Altered States

Doom Legend John Romero — The Path to Prolific Innovation and Making 130+ Games, How to Find the Soul of the Work, Audacious Ambition, and Building in Monk Mode (#681)

Illustration via 99designs

“So I played for a little while and I noticed that there were only probably two students in the room, and I said, ‘Well, what are they doing on the computer, because it doesn’t look like they’re playing?’ He goes, ‘Oh, no, they’re programming.’ And I’m like, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘Well, that’s actually what you do to make these games. You have to learn how to tell the computer how to put stuff on the screen and what to do, how to think.’ And I’m like, ‘I want to do that.’”

— John Romero

Computer and video game legend John Romero (@romero) has designed and published more than 130 games since his first sale at the age of 16. A teenage programming prodigy, his major achievements include co-inventing a series of revolutionary computer games—DOOMQuakeWolfenstein 3-D, and Commander Keen—that launched the industry’s most popular genre, the first-person shooter.

The memoir DOOM GUY: Life in First Person is his first book.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Musicor on your favorite podcast platform.

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#681: Doom Legend John Romero — The Path to Prolific Innovation and Making 130+ Games, How to Find the Soul of the Work, Audacious Ambition, and Building in Monk Mode


This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. Whether you are looking to hire now for a critical role or thinking about needs that you may have in the future, LinkedIn Jobs can help. LinkedIn screens candidates for the hard and soft skills you’re looking for and puts your job in front of candidates looking for job opportunities that match what you have to offer.

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This episode is brought to you by AG1! I get asked all the time, “If you could use only one supplement, what would it be?” My answer is usually AG1, my all-in-one nutritional insurance. I recommended it in The 4-Hour Body in 2010 and did not get paid to do so. I do my best with nutrient-dense meals, of course, but AG1 further covers my bases with vitamins, minerals, and whole-food-sourced micronutrients that support gut health and the immune system. 

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Want to hear another episode with someone who takes the business of creating fun seriously? Listen to my conversation with Exploding Kittens co-founder Elan Lee in which we discuss core gameplay loops, internet archaeology, converting casual fans into superfans, building a game from scratch quickly, making Jar Jar Binks’ neck, clothing the vote, designing games with kids, dealing with investor expectations, defying the algorithms, and much more.

#653: Elan Lee, Co-Creator of Exploding Kittens — How to Raise Millions on Kickstarter, Deconstructing Mega-Successes, Secrets of Game Design, The Power of Positive Constraints, The Delights of Craftsmanship, and The Art of Turning Fans into Superfans

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

  • Connect with John Romero:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

SHOW NOTES

Editor’s Note: Timestamps will be added shortly.

  • Childhood.
  • Aggressor Squadron.
  • John’s first exposure to computers and coding.
  • Early innovations in 3D gaming.
  • The id Software team.
  • Side-scrolling games.
  • Developing 13 games in one year. How?
  • Designing with movable and removable parts in mind.
  • Warning the world of its inevitable DOOM.
  • Hyperthymesia.
  • Working on two games at once.
  • Creative direction.
  • When John realized DOOM would be a hit.
  • Why John moved on from id Software.
  • What is a gaming engine?
  • Starting a new company.
  • What prompted John to write DOOM Guy: Life in First Person?
  • The origin of DOOM‘s name.
  • Parting thoughts.

MORE JOHN ROMERO QUOTES FROM THE INTERVIEW

“The bigger the team gets, the harder and longer it takes to make one vision come out the right way. But with four people [having] very distinct jobs to do, it works really, really well.”

— John Romero

“I’m going through this level, and I’m hearing these monsters moving around. I don’t know where they’re at, but I don’t like that they’re coming for me somehow. And it was great, because I finally got to feel the game experience the way that people would feel when they’re playing it.”

— John Romero

“We never thought that DOOM was going to be living actively for 30 years. Stuff is [still] being made for the game on a daily basis.”

— John Romero

“So I played for a little while and I noticed that there were only probably two students in the room, and I said, ‘Well, what are they doing on the computer, because it doesn’t look like they’re playing?’ He goes, ‘Oh, no, they’re programming.’ And I’m like, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘Well, that’s actually what you do to make these games. You have to learn how to tell the computer how to put stuff on the screen and what to do, how to think.’ And I’m like, ‘I want to do that.’”

— John Romero

PEOPLE MENTIONED

The Tim Ferriss Show is one of the most popular podcasts in the world with more than 900 million downloads. It has been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three times, it is often the #1 interview podcast across all of Apple Podcasts, and it’s been ranked #1 out of 400,000+ podcasts on many occasions. To listen to any of the past episodes for free, check out this page.

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