Chapter 14 Chapter 13 Deathmatch

In the dark room glowing with blood, Stevie Killcreek Kath sat in front of her computer and twitched, as if she were sticking her toe into an electrical socket on purpose.On-screen, her warrior had just passed through a portal when, to her surprise, her in-game avatar burst open and scattered like a rain of blood. "Hey!" she yelled, using her In other words, this is called: "Tele-fragged!" It's January 1997, and the Super Bowl final in the underground gaming world is minutes away.Like a dozen others, twenty-year-old Stevie had spent two sleepless nights practicing in a large room at the University of Kansas.An ebullient girl with shofar braids, she was also a member of Impulse 9, whose final opponent was Ruthless Brutal, who drove eight hours from Michigan. Bastards).This final was a reflection of the "clan" culture - players all over the world didn't just play Quake, they lived in Quake, and some of them formed organizations and formed so-called clans.Usually, their games take place over the Internet, but on this overcast afternoon in Lawrence City, Kansas, two of the best teams in the country will go head-to-head.

In a way, it's Quake's evocative nightmarish landscape that fuels the enthusiasm among players.Although id has stumbled and stumbled in the process of making Quake, the game still brings players a more immersive experience with its unprecedented graphics. "USA Today" gave Quake a perfect score of four stars and called it "a bloody and extraordinary achievement", and the editor of "Computer Gaming World" also gave it a perfect score: "This masterpiece of programming can let you completely Immerse yourself in a battlefield." Entertainment Weekly predicted: "In Quake, you can kill without fear of jail time. No doubt, people in offices across the country will throw themselves into it without hesitation. ’” Even showbiz star Robin Williams mentioned the computer game on David Letterman’s Trump.

Sure, gamers love the single-player mode: hunting monsters in twisty, three-dimensional mazes, but what they really love is deathmatch.As the first game designed specifically for Internet team-based combat, Quake supports sixteen players simultaneously in a paintball-like game in the real world, where the ends and means of survival are essentially Unity: In order to survive, you must kill your opponent, and you live only to kill your opponent.As the player Rigormortis said: "It's football with guns".In addition to fighting on the Internet, players also moved their bulky computers to their friends' houses and set up a local area network, so that they could fight heartily. This so-called "LAN party" has long existed in the Doom era, and has gradually become An important way for online players to socialize in real life.

Within days of Quake's release, players in online chat rooms and newsgroups began forming clans with names as varied as "The Breakfast Club" and "Rooster," as well as "The Ninth Force" and "Ruthless Brutale." ".By August 1996, more than 20 such teams appeared on the Internet, and each team had about 20 players.Two more months later, the number of teams was approaching a thousand, and one of the women's teams, Clan Widows, even had its own website.This is the beginning of the dawn of e-sports. Businessmen will naturally not turn a blind eye to this, "Video games are the ultimate brain competition," said a business owner, whose chain of game halls is located in New York, Chicago, and Sydney, "So, let's build a virtual arena, let It becomes a highly anticipated competitive sport." For example, adding a large-screen projection to a Quake game, as well as beer and prize money, allows players to become professional players.He even predicted that big brands like Nike would pay star players just to have their logos tattooed on their arms.His ideas are not far-fetched. A team called "Dark Requiem" inserted an advertisement for a game joystick manufacturer on their homepage. Thresh, the champion of the "Judgment Day" Doom competition, even received sponsorship from Microsoft. , kids who never took part in gymnastics now have the potential to be Michael Jordan, like _fo0k (pronounced "fook," like "spook") — the second-best of the Ruthless Brutale. Seventeen-year-old captain.

The bearded _fo0k led his teammates all the way to victory in the team league. Only the "Ninth Force" can match their record.Since the release of Quake, _fo0k has spent the night in a dark basement in East Lansing, Michigan, at his parents' house, with nothing but his gamepad, keyboard, Subwoofer, and a bunch of NBA game cassettes, and a black Jesus statue on the wall, because _fo0k thinks the nostrils of Jesus on it look like the shotgun barrel in Quake. Back in the days of Space Invaders, video games entered _fo0k's life and, as he puts it, "opened my eyes." Back then, _fo0k was just a guy named Clint Richards (Clint Richards) child, he was obsessed with science fiction and the Atari 2600 home console. After watching "Star Wars" more than a dozen times, he solemnly wrote down his life goal: "Fly to the Fighting aliens on the planet", and unlike most, he never gave up on it.He later joined a disco-punk band called Chambord, but he knew his chances of becoming a rock star were slim, and that's when he discovered a world more exciting and more in line with his childhood dreams: Quake .

