For the 29th birthday of the FPS classic Doom, John Romero, one of the creators of the game, held a livestream on Twitch. There, he answered fan questions, talked about game development, and almost casually created a completely new level for the classic shooter.
Who is John Romero? John Romero is a true gaming pioneer who has worked on titles like Doom, Wolfenstein, and Quake throughout his career. A look into the gaming history books reveals how John Romero, along with his colleague John Carmack, essentially invented the FPS genre single-handedly.
If you want to learn more about the beginnings of the computer game industry, there is also a series on Netflix where famous developers explain why you love online games.
The two programmers met while working for Softdisk. This was a computer magazine that was published monthly on floppy disk and offered software for Apple II, Commodore 64, IBM PCs, Macintosh, and later also Windows.
Together, they founded the studio “id Software,” and after smaller successes with games like “Hovertank 3D” or “Commander Keen,” they achieved worldwide fame with the titles “Doom,” “Quake,” and “Wolfenstein 3D.”
The original Doom is now famous for modders trying to get it running on all sorts of devices: You can now also play Doom on a chocolate bar.
If you are interested in shooters with horror settings, check out the trailer for Redfall. While you won’t be fighting demons, you can take out nasty vampires!
Fresh wind for a 30-year-old shooter classic
What did John Romero show in the stream? On his Twitch channel, the gaming veteran streamed the development of a completely new level for the original Doom from 1993. Romero had already released the DLC “Sigil” for the 25th anniversary of the shooter.
For the 30th anniversary in 2023, another DLC titled “Sigil 2” is set to be released. The level shown in the stream is supposed to be part of “Sigil 2.” However, it is still a long way from that. The level that Romero shows in the stream is only a first draft.
This is not the finished level. Although I have already worked on it for hours, only a small room is finished so far because I put a lot of effort into the details. I want to create new textures. When I work on something new, I start with a sketch, which I then often revise.
When I design levels, I do it like this: I work on it a bit and then test it. Then I work on it again and test it again. I test it, I test it, I test it.
John Romero
What else is Romero working on? In addition to the Doom DLC “Sigil 2,” Romero and his studio “Romero Games” are working on a brand new shooter that is supposed to be based on the Unreal Engine 5.
Just a few months ago, John Romero announced that his studio was looking for new employees. However, the game is still in an early phase of development, and so few details are known.
Are you a retro fan who can’t get enough of classics like “Doom”? Are you interested in DLCs that deliver new content for retro games? Or do you prefer the modern versions in all their graphical glory? Share your opinion with us and feel free to leave a comment!
