Romero Weathers the Storm

ION Storm's John Romero chatted briefly with GameSpot News to tell us – and gamers – how Daikatana development is coming along.

If you missed Friday's Todd Porter's extensive set of answers to our questions on the general health and well-being of ION, its staffers and games, have a look at the link to the right. It's a great read.

Now, heeere's Johnny.

GameSpot News: John, most gamers we talk to want to know more than who's dissing who and instead just want to know when they're going to get their hands on your next title. Can you tell us – and gamers - what these past two weeks have been like in the life of Daikatana - a few stories from the trenches? Because if I were reading GameSpot or the other sites, I'd be thinking “jeez, these guys don't have time to work on the games." John, tell us true, are you finding time to work on the game? John Romero: All of my time is spent with the team and the assets they are producing - my job is to make sure that what is being produced matches the vision of how this game is supposed to turn out. So that is what I work on each day; make sure the mappers know everything they have to do, give them ideas when they need it, help the flow of communication from them to the map programmer, make sure the game programmers are working on relevant tasks and give them ideas or direction when they need it, etc. Every single aspect of this game is under my control and I need to make sure everything is quality and I decide when something is finished. In addition to creative work and overseeing the project, I do lots of interviews and biz work.

GSN: Has the release of FPSs such as Half-Life and SiN had any impact on what you're doing with Daikatana? What do you think of those two games, by the way?JR: Well, it's definitely shown me what we're up against and what we need to do to be on top. I love both games and we're working on making our single-player mode just as awesome as SiN's and Half-Life's – it's fun work. GSN: Do you think the ION worked itself into a corner by building the hype about the company too much? For example. No company has taken out such large-scale ads to announces its creation - and to talk about its top employees - while not having a game in production. Do you think that ION has promoted its "attitude" too heavily? Another "for example": the move to have a designer's name on a title (i.e., Dominion says "A Todd Porter Game" on the front of the box). JR: There are and have been dozens of companies that have put their designer's names on the box. Just look at Sid Meier's latest titles. Chris Roberts always has his name on his box. In the beginning of this industry in the early 1980's, many designers had their names on their boxes. Does the name Bill Budge ring a bell? How about Garry Kitchen, Dan Kitchen, Steve Cartwright, David Crane, Robert Clardy, etc. There are many, many examples, but most people in this industry have zero history knowledge of it.

GSN: Thanks John.