Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-21 09:54:20
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：David Kushner
- ISBN：0812972155
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Masters of Doom is the amazing true story of the Lennon and McCartney of video games: John Carmack and John Romero。 Together， they ruled big business。 They transformed popular culture。 And they provoked a national controversy。 More than anything， they lived a unique and rollicking American Dream， escaping the broken homes of their youth to produce the most notoriously successful game franchises in history—Doom and Quake— until the games they made tore them apart。 This is a story of friendship and betrayal， commerce and artistry—a powerful and compassionate account of what it's like to be young， driven， and wildly creative。
Reviews
Lim
，
Even to a non-gamer like myself， Carmack is a nerd royalty。 I went into this book hoping to learn more about him。 I came out extremely entertained。 Highly recommended。 This book might be relevant to put the current indie hacker trend in perspective。
Arun Philips
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The story of the Johns， Kormack and Romero who built and shaped the gaming and metaverse industry through iconic games like Doom and Quake。 How the first versions of the virtual world were created and gaming business models were made more community friendly like shareware。The open source culture started by Stardoo and activated by crypto games again will bring back creativity， open development， loosen the grip of big game cos and open up gaming to everyone。What happens when the Metaverse meets V The story of the Johns， Kormack and Romero who built and shaped the gaming and metaverse industry through iconic games like Doom and Quake。 How the first versions of the virtual world were created and gaming business models were made more community friendly like shareware。The open source culture started by Stardoo and activated by crypto games again will bring back creativity， open development， loosen the grip of big game cos and open up gaming to everyone。What happens when the Metaverse meets VR and play to earn？ Just like Doom was a new world for its players， Web3 gaming will be a new world， albeit with an up and running economy that can grow exponentially - “making the world a richer place， generalized infrastructure with a game as one part of it。With Enough pizza and Diet Coke， and a PC you don’t need millions of $ in capital， you can build a game and a new world。Rebellious outsiders leading a multimillion dollar industry， that’s how gaming started。 。。。more
Mark Halse
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Great narrative once you get past the douchy Gen Xer bullshit。
Maciej Budkowski
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One of the best books I've read in years。Amazing characters， revolutionary times， tons of gaming nostalgia。 And everything wrapped in a masterfully written story。 10/10。 One of the best books I've read in years。Amazing characters， revolutionary times， tons of gaming nostalgia。 And everything wrapped in a masterfully written story。 10/10。 。。。more
Jared
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Interesting portrait of a small team of programmers and artists who came together from next to nothing to create some of the most influential video games in the industry's history。What really stands out here and drives the reader's interest is the contrast between our two main characters， John Carmack and John Romero。 The former is a prodigal programming machine who struggles to function socially， so immersed in pushing the boundaries of code that he begins seeing lines of it all around him。 The Interesting portrait of a small team of programmers and artists who came together from next to nothing to create some of the most influential video games in the industry's history。What really stands out here and drives the reader's interest is the contrast between our two main characters， John Carmack and John Romero。 The former is a prodigal programming machine who struggles to function socially， so immersed in pushing the boundaries of code that he begins seeing lines of it all around him。 The latter is a mercurial creative， far more interested in making something fun than grinding for the next technical breakthrough。Together， Carmack and Romero brought out the best in each other。 Romero was perfectly suited for wringing the most out of Carmack's technical genius。 But the differences that made their partnership so successful are also what ultimately drove them apart。 Both would find happiness as they grew and matured， though it was unsurprisingly the grinder who found more professional success in his independence。The prose here isn't terribly interesting， but it's fine for what the book has to say。 My issue here， if I have one， is that the book doesn't ultimately build to much。 The two Johns go their separate ways and it feels as though the climax should be a reflection on how they fared in their splintered journeys。 Instead， the book just comes to a close， only briefly touching on the failure of Romero's Daikatana， for example。It's not a fatal flaw。 This is a fine telling of how two gifted creatives made each other better before tearing apart from one another and being worse for it。 It should be of particular interest to anyone who's played the great games the pair created together。 。。。more
