Why Is Quake Like That?

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Gameplay footage by: Dwars - • Quake (with Copper) (N...
- Lincoln Petersen, Producer
- Edgar Munguia, Editor

[@Romero666]

Hello Sandy, hope you're doing well. Great job on the video. There are some pieces of info you can correct. (1) Paul Steed was not at id while I worked there. Kevin Cloud did all Quake 1's models, and Adrian did the skins. (2) The zombie attacking you from pieces of its body was my idea - I talked to Kevin about putting a zombie in the game and pulling parts of itself to throw at you. (3) the slow Vore spikeballs didn't match the rest of the enemy projectiles (or the player's), so they needed to be sped up. (4) the Spawn belonged only in the 4th episode so there's an additional enemy later in the game (5) the reason why Quake is not in the game is because the entire design changed in Nov 95 and half the people wanted to make an FPS instead of spending time exploring design. This is how the medieval design disappeared, but not the name which had been heavily publicized by that time.

[@cameronfoale8270]

I wouldn't be surprised if Kevin did some of the Quake 2 models too; some of them like the Enforcer have the same pleasing chunkiness as the Q1 models.

[@conzmoleman]

Yeah the Vore projectiles are the perfect speed I think. Very well balanced.

[@realkekz]

JOOOOOOHHHHNNNNNN ROMEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[@gosamihai]

First of all, I just want to be a part of this legendary exchange. Secondly, would love to see John telling his stories as well.

[@shaqm0bile]

Thanks for the memories! I hope you are doing well.

[@AmericanMcGeeOfficial]

Yeah, "X" can go swim in a lake of lava. Thanks for the memories, Sandy. You've always been one of the good ones ;)

[@miikavihersaari3104]

Maps 14 and 22 were always my favorite Doom 2 maps as a kid. I loved (and still do) the beautiful aesthetic they have. Somehow I felt that they had a similar fingerprint to them. Little did I know they were made by the same very talented person.

[@SuperGreenqueen]

Success ≠ Respect. I love your work man!

[@tonpa]

Your work is amazing!

[@stephenrego6065]

WHO WAS "X" ????

[@casedistorted]

@@stephenrego6065I’ve always been curious who Mr X was too. Someone they all didn’t like but John Carmack did to the point of driving everyone insane lol

[@themocaw]

The mental image of John Carmack chopping a door down with an axe while John Romero screams like Shelly Duvall in "The Shining" makes me happy.

[@karolstopinski8350]

I died! :)

[@OleksiiTheAngry]

Didn't see your comment, so I suggested there was the ambiguous HEEEERE'S JOHNNYYYY moment :D

[@AJeMGaming]

Just picturing John Carmack smashing the door into bits with his axe, poking his head in to see a cowering John Romero, and say "Heeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!"

[@Tempora158]

"Little pigs, little pigs, let me come in. Not by the hair of Romero's chiny-chin-chin?"

[@alwaysangry2232]

and he emits nothing but in human scp sounds like the eldritch god he is

[@Zombie1Boy]

John Romero would reply with his god mode sounds heard in ROTT

[@SollowP]

"I'm not gonna hurt you John. I'm just gonna bash your brains in"

[@Tempora158]

@@SollowP "Romero? DARLING? Light of my BIG FUCKING GUN? You didn't let me finish my sentence. I'm just gonna bash them right the FUCK in. Because you're not going anywhere..."

[@garrettk7166]

3:00 John didn't buy a house with a garage. He bought a garage for his Ferrari Testarossa that was located nearby work. It just so happened to have a house attached to it.

[@JINORU_]

hahahahaha. Perfect

[@sandypetersen6935]

that is a fair assessment. But even in that case you'd think he would want to look at the garage he bought ahead of time.

[@mantha6912]

I saw this comment before watching and thought this was some funny exaggeration...from the way Petersen describes it, that's exactly what he did lol!

[@pubert3]

I like to assume he stayed in the apartment and parked the ferrari at the garage. The ferrari got its own house and garage.

[@lordvermintide4441]

"He just doesn't... Seem normal." Holy shit I fuckin lol'd.

[@ghoulbuster1]

John is a being of power and knowledge.

[@Vynzent]

@@ghoulbuster1 He is composed entirely of energy.

[@TheCrimsonElite666]

​@@ghoulbuster1 To quote Civvie11, John Carmack is like a walking galaxy brain meme, "a brain on legs" if you will.

[@taxalot]

This feels like to listening to the personal history of rockstars.

[@aziztcf]

Back in the 90s they were at least for me. Romero didn't get that ego for nothing.

[@cjnf11]

They're 100% rockstars. Badass? Check. Demonic themes? Check. Guns? Check. Romero's hair? Double check. Also Sandy just told us that Carmack hacked the door with his new axe, that's metal af. Also Doom games had OSTs heavily inspired by popular metal songs, Quake had Trent Reznor and Quake 2 had Sonic Mayhem with one of the best industrial metal albums basically. And Quake III had Front Line Assembly and Sonic Mayhem.

[@urgadurga]

@@cjnf11 Wow I had no idea Quake 3 had Front Line Assembly. That's crazy, they really got some great industrial metal acts for these games, and they fit incredibly well

[@todesziege]

@@cjnf11Quake II also had Rob Zombie (on one song).

[@alvarez332]

4 carmack stories that essentially tell us that civvie was, is and will always be right

[@mondoprime]

I could listen to classic id software stories all day :D

[@eduardosanchezbarrios5810]

Me too xD!

[@HavocGamingChannel]

Same here! Such a cool era

[@rhinobane1968]

These videos are like crack to me

[@carpetedtiles]

Same, there just that interesting

[@christiangottsacker6932]

I read masters of doom every time i donate at biolife

[@Enriqueguiones]

We all know the "snake" was Tim Willits. You are just too nice, Sandy. He doesn't deserve any credit or respect.

