DOOM 3DO: Or How I Survived Hell - Burger Becky

After converting Wolfenstein 3D to the 3DO, Rebecca Heineman was asked to port DOOM for the 3DO, a game that was supposedly 90% complete. Listen to her tale of all the issues and problems that had to be overcome to get a game converted to a new platform in 10 weeks under intense pressure from multiple sources.
A presentation at Vintage Computer Festival West 2022
August 6, 2022 at The Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA

[@Crissaegrim-xv9cu]

As someone who studies software engineering and really struggles with it, i really respect programmers and understand how much of a pain it is. Specially considering the fact that she only had like 10 weeks or something, if that was me i would actually just give up lmao.

[@vcfederation]

Yes. She had incredible stamina, fortitude and intelligence to get it done. Not many people could or would have done the same.

[@scifyry]

For real, it took me two weeks just to build a basic game collection app in my Android class. I can't imagine refactoring an entire game for a different console.

[@dtbjason]

Had no idea she did Wolf3D for the 3DO! That port is soo underrated and amazing!

[@vcfederation]

We agree!

[@NostalgiaCassetteCity]

I'm pretty sure she did basically every port of that game. I know for sure she did the SNES port of it

[@user-zr6rs8ek6j]

Sometimes she (and other developers) concurred with Carmack himself for the ports. Heinemann got help by him in the last moment for this port.

[@kiss_my_axe4639]

She's so awesome. Glad she succeeded in this project. Doom is the greatest of all time

[@vcfederation]

She is a great programmer and a great speaker that has accomplished a lot of things in the vintage computer gaming realm.

[@KabelkowyJoe]

She is, saw her interview on Retro Man Cave recently and "fallen in love", thinking she was so awsome in her teens, and then i reed story ;) Worked with woman sharing simmilar story also one of smartest i ever meet.. for that reason. I can't be less cryptic (research). Hint she worked for Amazon and created unoficial group inside called Glamazon..

[@millenniumtree]

That's one of the most fascinating stories I have ever heard in game dev! Becky, you're an absolute LEGEND! And congrats on getting paid - a lesser being would have gotten scalped!scalped!

[@vcfederation]

Yes. She is really a wonderful story teller. And she has such wonderful stories too!

[@KyleHarrisonRedacted]

Been following Becky's work for many years, super respect everything she's done. Always fun to hear the story of 3DO and Doom lol

[@vcfederation]

Yes. She is a great person. I was so glad to meet her in person. We will definitely invite her back some day to our show!

[@papa_robot]

Who was the idiot at 35:35 saying that Jaguar has a 64 CPU.? ...oh, yeah. it was me :D

[@vcfederation]

LOL! A fun time for everyone. A great speaker in case!

[@papa_robot]

@@vcfederation In my discharge I never said CPU, I was referring to the 64 bit blitter chip. But for sure that's not even a full 32 bit system

[@EnriqueThedy]

Rebecca! thank you! it's ever a pleasure listen your amazing experience. I vote for much more of that!

[@vcfederation]

She is a great speaker and we will definitely invite her back for a show at some time in the future.

[@wonder2k19]

Came across "Burger Becky" quite a few years back just researching about Doom development. Wow, just a wealth of knowledge she has. Heineman, Carmack and Romero, inspirational people.

[@vcfederation]

Burger Becky is a real inspiration and has a great story!

[@jesus_t]

Honestly? Mother. She served pure charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent for managing to do a port for a console in less than 10 weeks, and slayed the programming runway Congratulations, my dear, youre the winner of our hearts and support, becky ❤

[@vcfederation]

She is really great!

[@Gorkab]

Truly awesome to hear her speak about 3DO in general, and great questions at the end too! Thanks for uploading!

[@vcfederation]

Our pleasure! Glad that you enjoyed it!

[@Trampelschrat]

It must be kind of frustrating, that the insane accomplishment of putting Doom on 3DO in ten weeks is overshadowed by it being one of the worst ports gameplay wise, while the music made by this clueless CEO's band is THE redeeming quality of that version.

