keen'', ''Wolfenstein'' and ''Doom'' games.<ref name=NGen30/> They would release the first part of their trilogy as shareware, then sell the other two installments by [[mail order]]. Only later (about the time of the release of ''Doom II'') did id Software release their games via more traditional shrink-wrapped boxes in stores (through other [[video game publisher|game publishers]]).

After ''Wolfenstein 3D''{{'}}s great success, id began working on ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]''. After Hall left the company, [[Sandy Petersen]] and [[Dave Taylor (game programmer)|Dave Taylor]] were hired before the release of ''Doom'' in December 1993.{{r|lombardi199407}}