[@tianixtv]

I knew it!

[@ppnhzk]

Never liked that guy. Now I have a reason to hate him :D But having played his levels in DOOM 2 I never got the impression that he was anything special. Always wondered why he was with the company for so long...

[@gregor1O1]

@@ppnhzk Tim Willits didn't work on Doom 2. He only joined afterwards in '95. Doom 2's level were done by John Romero (Maps 11, 15, 17, 20, 26 & 29), American McGee (Maps 2-7, 14 & 22), Shawn Green (Map 25) and Sandy Peterson (all the rest).

[@kayeplaguedoc9054]

@@ppnhzk I didn't love his maps, I found them mediocre but I never had anything against him but in a way I'm not shocked. I've never seen a picture of him where he doesn't have a really smug, shit eating look on his face.

[@tommj4365]

I believe Tim Willits designed levels for Final Doom or some other expansion. I always thought they "looked" cool, and for sure his work on Q2 looked cool. He just seemed more of a good visual designer than a good level/gameplay designer. He always seemed out of touch when he gushed about Rage on stage, and again the game I thought was visually impressive. Sad to hear about any turmoil, really hope all these guys are happier now

[@axelprino]

To be fair, I once opened a blocked door by kicking it untill it broke, the excuse was that a small kid had locked himself in a bathroom with no windows but as soon as I notice I could get away with opening the thing any way I saw fit I didn't hesitate and went for the most destructive method, I was 19 at the time and thought to myself "I'm probably never gonna have another chance to try this out without any consecuence" so I just went for it. So I get why someone would take the chance to open a door with an axe if an excuse presents itself.

[@bromharlock7992]

One thing I like about Sandy, is his geeking out about things, but holding no filters against it. It's very, very genuine. I salute you, Sir.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

in my opinion it's not fun to be "cool". It's only fun to actually have fun!

[@ORLY911]

Title: Quake and its quirks First part of the video: Carmack and his quirks Love it!

[@Allen.Christian]

I love how much you dislike Tim Willits to the point where you won't even mention his name when just talking about people who designed the levels.

[@vhaarr]

I mean, that might be the reason. I think it's probably more because Sandy doesn't want to attack him directly, thus lowering the chances of offending him. How many people who watch this video will know it's Tim he's referring to? How many of those people will actually know what Tim designed and not? How many of those actually know Tim? These numbers are abysmally small.

[@Allen.Christian]

@@vhaarr I'd think anyone who knows Sandy from his id work would know it was Willits. It makes sense that he doesn't want to name him, since he went into how shitty he is at the end. I made the comment before I got to the end part, but I've heard him tell these stories elsewhere without naming him, so I knew he didn't like him.

[@clubdoompsx]

@@vhaarr Well according to the comments, apparently everybody knows it was Willits who was the snake. Way to go Tim Willhissssss.

[@ArcturusOTE]

@@Allen.Christian It's not like Willits is working with id anymore, he'd moved on to Saber Interactive, whose track record is already sorta spotty

[@mantha6912]

I'm out of the loop, new to the channel as well. Who's Tim Willits and why is he shunned?

[@juagoguago7961]

I love that the game started off with this "fantasy invading real-world" theme and then goes off into Lovecraft territory, then you have nailguns and rocket launchers and such. It's such a weird sounding mix of themes but it all fits into one theme in the end.

[@lucascoval828]

The game needs to be revisited in some form. Give the DOOM 2016 treatment.

[@eternalreturnal]

Doom Eternal had a bit of this theme in it I think.

[@cjnf11]

Heretics and Hexens kinda accomplished the shooter + fantasy ideas.

[@lucascoval828]

@@eternalreturnal True. Quite a bit actually.

[@Dwars]

I’m flattered you used my footage for the video! Hearing your perspective on the development of Quake and the atmosphere at id at the time and afterwards was quite enlightening too. The fourth episode of Quake is my favorite, with all of its abstract architecture and peculiarities going quite well alongside the general Lovecraftian theme of the game. Perhaps in the future I’d love to hear you delve into your designing process and mindset for the fourth episode levels. I’d also love to hear the same for your work on Doom 1 and 2 as well.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

I would be happy to appear in your channel if you like or to assist you in anyway.

[@Dwars]

@@SandyofCthulhu That sounds great! I have an idea already. If you'd like I could send it to the email address listed on your channel, you could reach MY email listed on my channel, or by other means.

[@tycoon40]

"I have no hard feelings towards anyone at ID...except maybe one person" = the snake

[@SMJSmoK]

Based on your "four quick John Carmack stories", John is is EXACTLY the kind of person I would expect him to be.

[@HenkkaArtGames]

I highly recommend checking the book "Masters of Doom". It's interesting, funny and even a bit sad and bittersweet story. And it has great stuff about Carmack and Romero in particular.

[@SMJSmoK]

@@HenkkaArtGames Thanks for the recommendation.

[@HenkkaArtGames]

@@SMJSmoK Also, true story: When John Carmack was in his early teens, he took stuff from the school's chem lab and made thermite which he then used to get into the school's computer class. A literal juvenile delinquent!

[@sandypetersen6935]

@@HenkkaArtGames Yes he stole his first computer from his high school.

[@mcgibs]

@@HenkkaArtGames If things were slightly different, JC would have been quite a scary dude.

[@BigWheel.]

1:50 this whole aspect of Carmacks character just convinced me further that he isn't from our universe.

[@yamaddie]

the price is high for genius

[@valentinom.4292]

Texan techo-cryptid John Carmack

[@pegasusactua2985]

The vessel that houses fourth based interdimensional being John Carmack.

[@fuckfacesstashofshitposts3034]

the ageless organism housed inside of a meat suit we call John Carmack, because its real name is unpronounceable by the human tongue.