[@vcfederation]

So true.

[@someonesusingmyname]

After hearing these stories for years it was great to hear the facts straight from Becky. She's such a badass. I wish I had one tenth of her skill and knowledge of code.

[@vcfederation]

Yes. I am amazed at her programming prowess as we well as her fortitude and intelligence in navigating the craziness of dealing with management, etc.

[@yatsey007]

Late to the party but what an amazing story to tell. Considering what became of the Art Data CEO,him being an absolute blag artist doesn't surprise me in the least. Tbf his soundtrack contribution was pretty badass and with more time the 3DO port could have been top tier. Hats off to Rebecca,working under that much pressure with amateurs could have ruined somebody less strong willed. An amazing developer and a great story teller,truly multi-talented.

[@vcfederation]

She was truly a strong and smart person to have survived those experiences!

[@max.zelinski]

Came here after watching Stop Skeletons From Fighting :) Becky you are amazing!

[@vcfederation]

She really is an amazing speaker!

[@pixelmentia]

So basically Doomguy should've been sent to Art Data HQ instead of Mars.

[@vcfederation]

Exactly!

[@phazonclash]

Mad respect for that woman, she's awesome, and that video was super interesting. I've read in the past on the story behind the infamous DOOM 3DO port, but hearing it from her directly is even better. As far as I'm concerned, she did great considering the time she was given to port it, the blehhh machine she was working with, etc. Good job Rebecca, you're the real deal

[@vcfederation]

Well said! The story that she told was very entertaining!

[@dylanherron3963]

Algorithms be praised, it seems my loooooooong steady journey into the foray of Demoscene, tracker music, LGR, Techmoan, Cathode Ray Dude, Tech Tangents, and other vintage tech outlets has led me here! What an awesome presentation. I'm only 30, but now as we live in the world of 8, 12, 16, 36-core processors and GPU's utilizing boards packed with 16gb of very fast VRAM, hearing about the intrinsic accomplishments and dedication of the people that made the scene what it is today is golden-age info that shouldn't be overlooked. It's so much more impressive to me to see the output that was squeezed out of 8 Mhz Processors (and less). The limitations of the time period did not stop the most prominent minds! Long live Cyrix and Texas Instruments! lol

[@vcfederation]

That's what makes vintage computers so special and keeps people reliving it and telling stories about it and still using these machines!

[@TheSimoc]

More than agree. Unfortunately that golden info is nowadays being overlooked all the time. Today's software industry has largely lost all their professionality, and more often than not, the "modern" software runs with awfully poor performance even on modern hardware due to horrible bloat.

[@dylanherron3963]

@@TheSimoc Everything is a fork of a fork of a fork of a front-end, with 2 compatibility layers in between so that nobody has to spend time learning anything when they can just write code and throw it into a conversion service.

[@FR4M3Sharma]

I'm 23 yo (at the time of writing this comment) and I love learning about how old school games came into play, when I learned how DOOM and Quake revolutionised the video gaming genre, I just couldn't stop learning about the people who worked on them overcoming the technological hurdles in insane ways. John Carmack, John Romero, Rebecca Hienneman, Randy Linden, Ken Silverman and Tim Sweeny are some of the people I'll always have upmost respect for.

[@ALM1GHTY.PEANUT]

Heard the Doom 3DO story from another of her videos and several others and it never gets old.

[@vcfederation]

The hallmark of a great speaker is that they are always entertaining no matter how many times they give a talk!

[@naverick22]

I looked up more about the Art Data Interactive CEO, only to find out that he is currently in jail.

[@vcfederation]

Wow! What did he do?

[@naverick22]

@@vcfederation Uhh to put it lightly, back in 2017 he used to run a kids music school but decided at two points to get a little too _engaged_ with the kids, and now he's set for jury trial next month.

