id, inc.

In October of 1996, several strange events occurred to the company that created the computer game Quake.

That company was id software.

This is the tale of what I believe to be, the start of their decline.

Doom

id.

The company name all by itself is cool.

I feel I owe id a lot. For you see it was id's game "Doom", that was responsible for my ever growing interest in computers. I now earn my living in the computer industry, so you can see I give id some credit in this.

Doom was the first realization I had of the power of the computer and unlimited potential it offered the user. Funny thing was, I have never to this day played Doom on a computer. My experience with the game is limited to the Sega 32x version. Which I still find myself playing from time to time.

I read a lot about Doom and its upcoming sequel, Doom II. In the process I learned as much as the interviews with the staff of id would divulge. I came away impressed by just one employee however, John Romero.

John's obscenity laced quotes had the dual effect of both pumping me up for Doom II, as well as, giving me the impression that John's overall gaming attitude was a big part of id's success.

At the time I believed that success for id meant independence from the corporate suits. For a while I think this was true, but something has changed at id since the release of Quake.

The following is brief summation of what I believe is the founding of the new corporate id.

"When it's done!"

"When it's done" or "When it's finished" was id's kick ass response to the "when will Quake be released" questions that would have had any corporate suit eating his tie.

Unfortunately, id didn't live up to this promise and released a version so "not done" and "unfinished" that it laid all the necessary ground work for the creation of an incredible Quake community.

A community that saw unfulfilled possibilities and armed with the meager, undocumented QuakeC compiler, developed Quake into something worth paying for.

The new corporate id has shed its rebellious nature and conformed to the lamer ways of big business. They are committed to releasing Quake 2 before Christmas.

Instead of "when its done", the paragraph title below should be id's new motto.

"Deadlines and Commitments..."

"what to leave in, what to leave out" Against the wind - Bob Seager

UPDATE: 10-15-97

Even though the November 1997 issue of PC GAMES magazine only has a whopping three pages devoted to Quake 2, they publish a few interesting tidbits. According to the article, id is modeling its new game so it will have gameplay a lot like DOOM.

Armed with info that id is simply going to rehash features of one of its old hits, PC GAMES incredibly states that, "we can forget rumors of id being only a tech company, but a bonafide game company."

The coolest new non-engine, game features are all coming from the Quake community (i.e. CTF, which Zoid is doing). Oh, I forgot, id does have an original concept, flies.

I don't know about you, but I've been begging for this feature in a game ever since I first laid eyes on these cute little buggers swarming over a huge pile of dogshit. Quake finally takes revenge on Duke Nukem. I mean, who wants strippers when you can have maggot bearing FLIES!!!!

Rumor has it that id will be replacing the axe, with the fly swatter.

Tim Willits is quoted in the PC GAMES article as saying that the reason for not being able to give the journalists a demonstration of the multi-player portion of the game was due to Carmack disabling it, "so the staff can get some work done."

Wow, when did they rehire John Romero. I'd believe this spin except for all the recent rumors saying the demo of Quake 2 would not have multi-player enabled. Carmack has already said that this version of multi-player was not going to be as optimized for gameplay as the original.

Just like all the other big corporations, President Carmack, has surrounded himself with yes men. Without Romero around to slap him upside his head, Carmack rules id. And just like all the other big corporations, id is content to milk a successful idea for all its worth.

"Where we go from here"

UPDATE: 12-06-97

As incredible as it sounds, John Carmack actually announced in his .plan file that Quake 2 "had mastered" and followed that sentence by also announcing a soon to be ready "point release".

Why is this incredible?

The sorry ass state of the software industry has reached new lows when a company announces the release of their newly completed game, in this case Quake 2, and in the same breath, also giving the details of a follow-up "point release" that will include features left out of the "finished version".

One of these "features" will be the bug fixes for the problems that arise. Expect quite a few, since as Carmack states, multiplayer was only lan tested, so modem/internet play might be shaky.

But wait, there's more!

To show that id is still a marketing innovator, in what has to be an all-time first, they will be releasing a "playable" Quake 2 demo "after" the point release. Wow, what I always wanted, a demo to a game released months earlier.

But wait, there's more! Part II

Carmack followed the previous .plan file with another the next day admonishing all the heathen who dared complain about as John put it, "the release not having their favorite feature".

