From Struggles to Coding Dreams | 15min snip from The Tim Ferriss Show

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#681: Doom Legend John Romero — The Path to Prolific Innovation and Making 130+ Games, How to Find the Soul of the Work, Audacious Ambition, and Building in Monk Mode

The Tim Ferriss Show

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CHAPTER

From Struggles to Coding Dreams

This chapter details the speaker's challenging childhood in Tucson, Arizona, shaped by their cultural heritage and family instability. It recounts their transformative experiences and early fascination with technology, leading to a pivotal moment in a military environment that sparked their passion for programming. Through anecdotes, the narrative highlights how adversity and creativity intertwined to forge a lifelong journey in game development.

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Computer and video game legend John Romero (@romero) has designed and published more than 130 games since his first sale at the age of 16. A teenage programming prodigy, his major achievements include co-inventing a series of revolutionary computer games—DOOM, Quake, Wolfenstein 3-D, and Commander Keen—that launched the industry’s most popular genre, the first-person shooter.

The memoir DOOM GUY: Life in First Person is his first book.

Please enjoy!

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[07:39] Childhood.

[11:30] Aggressor Squadron.

[14:55] John’s first exposure to computers and coding.

[21:34] Early innovations in 3D gaming.

[26:01] The id Software team.

[28:00] Side-scrolling games.

[30:41] Developing 13 games in one year. How?

[37:28] Designing with movable and removable parts in mind.

[42:45] Warning the world of its inevitable DOOM.

[53:04] Hyperthymesia.

[59:49] Working on two games at once.

[1:02:34] When John realized DOOM would be a hit.