Id to Remake Doom

This morning id Software's lead programmer John Carmack announced in his .plan file that the company would start developing a successor to Doom, the classic first-person shooter from 1993. Since the release of Quake III: Arena last December, the id team has quickly put together Team Arena, a team-focused Quake III expansion, and started early development on a project Carmack says was recently scrapped in favor of a new Doom game.

Carmack attributed the remake decision to "several factors, including a general lack of enthusiasm for the proposed plan, the warmth that Wolfenstein was met with at E3, and excitement about what we can do with the latest rendering technology." Return to Castle Wolfenstein, the follow-up to the id classic, is being developed by Gray Matter Studios in conjunction with id. The game was one of GameSpot's top ten E3 picks.

The decision to create a new Doom game wasn't unanimous within id. Id Software's Kevin Cloud and Adrian Carmack, who together own more than half the company, were against the Doom idea according to Carmack. It took an ultimatum from John Carmack and the rest of the id team to get the two to agree to the change in project direction. As the posting goes on to explain, this action contributed to the firing of Paul Steed - the artist credited for Quake III's character models and animations - by Kevin Cloud and Adrian Carmack. This decision was apparently guided by both Steed's role in the id team's ultimatum as well as previous issues.

Many developers spoke up on the announcement today. In a Slashdot posting, former id designer David "Zoid" Kirsch reminisced about the monster design, fast gameplay, and music that he says made Doom great and went on to say about Paul Steed's departure: "It's a shame to see Paul let go. He was certainly one who didn't have any problem expressing his opinions. But he could sure pound out some amazing 3D models. His work in Quake II and Quake III was outstanding - it's sad to see his art won't be in the new Doom." John Carmack also said he regretted seeing Steed leave the company in his update.

Richard "Levelord" Grey, level designer on Ritual's Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K. 2, told Stomped that, "Doom was the game of games, and it still is today. I am so stoked to hear that id is going to do it again!" He went on to say, "As a game developer, though, I fear that the new Doom may try too hard to meet today's standards. It will be a tough act to follow, and there will be the impulse to add all the new features of first-person shooters that have become the norms of the genre." Such speculation isn't surprising given that John Carmack didn't provide any details about id's forthcoming Doom game, except to say that id would be "focusing on the single player game experience."

GameSpot will bring you more information on the new Doom game as development progresses.