[@00Helix00]

Sandy, you've directly shaped my childhood. I've been playing Doom 2 and Quake since I was 4 (although I know I wasn't the intended audience, I watched my dad play them and naturally I took over as soon as I had motor skills). Your levels have always stood out to me and even to this day when I think of Doom 2 I think of maps like Downtown (yes, the one some love to hate but I always found incredibly atmospheric with the music and the demons occupying highrises) and Suburbs with its monster hordes and intricately designed houses. I hope this comment finds you, but all I genuinely wanted is to say thank you, because the memories I made on the old Windows 98 computer I had were crafted by you.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

whoa. I am flattered and honored.

[@Vynzent]

Person "X" was such a piece of work... he almost killed idSoftware with bad projects. If you looked online at reviews of the studio from ex-employees at the time of X person's leadership, all you saw was people saying the company was completely broken and toxic. I was glad to hear when he finally quit. idSoftware has become a great studio once more. Marty Stratton and Hugo (and everyone there) have brought it back to life.

[@kodemasterx]

He wento Saber Ent. He is still attached to QUAKE sadly. I hear rumors about ID next game being a Quake SP.

[@IrishH2]

Who is Person X?

[@FahmiZFX]

@@IrishH2 Look around and see who's name keeps coming up time over time in this comment section with bad connotations.

[@Missaw94]

@@IrishH2 Tim Willits

[@kodemasterx]

@@IrishH2 The person responsible of breaking up the OG ID TEAM.

[@thechickenlord9825]

Sandy, would you ever consider making a doom episode similar to John Romero’s Sigil. I find it would be quite interesting to see your take on an extra doom 1 or a doom 2 episode

[@ligh7foo7]

There are 4 doom videos on his channel

[@timmario8436]

@@ligh7foo7 I think he means a level pack for Doom, not a video

[@ligh7foo7]

@@timmario8436 okay 👍

[@glaubertbarros]

I support this, I would pay for this

[@marcelopires711]

Since you touched the subject, a new Quake episode would not be bad either.

[@RufianEmbozado]

I know few people would agree with me, but I love Quake mainly for its atmosphere. And "The Elder World" is the most atmospheric episode in Quake. I don't mind that much about the spawns, or the sheer difficulty. It all makes for a tense and tough travel full of wonderfully dark and unnerving places. There would be a pile of my corpses in every point of every map. And every one of them would be a happy corpse. I just love it to the bone.

[@blockboygames5956]

You would have at least one person agreeing with you here. :)

[@sandypetersen6935]

THanks!

[@RiggityWRECKED]

"HERE'S JOHNNY!" - John Carmack, chopping down an office door with an axe

[@dimakor5914]

Doom II and Quake have godlike game and level design. Still playing both games till this day.

[@ForgetfulHatter]

3:53 I really hope john carmack chopping down that door made it into a shining reference. hacks the door down sticks his head through HERESSSS CARRRMAACCKKKKKKKK

[@cjnf11]

But he's named John, so he legit could go with the original Here's Johnny. I wonder if people ever called him Johnny actually.

[@islikann]

1:02 "Michael's a great guy everyone got along with him. During his time at iD, Michael was one of my best friends. He's much more human and likeable than John Carmack." It's confirmed, John Carmack is a super intelligence machine in a human guise.

[@73rmin8r]

Way to go Willits

[@TheMagnumExpress]

The only name that went unmentioned...

[@hawkevick9184]

@@TheMagnumExpress the snake.

[@ShadesMan]

I was waiting for something along the lines of *cough*Tim*cough hehe! But at least DM was invented!!!! :P

[@ronjomero3387]

Yeah. I thought maybe he was talking about Hollenshead. But the revelation that the person was a level designer sort of finalized the process of elimination.

[@TheMagnumExpress]

@@ronjomero3387 And he was one of the few to still stick around for years after. In fact, I think he was the last of the Quake team to leave id

[@AaronLitz]

I love watching your videos and listening to your stories, Sandy. I always thought it was kind of funny that, in a group of three people at id, two of them were Johns and two were Carmacks, with none related. Speaking of overlapping sets, I would just like to add how fascinating it was when I realized that so many of the things I fell in love with when I was younger were all interrelated by overlapping creators behind the scenes. Important elements of my life, personality, and sense of humor have been immensely influenced by things like He-Man and She-Ra, Ghostbusters, and a little later Call of Cthulhu, Babylon 5, DooM and Quake, yet it took me years to realize that they were all interconnected by some combination of Sandy Petersen, Larry DiTillio, and J Micheal Straczynski. When I realized that it made sense that I had loved all of these things since they were all shaped by the same talented people. It was then that I also realized my love of Lovecraft had basically been preordained years before I ever even heard of him or read any of his writings, shaped by these stories (a huge amount of Ghostbusters lore, elements of He-Man like the Creeping Horak, Sh'Gora, etc.) that had been infused into these shows by these wonderful creators.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

ITS ALL CONNECTED

[@AaronLitz]

@@SandyofCthulhu :)

[@Valeriano.A.R]

So, the poison pill was Tim Willits?

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

Read various accounts from people who worked with him (like Romero, American, or Sandy, even though Sandy doesn't like to mention him by name), it paints a pretty vivid picture of him as a two-faced asshole who often likes to do anything underhanded to make his coworkers look worse, so that he can look better by comparison, and who went out of his way to be just be as petty as he could. One time he was in an elevator with American and bragged to him with a big grin to his face that he had slept with American's ex, presumably because he derived a sense of power from it somehow. In later years, he also likes to lie about his claims to fame, like claiming he invented multiplayer only levels for first person shooters during Quake. The other guys were pretty quick to tell him that's a lie (American made one as a proof of concept in Doom 2, while both Rise Of The Triad and Marathon had them well before Quake).

