Doom Guy
by John Romero · first published 2022
58% recommend38% neutral4% critical
Why HN recommends it
Romero's firsthand memoir covers id's early years in more depth than Masters of Doom, adds context to Carmack's role, and corrects some of that book's accounts. Suits fans of early id games and indie developers.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
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It should be noted that John Romero released his own book, Doom Guy, a few years ago which contradicts some of the accounts in Masters of Doom. MoD is probably the more thrilling read and I enjoyed both books, but some of the stories need to be taken with a grain of salt.…
on “Game Engine White Papers Commander Keen” ↗DOOM Guy: Life in First Person by John Romero was a great read. Very inspiring and gives a fresh perspective on the story of id, clarifying a few rumors.
on “Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?” ↗"Doom Guy" by John Romero is great. And the audio book is read by himself which works really well. It goes against some of the things in Masters of Doom (which is still also great).
on “Ask HN: Any interesting books you have read lately?” ↗If you're interested in this topic, there is probably no better source now than the recent John Romero autobiography Doom Guy
on “John Carmack and John Romero reunited to talk DOOM on its 30th Anniversary” ↗A little off topic, but there’s a nice example of making a game with your kid in “Doom Guy” by John Romero. I enjoyed the book and it’s also a good accompaniment to “Masters of Doom.”
on “Ask HN: 9-yo son wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?” ↗I recently finished reading Doom Guy by John Romero and it's one of the most interesting books i've read on the last years. What are some other books that one should read about video games and the history of gaming?
on “Ask HN: What are some must-read books about video games and gaming history?” ↗If you haven't read "Masters of Doom" then that's probably the next step -- but I do consider "Doom Guy" better, in the sense that John Romero gave a much fuller description of ID's early years -- I think it matters more for Indies these days than the later years (post-Quake). I'm looking for some books…
on “Ask HN: What are some must-read books about video games and gaming history?” ↗Recommend Doom Guy as well, by John Romero. Kind of dispels a little bit of the mythology about Carmack. It doesn't downplay his contributions, but kind of frames them in context of the rest of the team. Masters of doom…
on “Ask HN: Books about people who did hard things” ↗…What is a business book? It's ill-defined but I think there are many great ones outside the "big idea" space. For example, we just interviewed John Romero on the show to discuss his 2023 autobiography Doom Guy[1]. In my opinion, it is absolutely a wonderful business book from the entrepreneurial storytelling sub-genre. But it doesn't fit the mold that this post talks about. 0: http://businessbooksandco.com…
on “Business books are entertainment, not strategic tools” ↗Interesting timing…I just finished John Romero’s book Doom Guy. It’s definitely worth the read if you grew up on id’s early games. Masters of Doom is also an excellent read.
on “OG Doom Tested on High-End 1993 PC – How Well Did It Run?” ↗Masters of doom portrays carmack as a total dictator of a boss. Doom Guy by John Romero seems to back this up
on “John Carmack's arguments against building a custom XR OS at Meta” ↗If you haven't already, you should read John Romero's autobiography "Doom Guy: Life in First Person". There are some details from "Masters of Doom" that Romero disputes.
on “John Carmack on the mistakes around Quake that ruined id software” ↗My favourite book this year: Doom Guy: Life in First Person - John Romero.
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2023 and recommend for 2024” ↗I may have read this last year but I really enjoyed John Romero’s Doom Guy
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you've read so far in 2024?” ↗I just finished Doom Guy a few days ago and really enjoyed it. The start of the book is definitely not what I (or probably anybody else) expected but it was a hell of a story. I also appreciated his honest conclusion near the…
on “John Romero on his book “Doom Guy” and developing games at a small scale” ↗