STACK May 2016 Issue 139

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visit GAMES FEATURE
68 MAY 2016
GAMES
H ow do you quantify the legacy
of a videogame? In an era in
which games as revered as
Mortal Kombat 2, Starfox and Myst
were redefining the gaming industry, id
Software’s 1993 release, DOOM,
heralded a new age of popularity in the
fledgling first-person shooter, raised
the bar for realism in graphics, and
pioneered network multiplayer gaming.
It spawned a string of sequels, a series
of comic books, a board game and a
live-action film adaptation. 23 years
on, DOOM remains inventive and
unique, surviving not solely on
nostalgia but also on the fundamental
quality of experience that id Software
achieved in the original development
process. DOOM is still played online,
and still modded. The legacy is still
being measured.
Before DOOM, there was
Wolfenstein 3D. Rough examples of
the first-person shooter genre litter the
video game industry from as far back as
the early 1970s, but Wolfenstein 3D set
the standard upon which subsequent FPS
titles would be grounded. Wolfenstein 3D
was a commercial and critical success,
and so id Software set their sights on the
production of a sequel. This sequel, which
became the prequel, Spear of Destiny , utilised
the same game engine as Wolfenstein. This
meant that the company’s lead programmer,
a man named John D. Carmack, had free time
to develop the company’s next-generation
graphics engine.
Working in isolation from the rest of the
company, Carmack constructed an engine
that would allow for significant graphical
reappraisal for id Software’s next title. DOOM
went into production in September 1992. The
idea was to combine the aesthetics of James
Cameron’s film Aliens with the id Software
team’s favourite horror B-movies. The
company announced to the press that DOOM
would be “Wolfenstein times a million.”
Creative director Tom Hall came on board,
outlining the game design in a document
he dubbed the ‘DOOM Bible’. Unlike the
plotless Wolfenstein, Hall’s intention for the
new title was to create a dense world and
an elaborate story. Carmack rejected Hall’s
narrative ambition, commenting that a ‘story
in a game is like the story in a porn movie.
It’s expected to be there but it’s not that
important.’ Creative conflict between these
two key figures in the development of DOOM
escalated, leading to Hall’s resignation in
August 1993.
The DOOM Bible was abandoned, though
several crucial ideas were retained for the
final game and many of Hall’s concepts
showed up not only in later DOOM titles,
but also in other id Software games such
as Quake, and games designed by Hall
for other gaming companies. The third
crucial figure in the production of DOOM,
level designer John Romero, commented
that "You don’t need much of a story if the
game is good."
After Hall’s departure, id Software
cemented its design ideology. The task
was to employ cutting-edge technology
and mould it into an extremely playable
game. Eager to showcase the new engine’s
capabilities, Romero designed abstract levels,
to distinguish the game from Wolfenstein’s
more flat and square aesthetics. With a
deadline looming, an extra level designer,
Sandy Peterson, was brought on board to help
alleviate the workload. Peterson took an even
less realistic approach to the level design than
Romero, drawing on the work of Giger and
Lovecraft for inspiration. Much of the death-
metal imagery in the game is the result of
Peterson’s work; a critical addition to the team
with the release date rapidly approaching.
To be continued...
DOOM PART 1
You don’t need much of a
story if the game is good.
Developer: id Software YEAR: 1993
By John Roebuck
Developers, id Software