Masters of Doom
Encyclopedia
Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture is a book by David Kushner
about id Software
and its influence on popular culture, focusing chiefly on John D. Carmack and John Romero
.
in 1989 and the eventual founding of their own company, id Software. It discusses in detail the company's first successes, the popular and groundbreaking Commander Keen
and Wolfenstein 3D
games, as well as the new heights the company reached with Doom, which granted the company unprecedented success, fame and notoriety. It also discusses id's next project, Quake, as well as the aftermath of Romero's departure from the company and his founding – and the eventual collapse – of Ion Storm
, his new game development studio. Kushner also describes the new gamer culture created by Doom and its impact on society.
While the games themselves are discussed in detail, Kushner's main focus is in the work dynamic and personalities that enabled their creation. He describes Carmack and Romero as the driving forces of id Software, but with very different personalities: Romero is presented as having unbridled creativity and considerable skill, but he loses focus when the spectacular success of the games allows him to adopt a rock star-like public persona. Carmack, on the other hand, is depicted as an introvert, whose unparalleled programming skills are the backbone of id Software, enabling the company to create extremely sophisticated games. However, he has little interest in – or even understanding of – the social niceties that enable people to enjoy working together.
Much of the book concentrates on this dynamic. While the two men initially complement each other well, eventually conflicts develop, leading Romero to be fired from the company. Carmack, the skilled creator of the complicated and fast game engine
s the company's products use, is repeatedly referred to as the only person in the company who isn't expendable, and this gives him a great degree of authority and influence. However, this influence transforms id Software into a considerably less pleasant and fun place to work and causes the company's games to become increasingly repetitive, despite their technological sophistication. Romero is on the opposite end of the spectrum; his Ion Storm is intended to be a very fun place to work, where "[game] design is law" (Ion Storm's slogan was "Design is Law") and that technology must be created to realize the designer's vision, instead of the other way around. However, his lack of management and organizational focus leads to poor and financially disastrous results.
Although Kushner adopts a novel-like narrative, Masters of Doom is a work of journalism
. According to Kushner's notes in the book, it is based on hundreds of interviews conducted over a six-year period. Kushner was an early entrant into the field of video-game journalism, and recycled some of his own original reporting in the book.
A film based on this book is currently in development.
sued publishing giant Random House Inc. on May 10, 2005, over the book's claim that Wilson had inappropriately used company funds. David Anderson, a University of Texas School of Law professor who specializes in torts and mass communications law, said the standard of proof in defamation suits such as Wilson's hinges on whether the plaintiff is considered a public figure. "The burden is on Wilson to show the statement is false, Anderson says. It's not enough for a plaintiff to show a statement is technically wrong."
David Kushner
David Kushner is a writer who has contributed to publications including Wired, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, IEEE Spectrum and Salon. From 1994 to 1996 he worked as a senior producer and writer on the SonicNet website. The first edition of his non-fiction book, Masters of Doom, was published...
about id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
and its influence on popular culture, focusing chiefly on John D. Carmack and John Romero
John Romero
Alfonso John Romero is a game designer, programmer, and developer in the video game industry. He is best known as a co-founder of id Software and was a designer for many of their games, including Wolfenstein 3D, Dangerous Dave, Doom and Quake...
.
Content
The book describes the "Two Johns'" respective childhoods, their first meeting at SoftdiskSoftdisk (disk magazine)
Softdisk , originally Softdisk Magazette, was a disk magazine for the Apple II computer line, published from 1981 through 1995. It was the first publication of the company that was also known as Softdisk, which would go on to publish disk magazines for other systems, other software, and later be...
in 1989 and the eventual founding of their own company, id Software. It discusses in detail the company's first successes, the popular and groundbreaking Commander Keen
Commander Keen
Commander Keen is a series of video games developed by id Software in the early 1990s. The series focuses on the adventures of Billy Blaze, an 8-year old boy who travels through space and assumes the identity "Commander Keen". The series was successful at replicating the side-scrolling action of...
and Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D is a video game that is generally regarded by critics and gaming journalists as having both popularized the first-person shooter genre on the PC and created the basic archetype upon which all subsequent games of the same genre would be built. It was created by id Software and...
games, as well as the new heights the company reached with Doom, which granted the company unprecedented success, fame and notoriety. It also discusses id's next project, Quake, as well as the aftermath of Romero's departure from the company and his founding – and the eventual collapse – of Ion Storm
Ion storm
Ion storm may refer to:* Ion Storm, a defunct games software company.* An interplanetary coronal mass ejection , a disruption of the fast and slow solar winds, often called "ion storm", "solar storm" or "space storm"...
, his new game development studio. Kushner also describes the new gamer culture created by Doom and its impact on society.
While the games themselves are discussed in detail, Kushner's main focus is in the work dynamic and personalities that enabled their creation. He describes Carmack and Romero as the driving forces of id Software, but with very different personalities: Romero is presented as having unbridled creativity and considerable skill, but he loses focus when the spectacular success of the games allows him to adopt a rock star-like public persona. Carmack, on the other hand, is depicted as an introvert, whose unparalleled programming skills are the backbone of id Software, enabling the company to create extremely sophisticated games. However, he has little interest in – or even understanding of – the social niceties that enable people to enjoy working together.
Much of the book concentrates on this dynamic. While the two men initially complement each other well, eventually conflicts develop, leading Romero to be fired from the company. Carmack, the skilled creator of the complicated and fast game engine
Game engine
A game engine is a system designed for the creation and development of video games. There are many game engines that are designed to work on video game consoles and personal computers...
s the company's products use, is repeatedly referred to as the only person in the company who isn't expendable, and this gives him a great degree of authority and influence. However, this influence transforms id Software into a considerably less pleasant and fun place to work and causes the company's games to become increasingly repetitive, despite their technological sophistication. Romero is on the opposite end of the spectrum; his Ion Storm is intended to be a very fun place to work, where "[game] design is law" (Ion Storm's slogan was "Design is Law") and that technology must be created to realize the designer's vision, instead of the other way around. However, his lack of management and organizational focus leads to poor and financially disastrous results.
Although Kushner adopts a novel-like narrative, Masters of Doom is a work of journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
. According to Kushner's notes in the book, it is based on hundreds of interviews conducted over a six-year period. Kushner was an early entrant into the field of video-game journalism, and recycled some of his own original reporting in the book.
A film based on this book is currently in development.
Controversy
Michael WilsonMike Wilson (CEO)
Mike Wilson, aka Michael S. Wilson as a , has been a computer and video game executive since 1995, when he worked at DWANGO as VP of Development for 6 months before being hired by id Software to handle marketing and start up their own self-publishing....
sued publishing giant Random House Inc. on May 10, 2005, over the book's claim that Wilson had inappropriately used company funds. David Anderson, a University of Texas School of Law professor who specializes in torts and mass communications law, said the standard of proof in defamation suits such as Wilson's hinges on whether the plaintiff is considered a public figure. "The burden is on Wilson to show the statement is false, Anderson says. It's not enough for a plaintiff to show a statement is technically wrong."