jefequeso: The graphical fidelity drove its popularity back in the day, but the industry has kind of moved past the point where one person can drive cutting-edge rendering technology. My point is that I think it's more exciting to see the artist and designer behind Doom teaming up again than it would be to see the designer and tech guy teaming up again. I'm not even sure what John Carmack would bring to the table on his own. Or rather, what he would bring to the table that would be that much better than any other modern 3d engine.
To me the heart and soul of Doom are its world and gameplay/level design. That's the stuff I want to see brought back.
Honestly though, it's mostly Romero's involvement I'm excited about. Not just because of his role in Doom, but also because I really hope to see him bounce back after Daikatana.
Firebrand9: Yeah, but you're now conflating two
distinctly separate topics : What John Carmack would bring to the equation *
now* and What John Carmack brought to the equation back in
1992.
Irrefutably he brought a huge amount to the table
then.
Now, you'd have my agreement. He'd want to do an overblown tech demo, which isn't what people interested in this project would want. But that's not what you said. You said it was "Romero and Adrian Carmack's baby", which is a trip down counterfactual lane.
Keep in mind neither would have the outlet to have expressed that level of vision and skill had John Carmack not developed his engine for them to do it with. Things then aren't like they are now where anyone can download an engine and dub themselves a game developer in the span of less than half an hour. Engines were developed from scratch, which involved a not insignificant amount of time and established skill. Not to mention engines such as Doom did not follow a strictly mathematical path, which means technical creativity and lateral leaps of inductive reasoning is what made them shine. Case-in-point : Use of BSP trees for the first time in a game and faked 2.5D ray-casting. You're a developer, are you not? I'd expect you of all people to know this.
You're saying allegorically "I love this car. The look and handling is amazing!" without considering without an powerplant (that someone had to design from scratch no less) is what allows the other aspects to even matter. None of these aspects (outside perhaps concept art) stand on their own. That's what made id special in the early 90's is they had top-tier people in every role.
Of course, feel free to like and be excited for whatever you want, but misrepresenting the factual history of id software and the various member's impact on the game, company history, and subsequent impact to the industry at-large is something I cannot abide by.
All that said, I'm
more than interested to see what these guys turn out.
No, you're right, I didn't express myself quite properly.
I meant more that they were the ones who brought the look and feel to Doom, and were responsible for the direction it took. John Carmack was a huge part of making it a reality and a success, but I don't get the impression that he was as personally attached or involved with it as a GAME, as much as a piece of technology. And I think the game parts--the parts Adrian and Romero headed--are still relevant today, whereas the tech part really isn't.
I respect John Carmack a lot, but I think people tend to forget that he wasn't the creative lead at Id, and in fact had very little to do with the elements we're fond of nowadays. Every game Id released after Romero left and he took more creative control was decidedly tech first and everything else second. As you say, that's likely what he'd want Blackroom to be.
Honestly though, I'd be super hyped anyway if he WERE somehow involved, if for no other reason than seeing the band get back together. And honestly, if he were actually interested in the job, I'm sure he would come up with some sort of awesome technology the game could make use of. Maybe someone needs to convince him to try making voxels relevant. THAT I would be excited about.
I know Bobby Prince is still around. Wonder why they didn't get him.
tl;dr
Yeah his contribution to Doom was just as important as anyone else's, they just don't happen to be the parts I'd be excited to see come back. That's what I meant.