XEP Interview: John Romero on Doom, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Doom's Legacy

[@kratonos47]

I've met John Romero at Comic Con 4 years ago. I was extremely thrilled and happy to meet him, I couldn't contain myself and this caused me to almost forget everything what we talked about. I wish to meet him again!

[@HopelessPhoenix]

I met John Romero Last year this time around, had 2 days where I've talked and even played doom 2 against him, He visited my collage, where first day students had chance to play 1v1 with romero on doom 2, then other day he had confrence, and during confrence i had 15 min break where i managed to catch romero eating hamburger while talking to professors, where i joined in and asked him few questions - I remember asking him if he knew about half life 2's alpha/beta leak that he didn't knew, the told me he worked/helped with Gabe during Doom being ported to Windows 95, while working on doom 2 and other projects, he also told me how during Quake's dev the ID software almost got hacked and back in the 90s they had modems for internet and he seen something going on in the background on network, where he reseted whole Modem and probably prevented getting Quake leaked, and overal i spent those 15 mins with professors and Romero where they discussed about old games, computers and similar stuff, while i also asked few questions and overall was chill convo. During his confrence he talked about his life, and how he got into game dev - from what i remember, he lived close to Collage where there were terminals, and over that he pratically learnt how to programm and make his own games.

[@lukasfruit]

@@HopelessPhoenix John is a wonderful person, thanks for sharing!

[@thenerdchatpodcast]

Absolutely stoked (and supremely grateful) that John was able to share his thoughts and experiences! Shoutout to Luke and Logun! Straight killin it, fellas!

[@XboxExpansionPass]

Thank you so much!

[@Springboi9832]

I am so glad with the way that John thinks, it feels like a breath of fresh air, seeing a game developer who's been making games as long as he has, he appreciates the time it takes for people to make the games the size they are now, and also appreciates the indie side of the videogame industry, which from what I've seen is really rare (as in seeing a big game developer talking about the indie scene). I remember watching a video of some dude that helped make the Original Doom games, he was either watching or playing Doom Eternal (it was a while ago when I watched it so I don't really remember) he was laughing it off, saying that the Doom that he made was better, (also he had no idea that Doom 2016 came out). But with John here, he stays in the loops and with how much experience he has, he's able to see how far game developing has come and he's able to see the good in it... this man is a national treasure

[@FlynnTaggartGuy]

Sandy Peterson. Ugh, Sandy.

[@Springboi9832]

@@FlynnTaggartGuy is that the guy I was talking about that helped make the original doom games?

[@Joseph-Vile]

Correct, sandy one of the designers, has said he doesn't like modern Dooms​@@Springboi9832

[@LordBeef]

What a great interview! I’m nearing the end of my degree in computer science w/ an emphasis in games, and I appreciate the advice at the end.

[@shaunmcguire943]

I wish you would have asked John more about what he thought of modern doom games and his take on the story Hugo created since doomguy was turned into God's super weapon in the doom slayer but all in all a pretty interesting interview

[@GamePassGumbo]

Great interview!

[@XboxExpansionPass]

Thank you! I hope people are able to find it and check it out!

[@richardbeare11]

Excellent interview - inspiring convo! It's inspiring to hear from veteran devs that built the games that were formative not only in my interest in games, but to the very technologies that underpin them - which lead me to where I am now. It was playing with my dad's old Vectrex and apple iic (zork, ultima), dark forces 1 & 2, and other games of that era - that inspired me from childhood. It was folks like John & friends who recognized and harnessed the potential in that technology that made this possible. And so I went; from persuing an EE degree, to designing microchips, to releasing a Bafta award winning game, and now bigger and more ambitious indie titles. Thank you for the inspiration!

