Disclaimer: This interview was conducted in haphazard order over the course of many sessions and has been ordered as neatly as possible to have a semblance of flow. Other than that, no sentences were rearranged afterward and no answers were censored. The things said in this interview are in no way doctored or mangled.


scar3crow: Quake thrived under the advent of QuakeC, the mapping tools, and its internet play. How involved were these elements (the first two as released sources) in the original design of Quake before time reared its vomiting head?
John Romero: Quake's development was all about making a great full-3D FPS that had awesome deathmatch that played over the internet/LAN. We knew that from day 1. QuakeC was also part of Quake1. The mapping tools were the only part that was released later after release.

scar3crow: I daresay then, despite complications, mission accomplished. It is still held up high and played furiously, even if all they play these days are dm3 and dm6 =)
John Romero: I love those two levels... In addition DM2 and DM4 rock... One of my all-time favorites is DM7 and CY2A.

scar3crow: Quake has always had wonderful deathmatch, and it certainly popularized something many take for granted these days - rocketjumping. Aside from your lateral use of it in Mt Erebus in Doom, did you foresee it in the way it came about in deathmatch?
John Romero: We had no idea until after the game was released and I started hearing the word being used... Even then I thought it meant jumping over someone's rocket! When I saw it in action i was amazed and immediately starting doing it all the time.

scar3crow: It certainly makes for a different dynamic in the flow of maps, in some cases completely circumventing the pace the mapper may have intended (such as in DM4 where it makes the map even tighter).
John Romero: Yeah, most of the single-player maps break with rocket-jumping. E2M1 in 11 seconds. Heh

scar3crow: You headed me off at the pass with that statement, how was the reaction to Quake Done Quick? I myself was astounded at the simplicity of the e2m1 run as well, and make use of that leap even today in deathmatch.
John Romero: QDQ was pure awesomeness. Even DDQ is incredible. I can't even duplicate most of the moves those guys pulled.

scar3crow: How do you feel about bunnyhopping/straferunning? Some say this occurence is one of the principal dividers in the Quake community, due to the varying degrees of it between Quake and QuakeWorld physics. Personally I just turn always run on and do the occasional lateral rocketjump, and in singleplayer games do not use even rocketjumps unless the author specifies he allows for such in his flow.
John Romero: You know, whatever you can do to push the odds in your favor is what anyone with extreme competitiveness is going to do - so design your levels for the ultimate or prepare to have your map hacked by experts.

scar3crow: Speaking of "map" and "your", you had some very cool moments in your maps (The Ebon Fortress, Wizard's Manse and Dismal Oubliette are in some ways the pinnacle of Quake for me). How trap-oriented do you like your singleplayer games? Along with other conventions, such as the almost drowning in Wizard's Manse? And in the same vein, "fiend in the closet" gameplay a la Doom3's use of imps and Castle of the Damned's literal fiend.
John Romero: I really enjoyed DOOM's traps more than Quake's because there were a lot more of them because of the ease of insertion with the map tool in DOOM compared to Quake. Quake 1's secrets and traps were less numerous because of this. But I love my SP games with traps and secrets in them... provided they aren't predictable. I really did enjoy designing the E2 maps in Quake - so fun to do with the lights out and Queensryche playing.

scar3crow: This brings to mind a question FrikaC offered, FrikaC by the way is one of the pillars of the Quake community nowadays, he created his own Quake compiler, pak reader, image tool, and a plugin bot for any mod that emulates a client to the engine. Ironically, his question was very simple. Do you still play Quake?
John Romero: I occasionally play Quake with a friend over the net - deathmatch.

scar3crow: Just running the gamut of the dm maps? And more importantly, who wins?
John Romero: He wins mostly - he's awesome. We play dm2, dm3, dm4, dm6, dm7, cy2a.

scar3crow: I often find myself in the mood for dm1, for its sheer oddity - no rocket launchers or lightning guns. It just plays differently... and you get those rewarding grenade bounce kills.
John Romero: haha

scar3crow: Speaking of weapons in Quake... why the huge strength differences in the shotguns between Doom and Quake? I can understand the concept of linear progression in damage for singleplayer (the double-barrelled shotgun actually doing more than twice as much damage as the shotgun, and the super nailgun doing literally double that of the normal nailgun), but for multiplayer it leaves me scratching my head sometimes.
John Romero: I don't think we did a very good job balancing the damage on Quake's weapons. DOOM's is perfection.

scar3crow: Did you ever foresee Quake thriving 10 years later? During the original game design phases, and then later on during the development of what we know as Quake? Most games last maybe 2 or 3 years, yet Doom and Quake have lasted an incredible amount of time comparatively.
John Romero: Back then it was tough to see a game last long because tech was changing so quickly and competition was fierce and growing. We were on the verge of 3D acceleration and didn't know if Quake would survive in that world. I'm very happy to see the same community support around Quake that Doom enjoys.

scar3crow: Not only has Quake survived the movement of 3D acceleration, it has in fact expanded under it through DarkPlaces, other engines, and the total conversions that utilize them. Does it feel good to know that Quake in its current state is providing garage game devs a solid base with which to divulge their imagination to the community?
John Romero: I'm still surprised that Quake as a platform has proven to be such a powerhouse and imagination spawning ground. It feels great to know that we enabled so many people to be creative without all the mind-bending work required to write the platform.

scar3crow: Quake and its community have been a point upon which many good memories are centered for me, it has built wonderful friendships that have persisted 5+ years now. I have many personal reasons for loving Quake, but as a creator of its landscapes and barbarity - how do you love it? Why?
John Romero: I really love Quake for the rawness of the experience. To me the look of the game with its dark color scheme, fluid movement, incredible gibs and eclectic design are very unique in the world today. So many games are pure formula but Quake was its own thing. Some of my most satisfying deathmatches have been in Quake.

scar3crow: How do you feel about Quake's lack of a sequel? Would you approve of a core team of fans developing their own free sequel using a modded engine sticking closely to the dark Lovecraftian tones and grit?
John Romero: Hell yes!

scar3crow: Why does Quake have nailguns rather than machineguns?
John Romero: Because it's different :)

scar3crow: That it is, and makes for more thrilling visuals in a deathmatch seeing a swarm of nails coming your way from a SNG wielding rival marine.
John Romero: I think it came out of the fact that we had a huge Jesus mural on the wall so we thought it would be funny to just blast the nails into him.

scar3crow: Why the Jesus mural by the way? And the pentagram door texture... Doom delt directly with Hell, whereas Quake is something different. Why not more arcane runes?
John Romero: We were just experimenting with images to see what was more disturbing.

scar3crow: One thing the community has been pleading for for years now, and I know of a lot of people who would greatly enjoy such, and a few who could really make use of it for their projects, would be the map sources to the id Quake maps. Would it be possible to get these? It would be a quite awesome gift to Quake for its 10th birthday.
John Romero: I'll look for them tonight.

scar3crow: I thank Romero for the time he gave to this interview, his candid answers, and the conversation between questions. It was a great experience and answered a lot of questions I had about Quake and its creative processes, and hopefully the community enjoyed reading it as much as I did having it.


Well, that left on a bit of a cliffhanger, didn't it? Back to Part 1