/vr/ - Retro Games

>>6000790
Romero was a big part of why Doom even happened like it did. Aside from being an ideas guy (which basically everyone at iD pulled double duty as, even Sandy and Adrian), he made levels, some of the best ones in Doom, Doom 2, and Quake, but beyond that his level making is what drove technological development.

During Doom's alpha, Romero put together a piece of architecture in a level which the then current engine couldn't handle, the rendering just went nuts, it was too complex. Pic related was that culprit, and it frustrated the fuck out of Carmack, he thought the initial algorithm would be enough, but it wasn't, it couldn't handle a pillar and some concentric stairs. Development had to halt as he racked his brain and did some research to discover Binary Space Partitioning, the exact medicine needed to handle this, and that optimization would eventually allow Doom to truly shine. Levels would not be nearly as complex or even good looking if not for this development, it would not have been the same.