[@blakegriplingph]

​@@naverick22 I asked Becky on her thoughts about Randy Scott's criminal activity and she said she hopes Randy would rot in jail. And it's sad and disgusting to note that on a recent Doom 3DO review video a number of users, mostly edgelord trolls, picked on Becky just because of her being transgender.

[@sperrin]

He's not in jail, he free. He was given a 3 years and 8 months sentence, but he had 'credit' for 2,496 days in custody and never went to jail as the 'credit' covered the sentence given.

[@zaphodbeeblebrox8184]

Just awesome! Thank you very much for sharing this :)

[@vcfederation]

She is one of the best storytellers!

[@johannharding8161]

Thank you very much for this great and inspiring video. I love it! Rebecca is pretty cool and a great speaker!

[@vcfederation]

You are very welcome! We love to have new and different speakers with great stories!

[@casedistorted]

This is amazing, So glad they recorded and uploaded this, It is really fascinating and I found out about it via stopskeletons Edit: I remember one person in my life that had a 3DO growing up. Of course he came from a rich family and grew up a rich kid, and I never saw it myself. I just remember like 11 years after the 3DO launched I had a boss at a place called Real Chili who told me he owned a 3DO when he was in high school. I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t know anyone who had actually bought one

[@vcfederation]

Glad that you liked the video!

[@kelownatechkid]

Awesome presentation!

[@vcfederation]

She always does a great presentation! Very polished speaker!

[@soyunbonus]

Of all the Doom ports, this one has a great story behind. Go Becky!

[@vcfederation]

We agree!

[@EastyyBlogspot]

If I had the money I would pay her to complete the game just to see how good it could be

[@vcfederation]

Yeah. It would be a great game!

[@JawkneeJay]

I live for stories like this.

[@vcfederation]

Great, entertaining stories!

[@Lyricaldeamin]

Becky is the best. Waiting on her to make a video explaining killing time pc /3do differences

[@vcfederation]

Glad that you liked her talk!

[@blakegriplingph]

I asked Becky on her say about Art Data's CEO and the criminal charges filed against him, and she said that Randy Scott deserved being condemned as a nonce if the accusations are proven true.

[@vcfederation]

Interesting.

[@sperrin]

He pleaded guilty in April of this year and was given a really stupidly low 3 year and 8 month sentence (one of the kids he sexually abused was only 5). However, he had 'credit' for 2,496 days in custody and that covered the punishment. So he's out and free.

[@ERIKPEREZ80]

Wow!!! this is a great history. Becky is a great speaker!!!

[@vcfederation]

Absolutely!

[@Joeyboots80]

Love Becky! Coding legend! She worked on many of my favorite games, nothing but respect!

[@vcfederation]

We love her too! Great speaker. We will have her come back again soon!

[@RetroPiero]

She's a Demon coder.

[@vcfederation]

Absolutely!

[@zuzukyd]

There must be a good reason to not have a mic for the questions at this event, but i cant think of a good one right now lol

[@vcfederation]

No volunteers available to run around with the microphone. We are a group of volunteers. We are not paid to do this. We rely on the available volunteers to do what we can. Are you offering to volunteer?

[@zuzukyd]

@@vcfederation thats..understandable. don’t even live in the same country but i definitely would😬. Great job on this events

[@20000lbs_of_Cheese]

Wonderful talk to listen to

[@vcfederation]

We are glad that you enjoyed it!

[@mopeybloke]

I wonder if Rebecca has done anything for the PlayStation 2.

[@vcfederation]

@mopeybloke: Very good question. I will ask her the next time that I speak with her.

[@vandammesque]

Some context: Track Playlist: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2SYoXyhatyZhM0 Walk-through: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKmVnGugp6iCi7c

[@vcfederation]

Thanks for sharing those links!

[@hottestmanevar]

Sounds like a typical gamedev process today with any major corporation involved

[@vcfederation]

That sounds like a terrible process!

