Editing Id Software (section)

== People ==
In 2003, the book ''[[Masters of Doom]]'' chronicled the development of id Software, concentrating on the personalities and interaction of John Carmack and John Romero. Below are the key people involved with id's success.

=== John Carmack ===
{{Main|John Carmack}}
Carmack's skill at [[3D computer graphics|3D]] [[computer programming|programming]] is widely recognized in the software industry and from its inception, he was id's [[lead programmer]]. On August 7, 2013, he joined [[Oculus VR]], a company developing [[virtual reality headset]]s, and left id Software on November 22, 2013.<ref name="carmack-leaves-id" />

=== John Romero ===
{{Main|John Romero}}
John Romero saw the horizontal scrolling demo ''Dangerous Dave in Copyright Infringement'' and immediately had the idea to form id Software on September 20, 1990.<ref>{{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=122}}</ref> Romero pioneered the game engine licensing business with his "id Summer Seminar" in 1991 where the Keen4 engine was licensed to Apogee for Biomenace.<ref>{{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=180}}</ref> John also worked closely with the DOOM community and was the face of id to its fans. One success of this engagement was the fan-made game ''Final DOOM'', published in 1996.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Final Doom |url=https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Final_Doom |url-status=live |access-date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026231911/https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Final_Doom |archive-date=October 26, 2021}}</ref> John also created the control scheme for the FPS, and the abstract level design style of DOOM that influenced many 3D games that came after it.<ref>{{Cite news |title=DOOM and the Level Design of John Romero: E1M1 |url=https://lajmillington.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/the-design-of-doom-e1m1/ |url-status=live |access-date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026231911/https://lajmillington.wordpress.com/2016/02/01/the-design-of-doom-e1m1/ |archive-date=October 26, 2021}}</ref> John added par times to Wolfenstein 3D, and then DOOM, which started the phenomenon of Speedrunning.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Coined: How speedrunning became an Olympic-level gaming competition |url=https://www.inverse.com/gaming/speedrun-meaning-definition-origin-gaming-coined |url-status=live |access-date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026231911/https://www.inverse.com/gaming/speedrun-meaning-definition-origin-gaming-coined |archive-date=October 26, 2021}}</ref> Romero wrote almost all the tools that enabled id Software and many others to develop games with id Software's technology.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Classic Tools Retrospective: John Romero talks about creating TEd, the tile editor that shipped over 30 games |url=https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/classic-tools-retrospective-john-romero-talks-about-creating-ted-the-tile-editor-that-shipped-over-30-games |url-status=live |access-date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026231911/https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/classic-tools-retrospective-john-romero-talks-about-creating-ted-the-tile-editor-that-shipped-over-30-games |archive-date=October 26, 2021}}</ref> Romero was forced to resign in 1996 after the release of ''[[Quake (video game)|Quake]]'', then later formed the company [[Ion Storm]]. There, he became infamous through the development of ''[[Daikatana]]'', which was received negatively from reviewers and gamers alike upon release. Afterward, Romero co-founded The Guildhall in Dallas, Texas,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Romero Bio at GDC |url=https://schedule.gdconf.com/speaker/romero-john/20267 |url-status=live |access-date=October 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211026231911/https://schedule.gdconf.com/speaker/romero-john/20267 |archive-date=October 26, 2021}}</ref> served as chairman of the CPL eSports league,<ref name="John Romero">[[John Romero]]</ref> created an MMORPG publisher and developer named Gazillion Entertainment,<ref name="John Romero" /> created a hit Facebook game named Ravenwood Fair that garnered 25 million monthly players in 2011,<ref>[[Ravenwood Fair]]</ref> and started Romero Games in Galway, Ireland in 2015.<ref>[[Romero Games]]</ref>

Both Tom Hall and John Romero have reputations as designers and idea men who have helped shape some of the key PC gaming titles of the 1990s.

=== Tom Hall ===
{{Main|Tom Hall}}
Tom Hall was forced to resign by id Software during the early days of ''Doom'' development, but not before he had some impact; for example, he was responsible for the inclusion of teleporters in the game. He was let go before the shareware release of ''Doom'' and then went to work for Apogee, developing ''[[Rise of the Triad]]'' with the "Developers of Incredible Power". When he finished work on that game, he found he was not compatible with the ''[[Prey (2006 video game)|Prey]]'' development team at Apogee, and therefore left to join his ex-id Software compatriot John Romero at [[Ion Storm]]. Hall has frequently commented that if he could obtain the rights to ''[[Commander Keen]]'', he would immediately develop another Keen title.

=== Sandy Petersen ===
{{Main|Sandy Petersen}}
Sandy Petersen was a level designer for 19 of the 27 levels in the original ''Doom'' title as well as 17 of the 32 levels of ''Doom II''. As a fan of [[H.P. Lovecraft]], his influence is apparent in the Lovecraftian feel of the monsters for ''Quake'', and he created ''Inferno'', the third "episode" of the first ''Doom''. He was forced to resign from id Software during the production of ''Quake II'' and most of his work was scrapped before the title was released.

=== American McGee ===
{{Main|American McGee}}
American McGee was a [[level designer]] for ''Doom II'', ''The Ultimate Doom'', ''Quake'', and ''Quake II''. He was asked to resign after the release of ''Quake II'', and he then moved to [[Electronic Arts]] where he gained industry notoriety with the development of his own game ''[[American McGee's Alice]]''. After leaving Electronic Arts, he became an independent entrepreneur and game developer. McGee headed the [[independent game development]] studio [[Spicy Horse]] in Shanghai, China from 2007 to 2016.