"A software project is never finished... if you wait until EVERYTHING is done, you won't ship at all."

The greatest tech mind in the industry claims it is impossible to complete a game. INCREDIBLE!

John went on to confirm that if they had waited to ship Quake until it was done, they would only now be shipping it. The tragedy of this, as John puts it, would not be in the money id would have lost, but rather all the enjoyment the Quake peons would have been deprived of.

Greed is Good!

UPDATE: 2-24-98

Why would id release a game that was incomplete and bug-ridden?

Greed?

Well partly, yes. You see in early '97 two large software publishers, Activision and GT Interactive, got into a bidding war over the rights to Quake II.

Activision won.

But it paid a tremendous price. You must realize that Activision is a company only 3 years removed from financial ruin, saved of course by the mega-selling game, Mechwarrior 2.

With no desire to return to its leaner days, Activision bought itself a puppet in id software, that would definitely release its surefire hit Quake II, in time for Christmas.

"You're Fired!!"

After Quake's release something strange happened at and to id. Instead of kicking back and enjoying the fruits of their hard labor, id came unglued. People quit or were fired. The most prominent departee being Romero. I still remember reading a quote by Tim Willits saying Romero was fired.

This was the first sign to me of corporate id. I mean if id was still a small, laid back company, how would they be able to "fire" a founding member. Carmack was later quoted as saying John was not performing.

It seems Romero wanted id to include more ambitious game designs and id(Carmack) wanted to focus on just one game with the same boring story. Do you realize that id has used the same damn story in every game they have released? I use the term "story" lightly.

I remember reading Romero's comments on Quake during its development. Romero in typical form, related how you would be able to team up with another character and ambush a player. After beheading your victim you would proceed to carry the aforementioned players head in a bag to use as a sacrifice to a demon. Cool!

This interview was done in 1994 and was published in a Doom II strategy guide. Even back then John had a better story than the one released in 1996. It is easy to see that there may be truth to the lack of production stories currently circulating about John.

Of course, not being able to implement your ideas would understandably lead to this situation. In a battle with Carmack over game content vs. game engine, the engine seemingly won in a landslide.

Romero has since co-founded ION STORM. In a gesture to confirm that this gaming company will be completely different from id, as well as, to maybe tell id F-you, ION's motto is "Design is Law"

With Carmack's main adversary removed, he has taken over as leader of the new id. In magazine articles I see he is now referred to as the "President" of id. A corporate label if ever there was one.

"id smartass cracks wise"

UPDATE: 9-25-97

The October 1997 issue of PC Gamer magazine has an interesting sidebar addition to the 14+ page spread on Quake II.

It seems that resident id smartass, "American" Mcgee, has quite a bit to say about Romero's departure.

Mcgee states that in essence John was fired for productivity reasons saying that all Romero would do all day was play deathmatch and go to lunch.

Of course, this is when he wasn't stealing ideas that the other id staff members had brought to him for his approval.

Mcgee sounds downright angry, far from his online persona. He is id's spokesman when a statement has to be made where the subject being addressed needs to be "bagged" on. Mcgee can hold his own as a putdown artist.

Too bad the monsters in Quake aren't programmed to run around the game spewing one-liners and insulting players, if they were American might actually be worth something to id, instead of the guy who only got hired because he was good friends with John Carmack.

"I love lava and I really love watching people die in lava" - American "lavaboy" Mcgeek

The above quote from Mcgeek was taken from his 12-08-97 .plan file. It seems he is so in love with his lag inducing overuse of lava in DM 2 and DM 4, that he is going to incorporate his "lust for lava" into a DM level for Quake 2.

Hey, why not? No one else is coming up with new ideas, so why should "lavaboy" break with the id tradition and design a new DM theme?

UPDATE: 3-13-98

According to John Carmack's latest .plan file, American Mcgee has joined Romero, Sandy Peterson and Shawn Green to name only a few, who are no longer employed by id software.

Although I often criticize Mcgee, I secretly admired and respected his work on Doom 2 and Quake. One of my most vivid memories of Quake is still the first time I entered an online deathmatch in his DM2 level.

It seems id is right on schedule in their quest to become extinct.