Doom Legend John Romero — The Path to Prolific Innovation and Making 130+ Games, How to Find the Soul of the Work, Audacious Ambition, and Building in Monk Mode (#681)

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“So I played for a little while and I noticed that there were only probably two students in the room, and I said, ‘Well, what are they doing on the computer, because it doesn’t look like they’re playing?’ He goes, ‘Oh, no, they’re programming.’ And I’m like, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘Well, that’s actually what you do to make these games. You have to learn how to tell the computer how to put stuff on the screen and what to do, how to think.’ And I’m like, ‘I want to do that.'”

— John Romero

Computer and video game legend John Romero (@romero) has designed and published more than 130 games since his first sale at the age of 16. A teenage programming prodigy, his major achievements include co-inventing a series of revolutionary computer games—DOOM, Quake, Wolfenstein 3-D, and Commander Keen—that launched the industry’s most popular genre, the first-person shooter.

The memoir DOOM GUY: Life in First Person is his first book.

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Want to hear another episode with someone who takes the business of creating fun seriously? Listen to my conversation with Exploding Kittens co-founder Elan Lee in which we discuss core gameplay loops, internet archaeology, converting casual fans into superfans, building a game from scratch quickly, making Jar Jar Binks’ neck, clothing the vote, designing games with kids, dealing with investor expectations, defying the algorithms, and much more.

#653: Elan Lee, Co-Creator of Exploding Kittens — How to Raise Millions on Kickstarter, Deconstructing Mega-Successes, Secrets of Game Design, The Power of Positive Constraints, The Delights of Craftsmanship, and The Art of Turning Fans into Superfans

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEConnect with John Romero:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Doom Guy: Life in First Person by John Romero | AmazonThe Book That Inspired the Birth of Reddit by Alexis Ohanian | LinkedInMasters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture by David Kushner | AmazonDive Into Anything | RedditOculus Rift | WikipediaPascua Yaqui Tribe | NCAIWhy Revered Developers John and Brenda Romero Started a Game Studio in Ireland | The Washington PostAggressor Squadron | WikipediaTop Gun | Prime Video50 Years of BASIC, the Language That Made Computers Personal | TimeCromemco System Three | Old ComputersOpening Minds. Opening Doors. | Sierra CollegeHunt the Wumpus | OSRICStar Trek Text Game | SladeRadio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 Microcomputer | National Museum of American HistoryMasters of Doom: 10 Things You Never Knew About John Romero | Game RantThe Invention of Battlezone | IEEE SpectrumAfter 25 Years, Might and Magic 6 Reminds Us What It’s Like to Have Fun | EurogamerWizardry | WikipediaUltima | WikipediaEGA/VGA Graphics Deep Dive | The Rasteriid SoftwareSuper Mario History | NintendoHovertank One | My AbandonwareJohn Romero’s Secrets of Success: No Prototypes, Great Tools, Default Bagels | MCV/DEVELOPCastle Wolfenstein | WikipediaWolfenstein 3D | Internet ArchiveParty Card Games, Puzzles, Greeting Cards, and More | Exploding KittensSpear of Destiny | RetroGamesShadowCaster | My AbandonwareUltima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss | RetroGamesPrerelease: Doom (PC, 1993) | The Cutting Room FloorHyperthymesia (HSAM): What Is It? | HealthlineCommander Keen 1: Invasion of the Vorticons | DOS GamesQuake | WikipediaThe World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game | Dungeons & DragonsDangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion | RetroGamesSmashing Pumpkins into Small Piles of Putrid Debris | Giant BombDOOM Creator John Romero Plays the Infamous MyHouse.WAD | PCGamesNDOOM Eternal | BethesdaQuake III Arena | WikipediaThe Quake III Algorithm That Defies Math, Explained | Attack of the FanboyDOOM II | WikipediaDoom Engine | WikipediaDoom Engine Source Code Review | Fabien SanglardThe History of Ion Storm | PC GamerBlackroom | WikipediaThe Color Of Money | Prime VideoSHOW NOTES

Editor’s Note: Timestamps will be added shortly.

Childhood.Aggressor Squadron.John’s first exposure to computers and coding.Early innovations in 3D gaming.The id Software team.Side-scrolling games.Developing 13 games in one year. How?Designing with movable and removable parts in mind.Warning the world of its inevitable DOOM.Hyperthymesia.Working on two games at once.Creative direction.When John realized DOOM would be a hit.Why John moved on from id Software.What is a gaming engine?Starting a new company.What prompted John to write DOOM Guy: Life in First Person?The origin of DOOM‘s name.Parting thoughts.MORE JOHN ROMERO QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“The bigger the team gets, the harder and longer it takes to make one vision come out the right way. But with four people [having] very distinct jobs to do, it works really, really well.”

— John Romero

“I’m going through this level, and I’m hearing these monsters moving around. I don’t know where they’re at, but I don’t like that they’re coming for me somehow. And it was great, because I finally got to feel the game experience the way that people would feel when they’re playing it.”

— John Romero

“We never thought that DOOM was going to be living actively for 30 years. Stuff is [still] being made for the game on a daily basis.”

— John Romero

“So I played for a little while and I noticed that there were only probably two students in the room, and I said, ‘Well, what are they doing on the computer, because it doesn’t look like they’re playing?’ He goes, ‘Oh, no, they’re programming.’ And I’m like, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘Well, that’s actually what you do to make these games. You have to learn how to tell the computer how to put stuff on the screen and what to do, how to think.’ And I’m like, ‘I want to do that.'”

— John Romero

PEOPLE MENTIONEDAlexis OhanianChristian DivineJohn CarmackTom HallAdrian CarmackElan LeeKevin CloudLarry MillerSandy PetersenAmerican McGeeTom Cruise

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