Matt Chat 51 : John ROMERO !

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by blade002

I think somewhere hidden away inside of me in this yearning to make something grand

The trouble is that it takes effing ages to make something good, I don't want to think about making something grand...

[mattbarton.exe]

First off, thanks for the nice comments!

Originally Posted by gimbal

The trouble is that it takes effing ages to make something good, I don't want to think about making something grand...

I have the same mixed feelings, Gimbal. I listen to Romero talk about how basically obsessed he was with programming for so many years. I admire great achievements, but wonder if I really have anything in my life that could attract and hold my undivided attention for so long. I have dabbled in programming and enjoyed it, but it's hard to imagine it completely taking over my life. Yet that kind of absolute devotion seems to be a pre-requisite for doing anything remotely great.

I remember in college really wanting to become a great guitar player. I bought and guitar and worked pretty hard at it, but soon realized that I was just nowhere close to great. I could walk into any guitar shop anywhere and meet a dozen guys who could shred like a professional. I realized that I could study guitar playing intensely for a decade and still only be as good as those guys, much less on par with the true masters. Just didn't seem worth it to me to spend so much time and energy on something that, at best, would net me a few appreciative nods from a few folks (even I didn't dream of making it big on stage or anything).

In short, I think most of us probably wish deep down we could form that sort of obsession that could lead to greatness, but other interests and obligations get in the way.

[desiv]

Originally Posted by mattbarton.exe

In short, I think most of us probably wish deep down we could form that sort of obsession that could lead to greatness, but other interests and obligations get in the way.

So the difference between "genius" and "obsessive" depends on what they are obsessing over...

desiv

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by mattbarton.exe

In short, I think most of us probably wish deep down we could form that sort of obsession that could lead to greatness, but other interests and obligations get in the way.

Yeah, women and rent/mortgages!

[mattbarton.exe]

Hi, guys, Quake is up!

[ Show youtube player ]

Also: I learned that if I get enough viewers and such, I might become eligible for the "Youtube partnership" program and be able to upload any length videos I want. One big negative, though - apparently they are draconian about copyrights for partners, deleting any video that has any external material at all (i.e., clips for movies, snippets from songs, etc.) Since I do that kind of stuff (considering it "fair use"), I could end up having some of my videos deleted. Not cool! Anyone have any more info on this whole thing? I'd love to hear it.

[gilgamesh]

I can only guess, but YT mentions "fair use" in its terms of use. Your videos are journalism, and the copyright holders probably won't have any objections (unless they're nuts). If everything else fails, you could still upload rejected videos to Vimeo.

I would love to see supersized Matt Chats.

PS.: Great episode!

[cosmicfrog]

wow I`m almost moved to tears, another great one Matt

[AmigaFriend]

Another great one Matt!

These Romero series are great, an historical piece of gaming journalism indeed.

[T_hairy_bootson]

Informative and professional as always. Great stuff Matt.

[gimbal]

hm, strange. Romero tells a different story than the book; in the book it is said that Carmack threw him out because he was behaving too much like a rock star and he was fed up with it.

[mattbarton.exe]

Originally Posted by gimbal

hm, strange. Romero tells a different story than the book; in the book it is said that Carmack threw him out because he was behaving too much like a rock star and he was fed up with it.

I've read the books as well, though don't remember all the details. However, Romero does comment about how he was "dealing with all that stuff" concerning the Doom explosion; he was out doing publicity and public relations work while the rest of the team was busy doing Quake and those other games. It seemed as though Carmack was less interested in being in the spotlight, but maybe came to resent that later? Romero describes him as becoming increasingly withdrawn, closing into himself more and more as the programming challenges grew more and more complex.

I think that once Romero had achieved so much fame, it was tough to shut himself up in a dark room again and deal with code 24/7. Imagine trying to do that while having a beautiful girlfriend and a Ferrari.

[gilgamesh]

And I thought Carmack was the Ferrari owner.

Maybe being fired and resigning are not mutually exclusive in the tense situation that Mr Romero describes.

(Btw. the remake of Monkey Island II is about to be released. Hooray.)

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by mattbarton.exe

I've read the books as well, though don't remember all the details. However, Romero does comment about how he was "dealing with all that stuff" concerning the Doom explosion; he was out doing publicity and public relations work while the rest of the team was busy doing Quake and those other games.

It was definitely Romero that was responsible for "the other games" (Hexen, Strife, Ultimate Doom, Final Doom, etc.) as Carmack had no interest in doing anything with the outdated software. At least according to what I read. Perhaps I should read it again, but now I'm also very much doubting that what is written there is completely accurate (it is supposed to be approved by both Carmack and Romero).

There was plenty of bad blood between C & R during that time, so I guess the truth will be left in the middle. Who cares anyway, its old cows now.

[laffer]

Matt, this series with Romero has been absolutely fantastic! He seems like a very fascinating character and I love how the interview was quite long and in depth.
Every episode was very interesting, but I enjoyed the Quake one the most... as it has the most interesting development backstory.

I have to admit I liked Duke Nukem 3D better, though

[TCD]

Originally Posted by gilgamesh

And I thought Carmack was the Ferrari owner.

Might be an urban myth, but I thought they all bought Ferraris after Doom

Great episode Matt and quite sad to hear that the design of Quake could have been much better. Still feels a bit more 'random' than Doom and while the technology was mind blowing, the game as a whole isn't that great.

[laffer]

CyberDruid - I agree. The game feels sort of like a mess... the first episode is pretty good but it goes downhill. Feels much less polished than their earlier games, more like a tech demonstration.

But at least the multiplayer was good... however, I was never good at multiplayer so that aspect didn't mean so much to me

[TCD]

Originally Posted by laffer

CyberDruid - I agree. The game feels sort of like a mess... the first episode is pretty good but it goes downhill. Feels much less polished than their earlier games, more like a tech demonstration.

I'm a fan of the Netherworld myself But yes, it really feels like a half-way done mix of fantasy/horror/sci-fi themes. Ah well, Quake 2 (even without Romero) was an awesome game, so I'm not complaining

[laffer]

The Quake series became a jumbled mess of different games with little in common other than the name... maybe they should've called the rest of the Quake series something else as they have very little to do with the original... I don't know.

[TCD]

Yep, 2 and 4 share more than just the company, but both don't share much with the first one and 3 should just have been called 'Arena'. Anyway, here's still hoping for a Quake 5

[gimbal]

Originally Posted by TheCyberDruid

Yep, 2 and 4 share more than just the company, but both don't share much with the first one and 3 should just have been called 'Arena'. Anyway, here's still hoping for a Quake 5

I think Carmack is pretty much done with the series, so if there will be a Q5, it will probably be Raven at the helm again. No problems there, as the people at Raven are far better at creating interesting content with the technology that ID builds.