Development of Doom
The development of "Doom", a first-person shooter video game by id Software, began in November 1992 and continued until the game was released in December 1993. Seven people worked on "Doom", which is considered one of the most significant and influential titles in video game history. The initial development team was programmers John Carmack and John Romero, artists Adrian Carmack and Kevin Cloud, and designer Tom Hall; late in development Hall was replaced by Sandy Petersen and programmer Dave Taylor was added to the team. The music and sound effects were created by Bobby Prince.
First-person shooter
"Doom" has been considered the most important first-person shooter ever made. It was highly influential not only on subsequent shooter games but on video gaming in general, and has been available on almost every video gaming system since. Multiplayer gaming, which is now integral to the first-person shooter genre, was first achieved successfully on a large scale with "Doom". While its combination of gory violence, dark humor and hellish imagery garnered acclaim from critics, these attributes also generated criticism from religious groups, with other commentators labelling the game a "murder simulator." There was further controversy when it emerged that the perpetrators of the Columbine High School massacre were fans of the game; the families of several victims later unsuccessfully attempted to sue numerous video game companies - among them id Software - which the families claimed inspired the massacre. In 1994, Raven Software released "Heretic", which used a modified version of the "Doom" engine that allowed for vertical aiming, an inventory system to store and select items, and gibs.