Tulip
，
Đoạn đầu truyền cảm hứng bao nhiêu thì đoạn sau mệt mỏi bấy nhiêu :
Massgreen
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not a FPS person but it's still an inspiring read。 not a FPS person but it's still an inspiring read。 。。。more
Ville
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I know nothing about programming， but this book hooked me right in。 It offers a somewhat in-depth look into the minds of of the two Johns， their differences and their ultimate falling out。 If you have any interest about the development of video game culture in the 90's this is a must-read。 I know nothing about programming， but this book hooked me right in。 It offers a somewhat in-depth look into the minds of of the two Johns， their differences and their ultimate falling out。 If you have any interest about the development of video game culture in the 90's this is a must-read。 。。。more
Stuart
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A blast from the past！ Enjoyed the nostalgia trip and learned a bit about two very interesting people and the teams that surrounded them。
Eugene
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Хорошая история становления игровой индустрии。 Как будто в детство вернулся。 Wolfenstein， Doom， Duke Nukem， Quake。
Денис Агафонов
，
Наконец-то！ После зацикленной на кранче， а не на играх， "Кровь， пот и пиксели" и двух поделок про Кодзиму， бодрый последовательный байопик о играх и разработчиках， с шутками и занимательными историями。 Хотя и не лишенный фоновой американской идеи на протяжении всей книги: игровой бизнес - в первую очередь， бизнес， а потом только - игры; а бизнес жесток。 не знает привязанностей и обязательств。Что не так с чтецом аудиокниги！？ Издательство Бомбора специально выпускает новые переводы， выполненные лю Наконец-то！ После зацикленной на кранче， а не на играх， "Кровь， пот и пиксели" и двух поделок про Кодзиму， бодрый последовательный байопик о играх и разработчиках， с шутками и занимательными историями。 Хотя и не лишенный фоновой американской идеи на протяжении всей книги: игровой бизнес - в первую очередь， бизнес， а потом только - игры; а бизнес жесток。 не знает привязанностей и обязательств。Что не так с чтецом аудиокниги！？ Издательство Бомбора специально выпускает новые переводы， выполненные людьми， интересующимися видеоигровой индустрией。 А озвучивать отдали "артисту"， который не просто далек от компьютеров （DOS - читает ДиОуСи） и видеоигр （Nintendo 64 - читает как Нинтендо сиксти-фо）， но даже не удосужился прочитать статью в википедии о компании， которой посвящена книга。 id Software он все 500+ раз произносит как АйДи。。。 。。。more
Nathan
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As a video game nerd， I was very familiar with Doom， Quake， and so many of the other games mentioned in this book。 I was not familiar with， but truly enjoyed reading about， the people and stories behind the games。
Alex
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Fascinating， well-written， inspiring， and for a particular segment of a particular generation， extremely nostalgic。 Wishing I had read this earlier， and certainly one to revisit。
Rob
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As someone who remembers picking up the shareware of Doom back in high school and my friend and I giddily blasting away demons for hours on end on his PC， this was a book I’d been dying to read。 I knew that John Carmack was a smart and tech-savvy guy but I had no idea he had such a huge impact on the leaps and bounds PC gaming took through his id Software company。 The book doesn’t put the best light on either Romero or Carmack but no one can deny the waves they made in the industry and the impor As someone who remembers picking up the shareware of Doom back in high school and my friend and I giddily blasting away demons for hours on end on his PC， this was a book I’d been dying to read。 I knew that John Carmack was a smart and tech-savvy guy but I had no idea he had such a huge impact on the leaps and bounds PC gaming took through his id Software company。 The book doesn’t put the best light on either Romero or Carmack but no one can deny the waves they made in the industry and the importance of their roles in the history of video games。 If you are a fan of games， loved the original Doom， or are even mildly interested in the tech side of how they made their products run better than their competitors， this is a book for you。 。。。more
Sams
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Buenisima biografía sobre Los Dos Johns。 Una historia de prodigios， workaholismo y mucho videojuego。 "No somos dignos， no somos dignos"。 Buenisima biografía sobre Los Dos Johns。 Una historia de prodigios， workaholismo y mucho videojuego。 "No somos dignos， no somos dignos"。 。。。more
Casan Scott
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Awesome story about true visionaries This was a great read。 Fantastic writing， and very easy to read。 Jon Carmack and John Romero were such special people。
Yusef Jacobs
，
As immersive as Doom
Julian Stecklina
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What an amazing read。 It perfectly covers the 90s gaming scene and is equal parts a story about how （not） to build startups。 I read it in three days。 It's gripping like a novel and perfectly written。 What an amazing read。 It perfectly covers the 90s gaming scene and is equal parts a story about how （not） to build startups。 I read it in three days。 It's gripping like a novel and perfectly written。 。。。more
