Thanks for watching! If you enjoy the RTB series I have some more copies of the RTB Vol1 Book available at rmcretro.store as well as other RMC fun merch. Neil
A great interview. Really, really interesting. I actually love that Doom and Id were not the main subject, and that you give them both the same importance when writing the questions. Alas, I would have loved to know if John is still a metalhead. Great job, Neil.
@@waisinet So, he is still into hard rock. Nice to know. Does anyone know if Carmack was also a metalhead back in the 80s/90s? I believe Masters of Doom said so, but I can't remember right now. It has been a good few years since I've read the book. Doom and Quake were metal as hell, and not only in the soundtrack.
Just watched this and his comment on Doom on playstation is right, i remember playing Doom on PS1 on a big tv in the dark, that game made me jump not many games get me like that
And finally we get the designer of all the best Doom levels. Also Wizardry 8 was one of the first computer RPG games that I ever managed to complete. It did seem very strange since I had no exposure to the rest of the series.
BR in German stands for "Bayerischer Rundfunk". That's Bavarian Broadcasting. Bavaria is a state in Germany and that is it's radio and television broadcaster.
As someone who didn't grow up with games like DOOM, it's quite interesting and thought provoking to hear these stories from developers who are from that era. Thanks for the interview!
@Ambient Music: To make you feel better 21 yrs old. Grew up with games like Zelda, Pokemon, Sonic, Halo, Fable, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. Particularly played a ton of Zelda Majora's Mask on GameCube. Family bought kinda old consoles and new so I had an n64 and still managed to miss Doom lol (probably because the used game store didn't carry it). Never owned a commodore or zx spectrum but have been playing around with the speccy thanks to a special friend :)
All my love to the Romero's! I was born in the fire they wrought. I'd love to see them both work on a passion game project! forget timescales, forget sales - just something from the heart
Was just smiling hearing that Brenda gets so much Posts for her Twitter BR@ account from Germany. BR means Bayerischer Rundfunk (TV Station) and is located in Munich. One of the best interviews in the Tea Break format so far. I really got keen on programming my C64 in 6502 again :-)) No great games, just little things. I loved that ML back in 1984 although I never programmed any games.
@Roland Grange That's a subjective opinion brother. Carrmck was certainly the brains behind the engine, but a good game does not an engine make. All the creatives had a hand in id's success. Regardless, Romero is an interesting dude. Remember, no one is holding a gun to your head making you watch 😉
Great interview. Such a nice couple. It’s refreshing to see celebrities that are so down to earth. Is there a story behind how this interview happened?
Great interview. Both John and Brenda were great guests, with a great host. What else can ya ask for? ^-^ (Richard Garriot I'd say, but you already had him on.. heh)
Here's an old snap of Romeo when I met him at id's HQ in 1995 (he was play testing Hexen at the time against Shawn Green): www.gamers.org/dhs/usavisit/dhs024.jpg www.gamers.org/dhs/usavisit/dhs025.jpg Romero is such a chill guy. S'funny, in the 2nd pic he reminds me somewhat of Steve Burke of Gamers Nexus. :D
Blimey. You've done some great interviews Neil but this one ...You've blown us out of the water! How are you gonna top this? Is God your next interview?
Great interview, but the audio levels are really mismatched which makes listening to it hard. Perhaps you could ask the participants to do a local recording on their phone (very simple to do, won't inconvenience people) and then send you it. Because they're using headphones, the files will contain *only* their audio, and you can mux the tracks and level them very easily.
I see you are trying to timebox the interview. I know Richard Garriott's ran very long. Brenda had some interesting stories but I feel like she dominated the conversation. I would have liked to hear more from John. Maybe split it up next time.
in 1993 Doom was ripping and tearing a hole in the Amiga's place a games machine. I love the Amiga, i still own 2, but John R is correct, the Amiga was not capable, and had reached it's shelf life a that point. And just like Neil, i also moved to PC at that point, and am now typing this comment on a PC. Doom put the nails in the coffin for the Amiga, and it put them in with a 9-inch nail gun.
Interesting interview. Amigas could run Doom-if you had at least a 68040 running at 25mhz to get it going reasonably smoothly. However in Alien Breed 3d you could walk over empty space but you couldn’t in Doom. So there 😝
@@MrAmi69 How many people had a 40 Mhz 68040 A1200 in 1993, though? Definitely not enough to make porting Doom worthwhile for a developer. A base A1200 didn't have a chance, and that's the system they'd be targeting.
