Developer interview: John Romero
I have a special treat for you today… John Romero, famous for creating the Doom and Wolfenstein series has answered some questions for the blog.
How did you start with developing games?
JR: I started developing games when i was 11 years old on an HP 9000 mainframe at the local college. I wrote text adventures until the Apple II arrived at the college.
What was the first game you made?
JR: The first game i wrote was a text adventure - it was saved on punch cards!
When you did you start actually making profit from your games, and how?JR: I sold my first game to inCider magazine in 1984 and it appeared in the June 1984 issue. I got $100 for the game but back then it was good money for a high school student.
When did you start living on creating games?JR: When I got my first job at Origin Systems in 1987, two years out of high school, I entered the game industry full-time. My first job was to port the game 2400 A.D. from the Apple II to the Commodore 64.
How did you meet John Carmack?
JR: I created a new department/product at Softdisk in 1990 called Gamer’s Edge, a bi-monthly game disk, and I needed another programmer to help me make the games. I interviewed John Carmack (from Kansas City) and we hit it off really well so he agreed to come down and join the team.
What did you think about 3D when it first arrived?
JR: 3D had been around here and there since the beginning of the game industry in the late 70’s but it wasn’t until the mid-90’s that it became the dominant form. I had played many of the earliest 3D games but not until Wolf 3D did I know the era of 3D had truly arrived.
What do you think about the Indie-business as it looks today?
JR: The indie biz is bigger today than it’s ever been and it’s getting bigger. It’s an awesome place to get some experience and exposure.
Of all the games you have developed, which one is your personal favourite?
JR: I’d have to say the DOOM series was my fave.
Would you have done anything differently if you could back and change your actions?
JR: I would have chosen different co-founders at Ion Storm (excluding Tom Hall - he’s awesome).
What are your ambitions for the future?
JR: To make my current MMORPG turn out as awesome as I think it can and have it accomplish the goals we’ve set for it.
If you could develop anything, what would you create?
JR: I’m developing exactly what I wanted to create - a massive MMORPG.
Name three things people don’t know about you.
JR: I’m a major advocate for preserving gaming history, I’m addicted to my Blackberry, and I play Quake deathmatch very frequently.
What is your tip to upcoming developers?
JR: Focus on what you want to do best then work very hard at becoming extremely good at that skill. If you’re a coder, make a ton of small games from beginning to end.
Do you prefer playing games on console or on PC?
JR: PC, hands down
Can you give us a hint of what your studio is currently working on?
JR: We’re making a PC MMORPG.
Pizza or a hamburger?
JR: Pizza!
Thanks to John Romero for the interview! You can visit his personal website if you’d like to know more about him: www.rome.ro
February 4, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Hi,
What a nice blog you have created! I really enjoyed this post. It is so nicely written. I’ll keep coming back to see what else you write