The Early Days of Id Software - John Romero @ WeAreDevelopers Conference 2017

Visit the largest developers congress in Europe: WeAreDevelopers World Congress, 16 - 18 May 2018 in Vienna, Austria.
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As co-founders of id Software, John Romero and John Carmack created the code behind the company’s seminal titles. The principles they defined through experience in id’s earliest days built upon one another to produce a unique methodology and a constantly shippable codebase. In this talk, John Romero discusses id software’s early days, these programming principles and the events and games that led to their creation.
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[@wolfgangfrost8043]

A lot of people on here are saying he's stuck in the past, but Romero already made his mark on the world. If he just wants to talk about the good old days, I'm happy to hear him.

[@okerror1451]

dude is absolutely awesome, and they were inventing many of the development principles purely organically. They were able to do that because they had so much trust and safety, to speak honestly and pitch ideas with each other. Thats what we get from Psychological Safety (as it is coined these days)

[@simokav6130]

Exactly love his input and presence

[@good6894]

I see no one saying that lol

[@StrangeDaysGaming]

"As soon as you see a bug, fix it. Do not continue." That's when the Bethesda staff got up and left

[@wanderer_from_the_farlands]

yes.

[@LiberatedMind1]

Lolz

[@mareksicinski3726]

some games are made better or improved by bugs (certain games like smash melee or sc bw), you can never fix 100% anywayf

[@emperorSbraz]

they tried to leave but their body stopped responding and went T-pose so it went really awkward.

[@robertharald4622]

@@mareksicinski3726 what bugs in bw do you mean? I only remember things that were not really intended from the beginning like muta stacking, but would that really fall under the category of bug?

[@itchin4scratches]

as fps gamers, we owe everything to the early days of id.

[@BaconSenpai]

The quake engine is not gone. Many of the newer call of duty games use a modified id tech engine, like Black ops 3 and infinite warfare.

[@tissue869]

I have to disagree. If not them, there would have been someone else to do it one way or another at some point.

[@hugogregs]

I miss the quality of games back in the day :( They just don't make them with the same amount of love anymore. All games now are just business models

[@WakizashiSabre]

@@hugogregs Agree, but it is because the enhancement of today's game. Years ago, one to five people were enough to make a game in few months. Now, it takes three to five years and two hundred people to make it possible. Sure, we get to your point, that the motivation of workers is not the same. But also thre releasing companies are much much more greedy... If they profit little less than "marketing plan" wishes, then studios are closed... Very sad time now... This greed could be applied to every part of the life and business.

[@daveb4564]

@@tissue869 You could say that for anything really. For example, you could say that even without Tesla, we would develop electricity as an energy source anyway at some point. Give credit where credit is due.

[@matpoliquin]

I am amazed of how productive ID Software was. Taking only 3 weeks to port a game to a console you never work on before is insane speed

[@KyleHarrisonRedacted]

"Go get Corona SDK" OH BOY JOHN, THE WORLD TOOK THAT ADVICE IT SURE DID 😂

[@LiberatedMind1]

He spoke Doom upon us all!

[@trapmouth]

Not a developer, just appreciate hearing visionaries speak about their craft. Thanks for this.

[@thanksfernuthin]

These presentations and Q&A's are so important! Imagine 50 years from now being able to look back at the Titans that started it all and hear about their experiences first hand. What a valuable resource!!!

[@antonnym214]

My late wife, Carol loved your games! She played Commander Keen and Duke Nukem for hours and hours. Thank you for all the fun times!

[@kiba3x]

I am shocked how bland the crowd is, I spot no gamers among them. To make games you don't have to be only programmer and designer, you need to be passionate gamer yourself. Romero shows what the atmosphere in every game development studio should be.

[@gamaverse]

LEGEND. When I was a teenager, I found Romero's ICQ number on the Internet and chatted with him for like several days. He didn't mind at all!

[@igorthelight]

That's great!

[@echoskelet]

@@igorthelight Yes it is :)

[@99Gara99]

That's cool af

[@rolux4853]

Oh boy how I Miss the times of icq!

[@natela6787]

Legend states that every time Romero touches his hair an angel gets its wings.

[@jobelthirty1294]

The dude asked Romero about the bug that bothered him the most, and he IMMEDIATELY launched into the story... you can just tell that bug fucked with him on a serious level

[@JediMastr80]

"As soon as you see a bug, you fix it. Do not continue on. If you don't fix your bugs, your new code will be built on a buggy codebase and ensure an unstable foundation." I hope EA, Bethesda, and Ubisoft are all listening to this and taking notes.

