John Carmack broke the mold in the early '90s after designing a revolutionary engine that utilized ray casting to draw only what the player could see. This novel concept meant faster rendering speeds, lending itself to the high-octane Nazi-slaughtering action of one-man-army William 'B.J.' Blazkowicz in Wolfenstein 3D.
With the mold firmly set in place, id Software pushed evermore into the violent, pixelated viscera of its new genre, hurling a space marine onto the surface of Mars and into the depths of Hell to slaughter corridors upon corridors of demons to the horror of concerned parents everywhere. Doom is one of the most influential shooters of all-time because id Software never shied away from licensing its engine, whether that was to Raven Software or Bungie, starting decades-long careers iconic in their own right.
We recently spoke to John Romero to talk about modern shooters, his own projects and his thoughts on a female Doomslayer.
Quake, which took the skeleton of an id Software Dungeons & Dragons campaign and stretched it over the carcass of its "constant, hectic" shooters, was no different. The engine was licensed to anyone willing to pay, and that...