Clint named himself _fo0k, the underscore and mixed letter o and number 0 are the writing habits used by some artificial hackers, and _fo0k's move can be regarded as a mockery of this bad habit. _fo0k is a real-life cable TV cable installer who equips himself with high-speed Internet access and joins other Doom addicts in creating the Relentless Brutale.Although he and his teammates are very close friends, by his own admission, if it weren't for the game, he would not be able to bond with these children.And the friendship established in the brutal death match is far from the ordinary friendship between gentlemen. When he withdraws from the battle of life and death to look at his watch, six hours have passed unconsciously.

Like the vast majority of players, _fo0k almost never meets or calls these "brothers", he prefers to chat with them in the Internet chat room or in the world of Quake, at any time, no matter Day or night, he can find his comrades online. "The Internet is my home," he said, "I'm not a dull person in reality, but I always lose my energy and I'm tired of everyday life: work, dealing with boring people, etc. .The only way I can get into that excitement is when I get home, go online, and start banging those guys." Thanks to his superb skills and varied tactics, _fo0k has gradually become famous in the online gamer community, while he is still unknown in real life, _fo0k does not care about this: "Mainstream society regards games as insignificant I sometimes feel like I'm wasting my life, but it's games that give me a chance to be a star - even if it's just for five minutes. Nobody wants to go out of their way in the world for nothing, video games are mine Expertise, maybe, my name can be remembered by people. Think about it, in the future Olympic Games," he joked: "Those big weightlifters stand together, next to a group of dark faces and dark circles e-sports players."

_fo0k is not the only id fan with big dreams. Their "Ruthless Bastard" enemy, the legendary female player of "The Ninth Force", Stevie Kath, is also changing her life for Quake.A new generation of female players has begun to challenge the male-dominated gaming world, and Stevie is one of them.She was born in a small town called Erase in Kansas. Her parents were social workers and teachers. She developed a character of advocating competition and was keen on sports since she was a child. She became a member of the local children's baseball team. The first and only female player on the team, to the dismay of the dads of the male players, she always beats their precious sons to pieces.In high school, she was chosen local athlete of the year, then student body president, and flew to Washington, D.C., with top students from around the country, to be received by President Bill Clinton at the White House.At that time, she just wanted to be a politician.

After entering the University of Kansas, Stevie's performance improved by leaps and bounds. She got A's in all law school courses, joined the student union, and became a member of Mensa International until Quake entered her life.Tom "Entropy" Kizmey, her boyfriend, was already in the game, and unlike most women, Stevie didn't cry out for his lover to come back. Instead, she I also love the exciting battles. Quake is a masculine thing: loud, gory, violent, creative (id designed it to be more scalable than Doom, easier to make patterns), and Stevie loves all of these Quake qualities.Soon, she became an indispensable main player of her boyfriend's team "The Ninth Force". Wild Species" final.

The countdown on the screen started, and Stevie put on the earphones, and clicked the mouse nervously, "Baby, are you okay?" Chizmer sat next to Stevie, the fluorescent light of the monitor reflected on his face, making him see Looking like drugged star Emilio Estevez, Stevie gave him a thumbs up: "I'm fine, honey." In another room, "Ruthless Bastard "The _fo0k sucked the last puff of his cigarette, and typed on the keyboard: "Okay, brothers, let's win the championship." When the dust settled, "The Ninth Force" defeated "The Ruthless Bastard" and became the undisputed champion.Stevie took off the earphones and leaned back on the chair, she inserted her fingers deeply into her hair, and let out a long sigh of relief: The feeling of victory is awesome, she seems to be standing on top of the world, and nothing seems impossible Yes, moreover, she has fellow players all over the world, including her hero, John Romero. "I'm not a lawyer, nor a politician," she heard the call of fate: "I'm a gamer, and I'm going to Dallas."

﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡ In early 1997, it seemed like the whole world was swooning over the Quake deathmatch, except for one tiny Texas company, id Software.After the turmoil, the war room was re-divided into separate offices. The pool table was sold and the football table was shipped away. There was no screaming, no cursing, no broken keyboards, nothing, everything was quiet.We all know why: John Romero — ace programmer, real-life millionaire, death-match surgeon — is gone for good. The empty chairs in Romero's room made America McKee sad.Despite Romero's flaws, he was the link between bosses and employees, and no one else could fill his role, let alone Carmack, McKee thought. Not only did id lose Romero, he also deprived id of the vibe that is essential to being a games company: fun. It's not just Romero's departure that's frustrating. Quake's share-retail model has also turned into a disaster.In theory, id could bypass retailers by selling a shared version and having players call 800 toll-free to get the password for the full version, but players cracked the shared version's encryption with little effort, making it free Got the full version of Quake.To make matters worse, these business affairs and order processing made id scramble. In the end, they had no choice but to stop the production of the shared version urgently. However, it was too late, and there were already 160,000 discs piled up in the warehouse. Mike Wilson, an employee of id's marketing department, threw the burden on the publisher GTI. He not only asked GTI to digest all the inventory, but also asked GTI to increase the royalties paid to id before the retail version of Quake was released.From GTI's Ron's point of view, this young man's face is undoubtedly getting thicker.In order to get the most out of the shared version, id did not hand over the game to GTI, but asked them to wait until after the peak summer sales season before putting the retail version on the shelves. By then, the cracked shared version had entered countless players' machines.The retail version finally sold 250,000 copies. This figure is not bad, but compared with Doom2, it can only make people shake their heads and sigh. Therefore, id decided to sever commercial relations with GTI.Ron was very disappointed, but there was nothing he could do if it was going to rain and his mother would marry someone. Moreover, Doom2 had made GTI a giant in the industry, so it was just one less partner. Mike and Jay also have new plans: to turn id into a publishing company, starting with their next game Quake2, "We don't need GTI," Jay told several shareholders: "We don't need Activision, We can do it ourselves, we can enjoy all the profits exclusively, we just need to recruit more people, establish a sound organizational system, and set up branches in various places, that can be a completely independent company, which is responsible for publishing id games. " Kevin and Adrian were very moved by this, but they knew it would take Carmack's nod.Although the shares in the hands of the two of them accounted for more than half of the total shares of id, there is no doubt that the person who really made the decision was the engine engineer.Carmack's technology has always been the core of id. After Romero left, his position became even more unshakable, and the last thing he wanted to do was to turn id into some kind of dominating empire—that was never Just Romero's dream, not his.Although his mother's previous conservative financial concepts made Carmack quite dissatisfied, in fact, he was also a conservative person in business.As long as he was at the company, he told Adrian and Kevin, id wouldn't make it big and let other publishers, like Activision, take over their next game. Romero's departure made life a lot easier for Carmack: no more hype about his next project, no more all-night deathmatch.While others were working on Quake2 with an existing engine, Carmack started free-wheeling research—no pressure, no schedule, just learning with all his heart and soul. Carmack's first attempt was a 3D graphics accelerator card in its infancy.In the past, only arcade machines had special 3D image acceleration and improvement functions. With the continuous emergence of powerful 3D engines such as Doom and Quake, some start-up companies saw business opportunities to bring 3D acceleration into ordinary homes. Those high-speed image processing chips Can be embedded in a graphics card, which users can then plug into their computers. 