When it comes to fantasy armor and the sexes, people complain about the impracticality of the chainmail bikini, but I hear few complain about He-Man and nearly naked depictions of male 'barbarians' in many fantasy settings. I think design choice of things like that is best left to the artists as long as they can explain it in-universe and allow for equal treatments.
Equal treatment is precisely the issue. Male characters tend to have a wide variety of choices. The half-nude barbarian type is just one of them. Female characters typically have a far narrower range of choices and are way too often designed purely around sex appeal, instead of along the in-universe logic as you yourself point out should be the case. Though, I do think this is much less of an issue these days than it used to be.
Still sad that Sir-Tech is no more and all the later Wizardry games (and clones) by Japanese companies can't hold a candle to Wizardry 7 (8 I found too combat heavy). Btw, I wouldn't just mention Myst and Doom as Ultima Underworld was out before Wolfenstein and was still more advanced than Doom. Nowadays there are still many games where the cutscenes are leagues ahead of ingame graphics. Look at Dragon Quest XI cutscenes and then the actual ingame graphics. As long as there is a "I wish the actual graphics would be looking as good as the cutscenes", graphics still have a long way to go. PS: Still missing 2400 AD on my Origin shelves of my games collection. PPS: As a RPG fan, there was never the question of Ultima or Wizardry or Might & Magic etc. If they sparked my interest, I got them all at some point. Still holds true nowadays. PPPS: Rhinoceros guys. xD *cough* Umpani *cough* PPPPS: I skipped the Amiga and went from C64 to PC because I wanted to play Ultima 7 and Ultima Underworld. Doom only came onto my radar because of school. Blood and gore was edgy, so teenagers were attracted to it like flies to the... ;) PPPPPS: BR = Bayrischer Rundfunk - Bavarian Broadcasting, a German state (well, tax payer) funded TV channel like the BBC for example.
Thanks for watching! If you enjoy the RTB series I have some more copies of the RTB Vol1 Book available at rmcretro.store as well as other RMC fun merch.
Neil
I totally agree with Brenda! For me video-game is the 10th art, the most complex form of art ever achieved by the humanity.
Incredible, John is a living legend.
Finally got round to watching this, what a great interview. Fantastic stuff!
Loved the interview with the legends!
And John looks human but runs 6502 code? Sounds like the Terminator to me :D
Whoa, what an amazing score of an interview!
A great interview. Really, really interesting. I actually love that Doom and Id were not the main subject, and that you give them both the same importance when writing the questions. Alas, I would have loved to know if John is still a metalhead. Great job, Neil.
The answer is obvious....look at his hair. Once a metalhead always a metalhead.
@@rickylovesyou He does look the part. Always did. However, some people stray from the right path when they get older.
As far as I know his favorite artist is buckethead - so it is kind of metal what he is into.
@@waisinet So, he is still into hard rock. Nice to know. Does anyone know if Carmack was also a metalhead back in the 80s/90s? I believe Masters of Doom said so, but I can't remember right now. It has been a good few years since I've read the book. Doom and Quake were metal as hell, and not only in the soundtrack.
Just watched this and his comment on Doom on playstation is right, i remember playing Doom on PS1 on a big tv in the dark, that game made me jump not many games get me like that
And finally we get the designer of all the best Doom levels. Also Wizardry 8 was one of the first computer RPG games that I ever managed to complete. It did seem very strange since I had no exposure to the rest of the series.
BR in German stands for "Bayerischer Rundfunk". That's Bavarian Broadcasting. Bavaria is a state in Germany and that is it's radio and television broadcaster.
Thank you, Neil, for this lovely interview. Both Brenda and John seem super wholesome
"When I retire I wanna make a 6502 game for the Apple II" holy fuck, these two are literally the coolest people on the planet.
Fantastic interview. Great questions about the time before Doom, and so great to let them speak so much.
As someone who didn't grow up with games like DOOM, it's quite interesting and thought provoking to hear these stories from developers who are from that era. Thanks for the interview!
@Ambient Music: To make you feel better 21 yrs old.
