Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture

The story of John Carmack and John Romero, archetypes of the hacker and the gamer. The book follows a similar arc to many rock biographies.

There is a steady rise to rock star status, a life of fame, the price of hubris, and its aftermath. Carmack comes across as a brilliant programmer, but obsessed with work and lacking in empathy. Romero is written as a man with an intimate understanding of what makes games fun, but a tendency to try and do everything at once all the time. The story is like a tragedy where you watch these flaws become their undoing.

Worth a read if you've never heard the story. It was all news to me. The whole thing feels a little too neat and I have to wonder what was left out, but that's an Internet search for another time.

The story of John Carmack and John Romero, archetypes of the hacker and the gamer. The book follows a similar arc to many rock biographies.

There is a steady rise to rock star status, a life of fame, the price of hubris, and its aftermath. Carmack comes across as a brilliant programmer, but obsessed with work and lacking in empathy. Romero is written as a man with an intimate understanding of what makes games fun, but a tendency to try and do everything at once all the time. The story is like a tragedy where you watch these flaws become their undoing.

Worth a read if you've never heard the story. It was all news to me. The whole thing feels a little too neat and I have to wonder what was left out, but that's an Internet search for another time.

As someone that (back in the day) breathlessly waited for the shareware release of Doom to download on his 2400 bps modem, this was a very nostalgic, but also fun and interesting read.

It made me want to make a game! Great read.