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Newell's history of porting Doom to Windows to show it can be a gaming platform

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Re: Newell's history of porting Doom to Windows to show it can be a gaming platform

#31

Post by Argorak »

jccalhoun wrote: post #22
nailer wrote: post #11

WAIT. Newell's Windows port (commonly referred to as DOOM95 http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom95 ) was never popular and very few DOOM players knew it even existed. It certainly didn't prove to the masses that Windows was a viable gaming platform. Those that do recall the Windows port do so in the the context of Microsoft telling people that '32 bit Doom will be twice as fast' before finding out that wasn't true. The mo…

very few Doom players knew it even existed? really? It was the version I had when I bought it back in the day. I assumed a lot of people bought it.

Final Doom included Doom95 and used it by default on Windows, so I would expect that many players were aware.

Re: Newell's history of porting Doom to Windows to show it can be a gaming platform

#32

Post by corresation »

pjmlp wrote: post #2

Well, those of us that were already coding for Windows back then, remember that what brought game studios to Windows was WinG, the percursor of DirectX. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WinG Gabe Newell had nothing to do with it.

Gabe Newell worked for Microsoft at the time in question. He is saying that as a principal Microsoft employee he initiated the port of Doom because Microsoft saw the problem getting game authors to target Windows. Notable that Alex St. John then led the development team, for those who note his obvious importance in gaming on Windows.

Re: Newell's history of porting Doom to Windows to show it can be a gaming platform

#34

Post by hnal943 »

sbarre wrote: post #8
ekianjo wrote: post #3

OMG, the comments below that first post are full of ignorance. It's just so painful to see what people think and say of Linux (even the ones who defend it).

Was this your first introduction to NeoGAF or other gaming boards? It's pretty depressing isn't it? It's the primary reason I stopped frequenting video game communities.. Which is a shame because I've been a gamer all my life, and I wish there was a vibrant (and large) community for intelligent discussion like Hacker News but that was game focused.. I'm sure there is somewhere, but I haven't found it..

I'm partial to the Idle Thumbs boards... http://www.idlethumbs.net

Re: Newell's history of porting Doom to Windows to show it can be a gaming platform

#35

Post by jseliger »

nailer wrote: post #11

WAIT. Newell's Windows port (commonly referred to as DOOM95 http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom95 ) was never popular and very few DOOM players knew it even existed. It certainly didn't prove to the masses that Windows was a viable gaming platform. Those that do recall the Windows port do so in the the context of Microsoft telling people that '32 bit Doom will be twice as fast' before finding out that wasn't true. The mo…

The other interesting thing is that, as far as I know, until the late 90s the entire installed base of computers was bought practically every year. There'd be 10M computers one year and 10M bought the next. In that kind of fluid market a company can take over without winning converts (Joel Spolsky wrote about it here: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/APIWar.html).

Today, PC sales are steady or falling because everyone in the developed world has one already. Someone buying a second or third computer is getting a tablet.

Re: Newell's history of porting Doom to Windows to show it can be a gaming platform

#36

Post by gadders »

nailer wrote: post #11

WAIT. Newell's Windows port (commonly referred to as DOOM95 http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom95 ) was never popular and very few DOOM players knew it even existed. It certainly didn't prove to the masses that Windows was a viable gaming platform. Those that do recall the Windows port do so in the the context of Microsoft telling people that '32 bit Doom will be twice as fast' before finding out that wasn't true. The mo…

That wad looks familiar. I wonder if I ever played it.

When I used to work for Lotus we used to use their Unix box in the US to FTP onto one of the big CDROM sites that had loads of wads on and play different ones every week. Happy days.

Re: Newell's history of porting Doom to Windows to show it can be a gaming platform

#37

Post by gadders »

gadders wrote: post #36
nailer wrote: post #11

WAIT. Newell's Windows port (commonly referred to as DOOM95 http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom95 ) was never popular and very few DOOM players knew it even existed. It certainly didn't prove to the masses that Windows was a viable gaming platform. Those that do recall the Windows port do so in the the context of Microsoft telling people that '32 bit Doom will be twice as fast' before finding out that wasn't true. The mo…

That wad looks familiar. I wonder if I ever played it. When I used to work for Lotus we used to use their Unix box in the US to FTP onto one of the big CDROM sites that had loads of wads on and play different ones every week. Happy days.

And one other thing - what's the best Doom port for Android? Any recommendations, anyone?

Re: Newell's history of porting Doom to Windows to show it can be a gaming platform

#38

Post by [deleted] »

jasonlotito wrote: post #30
nailer wrote: post #11

WAIT. Newell's Windows port (commonly referred to as DOOM95 http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom95 ) was never popular and very few DOOM players knew it even existed. It certainly didn't prove to the masses that Windows was a viable gaming platform. Those that do recall the Windows port do so in the the context of Microsoft telling people that '32 bit Doom will be twice as fast' before finding out that wasn't true. The mo…

> WAIT. Newell's Windows port (commonly referred to as DOOM95 http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom95 ) was never popular and very few DOOM players knew it even existed. It certainly didn't prove to the masses that Windows was a viable gaming platform. Not sure where the original article ever makes those claims.

[deleted]

Re: Newell's history of porting Doom to Windows to show it can be a gaming platform

#39

Post by nailer »

jasonlotito wrote: post #30
nailer wrote: post #11

WAIT. Newell's Windows port (commonly referred to as DOOM95 http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom95 ) was never popular and very few DOOM players knew it even existed. It certainly didn't prove to the masses that Windows was a viable gaming platform. Those that do recall the Windows port do so in the the context of Microsoft telling people that '32 bit Doom will be twice as fast' before finding out that wasn't true. The mo…

> WAIT. Newell's Windows port (commonly referred to as DOOM95 http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom95 ) was never popular and very few DOOM players knew it even existed. It certainly didn't prove to the masses that Windows was a viable gaming platform. Not sure where the original article ever makes those claims.

In the post's title: "Newell's history porting Doom to Win to show it can be a gaming platf." The general context of the post seems to be about proving Linux to consumers, rather than developers (which is more accurate).

Re: Newell's history of porting Doom to Windows to show it can be a gaming platform

#40

Post by ambiate »

nailer wrote: post #11

WAIT. Newell's Windows port (commonly referred to as DOOM95 http://doom.wikia.com/wiki/Doom95 ) was never popular and very few DOOM players knew it even existed. It certainly didn't prove to the masses that Windows was a viable gaming platform. Those that do recall the Windows port do so in the the context of Microsoft telling people that '32 bit Doom will be twice as fast' before finding out that wasn't true. The mo…

Quakeworld was my entry point into wanting to program. BSP, VIS, DISP, oh yeah. I remember trying to figure out the math for projectiles and the various splash damage routines.

I remember bunnyhopping and attempting to figure out the glitch to alter the effect even more on sharper turns.

So many 'wasted years' that resulted in a wonderful career and field of study. I emailed John a few times throughout the years. He was the most courteous and honest person I have ever met. One of the replies from Carmack went along the lines of, 'Yeah, those models are our IP. If your community is small and the growth is not going to explode, feel free to use them. Just do not brag about it on your website. Our lawyers are not hunting for people, unless they wish to be seen.'

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