The Origins of DOOM

TL;DR

DOOM originated when id Software abandoned plans for an Aliens-licensed game and replaced the aliens with demons. Its concept drew from a disastrous Dungeons & Dragons session, Evil Dead 2, and John Carmack’s interpretation of a scene in The Color of Money. Tom Hall expanded the premise in the elaborate “Doom Bible,” but most of its story was discarded to keep the game action-oriented. Read on to see which ideas survived.

Transcript

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Key Insights

• ⚾ Doom was originally meant to be based on the Aliens franchise, but after a failed attempt, it switched to demons as the main enemies.
• 👾 The game was heavily influenced by a game of Dungeons and Dragons, where a portal to Hell was accidentally opened.
• 👾 The name "Doom" was inspired by a scene in the movie "The Color of Money," and the game's visuals drew inspiration from H.R. Giger's biomechanical artwork and H.P. Lovecraft's writings.
• 👾 The soundtrack of Doom was influenced by heavy metal music, and the game features sound effects created by the developers themselves.
• 🥶 The game's release via mail order and free download helped increase its popularity, and it surpassed the installation numbers of Windows 95.

Questions & Answers

Q: What are the origins of DOOM?

DOOM began after id Software considered making a game based on the Aliens franchise but abandoned the licensing talks to retain total creative control. John Carmack proposed keeping a similar concept while replacing aliens with hell spawn, drawing partly from a Dungeons & Dragons session in which demons overran the planet.

Q: Why was DOOM not made as an Aliens game?

The id Software team met with a 20th Century Fox representative who appeared enthusiastic about an Aliens-licensed game. The developers ultimately withdrew from the offer because they wanted total creative control.

Q: How did Dungeons & Dragons influence DOOM?

During a Dungeons & Dragons game played by the development team, botched dice rolls and poor planning led one member to open a portal to Hell accidentally. Demons then overran the entire planet, helping inspire DOOM’s demonic premise.

Q: Why is the game called DOOM?

According to John Carmack, the name came from a scene in The Color of Money. Tom Cruise’s pool-hustler character enters a bar carrying a pool-cue case and answers “doom” when asked what it contains before dominating the other players.

Q: What was the Doom Bible?

The Doom Bible was Tom Hall’s detailed treatment for the proposed game. It included story details, monster sketches, and even a potential press release, but virtually none of it appeared unchanged in the final game.

Q: Why was most of the Doom Bible rejected?

Its ideas were considered too elaborate for the action-oriented game the developers wanted to make. Hall’s version followed five soldiers on an alien world through a sprawling journey to Hell and back, while Carmack believed the story was not especially important.

Q: Which Doom Bible ideas survived in the final game?

The team retained modified versions of several concepts, including invading Hell and playing as a Marine. The alien-world setting became the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, while four distinct playable characters were replaced by one unnamed Marine.

Q: Which films influenced DOOM?

Evil Dead 2 helped influence the game’s horror concept because the development team were fans of the film. The Color of Money supplied the inspiration for the name “Doom” through the pool-hall scene described by John Carmack.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• Doom, a legendary video game, was initially meant to be based on the Aliens franchise but later changed to feature demons instead.

• The game was influenced by a disastrous game of Dungeons and Dragons and the movie "Evil Dead 2."

• Elements from the initial concept, known as the "Doom Bible," did not make it into the final game due to being too elaborate.