[@ladymistdragon7287]

He's probably the reason Adrian Carmack was fired, tbh. I don't know what he might have whispered in John's ear to convince him that they should attempt to buy Adrian out, but I know Carmack has libertarian economic philosphy but it couldn't be that hard, especially as JC apparently likes having stuff.

[@DoomKid]

Tim was the same guy who lied about inventing Deathmatch-only levels - Romero even called him out for it! So to me, this is all unsurprising.. Sadly!

[@phantomspaceman]

@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine Imagine bragging about getting someone's sloppy seconds at work.

[@thechickenlord9825]

@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine yeah, American’s Deathmatch level is even featured in maximum doom

[@metadventure6]

Please tell me when Carmack chopped down the door he said "Heeeere's Johnny!" lol

[@SandyofCthulhu]

alas.

[@liontuga155]

These inside stories are always so interesting and funny. As some sort of bonus, they also offer cautionary tales to anyone working in a team. Quake will always be one of my favourite games. I'm currently playing it in VR (roomscale) and it is as beautiful as ever, and 10 times scarier! It aged very well indeed! Happy 25th birthday, Quake! Cheers!

[@abrahamdrinkin6550]

Shouts out to the VR mod. It's a whole new game! Brings me back to when I first played Quake at 9 years old! Rocket jumping in the first secret map with low gravity in VR is something special!

[@NeoExperiences]

Damn you Petersen, the Shambler is fuzzy.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

blame the resolution John Carmack allowed Adrian Carmack to use.

[@ronjomero3387]

I always enjoyed your levels (both Quake and Doom), Sandy. I think they tended to be the more memorable and iconic of the bunch.

[@jimwalton8973]

I liked Sandy's the the tower of despair and the pain maze maps best. I Wonder what he thinks of the quake arcane dimensions mod?

[@SandyofCthulhu]

@@ULTRAOutdoorsman everyone hates the Chasm *sigh*

[@magicjohnson3121]

His Quake levels are the most memorable

[@philcooper9225]

Being able to admit wrong and switch positions without prideful interference is a super power in our Age of Narcisissm! You say 'careerist' but they were actually a narcissist

[@meanmole3212]

I laughed so hard at the story how id collectively decided that one person is bad, although it is kind of sad. I guess it just goes to show how creating the coolest games together without rules and upper corporate management is not necessarily perfect recipe for happiness and success like it is sometimes portrayed.

[@delphicdescant]

I mean, it might not be perfect that way, but upper corporate management is never the solution to *any* problem imo.

[@ToyokaX]

As someone who worked at a startup making a mod for a game (I won't mention which), it definitely isn't all sunshine and rainbows as ideas and priorities can easily clash. It's not perfect by any means.

[@antondavidovic3996]

This happens in most social groups. The majority can out of nowhere decide that someone is "bad" for no reason.

[@meanmole3212]

@@antondavidovic3996 Yes exactly. That's why I think it might be useful to have someone in "charge" who is trained about these human interactions. And by in charge I don't necessarily mean a upper corporate management but a team member who responsible for observing and keeping the social interactions in line and professional so that the overall well-being of the project does not get compromised. I guess that's also kind of what Sandy volunteered to do with Quake but Carmack turned him down.

[@antondavidovic3996]

@@meanmole3212 I guess its also a problem in teams where "everyone is the boss", egos start conflicting. This is most evident in bands and such. I know what you mean, I think most successful teams have people who deal with those kind of things. Its apparent that Quake was such a daunting project for such a small team and it took its toll on them.

[@rabidguineapig]

The story you told about how ID went down reminds me a lot of what happened to Atari. Originally it was just an office building full of goofy stoners just having fun making games until things got more corporate because of all the success.

[@AaronLitz]

That's kind of the nature of gaming businesses started by creative people. Creative types tend to be brilliant at, you know, actually CREATING things, but are generally NOT that great at running businesses, as a general rule... especially with game designers. Gaming businesses started by game designers tend to follow a very similar pattern: they are started by creative people who get a big hit with some brilliant new ideas, then their lack of business savvy starts to drag the company down, so some business executive-type Suits are brought in to take control of the business side and straighten out the books. This usually does indeed get the books fixed up, but it unfortunately also tends to deaden the creative output of the company because the Suits now in control of the books also dictate how the money is spent, and Suits have a bad tendency for only being able to see the bottom line without having any creative vision, so any potentially wondrous but risky new creative ideas are quickly killed in favor of cranking out more of the same old boring conservative "guaranteed successes." This creatively restrictive environment then tends to drive out the very creative people who started the company in the first place as an outlet to produce their exciting new ideas, who then go on to found new gaming companies, where the process tends to repeat. You can see similar stories repeated in gaming companies over and over again, from id to TSR.

[@kgoblin5084]

​@@AaronLitz "You can see similar stories repeated in gaming companies over and over again, from id to TSR." That doesn't at all match up with what I have heard of fall of OG TSR. The company had worked itself into debt by around 1983 due to mismanagement from purely business minded people, at which point Gary Gygax, primarily a creative asset, stepped in & re-took control. In the process though, he ended up in a feud with his partners the Blume brothers, which ended with outsider Lorraine Williams owning the company. Williams then slowly ran the corp into the ground. Notably, the lions share of iconic D&D settings were created under Williams leadership, who if anything over-diversified their products. Which is one of the few things anyone should credit her for. If anything, TSR is a lesson in being careful who you have as business partners.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

@@kgoblin5084 you are correct sir with regard to TSR. I was not there, but was literally best friends with several men who were. Also I will say that the downfall of Ensemble Studios was not from within, but murdered by its master. And that the downfall of MicroProse was not due to internal stress, but to the CEO going insane.

[@jimmyhirr5773]

Atari didn't just become "more corporate" out of nowhere. The founder sold it to Warner.

[@AlexeyFilippenkoPlummet]

A man capable of immediately admitting when he's wrong and not missing on a chance to cut down a jammed door with a battle axe - yeah, what a weirdo :D Tbh all of these stories made John sound like a really cool guy who knows how to live in a moment.

