John Carmack on John Romero (interview)

This entry covers John Carmack’s later reflections on his relationship with John Romero, the tensions at id Software, and how he views their creative partnership years later.

The transcript comes from a modern interview in which Carmack discussed the human side of their split and the early dynamics of DOOM and Quake development.

The Early Partnership

When Carmack first met Romero at Softdisk, he described him as “the coolest programmer I had ever met.”

Romero had already worked at Origin Systems and created dozens of games. He could code, design levels, draw his own art, and even handle sound design.

Carmack admired his versatility and speed, calling him “a polymath who made things happen fast.”

In the early days of id, the two often collaborated intensely, sometimes competing on programming challenges for fun. One such friendly rivalry had them race to port a PC game to the Apple II, a moment Carmack remembers as when their strengths became clear:

“That was where we finally kind of became clear. It’s like, okay, Carmack stands a little bit apart on the programming side of things, and Romero then very gracefully moved into tools, systems, and design leadership.”

The Split at id Software

Carmack reflected on the internal tension that led to Romero’s departure from id.

He admitted that the equal partnership structure of the company caused problems.

“We started off as equal partners and had a buy-sell agreement because we didn’t want outsiders telling us what to do. But it did lead to problems where I was sitting there thinking: I’m working harder than anyone, doing technologies nobody’s done before, and we’re all equal partners.”

Carmack said he was young and not always mature about those feelings, explaining that he expected everyone to work at the same intensity.

“Either everybody has to be contributing up to this level, or they need to get pushed out. That was not a great situation.”

He also noted that if id had used a modern Silicon Valley framework, such as vesting stock or non-voting shares, some of the personal conflict might have been avoided.

“We pushed people out who could have contributed if there was a different framework for them.”

Reflecting on John Romero

Despite their past conflict, Carmack spoke with warmth and admiration when describing Romero’s abilities.

“So much of DOOM and even Quake have his stamp on it in a lot of ways. He made some of the best levels, worked with external teams like Raven Software on licensing, and so much of what was great in those games came from him.”

He also recognized that Romero embodied the emerging rockstar side of game development in the 1990s.

“He ate it up and personified it, the whole ‘game developers with Ferraris’ thing, but so much of the stuff that was great in the games came from him.”

Respect and Reconnection

Carmack described their later relationship as cordial and respectful.

“We’ve had pretty cordial relationships. I’m happy to talk with him anytime I run into him at a conference.”

He mentioned that despite some people advising against it, he continued to value their connection.

“I just talked with him last year about my AI work. He had a bunch of ideas for how AI is going to play into gaming.”

Carmack expressed that he holds love in his heart and wishes the best for everyone he worked with, including Romero and Tom Hall.

“I was thrilled to see Tom Hall working on a VR game. It really made me smile.”

Legacy of the Partnership

The creative tension between Carmack and Romero became one of gaming’s most studied rivalries.

Carmack’s technical brilliance and Romero’s design flair shaped the DNA of DOOM, Quake, and the modern FPS genre.

Although their paths diverged, both continued to influence the industry in distinct ways: Carmack through engineering and AI, and Romero through design and creativity.

“He landed right on his feet. He went and got twenty million dollars from Eidos to do Ion Storm and got to do things his way.”