[@EggEnjoyer]

Yeah I love how game devs used to be pioneers not just in media, but in computer science. Some still are and you see it in their in house engines. But unfortunately many of these corporate studios lay and lose all their computer scientist and engineers who make it all possible, the devs are so lackluster that they can’t even support their own in house engines and now just flock to unreal. But you still see highly technical game devs that push forward the entire field of computer science

[@seriousshuck3484]

For a violent game that takes place mostly in hell, Doom has some of the best fans in the industry.

[@MrAaronbathory]

What?

[@seriousshuck3484]

@MrAaronbathory What?

[@MrAaronbathory]

@@seriousshuck3484 Hell and violence has been proven fun for decades. It shouldn't be a surprise.

[@OzzyFan80]

I just found your channel yesterday and the live stream I watched and now this. Glad I found you guys and you are a. non console warring channel which is awesome. The Romero and Carmack team turned me into a PC gamer back in the Doom and especially Quake days. Excellent interview. Hopefully some day we can get another pioneer like Romero to get the shooter genre of shooters to another level.

[@XboxExpansionPass]

@@OzzyFan80 this comment has made my day! Sincerely, thank you!

[@OzzyFan80]

@@XboxExpansionPass you are very welcome! You definitely deserve more than comments. I hope your channel grows consistently and quickly you deserve it.

[@rogerlawson346]

Excellent interview, what a special person he is 🔥

[@secfeed6987]

what, there's a word for it now, Hyperthymesia. Never heard of that before. Hmm that explains a lot. I thought this was normal for everyone. I have this ability to some extent, explains why I can visually recall stuff from when I was 4 years old and all these moments throughout my life. It also comes in handy when I go offgrid in the middle of nowhere. I can always find my way back just visually, I can take these visual snapshots in my head and recall it. Ha, life changing moment from a video game dev, who would of thought. Now I have a snapshot of Johns long black/white flowing hair imprinted in my head lol. Can't wait for Johns new shooter!

[@izumisena-vg1ed]

Hey John Romero I have played sigil, love it, never saw levels that hard in doom, and I have played plutonia experiment too, looking forward to see more levels made by you

[@Kobalt_Rax_the_one]

Love Romero, always a pleasure to hear him , he is respectful and humble . And most importantly he can enjoy bout types of games AAA and AA/Indies . Would love him with Hugo Martin , they are such blessings in the industry, would love to see them work together. Doom DA is going back for the more mazey level design , Romero would be perfect to make a level or two in the modern Doom . Would love some day a collaboration somehow with ID and Romero games .

[@markofthedragon6655]

I am sure Carmack and John Romero, are so happy with what they see from his modern day DOOM BABY! I Would love to see them both reacting to the recent trailer! The Father's To Wolf3D & Doom. There would be no Call Of Duty for today's kid without these legendary men!.DOOM is for the 90s kids 😎 programmers John Carmack and Romero, artists Adrian Carmack and Kevin Cloud, and designer Hall.

[@yellowblanka6058]

Hyperthymesia(sp?) sounds like it would be both a gift and a curse....I can't imagine remembering every single detail of your worst day for example.

[@longturdz]

He seems like a nice young man.

[@stevenbishop1782]

Not sure about young but he's got some good genes.

[@itchyisvegeta]

1:03:06 - corn or flour tortilla?

[@strykerhalo]

Personally I feel Doom 2016 was an absolute masterclass. Only issues I had with it was the hell knight crab men, and the Titan map, which was obviously a multiplayer map they just threw in. They should have had a Chasm map after talking to Samuel Hayden. I would be stoked if they made a sequel to 2016. Superb game in my opinion. Thanks John for the Oldschool.

[@VanGohman]

Die Katana may not have made me a bitch, but DooM certainly already did that, so I don't feel misled overall by his marketing campaign and still hold John Romero in the highest regard.

[@gsestream]

best even that you dont need to compete. with others. at most work for yourself. dont have to answer to anyone. being tied to people seg faults instantly.

[@VonSlakken]

+1

[@silcanit]

Great interview!

[@XboxExpansionPass]

Thank you Silcanit!