[@teckno0641]

i want a job with this lady, she understands.

[@vcfederation]

She is great!

[@Hackinside]

Amazing piece of history information. She is a star.

[@vcfederation]

She is really an amazing speaker and I love to hear her stories!

[@steffennilsen2132]

This is quite the warstory

[@vcfederation]

That's for sure!

[@BryanWhite-zr5mq]

randy scott is pure evil

[@vcfederation]

LOL!

[@orangy57]

you'd think that after making doom in 10 weeks she'd at least be able to make some slides in 10 minutes. Might just be a weird venue setup

[@vcfederation]

@orangy57: She's more comfortable doing talks without slides. She has had a lot of experience so she doesn't need nor want them.

[@richardhobsonabreu3372]

Becky!!!Becker!!!! You are amazing

[@vcfederation]

She is a really great speaker with lots of great stories!

[@beeaaran9949]

Conference is from 2022 but yet manages to look like is from 1995. Amazing!

[@vcfederation]

Yes! After all it is a Vintage Computer Festival!

[@penvzila]

This is the first version of doom I ever played, and I didn't hate it at all.

[@vcfederation]

Cool!

[@ignaciofdz2824]

awesome 😮

[@vcfederation]

She really has an awesome story!

[@BX56_YT]

Talk aout Development Hell.

[@vcfederation]

Yeah. That's for sure!

[@jessestrobel2]

Cool shit. Rock on Becky

[@vcfederation]

We agree!

[@AMR-bf8nx]

A genious unknown, until now…

[@vcfederation]

Not well known before, but much more well known now!

[@dragonpjb]

I thought you could get Doom to run on a potato 🥔.

[@vcfederation]

LOL!

[@meanmole3212]

You can, on a potato from 2005 onward

[@kraftwerklover69]

@@meanmole3212 late 90s

[@meanmole3212]

@@kraftwerklover69 if 486 was considered potato, sure. 386 is stretching the word "run".

[@miketrav]

I totally get that. The game was rushed and totally sucks, but why would it be hard if they gave her some video clips to put that in the game?

[@vcfederation]

Yeah!

[@ProtoMan0451]

would massively increase the games filesize and 3DO video decoding sucked

[@user-zr6rs8ek6j]

Whats about Optidoom? The project resulting from the source code?

[@vcfederation]

You should send Burger Becky that question. I'm sure that she would be happy to answer it!

[@ropersonline]

Was there some technical reason the Mac version of Wolfenstein 3D only had like three sprite graphics per mob instead of like 8 as in the original? That made it so much more jerky when enemies turned, which made things much less seamlessly immersive. Also, the higher-rez graphics were nice enough, but why wasn't there at least an option to restore things to the original DOS graphics and sounds? I always felt respect for the seminal original game demanded that. With the Mac version as it turned out, I liked having the Mac version of the game and I did play it, but I didn't really love the port, and I hated the fact enemies comprised of fewer sprites.

[@RebeccaHeineman]

The codebase was based on the SNES version where all the side sprites were removed due to space reasons. I wanted to put that back but I wasn’t given the budget to have the new hi res enemy art created for enemies backsides, the shipped with the art as is

[@vcfederation]

The codebase was based on the SNES version where all the side sprites were removed due to space reasons. I wanted to put that back but I wasn’t given the budget to have the new hi res enemy art created for enemies backsides, the shipped with the art as is. So. No tech reason. Budget reason.

[@ropersonline]

@@RebeccaHeineman THANK YOU for answering that! So if I read that correctly, then a compatibility mode with _ye olde louuer-rez artuuork_ COULD HAVE featured all the partial-turn sprites, but perhaps shipping essentially a two-in-one version of the port probably also would have blown the budget. And I suppose we can blame the SNES port guys, because their ambition to go "more pixels = more better" created a trade-off that bumped against space constraints, which would ALSO have meant there would not have been space to additionally include all the lower-rez original art assets also: If there's not enough space for a few more hi-rez sprites, there's not enough space for a whole duplicate (albeit low-rez) set of sprites either. Honestly, as a (then-)gamer, I would have preferred the original sprites _(esse quam videri)_ both in the SNES port (which I however never owned) and the Mac port, but at least I understand now why the hi-rez assets lacked some sprites and why the original assets weren't included. Btw., new ports are STILL coming out in Current Year: ICYMI, James Howard recently released a CGA 8088 port of the game. Yes, really.