3Dfx launched the first batch of 3D image acceleration cards called Voodoo, and they also persuaded Carmack to ask him to rewrite the Quake engine with the OpenGL image programming interface to take advantage of the new hardware.Carmack completed the work over a weekend and released the OpenGL version of Quake online for free. Carmack's results left players speechless: the game was at least 20% smoother than before, and the graphics were more realistic.From simplicity to extravagance, from luxury to simplicity, once they have seen Quake under hardware acceleration, they never want to go back to the original software rendering mode, and they do not hesitate to bring back the Voodoo card with a price tag of several hundred dollars. Home upgrade love machine.Other programmers also started programming for 3Dfx accelerator cards, yes, following Carmack, this has slowly become a pattern.Other graphics card manufacturers also joined the competition for the 3D acceleration market, and a high-tech industry was born.Along with the success of GLQuake, there was another project by Carmack: Quakeworld, a free program he wrote that took Quake's multiplayer game to a new level.With the graphics improvements brought by OpenGL, and the network improvements brought by Quakeworld, Quake has reached unprecedented perfection. But Carmack's hard work didn't undo the effects of the dreary atmosphere during Quake's development, and talent began to drain from id.It started with Jay Wilbur, whose four-year-old son asked him one day, "Why do other dads take their kids to baseball games and you never take me?" Abrash, who is back in the arms of software giant Microsoft; next is level designer Sandy Peterson, who has been interested in leaving since the conflict over Quake design, and now he is leaving; Mike Wilson, who is in charge of marketing, and Sean Green, a deathmatch expert who is in charge of technical support, have announced that they are joining Romero's company. The gamer community, shocked by Romero and Carmack's breakup, speculated all kinds of background and reasons, until Carmack gave an in-depth and lengthy email interview in which he wrote: "Many people use They put their own eyes on what happened to id recently, but our development team is not the same as before. The reason why Romero was fired is that he didn't give his best... I believe that even if there are only three programmers, plus Three artists and three level designers, we can still make the best game in the world... We cut down on the commercial staff, we're just developers now, and that's always been the difference between me and Romero- He wants to build an empire, and I just want to write good programs. Now, everyone is happy." ﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡ Standing in the resplendent elevator of the Texas Mercantile Center building, Romero hit the top button.This fifty-five-story building in downtown Dallas is full of law firms, banks, and oil giants, and now, a twenty-nine-year-old player is about to tower over them: Romero suddenly picked up the night before. Got a call from the real estate agent, and he told Romero, you must come and see the penthouse like a palace in the sky.Romero was skeptical about this. Since leaving id, he had visited more than a dozen places, but none of them satisfied him, because he was going to do a lot of work next. Indeed, Romero's career will have to start from scratch. Other id shareholders bought his stake for millions of dollars (time magazine estimated it at 10 million), which means that id's future games and royalties will have nothing to do with romelo. Relationships - he will no longer get a share of the income from Doom and Quake.Moreover, this new beginning was a calling for Romero, who was finally free to follow his dreams after years of being shackled by Carmack's technology, his games, his dreams. His game company, and the life in his mind - to pursue everything that id software doesn't have. "At id, even though the company was making millions of dollars, the office was empty," Romero laments. "It was all Carmack's idea, 'My room doesn't need any decoration, All I need is a desk, chair and computer', he's not going to say 'ah, we've got all the money, we can make the office look cool'." Romero's new company will be more than just a gamer It will be a place where players can show off to the media, friends, family: look, this is gaming heaven!In this paradise, we will make more games. When the elevator stopped on the