[@SpaceAce114]

EA here, Nah we're not

[@mikec.8604]

@@SpaceAce114 but heres some bad coded DLC :D

[@ChocolateHabanero22]

And Adobe....

[@MrZobiwan]

EA activision and Ubi are just full of shit. Boycott them

[@actionboy3221]

💯

[@mavhunter8753]

This is one of the greatest talks I've ever watched. I've re-watched this three times already.

[@_wearedevs]

Right!?

[@GameBoyyearsago]

@@_wearedevs yes

[@null11amorph]

Programmer or not, one can apply these principles to life in general. Beautiful and inspiring.

[@livardo]

In addition to all the legendary stuff this guy's done, you can tell he's an amazing programmer.

[@homoxymoronomatura]

I wonder if we can download from for example github some examples of hid code

[@rolux4853]

@@homoxymoronomaturagoogle for the source code of doom.

[@miguelbenitez5734]

Much respect to these old school legends...

[@ardcapture3D]

Drinking wine on stage - awesome!

[@tophan5146]

when?

[@oniximmo]

@@tophan5146 hell yeah! 30:20

[@sugarshow4941]

@@oniximmo virgin water vs chad wine

[@thewal1ofsleep]

John's hair is as glorious as ever.

[@RemiStardust]

40:29 Most valuable question and answer. Distractions destroy untold possibilities - it's only getting worse...

[@makedredd299]

KZbin and Social Media is a double edged sword. So much wasted time being sucked into them.

[@MikkoRantalainen]

When I was learning programming in 1995 I didn't have (direct) access to internet and I spend more time with trial and error. Stack Exchange is too good nowadays and it's easier to skip the thinking and simply search/ask to solve any simple problem. As a result, we're getting worse solving really hard problems because we no longer train solving easier problems every day. If solving simple problems is hard for you working alone, solving any hard problem is next to impossible with your skills.

[@bio2020]

I wasted my talent....

[@emilbrandwyne5747]

@@bio2020 you are the only one to put yourself in a state of past as long as you live. In other words: it is never too late to start doing something with your "talent"

[@bio2020]

@@emilbrandwyne5747 the fact you put talent in quotation marks makes me believe you think i don't have any. i agree with you. wishful thinking.

[@yeetasaurusrex1682]

This is the most dull audience ever. It's JOHN ROMERO!!! Dudes a rockstar of OG proportions.

[@alexsmith5606]

you comment would have made more sense in 1993)))

[@Argoon1981]

So good that the audience was quiet, i came here to listen to Romero not to listen to some random guys/gals scream like children and they applauded at the end.

[@dirface]

The dullest audience is the one that didn't bother to show up, but still feel entitled to throw shade.

[@kevinmiddleton8721]

Yawn. Give me John Carmack any day... 🥱

[@Vorteksio3]

@@kevinmiddleton8721 I prefer romero

[@AnKlMa]

I wish the Quake Champions developers would have considered these advices

[@Standbackforscience]

So much inspiration to be had. What a legend.

[@StefanLundmark]

Finally someone mentions Strife. It's a great game!

[@Novous]

It's on GOG!

[@yourgameisstupid]

Criminally underrated game.

[@jobelthirty1294]

Strife is fucking awesome.

[@SiGhast]

Yep, Strife is sweet as shit.

[@heebs9728]

Fuck yea love that game!!!

[@darthdonkulous1810]

Love hearing stories about the good times from legends like this!

[@pritch2002]

Great talk by a giant of gaming - massively enjoyed that and love that his favourite "bug" is the silent BFG trick...

[@endeckerBM]

That was fascinating. I could have listened for hours!

[@soursugar4867]

john needs to write an audiobook

[@PeterCooperUK]

I know you're not meant to feign surprise, but I am *genuinely* surprised no-one had heard of Michael Abrash! :-)

[@fredericvergez]

Absolutely. This guy is awesome. His sessions on Dr Dobbs were my first contact with 3D programming

[@Hammid]

Room full of clueless, millennial hipsters.

[@inceptional]

I heard about him only after Oculus/Rift became a thing and he did some talks at Valve and the eventually moved to Oculus--but now I have about as much respect for him as any guy in the tech industry.

[@dariusfarrel3228]

Yeah, Isnt Michael Abrash the guy that worked at ID software to make Quake, And is the guy that inspired Gabe Newell to make Half Life and Valve ( the company )?

[@OldManRico]

Ahead of their time in more ways than one. Dev teams have finally caught up to id's development principles from nearly three decades ago. :D

[@NoviTheProvi]

His nails are on point.

[@EyesOfByes]

27:10 This was the best layman description of *optimization* I've ever heard!