Grew up with games like Zelda, Pokemon, Sonic, Halo, Fable, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. Particularly played a ton of Zelda Majora's Mask on GameCube. Family bought kinda old consoles and new so I had an n64 and still managed to miss Doom lol (probably because the used game store didn't carry it). Never owned a commodore or zx spectrum but have been playing around with the speccy thanks to a special friend :)
Such an interesting interview. Really enjoying it
What a great surprise this tea break is. 👍🏻
I met them both a few years ago in Dublin. They are very knowledgeable and down to earth.
woah John Romero? Legend!
You guys really nailed it with this one! Thanks!!!
YESSSSSSSS finally! I was waiting for it since you announced it on Twitter!!! Thanks for sharing on here as well.
These interviews are awesome. The one with Mark Ferrari is great 👍
Great interview that. The passion is evident, creativity and code!
Loved this interview! Really great! Congratulations Sir!!
Great Interview! 👍
I hope they stay married forever. Perfect match.
Brenda is fraggin cool, man.
All my love to the Romero's! I was born in the fire they wrought. I'd love to see them both work on a passion game project! forget timescales, forget sales - just something from the heart
Was just smiling hearing that Brenda gets so much Posts for her Twitter BR@ account from Germany. BR means Bayerischer Rundfunk (TV Station) and is located in Munich. One of the best interviews in the Tea Break format so far. I really got keen on programming my C64 in 6502 again :-)) No great games, just little things. I loved that ML back in 1984 although I never programmed any games.
OMG how brilliant, what's next? A dual interview with Andrew Braybrook and Jeff Minter?
46:00 - that teared me up a bit 😭
Great stuff!!
Great interview, thanks!
this is worth a gold ... Thanx RMC
Excellent interview!
I thought this was going to be a story about john, not an actual interview. Well done.
@Roland Grange That's a subjective opinion brother. Carrmck was certainly the brains behind the engine, but a good game does not an engine make. All the creatives had a hand in id's success. Regardless, Romero is an interesting dude. Remember, no one is holding a gun to your head making you watch 😉
wow wow wow! wonderful interview! I could tell the Romero's enjoyed it as well!
So cool!!
thanks for sharing RMC - The Cave
Great stuff from two legends. Thanks.
30:00 Got some Old World Blues vibes from John.
Great interview.
Such a nice couple. It’s refreshing to see celebrities that are so down to earth.
Is there a story behind how this interview happened?
Great interview. Both John and Brenda were great guests, with a great host. What else can ya ask for? ^-^ (Richard Garriot I'd say, but you already had him on.. heh)
Here's an old snap of Romeo when I met him at id's HQ in 1995 (he was play testing Hexen at the time against Shawn Green):
www.gamers.org/dhs/usavisit/dhs024.jpg
www.gamers.org/dhs/usavisit/dhs025.jpg
Romero is such a chill guy. S'funny, in the 2nd pic he reminds me somewhat of Steve Burke of Gamers Nexus. :D
Great video. Ken and Roberta Williams are another power couple in retro gaming.
Ready to be made their bitch, thanks RMC!
Blimey. You've done some great interviews Neil but this one ...You've blown us out of the water! How are you gonna top this? Is God your next interview?
Careful if you ever challenge John to a match in Daikatana DM, this man will make you his bitch.
Good interview. I use to enjoy writing 6502 assembly back in the 80's.
That explains why I love horror movies. I too would watch them late when my parents went to bed. TNT Monstervision with Joe Bob Briggs.
The thumbnail made it look like John was wearing pigtails 😂
I wouldn't put it past him 🤣
Wizardry - holy cow!!! Now that's bringing back some memories.
Your Content Are Awesome i Mean I like It
Great interview, but the audio levels are really mismatched which makes listening to it hard. Perhaps you could ask the participants to do a local recording on their phone (very simple to do, won't inconvenience people) and then send you it. Because they're using headphones, the files will contain *only* their audio, and you can mux the tracks and level them very easily.
Hi Mat, sorry you had problems. Audio tracks are all individual and normalised at -3db and multiband compression applied.
haha I was clapping when brenda explained how to get to the wizard on the tenth floor.. haha.. brilliant..
Nice, someone from my Home Town
Ogdensburg, NY
I would go on a retro coding cruise!
John & Brenda have 7 non-working Apple IIs! They need to send a few out to UA-camrs to be restored.