top floor, Romero felt as if he had stepped into a moon palace, full of stars and within his reach.This is a two-story, 22,500-square-foot loft, surrounded by windows and topped by a sixty-foot glass spire, where Romero can see a kaleidoscopic blur of light wherever he goes— Including moonlight and lights shining from downstairs.This is still a virgin land, and Romero can't help but start planning his dream game company: pile up pillows in this room, arcade machines in that room, and use the corner room as a "vent room". Anything can be destroyed inside! But the agent told Romero that the house was not perfect. Its problem was that there were huge spaces and windows without any shelter on all sides, and the air conditioner did not work at all in the sunlight.Plus, it's not cheap: $15 a square foot, or about $350,000 a month, puts many people off.Moreover, the two-story attic is not suitable for banks or the offices of oil giants, so it is still vacant here.But Romero didn't see it that way, "This is great, I can't think of a better place than this, that's it," Romero announced excitedly: "Here, it will be a company that makes games." He gave The company named "Dream Design" (Dream Design). With old friend Tom on board, Romero set out to introduce the new company to interested publishers.He will no longer be attached to technology or carmack, in fact, he has licensed the Quake engine from id, he will make a game based on this, he will have three game designers, and develop three different genres at the same time For the game, he will assign enough manpower to each designer so that they can release their works as soon as possible.This isn't just a games company, it's going to be an entertainment company, and the company's mission has been clear from the start: "Design is everything," Romero said: "Games will be what we design, we will never Abandoning our design because of technical limitations or because a programmer said it couldn't be done, you design a game, and you make it, it's that simple. It's the fucking design that determines everything." Romero's conditions for publishers are very exaggerated: 3 million dollars for each game, and then 40% of the royalties, and his company also owns all the intellectual property rights of the game and the right to port the game to other platforms.Publishers hesitated a little, but they didn't give up.At the time, game developer fame played a huge role, Sid Meier - the legendary designer of the "Civilization" series, had his own company: Firaxis; Will Wright - The creator of the best-selling game SimCity, has his own company: Maxis; Richard Geliott, the king of Ultima, has his own company: Viking; even Geliott's former employees, Chris Roberts, also started his own Digital Anvil company.Romero, behind the huge success of Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake, is not only famous, he is a gold mine.Publishers bought him and Tom first-class air tickets, let them live in Beverly Hills suites worth thousands of dollars a night, equipped them with limousines, and took them to the city's top restaurants surrounded by wine and flowers. .Romero and Tom are dazzled by the sudden change, the world is welcoming them, opportunities seem to be everywhere, and the id is old. Romero was planning a shooter, Tom was an adventure role-playing game, and only one was missing.Romero met Todd Porter (Todd Porter) through an old friend from the former "Floppy Disk" magazine. Todd had previously led a development team at a game company called 7th Level in Dallas. He was energetic and optimistic. , more importantly, he is a gamer, a real gamer, an old gamer from the Macintosh era, the thirty-six-year-old once attended a pastor school, but he soon discovered that preaching is actually a Frustrated with business rather than evangelism, and, in order to get a job in a cathedral, he had to navigate the complex human relationships of the church, he dropped out and used the savings The tuition fee bought a computer. After his parents divorced, Todd had to travel around to support his family. He went to Iowa to study finance. When he was struggling, he even performed exotic songs for the audience in an art troupe called "Preaching Boys". dance.After a little savings, Todd dived into programming skills, and he eventually got a job at the Viking company in Geliott, Austin. It didn't take long before he and artist Jerry OFlaherty (Jerry OFlaherty) It has always been Todd's dream to leave Austin and go to Dallas to start a new company