[@ibapreppie]

id Software was my childhood, every game he mentioned, anyone play that? I was. I had and still play every one of those games he mentioned. BTW, Strife was amazing.

[@prickardo]

Thank you, John!

[@bambicandi6488]

Man... Heretic was my favorite game after Quake...!

[@h.palternativeproduction3514]

Bambi Candi Damn you’re gonna love Amid Evil

[@MegaMajorHavoc]

28:55 - We were playing Terminator Future Shock with Mouselook a year earlier in 1995

[@MetalHorrorGamer]

another Great Video with John Romero. shame the audience was kind of lame for the most part.

[@MrZorro3250]

great to hear this great software pioneer ,

[@citizengoose1342]

These principles are pure gold

[@mattyjmar10]

28:44 "there was a known error with the floating point divide instruction on the Pentium" now that is 1337 debugging

[@Bobster536]

Crazy to think they spend 10 years making games before even forming a team. We all who have dreams need to be patient give it time put in the work. Even legends like Romero didnt just wake up and gained all skills over the weekend!

[@morebeer4435]

your a baller if your up there drinking wine during a Q&A. What an awesome person.

[@yak6896]

Love it, John! That crowd was a bust though.

[@y01cu_yt]

Thanks!

[@newsmansuper2925]

great talk.

[@kerenton5897]

cool guy and amazing hair as usual, same style since the early 90's

[@Johntitor44778]

I think Yandere Dev needs to take lessons from John Romero on coding.

[@smaugeverblaze3420]

One of my favourite come up stories of all time, John Romero’s new fps is gunna be insane, it would be nice if he could get Carmack to join in, they’d probably have a lot of nostalgia

[@michaelbluecastlestudio665]

Legend🙏🏻

[@bgbrunocom]

very helpful thx

[@vladimircokorilo8105]

29:36 - 30:05 General truth I agree with, which unfortunately many people won't understand... programming is unique for each person, chances are small that someone might have a similar idea

[@SevenDeMagnus]

So cool, every version of this story has a new info, which is cool, This is my 3rd iD story.

[@Crvstylvngs]

This is my second, only ten minutes through but I'm loving it

[@echoskelet]

13 minutes in.. This video is awesome.

[@flaviomauri]

I was expecting rocket-jump to be the fav bug, but this BFG thing sounds amazing

[@MunkeyChips]

Can't wait for Sigil! It's almost here!!!

[@shivaroor]

Don’t think there’s been a lamer audience for such an iconic speaker.

[@MrBlondeTV]

Such a valuable piece of history for Gaming

[@krisfrosz133]

Next talk: John Carmack. I'd love to see his side of the story from id to Armadillo to Oculus.

[@vivianjames5528]

There's not really much need. John Carmack has done a keynote every year from 1996 until present. If you listen to every keynote he's done, you can get his very colorful story if you want to hear it. Carmack's not the type of guy to edit himself down, so you'll just have to listen to his hours and hours of talking points, as he explains how he went from Wolf to Doom to Quake to everything else. Honestly, he's got a lot of good stuff to say, and he's an amazing guy.

[@justiny.1773]

Watch John carmack interview with joe rogan

[@breamods1337]

by law every one hired at Ubisoft, EA, and Activision Blizzard should be made to watch this before being hired

[@okerror1451]

27:58 I remember that room. Lots of fun with my grapling hook

[@plasmar1]

I love how something so completely unrelated some how mentions Winnipeg:P :') ** where I live

[@Jacketx]

The amount of stuff they revolutionized is unbelievable.

[@michaelhulcy6680]

Brooooo John Romero's a fundamental programming guide genius! Wish so many other developers/mainly publishers nowadays fucking applied these development principles for their games. Fix bugs as you encounter them. Don't continue until that bug is ironed out. Don't depend on testers to find bugs (not to belittle what they do, but saving some time for sure). I think Bethesda (developer, not the publishing arm) should practice some of those principles lol.

[@wendyokoopa7048]

They could teach their higher ups. You know who I'm referring to

[@mambojambo4870]

What a legend

[@general5886]

stuff of legend

[@Cuzjudd]

What was the solution that Carmack came up with to fix the hanging?

[@jfitnesshealth]

@47:10 HOW TO USE THE BFG, HOW IT WORKS!!!

[@Crpjnr]

Me: eye-dee software John: ihd software

[@mauricioluisvega3137]

23.20 the fire extinguisher near the CRAY!!! LOL

[@TheActualCathal]

I've been pronouncing "Id" as i-d for my entire life.