[@michaels.ramsey7803]

3DO was the shit yo!

[@vcfederation]

Yeah. It certainly was!

[@admiralAlfonso9001]

30:33 this time stamp is a bookmark

[@vcfederation]

I don't understand. You liked the question?

[@admiralAlfonso9001]

@@vcfederationI was going backwards to listen to a previous part and I set that time stamp so I could get back to where I was watching easily

[@admiralAlfonso9001]

Like a bookmark

[@user-jt5yb5fx9s]

ребекка ты красотка

[@vcfederation]

Она действительно!

[@vicbrother3570]

Doom Forever

[@vcfederation]

It was truly a fun game!

[@dmitrykim3096]

3do was a failed console anyway, so even if doom was optimized well - it wouldn't have sold much better

[@vcfederation]

@dmitrykim3096: Unfortunately you are correct.

[@nil0bject]

you really did not understand the macintosh platform at all

[@vcfederation]

How so?

[@BassGoesBoom1]

What is this thing?

[@vcfederation]

This is a talk by Burger Becky about her coding Doom for the 3DO. It was presented live at VCF West 2022.

[@user-jt5yb5fx9s]

какое отношение имеет эта женщина к doom на 3do его портировал билл а не ребекка совсем другой человек это самозванка

[@vcfederation]

Она создала Doom для 3DO. Она Бердж Бекки, a.k.a. Ребекка Хейнеман

[@user-jt5yb5fx9s]

doom портировал на 3do билл хайнеманн а создавал джон кармак и никакой ребекки тогда не было эта женщина самозванка пусть возьмет имя билл и постригется

[@okroshka7]

@@user-jt5yb5fx9s Билл и Ребекка Хейнеман, вроде как, один и тот же человек

[@user-jt5yb5fx9s]

а@@okroshka7​

[@dev.j255]

I'm pretty sure thats a man

[@vcfederation]

No. She is a woman. Look under the section for personal life: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Heineman

[@ChryslerLeBaro]

This woman is a programming god. No one can refute her knowledge. I can only wonder what she plays around with for giggles. Truly a monster with a keyboard!

[@vcfederation]

Incredible talent and incredible storytelling!

[@Paranomalous]

He sounds like Chris Chan lol

[@vcfederation]

She doesn't sound like Chris Chan at all.

[@Paranomalous]

@@vcfederation He actually kinda resembles Chris too.

[@Edward-bm7vw]

I mean they're probably both autistic to some degree

[@plaguis1391]

Much better spoken than Chris, I see what you mean though lol

[@Paranomalous]

@@plaguis1391 I said he sounds like chris, not he talks like Chris.

[@natalya_volochay]

so is this male, female or whatever this is?

[@vcfederation]

She is female who used to be male.

[@natalya_volochay]

@@vcfederation it means mentally ill person

[@GaliosUA]

@@vcfederation you cannot change your sex, mate. You're born with it.

[@gipgap4]

@@CCave-wj6xy male but fools like to fool themselves.

[@coderamen666]

She is a transgender woman. She is someone that was born male but took steps in her life to become more feminine in various ways and live as a woman. There is literally nothing wrong with this. It might confuse someone that is comfortable in their birth body, but it's none of your business.

[@Edward-bm7vw]

Hold up.... That's.. That's a dude

[@vcfederation]

Nope. Not any more. It's a chick.

[@Edward-bm7vw]

@@vcfederation Nope, I clocked it a mile away. Definitely a dude.