John Romero has posted an old VHS video tour of the offices of id Software, recorded while the developer was still working on its seminal FPS Doom.
Romero says on his personal site that he was contacted by Joe Siegler, presumably Joe Siegler of 3D Realms, about an old videottape he’d found that contained some pre-release Doom footage. Siegler said he was going to toss it if Romero wasn’t interested but fortunately Romero said he was. Now he’s ripped it, fixed it up and posted it online.
The video was recorded in 1993 by Dan Linton, sysop (system operator) of the Software Creations BBS, at the time one of the premiere distribution sites for shareware developers. It was the “home BBS” for Apogee Software, better known these days as 3D Realms, and was also used by id, Capstone and others. At its peak, Software Creations could support over 150 users simultaneously at speeds of up to 14.4k per second and while that might not sound like much to you young whippersnappers, back in the day it was pretty hot stuff. Hot enough to get you an invite to the id offices.
Along with plenty of not-quite-done Doom footage the video features old-time id luminaries including Jay Wilbur, Shawn Green, John Romero, Dave Taylor, Sandy Peterson, Adrian Carmack and musician Bobby Prince, the man behind the legendary Doom music. It’s a hoot to watch and a must-see for any id or Doom fan. Check it out at Planet Rome.ro.
