John Romero plays Doom while giving new commentary
22 years later, and id Software's Doom is still an interesting game to study and discuss. This is no more apparent than with John Romero's new commentary and insights, shared as he plays the game. Romero is id Software's co-founder and was the lead designer on 1993's Doom, the game that cemented the first-person shooter genre. His commentary, broken down into ten parts, is part of a video series by game company Double Fine Productions called "Devs Play," where game developers offer new and interesting perspectives.
As noted by Polygon, Romero's episode should prove vital for game/level designers, but even players and Doom fans in particular can find him interesting to listen to. Among the topics he discusses are the general creation of the game, how secret areas were suggested by texture irregularities, and why certain designs were important to the feel of level, including the horseshoe shape, which went on to become a staple in the Doom series, as well as Quake.
Each of the ten parts of Romero's episode run between 10 and 20 minutes, and while that sounds long, you're still left wanted to hear more after each part. Each video is dedicated to one of the early levels in the original Doom, beginning with the first. An example of his musings: "Here's kind of a golden rule of level design: finish the first level last. Then you've learned everything about the game's level design, and you're going to put it all in the first level where you want people to get excited anyway."
The Doom designer discusses other aspects that what made the original game so popular for so many years, including speed runs and the un-used idea of built-in leaderboards for each level, based on certain challenges, and a new type of competitive co-op mode. Along with the never before seen Doom artwork that he released about a month ago, Romero's commentary is definitely evidence that first-person shooter fans and creators still have a soft spot for the game that started it all.
VIA Polygon