Programmer John Carmack has become a public face of id Software, but he's still a programmer at heart. The legendary developer recently spoke out on a wide variety of topics, from the decision not to license id Tech 5 to his new-found coding freedom at the company.

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Those of you hoping for details on id Software's Doom 4 project from this year's QuakeCon 2010, myself included, are going to be waiting a bit longer. Unfortunately, Doom 4 will not be shown at this year's event even though the company promised to show off the game last year.

The bad news came as Todd Hollenshead welcomed everybody to the event prior to John Carmack's keynote address. Hollenshead quickly apologized, explaining that the company wants to put more work into the Doom 4 project before it is revealed. Read more »

All things considered, the interview was progressing normally. id CEO Todd Hollenshead and I were sitting across from each other in the QuakeCon Press Lounge. I had just asked when id's next game, Rage, was coming out. I didn't expect a straight answer.

Nor did I get one, but that's beyond the point. Because, as Todd was explaining why id is so reluctant to provide a date--"we don't work to a time, we work to a quality level"--fate intervened in the form of an extremely inquisitive mystery woman. She wanted to know what kind of press would cover video games. And if we were from Game Informer. Read more »

Those hoping id Software would today reveal more information about the next Doom entry are bound to be disappointed, as CEO Todd Hollenshead used this year's QuakeCon press conference to promise more details at next year's event.

"When we show it to you, you're gonna love it," he promised the clamoring crowd.

Studio technical director John Carmack later added that the project represents "the most tightly managed approach" that the company has ever used, as, thanks to continuing work on the id Tech 5 engine and Rage, some of the development tools and technology for Doom 4 already exist and will not need to be crafted in tandem with the game.

New details on id Software's open-world shooter-cum-racer Rage has surfaced via this month's issue of Game Informer, painting a picture unlike any previous id game.

A whole host of details are revealed in the article, including the following features: Read more »

Following the surprising news that Bethesda parent company ZeniMax had acquired legendary developer id, the studio has issued a lengthy statement explaining the reasons behind the acquisition and shed some light on its plans for growth.

"We will add a third major development team," id co-founder John Carmack told VentureBeat, noting that the Doom and Rage developer "already had a plan in place." Read more »

Doom and Quake creator id Software expects to reveal some unannounced "new stuff" at E3 this June, CEO Todd Hollenshead revealed in an interview with GameSpot.

"I'll leave that as a tease," said Hollenshead when pressed for more details. Currently, the studio has three announced major projects: Wolfenstein, co-developed with Raven and due out this summer, Rage, which definitely won't arrive this year, and Doom 4. Additionally, id is continuing work on the free-to-play Quake Live, currently in open beta. Read more »

Fantasy author Graham Joyce has revealed his involvement with id's upcoming Doom 4.

"I'll also be working on the computer game Doom 4 for ID Software," reads the latest update to Joyce's site, apparently posted January 6, 2009. "I've been playing Doom for some years."

The writer of such novels as "How to Make Friends with Demons" and "The Tooth Fairy: A Novel" then confirmed the news with CVG, merely noting that "that ID have hired me to help develop the storyline potential" while offering no additional details. Read more »

Steadily decreasing PC software figures have prompted acclaimed Doom and Quake creator id Software to focus more on consoles than PCs for the future, id president John Carmack has revealed.

"It's hard to second guess exactly what the reasons are. You can say piracy. You can say user migration," Carmack told Tom's Games at this year's QuakeCon. "But the ground truth is just that the sales numbers on the PC are not what they used to be and are not what they are on the consoles." Read more »

Midway through the second hour, even most of the die-hard nerds started to leave.

On stage was a man who, by all accounts, did not need to be there. Wealthy, successful, busy programming rockets and enjoying family life--id Software president John Carmack has plenty of excuses to be a recluse, not the least of which is his admitted lack of "people skills."

But there he was regardless, lecturing away on a Thursday night, professor to his students. Seemingly undeterred by his thinning class, he moved from topic to topic in Picard-like fashion, holding the microphone as the rock king of computer programming. Read more »

id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead expressed interest in producing another feature film adaptation of the developer's Doom shooter series, the developer told Kotaku.

"Personally I'd like to do another Doom movie, I thought working with it was a blast," Hollenshead said. "There are some lessons we learned. The best way to do things better is to get the experience." Read more »

During an interview with Shacknews, id Software president John Carmack described Doom 4 as being "significantly different" than Doom 3.

When asked whether the game will be rooted in the horror genre, Carmack indicated that it will instead focus more on pure action elements a la Doom 2.

"One of the things that I come to in my limited contributions to the whole Doom 4 design process is, it has to still be you beating down the bad guys," said Carmack. Read more »

Update: In an interview with Shacknews, id's John Carmack reiterated that the Xbox 360 version of Rage will look worse than the PlayStation 3 version.

Carmack said that the uncompressed build of Rage encompasses a terrabyte of data, and that id will need to use a "different type of compression" to fit the game on two dual-layer Xbox 360 DVDs.

When asked whether the difference will be significant, Carmack noted that "hero shots" should look similar, but that Xbox 360 players might find a rock that is more blurry when exploring the periphery of Rage's world. Read more »

While id has remained rather tight-lipped about Doom 4, designer Tim Willits has suggested that the shooter sequel won't be known as Doom 4 when it eventually hits.

Though still clearly labeled Doom, the game will sport a subtitle instead of a numeral, Willits informed Big Download.

However, id CEO Todd Hollenshead claims that a final judgment has yet to be made in the numeral versus subtitle debate. "We haven't made the decision about that yet," he told Kotaku. "There is probably a let's not make a numeral game and some say we should make it one." Read more »

While Doom 4 details have been light at QuakeCon 2008, id's John Carmack did announce that the FPS sequel's multiplayer mode will be more significant than the online modes found in Doom 3.

Saying the Doom 4 multiplayer experience will have a "much larger presence" than that found in the previous Doom title, the id president said that his company should have enough resources to create a satisfying online component to match the single player campaign. Read more »