It's 2 hours long, but he has a lot of interesting stuff to say about selling id Software to ZeniMax, Armadillo Aerospace, the Tesla Roadster, the future of games, and even the possibility of a Commander Keen game for iPhone. (The most interesting stuff is in the Q&A section at the end).
Re:John Carmack on keeping id small
by wvenable on Monday August 17, 2009 @09:48PM
(#769569)
Seems like there would be an opportunity to license their game engine, provide a bunch of support staff and programmers, and sub-license it to other companies.
Re:John Carmack on keeping id small
by ZenzerNet on Tuesday August 18, 2009 @05:45AM
(#770103)
I highly recommend the book "Masters of Doom" (Amazon), an in-depth look at id Software from the modest beginnings until Quake III. A must for any geek!
Re:John Carmack on keeping id small
by earl on Monday August 17, 2009 @08:41PM
(#769468)
You have to respect John for seeing what type of company, within the bounds of feasibility, would make him happiest and pursuing that instead of going for as much money as possible. Very 37 signals ish. Of course, it helped that John had passed a threshold level of wealth where it probably didn't make that much real difference to him. In any case, you see a lot of people -- in particular the delicious guy who has been on here -- who've made choices for financial reasons they've ended up regretting.
Re:John Carmack on keeping id small
by idlewords on Tuesday August 18, 2009 @06:50AM
(#770166)
The comparison to 37 signals is really jarring. Part of what makes Carmack such a classy guy is that he avoids writing self-congratulatory essays or offering seminars about how to be happy, or build amazing software. He just does it.
Re:John Carmack on keeping id small
by earl on Tuesday August 18, 2009 @07:00PM
(#771630)
Sorry, I wasn't referencing the self promotion. I just like the fact that principals at both companies looked around, saw the sort of company they wanted to work at, and built that company. Lots of people seem to focus on making as much money as possible instead of making a small to medium amount of money and then focusing on being happy.
Re:John Carmack on keeping id small
by kragen on Tuesday August 18, 2009 @01:06AM
(#769778)
> In any case, you see a lot of people -- in particular the delicious guy who has been on here -- who've made choices for financial reasons they've ended up regretting.
It's 2 hours long, but he has a lot of interesting stuff to say about selling id Software to ZeniMax, Armadillo Aerospace, the Tesla Roadster, the future of games, and even the possibility of a Commander Keen game for iPhone. (The most interesting stuff is in the Q&A section at the end).
Can you elaborate?