and own his own business.But from the start, Todd ran into a cash crunch. He had to sell the company to 7th Level, and the dream was forced to land as soon as it spread its wings.At this moment, Romero extended an olive branch to him.Todd told Romero that his business acumen would come in handy, and Romero felt that Todd was really good at it, and that Jayle, who was with Todd, could be the head of the art department.Over lunch at McDonald's, the four of them decided to start collaborating, with minutes of their meetings written on napkins. They also need a big name, "Dream Design" is obviously not good, Romero needs a newer, shorter, more technical name, Tom's suggestion is: "Ion" (Ion), someone then Tom's words quipped: "Those game developers out there better watch out, or they'll get sucked into the Ion Storm." Ah, Ion Storm! ——It's not a bad name! On Christmas Eve, Ion Storm and Eidos Interactive Entertainment reached a publishing deal. Eidos, a British company whose initial capital came from the gold mines of South Africa, recently released a shooter-adventure game called Tomb Raider that stars a female version of Indiana Jones. Eidos plans to launch more big-name games. To do this, it must first find big-name producers, such as: John Romero.They agreed to all the conditions put forward by Ion Storm: 3 million for each game, and, in order to port the game to other platforms, they were willing to pay another 1 million for each game, and they also got three follow-up games of Ion Storm In other words, there may be a total of six games. In this way, Ion Storm was already worth 100 million US dollars at the beginning of its establishment. Once the first funds arrived, Romero, Tom, and Todd immediately began sketching out their dream game.Tom's whimsy boils down to a grand galactic adventure saga: Anachronox; Todd plans a strategy game: Doppelganger; and Romero, announces his The ultimate work, an epic first-person shooter: "Blade", this is the mysterious treasure in Carmack's "Dungeons and Dragons" game long ago, and Romero sacrificed everything for it-the fate of the entire game , the hope of the partners, for it, Romero made a deal with the demons, that time, the sword destroyed the world, this time, Romero will use it to conquer the world. In Broadsword, the player assumes the role of a biochemistry student named Hiro Miyamoto, in twenty-fifth century Kyoto, where an evil scientist named Kage Mishima has stolen the The big sword refined by Ben Hong’s mentor, this fetish has the superpower of traveling through time and space. Mishima Ji used it to satisfy his selfish desires, and brought the world to a path of corruption and corruption. For example, he hijacked the secret cure for AIDS .After receiving a warning from Hiroshi Miyamoto, Mishima sent the young warrior into a vortex of time and space, first in Kyoto, then in ancient Greece and medieval Norway, and finally in apocalyptic San Francisco.To develop the plot, the main character also has two companions: Superfly Johnson and the witty and charming heroine: Mikiko. The full name of the game is Romero's Broadsword.His ambition is now fully revealed. Every polygon in this vast world will be built from scratch and can interact with players seamlessly. In addition to realistic artificial intelligence, the depth and breadth of "Big Sword" are also staggering. There will be close to a hundred levels and a hundred types of monsters - almost four times as many as Quake!Romero has years of experience developing games independently, but this time, as much as he would like to, he clearly couldn't, do all the work himself.For this ultimate game, he needs the assistance of the ultimate player.Mike Wilson, can finally try to expand overseas markets, id has never given him such an opportunity; Sean Green, Romero's death match partner, is willing to assist in programming; when Romero released the words on the Internet , ardent Doom and Quake fans flocked to Ion Storm's e-mail server with their resumes and the patterns they made, and Romero picked out a few he liked: ones that caught his eye. s work.After all, that's how Romero himself came here: with a burger on hand, taking a nap when he's sleepy, skipping classrooms, turning off appointments, and devoting himself to making games, that is, has he ever actually worked in a game company? It's not the key, as long as you have enthusiasm and drive, it's enough. At the beginning of 1997, these ultimate players rushed from all directions to work in the temporary office