[@ScarfKat]

It's so cool to hear about what ID Software was like in the early days of the studio. I love these videos, thanks

[@kal2045]

It's sad to hear about how ID got cliquey after quake, especially that story with American McGee. It takes a pure soul to try and adjust to the whims of a work environment that you can tell has turned against you, rather than just getting the hell out of it. So cruel what Mr. X did him. It's very nice to hear that you like how ID is doing nowadays though :)

[@vyor8837]

McGee is a good person. Twisted in the head, but good.

[@djamilggmail]

Who the fuck is Mr.X?

[@markneschadimenko3516]

Tim Willits

[@doom_pope]

I personally think that people exagerate the annoyance of the spawn. I think it's a good enemy type, and I try to use it when possible in my custom levels.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

I read a lengthy review bashing my levels based solely on the fact I used the Spawn so at least that guy hated them.

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

I've seen some people lament their existence, but I think it's because they panic and try to maintain their aim on them, when a better approach is to fire the super shotgun or rocket launcher where they're bouncing around. They're fidgety, but not unfair, and it's easy to minimize or even avoid injury in handling them. I think they're a fun enemy, and that they're exclusive to episode 4 I think makes the episode more special.

[@gilassp]

One map designer who made some great Quake levels (I think it was czg, but I'm not sure) said that Spawn is the "ultimate" monster. Because if player has all weapons and ton of health and armor, the monster's threat is very diminished. But with Spawn, it makes even the well-equipped player panic, because it's so chaotic.

[@pietrayday9915]

I remember the Spawn being a monster that really changed the game up, put you on the edge of your seat, and drove you to do things a little differently. In that respect of being unexpected, as well as dangerous, fast , chaotic, and very different from the rank-and-file monsters that usually populate areas, theSpawn were similar to the Vores or Fiends to me, and I never hated them either - they were rare enough that they never wore out their welcome, and they added the sort of variety that really kept the game interesting!

[@johndexterzarate6663]

@@_DeadEnd_ Try the Quake 1.5. Its a mod that gave the player flashlight. And makes lighting gun a very effective weapon in clearing a room full of it. Mind the ogres, they will now look up.

[@voodoolew]

Haha I like the “he…. His or her” the cats out he bag there Sandy 😂

[@troyagarcia7709]

as an aspiring video game designer, i salute your insight oh wise one

[@TheMagnumExpress]

Man, 1996 was an awesome year for games...

[@Osama20069]

I love the spawn. It makes you kinda slow down and check your corner

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

He's a great monster. The level in episode four where a trap slowly shoves you into a big pit with like seven of them at once is hilarious.

[@damsen978]

They're mostly on your face, making you unable to kill it because otherwise you can wave goodbye to half your health.

[@sandypetersen6935]

@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine I was super happy with the "scooper".

[@etheretherether]

8:40 “He pulled something out of his but… it is what it is you know?” LOL

[@aaronmarko]

I don't mean to be weird about this but it's nice to hear that Time Traveling Space Wizard John Carmack is not a flawless human being for once

[@ZeeZeeBun]

Dude's talking about behind the scenes of my childhood and I couldn't be happier.

[@damsen978]

So you're responsible for one of the greatest themes on a shooter game? Amazing...

[@jfitnesshealth]

the way he was describing John Carmak. lolol reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

[@eduardosanchezbarrios5810]

I love all monster models of this game

[@Trencher1375]

That art book have been a prized possession of my collection for twenty years and I never knew it was made by you. Got your board game and big fan of Quake. Wow small world.

[@ehanviles7498]

Lucky enough to have gotten a original copy of your guide to cthulhu monsters a few years ago. Only found out later that Sandy was a videogame designer, at the time of getting the book I was just on a huge eldritch horror kick. I found it really interesting that the astral shambler from the book looked really similar to the shambler from quake.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

It’s no coincidence

[@damsen978]

@@SandyofCthulhu Have you ever thought on designing more Lovecraftian monsters?

[@arthurpetersen4698]

​@@damsen978 He's designed LOTS of them over the decades. First, he developed several 'canonical' monsters from brief sentences in HPL (and others') stories that weren't fleshed out, and codified them in his Call of Cthulhu role-playing game in the 80s. Nowadays, he's been designing board games and writing RPG content for DnD 5e that includes loads of Lovecraftian things. See here: petersengames.com/cthulhu-mythos/

[@ehanviles7498]

@@SandyofCthulhu Did you ever give your input the furry vs fleshy shambler debate that was dominating old school FPS twitter months ago?

[@SandyofCthulhu]

@@ehanviles7498 No but if I did I would probably troll it by claiming it had feathers. I mean we just had a blurry texture to deal with. Couldn't do hair.

[@Daedalus89]

"Except one person...." Soooo, Tim Willits??

[@natalieWould]

I wish I could play the sabotaged McGee level. Do you by chance remember any glaring issues of it? I’m just trying to imagine what anti-qualities would make it awful. Few enemies? Cruel enemy placement? Flat map? Lacking pickups or interesting secrets? Either way, thank you for sharing your tales :) Much adoration.

[@gilassp]

I wonder about that too. McGee's levels in Quake didn't get any hate at all, and DM4 is very popular in multiplayer as well. My assumption is perhaps he still was making maps like he would do for Quake, while Quake II was different in that regard, being more story-driven, somewhat more grounded and realistic and had a different hub-like structure?

[@vhaarr]

@@gilassp If you take that part of the video in context of what preceeded it, his Q2 levels were only "bad" because the id collective had determined that whatever he did was bad. There's no way to remedy such a situation except removing yourself from it.

[@STLMTB]

DM4 was legendary.

[@sandypetersen6935]

To me, his levels seemed exactly the same type of experience as in Quake 1.

