Crossroads at iD
Note: I mispronounce ‘iD’ throughout the whole video. Prepare your ears!
When Quake finally arrived in 1996, it was met with huge critical acclaim and commercial success. Following on from Doom, there were a lot of eyes on iD. Luckily, Quake delivered and proved to be a worthy successor to Doom whilst ushering in a new age of 3D gameplay. However, it also tore the iD Software team apart at the seams due to disagreements during its development. Quake ended up being an incredible game, but was it worth the heartache?
Whilst the iD team was very close in the early years of the company, a combination of creative and social differences drove a wedge between the founders. The development of Quake ended up being the breaking point, with the team struggling to agree on the direction of the game, both narratively and technologically. This divide was not helped by the extended development period brought on by the relative complexity of John Carmack’s new engine, as well as the extreme pressure on the team to create a worthy follow-up to Doom.
As with many other iD Software games, there was a stark difference in how John Romero and John Carmack envisioned the game.
