Doom (1993 video game)
Doom (typeset as DOOM in official documents and stylized as DooM in other media) is a 1993 first-person shooter (FPS) video game by id Software. It is considered one of the most significant and influential titles in video game history, for having helped to pioneer the now-ubiquitous first-person shooter. The original game was divided into three nine-level episodes and was distributed via shareware and mail order. The Ultimate Doom, an updated release of the original game featuring a fourth episode, was released in 1995 and sold at retail.
Development of Doom
The initial concept for the game was proposed in the fall of 1992, after the release of "Wolfenstein 3D" and its sequel "Spear of Destiny". Lead programmer John Carmack was working on creating an improved 3D game engine from those games, and the company wanted to have its next game take advantage of his designs. Several ideas were proposed, including a new game in their "Commander Keen" series, but John Carmack successfully proposed a game about using technology to fight demons, inspired by the "Dungeons & Dragons" campaigns the team played, to be titled "Doom". The initial months of development were spent on prototypes, while Hall created several iterations of the "Doom Bible", a design document for his vision of the game and its story; after id released a grandiose press release touting features that the team had not yet begun working on, the "Doom Bible" was rejected in favor of a plot-less game with no design document at all.