I like John Romero that's why I made a character named atfer his WAD
I see you are trying to timebox the interview. I know Richard Garriott's ran very long. Brenda had some interesting stories but I feel like she dominated the conversation. I would have liked to hear more from John. Maybe split it up next time.
Now I have a choice to make... watch Army of the Dead on Netflix later, or watch this??
This has more substance.
Definitely watch army of the dead first. If you watch this first, army of the dead won't look so interesting
in 1993 Doom was ripping and tearing a hole in the Amiga's place a games machine. I love the Amiga, i still own 2, but John R is correct, the Amiga was not capable, and had reached it's shelf life a that point. And just like Neil, i also moved to PC at that point, and am now typing this comment on a PC. Doom put the nails in the coffin for the Amiga, and it put them in with a 9-inch nail gun.
Wow how did you manage this? What witchcraft 😍You’ve out done yourself this time.
Oh cute, they're a power couple!
BR - Bayrischer Rundfunk - Bavarian Radio
"Bayrischer Rundfunk" is @br in Germany :D
Interesting interview. Amigas could run Doom-if you had at least a 68040 running at 25mhz to get it going reasonably smoothly. However in Alien Breed 3d you could walk over empty space but you couldn’t in Doom. So there 😝
everyone is coloring their hair to look younger.
Neil "Do you regret saying that the Amiga was incapable of running Doom?"
John "Well, it was. Obviously."
John Romero is a hero!
He was wrong tho :)
Exactly. The 286 couldn't run Doom. The 386 couldn't run Doom at a good frame rate. So obviously Doom could not run on the PC..
@@MrAmi69 I remember having Doom run on my accelerated A1200, in a postage stamp sized window to get acceptable frame rates.
@@fredsmith1970 Worked great on my A1200 040/40.
@@MrAmi69 How many people had a 40 Mhz 68040 A1200 in 1993, though? Definitely not enough to make porting Doom worthwhile for a developer. A base A1200 didn't have a chance, and that's the system they'd be targeting.
What's with the down votes. This dude helped create doom!
Disgruntled Amiga owners. LOL.
When it comes to fantasy armor and the sexes, people complain about the impracticality of the chainmail bikini, but I hear few complain about He-Man and nearly naked depictions of male 'barbarians' in many fantasy settings. I think design choice of things like that is best left to the artists as long as they can explain it in-universe and allow for equal treatments.
Equal treatment is precisely the issue. Male characters tend to have a wide variety of choices. The half-nude barbarian type is just one of them. Female characters typically have a far narrower range of choices and are way too often designed purely around sex appeal, instead of along the in-universe logic as you yourself point out should be the case. Though, I do think this is much less of an issue these days than it used to be.
Still sad that Sir-Tech is no more and all the later Wizardry games (and clones) by Japanese companies can't hold a candle to Wizardry 7 (8 I found too combat heavy).
Btw, I wouldn't just mention Myst and Doom as Ultima Underworld was out before Wolfenstein and was still more advanced than Doom. Nowadays there are still many games where the cutscenes are leagues ahead of ingame graphics. Look at Dragon Quest XI cutscenes and then the actual ingame graphics. As long as there is a "I wish the actual graphics would be looking as good as the cutscenes", graphics still have a long way to go.
PS: Still missing 2400 AD on my Origin shelves of my games collection.
PPS: As a RPG fan, there was never the question of Ultima or Wizardry or Might & Magic etc. If they sparked my interest, I got them all at some point. Still holds true nowadays.
PPPS: Rhinoceros guys. xD *cough* Umpani *cough*
PPPPS: I skipped the Amiga and went from C64 to PC because I wanted to play Ultima 7 and Ultima Underworld. Doom only came onto my radar because of school. Blood and gore was edgy, so teenagers were attracted to it like flies to the... ;)
PPPPPS: BR = Bayrischer Rundfunk - Bavarian Broadcasting, a German state (well, tax payer) funded TV channel like the BBC for example.
John must bring back ETQW ;/
41:22 And this is still a prominent issue today. Female protagonists still get smeared and revolted against because of toxic male gamers.
Commodore destroyed Amiga, not Doom.
very awkward fidgeting but decent interview
Are they husband and wife? 😍
It's too bad Empire of Sin is hot garbage. I don't know how they managed that. It was one of the worst games released last year.