[@natalieWould]

Thanks for responding @Sandy Petersen :) And @gilassp looks like your assumptions were correct.

[@kitezzz360]

I miss these old school arena fps games that were hardcore, incredibly difficult to be good at and took no prisoners, games now feel too dumbed down, quake was a masterpiece

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

oooh, I loved the atmosphere of this game. Nothing else has ever seemed to get it quite right. Part of that is probably down to Trent Reznor being a genius, but not nearly all. And I think most of the "brown" games that came after it kinda missed the point. After all, I don't think Quake looked that way to feel 'realistic' -- it was fantasy. It did it to feel oppressive. Now I'm wondering, if this orbiting cube that attacked enemies was the inspiration for Doom 3's soul cube weapon...

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

The music and sound design is certainly a big part of the game's feel. For the Soulcube in Doom 3, the concept for the Hellcube definitely stems from it, you can look back to developmental concepts in a bunch of these games and recognize things which would be realized one way or another in a later game.

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine What I loved about the sound design is not so much that just that it's unsettling, but that it's unsettling in the simplest way possible. In that sense it really reflects the fear of the unknown which the game is built around, because that is, arguably, the simplest possible fear.

[@badsectoracula]

I think the Force Cube in Hexen II is more likely to be inspired - the cube literally hovers around your head and spits fire to nearby enemies.

[@pietrayday9915]

That murky brown palette was as much as anything else another of those concessions to limited computer memory of the era: there was a limit to the colours that could be used in the game. There were a few places they could splurge and add some vivid colours - stained glass windows, lava, and the like - but there wasn't a lot of room in the palette dedicated to those bright colours, compared to the murky green-brown. I haven't done anything with Quake level-building in decades, but I do remember running into the palette limit pretty early in teaching myself how to do it. I kind of forced you to be creative with how you used colours in your levels, when adding your own textures and so on! Later 3D game engines could do a lot more with colour, such as tinted lights and so on, and things would get really elaborate from there - I remember 'Unreal' and 'Half-Life' being quite a big improvement in that department - but as time went on, you'd really see a lot of 3D games lit up like Christmas trees filled with tinted lights and 3D partical effects and dynamic lighting and so on, and it could look really impressive, but nowhere near as atmospheric as Quake could get! It was definitely also a golden age for atmospheric soundtracks, too - 'Quake', 'Dungeon Keeper', and 'Diablo' in particular had some really fantastic soundtracks, I still pull them out to listen to them again to this day! It was right there at that point in PC gaming history when the CD-ROM drive was widely available and games started moving away from MIDI or crude sound files, and began taking advantage of the limited space on a CD that could be dedicated to music. With high-quality soundtracks being a new technology, I'm a little surprised at how weird and experimental the music was already getting at the time - and just as surprised that game soundtracks would lose a lot of that experimental edge as time went on.... Maybe the fact that the music would only be limited to what could be fit onto one CD-ROM meant that the composers could really focus on doing those few songs really well, but whatever the case, for me, the 'Quake', 'Dungeon Keeper' and 'Diablo' soundtracks were just about soundtrack perfection!

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

@@pietrayday9915 Yeah, the colour scheme was definitely a case of taking a limitation and turning it into an advantage.

[@deadfishy666]

Sandy, your and McGee's levels are my favorite in Quake. Episode 4 for me was the most memorable, it's sadistic but fun. And the visual design is the most surreal of all the episodes.

[@singletona082]

The mortal shell of the fifth dimensional being and code elemental john carmack being 'strange'? Ya don't say?!

[@SlackerChief]

Quake has become one of my favorite games besides Tribes 2

[@codylamp6814]

I was just looking up some Tribes 1 and 2 stuff the other day, miss those games. What a great community they had.

[@eduardosanchezbarrios5810]

I Made a Mod for Quake named 2Hell where i replace the axe with a hammer as referece to the migthy hammer removed xD!

[@hypolyxa7207]

The hammer is featured in the expansions as well.

[@ells101]

@@hypolyxa7207 By the amount of Quake videos and mini-docs being made in the last year, i would say there is considerable attention towards a Quake reboot...IIRC current ID lead Hugo Martin teased they are working on it on stream.

[@therealshug]

@@ells101 wait, they actually teased it?! Oh man, now my hopes are REALLY up. My first thought after playing doom eternal the first time was, "man, how fucking cool would a quake 1 remake be in this engine?"

[@fuckfacesstashofshitposts3034]

@@therealshug on top of the fact there’s an M-rated “Project 2021 B” in the works, source being the Australian government

[@theopenrift]

Tim Willits was the Randy Pitchford of id Software. He made good levels, but he truly was the poison pill.

[@JonCombo]

2:05 That Quake message, I don't think I've ever seen that.

[@natalieWould]

Oh, and one other question; Did you have any input in the design of the lightning gun? As in the actual appearance of the weapon or it’s inclusion in general? Your viewers and fans know this along with readers of H.P. who’ve enjoyed Quake, and the general gamer collective recognizes the Lovecraftian overtone of it all; But I’m not sure it’s often realized the weapon is from the Mythos.

[@sandypetersen6935]

Sadly it has been so long since it was designed that I no longer remember.

[@AaronLitz]

Mi-Go Lightning Gun.

[@natalieWould]

I guess I thought of it as a Yith device but suppose it could be a Mi-Go’s. Or neither. When I was a child and not as read up on Lovecraft playing Quake, I thought it was a weapon that harnessed the power of the Shamblers since they zap you.

[@GameplayandTalk]

Great video with lots of interesting insight. Honestly, regarding the Vore's sped up projectile, with Quake being such a fast game you can still have it loop endlessly around a column. I always make the mistake of treating it like a Revenant rocket from DOOM II, but then it still comes whipping around the corner into my face. It's still very much a threat, haha.

