I was a huge fan of id Software’s games when I was younger.  Games like Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D and Doom are probably half the reason why I wasn’t all that bothered about console gaming until about 5 years ago.  I realise now that was naivety; naivety coupled with the lack of being able to afford a console when I was kid and no one wanting to buy me one, since a PC was “more than enough”.  Anyway, these days I love reading about what went on behind the scenes back then, when 4 geeks could get together, drink copious amounts of diet coke, eat pizza, listen to Metallica at ridiculous levels and make damn fine games, without the need for huge studios or budgets.  Masters of Doom by David Kushner is a fantastic book, entertaining and insightful, about how id Software came to be and how their games were made, focusing mainly on John Carmack and John Romero.  A few days back, John Romero, currently working at Gazillion Entertainment, blogged about a video he’d come in to possession of, edited, and put up on Vimeo for all to enjoy.  Its some footage from 1993, while Doom was in development, which visits the id Software workplace and shows some of what went on there – most notably the music of Bobby Prince and John Romero showing off some Doom work-in-progress. Check it out…

A Visit to id Software from john romero on Vimeo.

John also recently blogged about an article from 1994, shortly after Doom was released, which Gamasutra recently republished and is well worth a read for further insight to the design and development of Doom.