| DOOM 3: The Legacy |
Interview Reprinted With Permission From id Software |
Page 1 of 1
 07/14/03
- DOOM 3: The Legacy is a seven-minute video interview,
in which such id Software luminaries as John Carmack and Tim Willits, to name
a few, plus Trent Reznor, talk about the making of DOOM 3. We
asked Todd Hollenshead if we could bring it to you in written form, and he said
yes. So, promising to to keep the dialogue accurate, we typed up the interview
and included some images taken from the video. Here it is, we hope you enjoy it.
 John
Carmack:
The original DOOM was a really significant
jump in gaming technology for the time. We were making really big strides almost
every single game every year and DOOM was a really significant inflection
point for things, because all of a sudden the world was vivid enough that normal
people could look at a game and understand what computer gamers were always excited
about.
 With
the new DOOM game we have been able to do what I think is one of
the most important things for our game engines here, is the way we have unified
the way in which all of our surfaces and lights interact. We have been able, due
to the bumpmapping technologies on modern 3d cards, to bring about detail into
things that we can still run at a very rapid rate, and the step in quality is
just breathtaking. We're able to see veins and pores and crevices, and we are
able to go and see whether a scientist is having a bad hair day. Most of the time
you don't get to see this much detail when you're just gunning down enemies, but
occasionally you just turn around and there's a monster right there in your face,
and you'll see the slime dripping out of its mouth, blood coming off of it, and
it's really taking it to a new level.
 Narrator:
The technologies that have followed from the original
DOOM have brought freedom to the artists who are now able to truly
bring their visions to life. Gamers will no longer just play games, they will
be immersed in them.
 Todd
Hollenshead:
Every generation of technology that John Carmack has created
has raised the bar for the industry, and really set an example that other programmers
have used to follow, in creating their next generation technology. DOOM
3 is going to be the exact same thing. It looks awesome, and the universe
that we have created is just nothing short of mindboggling.
We are going to redefine what people expect to see in
a PC gaming experience, and provide them something that they haven't had an opportunity
to experience before.
 Kevin
Cloud:
There is a huge difference between the way we created
art back for the old DOOM, for the original DOOM, and
the way we create art now for DOOM 3.
When you are trying to compare what you are used to seeing
and what you saw in the old DOOM compared to DOOM 3,
it's almost like a comic book coming to life. In DOOM 3, we are able
to create hyper-realistic environments, things that you would really only see
before in a movie.
When a character passes through the light, and the way
the light works against the surface, casts a shadow across its own body and casts
a shadow on the floor, the type of detail that we are able to achieve with each
character begins to feel like you can reach out and actually touch it. It's pretty
much the most frightening realistic experience that you have inside a game.
 Tim
Willits:
In the original DOOM, we had a lot of limitations
when you were working with the maps. The player couldn't jump, we were not able
to have a room above another room, it was all very simple.
 The
level making experience in DOOM 3 is much more complicated than
any other title we have done in the past. As technology has improved, we have
had fewer and fewer limitations. Now with DOOM 3, we have the ability
to create anything we want.
 Fred
Nilsson:
As an animator from the film background, I was always
taught to try to get inside the characters, kind of get a feel for what they are
thinking, and with the new DOOM I felt I've been able to be a lot
more creative here, because I basically come up with how the characters move,
and what the cinematics are, what the Demons are doing, what the Zombies are doing,
which is cool.
People probably won't understand the amount of detail
that is in the world and what goes into creating those details. All the textures
are actually the models, they're not just painted anymore; everything is modeled
very detailed, very hi-res, and then we will build the lower res off of that,
and with the new John Carmack magic it will add all the details back in. We are
getting to the point where people are really enjoying the ability to create cinematics
that are basically film quality.
 Robert
A. Duffy:
When we were presented with the opportunity to work on
DOOM 3, that was a bandwagon I jumped on with both feet, rallied
and said, Yes, that's what we need to make, because the technology was right
and the time was right, and I really felt that's what fans wanted. People wanted
another DOOM game from id.
 Narrator:
Gamers and press alike embraced DOOM as
it took them through an uncomfortable journey filled with demons and monsters.
A decade later, id Software brings back the title that defined the
first-person action shooter, and makes it one of the most frightening places to
be.
 Trent
Reznor:
The first time I had seen DOOM and played
DOOM came at a very inopportune time. I had just finished the Downward
Spiral album and our keyboard player at the time walked in with the shareware
of DOOM. That halted any work we were getting done.
 They
put a game out that really catered to my taste. It seemed politically incorrect
and it seemed violent. It seemed like a game that could not have been made by
a giant company. It was fun, it was addictive, it really just struck a chord with
me, that don't give a shit attitude was one of the things that made it
great. When I initially talked to John about the next project he was working on,
and that being DOOM, I think one of the things that excited me about
being involved in it, was because the games of today have the technology that
allows a much more immersive environment. From a sound perspective, it's infinitely
more creative. I am intrigued about what we will be able to pull off, in terms
of really getting inside your head and making it an unpleasant place to be.
Related Links:
· id Software
· Union Aerospace Corporation
· Fountainhead Entertainment
· New Doom Forums
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