Kelsey
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Great read on the beginnings of an industry that has vastly changed yet would look unspeakably different if it weren't for Doom， Wolfenstein 3D， and Quake。 Great read on the beginnings of an industry that has vastly changed yet would look unspeakably different if it weren't for Doom， Wolfenstein 3D， and Quake。 。。。more
Noah Jeffrey
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Inspiring tale about visionary individuals that were instrumental in shaping and advancing one of my favorite pastimes - gaming！ Though I never played Doom or Quake， I still was enthralled with this book！
Carey Nelson
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4。5 - I wish the book had been written later to include Rage， but wikipedia and such picked up the slack and I don't quite feel the need for the sequel。 4。5 - I wish the book had been written later to include Rage， but wikipedia and such picked up the slack and I don't quite feel the need for the sequel。 。。。more
Arnold
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A really enjoyable window into the early days of mainstream first-person shooters， told mainly through the stories of John Carmack and John Romero。 It’s well-researched， and though some scenes are clearly reconstructed from people’s memories， there isn’t too much of the outright invented dialogue that Console Wars was full of。
Ivan P
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Four stars if you are interested in gaming。 Three stars if you are not。
Dale Furutani
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A great insight into how the iconic games of my youth came to be。 I remember when I was young， my uncle was living with us， renting a room in the basement。 I was getting into computers， playing the free Shareware copy of Commander Keen on the family pc， and making levels in a game called Jetpack。 My uncle was also into computers， and one day he told my brother and I check out the new game he just got。 It was Doom。 We all huddled around his CRT monitor with the lights off and his speakers turned A great insight into how the iconic games of my youth came to be。 I remember when I was young， my uncle was living with us， renting a room in the basement。 I was getting into computers， playing the free Shareware copy of Commander Keen on the family pc， and making levels in a game called Jetpack。 My uncle was also into computers， and one day he told my brother and I check out the new game he just got。 It was Doom。 We all huddled around his CRT monitor with the lights off and his speakers turned up high。 The growls of the demons was scary but exhilarating for me at 12 years old。 When I was double that age I got into the games industry myself， which I've been in ever since。Listening to tales of the industry in the early days is a mixed bag。 It sounds like it was a the wild west， for better or worse。 You could be an outsider， a rebel， but if you had the talent and commitment， the sky was the limit。 But forget work/life balance， forget any kind of industry protections。 Crunch and office politics were the norm。 Overall， I'm certainly glad the industry has legitimized since then。 A great read， especially for anyone with fond memories of the early days of PC gaming。 。。。more
Bru
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Still in awe over John Carmack’s sheer force of will applied to accomplish computer science feats。
Rafael Rosa
，
Sad to think that some of my earliest teenager memories were made by people like Carmack and Romero。 Despite their technical genius the book leads me to see them as two assholes born out of a sick society， toxic masculinity， hypercapitalism bullshit。The book is entertaining， well written （the author is very creative since it's unlikely he could really recreate all those conversations） and I liked Will Wheaton's narration， but it fails to produce or incite any decent reflection on anything but th Sad to think that some of my earliest teenager memories were made by people like Carmack and Romero。 Despite their technical genius the book leads me to see them as two assholes born out of a sick society， toxic masculinity， hypercapitalism bullshit。The book is entertaining， well written （the author is very creative since it's unlikely he could really recreate all those conversations） and I liked Will Wheaton's narration， but it fails to produce or incite any decent reflection on anything but their "coolness"。 The one exception might be the forceful condemnation of the political witch hunts， but that's it。 There is no real reflection of the insane working conditions， Carmack's lack of humanity and Romero's macho bravado。 It isn't surprising the gaming industry is a shitshow given that it was built on top of this swamp。 。。。more
Song
，
A tribute to the legendary DOOM。 Also a review to one of the most chapter of video game industry。
Evan Dragic
，
This is an excellent chronicle of some of the formative personalities and trends in early computer gaming。 The two Johns and their human story is deeply compelling， and I blazed through the book！
Michael Suppe
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Suck it down， Joe Lieberman。
DiaBomb
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