[@RenderScape]

Absolutely love to hear these stories! Quake is my all time favourite game, and hearing everything and anything about it makes my day.

[@pulserifleman4538]

To me the real selling point of Quake was shooting all those HP Lovecraft inspired monsters with that nail gun all the while listening to that badass soundtrack by Trent Reznor! And as for my favorite level it would be Azure Agony!

[@mileator]

I use the "Quake Font" for my phone so clicking this was actually hilarious.

[@fuckfacesstashofshitposts3034]

how. need.

[@mileator]

@@fuckfacesstashofshitposts3034 if you look online for Quake Font you can find a few. Then you upload it to your phones options, and go from there. Theirs videos I think. It only took me an hour.

[@pawelkapica5363]

I loved Quake. We played it at LAN parties even when there were more modern titles already available.

[@Ashanmaril]

The description of John Romero being endless tracked by the vore’s projectile seems pretty much like what we have in the final game. Those things track you forever, you need to find some cover you can make a VERY sharp turn behind to make it hit the wall.

[@XimGama]

Sandy, just wanted to thank you for sharing all of these. Most of us that come from that ere just knew about so little behind the scenes, back then if it wasn't on a magazine, you couldn't know anything behind the scenes and the nostalgia is hard. Now, to play some OG Quake 🤘

[@Siledas]

I heard about the "I invented Deathmatch levels" controversy, but I had no idea that Mr X's shenanigans extended to career sabotage. Shit's crazy.

[@ConcasicoWoodworks]

I'm listening to this while doing my first run of Quake :') In my defense I can say that I was born in 1995, about 10 months before the game came out

[@SandyofCthulhu]

(suddenly gets wizened)

[@totallynoteverything1.]

John Carmack just says to the cops "hey did you know I made doom?" and they let him go on his merry way

[@jl.7739]

When a grown ass man, wearing a Fez with a cartoon octopus on it, tells you John Carmack is odd, you know John Carmack is odd 😂

[@kodaloid]

I'm such a big fan, can't believe I didn't know sandy had a KZbin channel!

[@blockboygames5956]

Same!!!

[@sandypetersen6935]

Man I have GOT to figure out how to increase my reach. Any suggestions?

[@LighterST]

@@sandypetersen6935 well, you've certainly made some progress towards conquering the KZbin algorithm as this video was recommended to me out of the blue, and I'm very satisfied

[@theretrogamers7690]

This was awesome! Thank you so much for this info Sandy!

[@tomferguson9250]

I remember getting this game when it first came out on shareware CD for like $10, blew me away at the time. Then my dad cracked/unlocked the full game & it was even more awesome lol

[@sheikbombalot5781]

Heya Sandy, Thanks for giving me some of the best times of my life as a kid and teenager! Especially with CoC. So cool to have found your channel.

[@twocatsyelling723]

That young ID Software where there were no rules.

[@drybowser1519]

I didn’t know how much of an influence d&d had on quake. I love both, though. Very cool video.

[@sandypetersen6935]

well, less than we'd planned.

[@NicoSeymore]

Thank you so much! Quake is still my absolute favorite. Nothing after it came even close to its perfect atmosphere and simplicity. Especially loved your maps

[@strangerunderyourbed6411]

That background alone deserves a like!

[@idgam3r418]

As a MASSIVE ID Software geek, Doom Fanboy, Doom nerd, Old-School Gamer and admittedly a real dreamer, this was enjoyable to watch, and (I just know I'm gonna go off on a rant here, so I apologise for this large comment your gonna see) it really gave me some more insight into what happened during that time. Regarding your levels, sadly Episode 2 of Doom and Episode IV of Quake sadly are among those levels I personally tend to avoid because to me they don't feel enjoyable to play, that said, I have played Episode 1 of Doom and Quakes so much that saying I am biased does not do it justice. Do I agree that Quake was the end of the old ID Software?, Well sadly I do, but that said Tom Hall left midway through Doom's development, so some could say Tom Hall's departure was the beginning of the end. Personally I prefer Quake II over Quake simply because Quake II felt more polished, well that and I played Quake II before I played Quake, so there might be some bias there. On an unrelated note, I had no idea you had a KZbin channel, this revelation took me completely by surprise, I know John Romero has a Twitch, but I'm not sure how active he is on it, so you definately got an instant subscription from me, also I LOVED the energy you shown in this video, clearly you were excited to share some of this new information. Phew, so sorry you had to read that comment, but this video just brought out that inner Fanboy in me, So I'll end my comment on this note: The members of ID Software of the 90's shall always be in my eyes, the gods of gaming, the kings of First Person Shooter's and the pioneers that shaped the gaming industry as it is today.

[@chrisc448]

Tom did much more open, expansive conceptual levels - you can definitely see that in Rise of the Triad. Not especially my taste (apart from Refuelling Base in D2) but definitely had it's place. Sandy was all about experimentation and seeing what would happen if x happened - think Barrels of Fun. Always thought that Sandy's style worked best when there were definite constraints like Entryway. Romero's levels are tight, open up over time, based on build up to set pieces - for me, that's what makes KDITD the best episode.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

Hey if everyone had exactly the opinion about every level design, there'd be no point in having more than one designer.

[@idgam3r418]

@@SandyofCthulhu True, variety is the spice of life.

[@chrisc448]

@@SandyofCthulhu omg Sandy replied to me. My life is complete. And for the record, your levels rule.

[@homoxymoronomatura]

Did you guys yell at each other while working on Quake? I remember when Carmack said that development was traumatizing experience so I guess you all were stressed out.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

No one yelled at me or vice versa. I remember the two Johns shouting at each other a couple of times. We were mostly passive aggressive

[@AaronLitz]

@@SandyofCthulhu It is the nature of Johns to yell at each other. :)

[@DerAua]

@@SandyofCthulhu I am so sorry. Businesses really should screen for the antisocial traits. These people force the talent out of the company.