[@shitchops]

me too, i think i-d has a nicer ring to it

[@redbeardnj]

Same lol. Back in the early 90s we had no internet, so basically it was i-d. I honestly would have thought you were an idiot if anyone pronounced it "id" lol

[@LazySmurf]

Ideas from the Deep is where id came from, so it would make sense to see it as an acronym, but since they dropped the “from the” part, it also makes sense that it would be seen as just “id”

[@user-wx9rq9td3w]

But acronyms aren't usually written in lowercase letters

[@MikeDest]

29:31 showing PHP code in the background of the slide lol

[@99Gara99]

6:19 just realized there were loads of d&d games using Wolfenstein 3d engine

[@neil340]

31:39 is he drinking wine?

[@_wearedevs]

Perhaps :)

[@AdamWoodhouse]

It's nice when going outside of ultra-conservative North America. :)

[@makedredd299]

It’s ok he is in Europe it shows that you are sophisticated. 🍷

[@CTimmerman]

16:55 Sounds like he's not doing Quake Champions.

[@HDramboDwango]

Love YOU JR! HDrambo SHABASH!

[@msalperen1]

I'm frustrated by the fact that scrolling wasn't available on PC until 1990. Wasn't it available even on Amiga in games like Giana Sisters?

[@cylerrubin3178]

6:29 heh thats a grab bag of games, Duke Nukem, Dark Ages, Kings Quest, And Captain Comic, I'm surprised he didn't swap out Kosmos' Cosmic Adventure or Jill of the Jungle for Kings Quest if he was talking about old dos side-scrollers.

[@5Gazto]

13:41 Just C, now that's how it should be.

[@user-bv8wr3vw4x]

Tell the reason why? Or you just said it because you're a fan of him. C was big back then, but now is almost dead. Nobody developes games on C anymore.

[@jayocaine2946]

@@user-bv8wr3vw4x because he's old and incapable of keeping pace with modern advancements.

[@andyhall7032]

"anyone heard of michael abrash ?" ... silence ... should have walked out right there.

[@kawmic7]

Hexen is awesome!!

[@inceptional]

Yeah, in modern times it's just sooo easy to get distracted from actually working on the game--I mean, that's literally what I am doing right now rather than going through the Unity and C# tutorials I'm supposed to be completing as I type. :-o

[@Splatpope]

WE WOULDNT BE TALKIN ABOUT HALF LIFE 3 IF NOT FOR THIS HAIRY BOI

[@RetroWill]

woot! Chrono Trigger!

[@Aranimda]

Romero's hair is just as legendary as his games.

[@anointedsword]

Raven was a great company as well. SOF rocked! 😁👍🏻

[@yoe91]

30:15 is that red wine ? No I know I know, it's the blood of 5000 imps... but are speakers allowed to 'drink' at these sorts of conferences ?

[@alarjak]

Seems like a real nice guy.

[@davidmiller9485]

he's incorrect on the internet. We had BBS's which were connected by FIDOnet. We also had Gopher, Archie and Veronica. Now their was no HTML or WWW. Most networks were government/libraries/Colleges. But we did have internet. I used a Commodore pet/64/128D with a modem to dial into both the local college and BBS's.

[@HighGainsDrifter]

John Romero seems really cool, I'd kick it with him lol

[@1luarluar1]

1st book from the series WOR(L)DS, a project by Raul Gubert ''3 NEW MONSTERS AND 3 NEW WEAPONS FOR QUAKE'' www.filedropper.com/3newmonstersand3newweaponsforquake

[@johnnyxp64]

my 1st ever game was Dangerous DAVE! fuck! i just found out you did it guys lol. cool. i also start programming because of games. :)

[@furqueue9590]

Is John Romero's job talking about making Doom now?

[@rameynoodles152]

Wow, those are some radically different programming guidelines than is taught nowadays. Actually, quite a bit different from back then as well. I'm gonna write that shit down.

[@MyHeaven]

epic

[@simon24h]

My favorite programming language is Lua , too.

[@RicoJazz]

Romero is not a programmer. He's an artist.

[@citizengoose1342]

Genius

[@megido878]

hey there is a news reporter named john romero

[@Fezezen]

Man made bad ass games like Quake and Doom, favorite game? Minecraft.

[@DoomKid]

It’s even better because Notch said his favourite game was Doom. These guys clearly love each others work.

[@tinkerwithstuff]

"quake introduced the world to mouse look" - nah, Bethesda's Terminator Future Shock had that, as well as full 3D enemies etc, before that.

[@supernintendro]

Yeah, but compared to Quake, almost no one played Future Shock. So Romero wasn't speaking out of turn.

[@smallerfreeze]

Interesting