[@nemesisurvivorleon]

game development is already a traumatic experience without the usual coworker drama

[@shallex5744]

@@DerAua are you saying that the founders of id software should have screened themselves out of the company?

[@HippCelt]

Now this is how you spill tea..I love all all these background stories of the games I played when I was younger . only wish I had some popcorn.

[@onepureturtle]

Trivia: The orbiting cube eventually made it into the partial conversion Zerstörer, which got the author of The Longest Yard hired at id.

[@0neDoomedSpaceMarine]

Like a conversion for Quake or what?

[@gilassp]

@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine It's a mod that includes a single player episode, some deathmatch levels, couple of new weapons. It was really popular back in the day, and still considered somewhat of a milestone (or one of) in Quake modding. www.quaddicted.com/reviews/zer.html

[@avernusivandobrovski6614]

A little note on that as well: Hexen II also features it in the form of an inventory item you can use to create a cube that floats around shooting enemies at random. So I take it someone in Raven Software either was also in on Quake's development or overheard something from someone. In any case yea, it didn't go to waste. I also checked their release dates and they are incredibly close. 27.09.1997 for Zerstörer and 11.09.1997 for Hexen II.

[@eduardosanchezbarrios5810]

Maybe the Vore and The Shamblers are brothers or coursins of the Shatterer Cenobite from Hellraiser xD! At least for me 😸😸😸

[@st0n3p0ny]

Sandy, have you played any modern Quake maps? Arcane Dimensions? Alkaline? Would love to see a playthrough with commentary.

[@liamriley9816]

Arcane Dimensions is incredible. You can tell how much love they had for Quake when you play their mod.

[@st0n3p0ny]

@@liamriley9816 Have you played Alkaline? Just came out. It's top shelf.

[@doomedgains3346]

I loved quake The new levels Age of the Machine are amazing

[@ConeFlower-gx2qk]

You and American are my legit heroes. I was in a severe accident and basically had time to reevaluate my life and read a book about doom and that’s what led to me becoming a game dev

[@drskelebone]

love hearing this lore. idk if it's all 100% true or just Sandy's view (not a judge! Everyone sees things in the shades of their own life, and i'm super glad i've never been part of such a cultural phenomenon!), but it's super cool to see! Thanks!

[@sandypetersen6935]

Of course I have no way to tell if it's true or just my view since I see everything through a Sandy-tinted lens. The things I say are facts were actually seen by me though.

[@eduardosanchezbarrios5810]

Yes i hear the axe door anecdote from John Romero i think this sounds very Funny xD!

[@sandypetersen6935]

He was literally shrieking his head off inside the room. Not sure if laughing or scared or both.

[@dantescanline]

wow, it took me almost 30 years to find out that S. Peterson's Field Guide to Monsters that i grew up with was made by THAT S. Peterson!

[@Dee-tc7lo]

Hello! I just discovered your channel today, it was recommended to me by the black magic of KZbin algorithms. As someone who grew up as a kid playing Doom and Quake with my Dad I have many fond memories of Quake, such as playing LAN co-op against the monsters and experimenting with mods such as Reaperbot and Threewave CTF, I have to say it really is just so cool to hear all these inside stories that led to the decisions that were made concerning the games design. It's also very interesting to hear about things that never made it into the games and why. I am going to send this video to my Dad because he didn't believe me when I mentioned once years ago while playing, it was really hardcore that the zombies ripped off pieces of their own flesh to throw at you, I knew that's what they did! Whenever I feel nostalgic I always fire up GZDoom or Darkplaces and play through some levels from Doom 2 or Quake for a while. I wish I still had my original retail discs of those two, lost all the physical copies of all my games in a fire years ago, thankfully you can still get all the core original files on Steam.

[@SandyofCthulhu]

i am so glad you were led to me.

[@Dee-tc7lo]

@@SandyofCthulhu I subscribed and look forward to more insider stories at id hehe

[@peterloft9532]

Loved you cutting out the Patron middle man even though I have huge respect for Patron. I don’t need no stinking patrons, I need customers 😁. Fun as normal.

[@sandypetersen6935]

I am fine with Patreon, and support a few Patreons. Just seems wrong for a biz owner to be asking for more money on the side.

[@peterloft9532]

@@sandypetersen6935 It was very clear that you had no problem at all with Patron or the concept behind it. I just felt it was a fairly unique clarification in your channel compared to most that deserved comment. That you, personally, as a business owner didn’t need them as much as needing customers for your business makes sense and as one of your long term customers, something I offer heartfelt support for as representing an excellent, if slightly older, business model.

[@jack02krauser]

Sandy is just the best. :)

[@benfletcher9659]

id shaped the way FPS are on PC in the golden age of gaming (1995-2002). I cut my teeth on games like Doom 2, Duke Nukem 3D, Quake, Quake II and Half-Life. Ground breaking. Games today have better graphics but it's not ground-breaking. I used to make levels for Quake i nthe late 1990's early 2000's and have got back into it and still play Quake! Thank you for such a great game!

[@kc5sdy]

I do not know how I stumbled across this video but, I did. Oh my God!!!!!!! I grew up on Quake. I never really cared for Doom. Quake was where my heart had been, and still lies. You have earned a new subscriber!!!!

[@samanthajarosek9756]

iD Software is the reason I got into game design and computers in general. I love hearing the stories of the powerhouse iD before it's downfall So glad it's been rekindled under Bethesda

[@codylamp6814]

Its kinda funny, seems like Tim Willits had a lot to do with the mediocre product coming out of Id. Doom 3 and Rage were both headlined by him. Funny thing is that he wasnt really involved in Doom 2016 from what I can gather. His next product was the medicore Rage 2 and then he jumped ship. Wonder what Doom 3 would be like had he jumped ship after Quake 3. Nice to See Sandy P. Not mention him by name in this video.