of Ion Storm, and, with their spiritual leader, Romero, had a deathmatch.You know, they have lived in the game world created by Romero in the past few years.Brian Eiserloh, famed celestial camp host, gets hired after sending in a medieval-style essay; Will Loconto drops his stint in industrial metal "Information Society" (Information Society) performance, served as the sound engineer of the ion storm; lead level designer.It was undoubtedly a major decision in their lives, but they made it almost without thinking. After all, "we are a product of Romero's era." Sweelow said. Stevie Kath is also one of them. She was originally a star female player of the University of Kansas Quake team "The Ninth Force".Surgeon Romero wins her in the first deathmatch, but Stevie, who is naturally recalcitrant, demands another fight, which she wins.Convinced, Romero created a web page praising Stevie's skills, and then recruited her into Ion Storm. Those who rejoiced were not only those players who officially entered the game industry, the media were also fascinated by the bright prospect of Ion Storm.Every reporter who interviews in the temporary office will see what the spirit of a game company should be.Deathmatch isn't just allowed, it's part of the corporate culture, and at every moment, Romero and a dozen other players are screaming and chasing through Quake's world.After establishing a partnership with the former id PR firm in New York City, Mike announced to the media that when the new office is completed, it will be "the Willy Wonka the Chocolate Factory of the gaming world" (Willy Wonka the Chocolate Factory, Famous 1971 comedy): It will have a theater, a game room, and an arena dedicated to deathmatch. Time named Romero one of its fifty "Digital Celebrities" of the year, and Fortune named Ion Storm one of twenty-five of the nation's "coolest companies." Eidos led several heads of Ion Storm to hold a press tour, doing extravagant things along the way, and Mike, who was full of joy, insisted that this event was "unstoppable".In any case, they are now on the ropes.Mike called Ion Storm's team the "Beatles" of gaming, which made everyone happy, and Todd even suggested taking a photo of the cover of the last Beatles record, which featured It is the four superstars who have dominated the music scene for the past ten years. Zhengyu runs through a road called Abbey Road.Behind all the hoopla, it was clear to everyone who was the soul of the company, who brought them the publisher's investment and the world's attention: John Romero. Ion Storm portrays himself as the embodiment of freedom and dreams, while id is just a lifeless and lifeless old stubborn.It's not just two companies compared, it's two worldviews compared: design and technology, art and science, Dionysus and Apollo. “id是一家以技术为主导的公司，”麦克说：“而离子风暴则着重于艺术美感的自由发挥。在id，当图像引擎完成时，设计师和美工们已经没有多少时间来制作游戏本身了，我们认为这不是一个很好的做法，它没有合理地平衡技术和设计所占的比重。” 罗梅洛对此表示赞同，他告诉《连线》杂志：“在我离开后，id的气氛就变得阴郁压抑……没有扩张公司的计划，没有人和卡马克就一些重要的决定展开争论。我想做一个可以让我尽情发挥创造力的游戏，我想有足够多的人手来完成它，但这些id都没有，所以我离开了。”罗梅洛还告诉伦敦的《泰晤士报》（The Times），在两年之内，离子风暴将取代id成为游戏市场的领头羊，“这是必然的，”他说：“这也是让人振奋的。” ﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡ 卡马克驾着法拉利F40驶进id黑色办公楼的停车场，忽然，他听到一声巨响。一辆敞篷货车撞到了F40的尾部，当卡马克下车时，货车已经一溜烟开上高速公路，汇入了滚滚车流。卡马克查看了一下被损坏的部位，然后怒气冲冲地上楼走进办公室，他在计划文件里宣泄道：“没有文字能表达我现在的感受，如果你们谁在达拉斯附近看到或认识一个穿红色长裤，开棕色货车，车上拉着碳化纤维的家伙，把他押上来！” 众多回复中，有罗梅洛的声音，他在网上发表道：“那辆F40被撞了？报应啊。” 这不是罗梅洛的第一次挑衅。最近一段时间，几乎是每天，id的人们都会看到罗梅洛向媒体大放厥词，他不停地嘲笑id，说它是一个只懂技术的过气公司，这还不算，在id的人们看来，罗梅洛正把id以前的成就全部归结为他一个人的功劳。在罗梅洛的正式新闻稿里，他被诩为“负责id游戏的编程、设计和项目管理”，而只图省事的记者们则直接称呼他为“id背后的创作天才”，或者是“那个制作了Doom和Quake等重量级游戏的人物”。 这些自然也成了id内部的谈资，尽管他们知道媒体总会犯傻，但显然，罗梅洛也没有主动地去纠正媒体的错误。很快，攻击罗梅洛和离子风暴就成了id日常生活的一部分。麦基发表了一份计划文件，对罗梅洛是id主心骨的说法大肆挖苦了一番；艾德里安和凯文则喃喃道他们一定要把罗梅洛的战舰击沉；而最终来火上浇油的，则是id的新美工，卡马克的新朋友：保罗·斯蒂德（Paul Steed）。 无论怎么看，保罗都不像是个搞计算机的人，他粗犷豪迈，肌肉强健，满是纹身。保罗的父亲很早以前就抛下了家庭，在东海岸度过短暂的童年后，保罗对计算机产生了兴趣，但他很快就放弃了，因为，“你要么整晚坐在那里和程序打交道，要么整晚出去和女孩们打交道，对于我，女孩的吸引力更大些。”不乏才智的保罗慢慢养成了火爆好斗的脾气，在军校的课堂上和别人大打出手后，他被开除了。他随后回到计算机行业，在维真公司担任美工。当他收到id的工作邀请函时，他简直不敢相信自己的眼睛，但他不知道，他这一去，就卷入了争斗。 罗梅洛？保罗没怎么听说过这个人，保罗只知道他是id的创始人，而且他在离开id之后还不断到666套房来扮演不速之客，就好像他根本没在外面说id的坏话，而且还想和大家继续做朋友一样。这让id的员工们颇为恼火，尤其是凯文和艾德里安：“这个杂碎没事干怎么老来我们这里闲逛？”这些抱怨保罗都听在耳里，直到有一天，他站出来说：“去他妈的罗梅洛和什么风暴！走！我们去他的公司，看看会怎么样！” 第二天，保罗、凯文和艾德里安一行三人来到了达拉斯城边的离子风暴临时办公地。罗梅洛尽管不知道他们葫芦里卖的什么药，但还是领着他们四处参观了一圈。保罗留意到一个美工制作动画时用的是一个老旧的软件，于是，他回到id后第一件事就是在计划文件里表示对离子风暴未来前景的质疑，这，就是后来所谓“计划文件大战”（.plan war）的导火索。id和离子风暴的员工们开始互相诋毁，你来我往，彼此都不甘示弱，这到后来变成了每天上班的例行公事。最后，罗梅洛也加入战团，他给保罗写了封邮件，在信里，他问保罗：想不想在《大刀》的盒子上留个名啊？保罗给艾德里安看了这封信，并向他讨教如何回敬罗梅洛，艾德里安开心地指点了保罗一番。“哥们！”保罗给罗梅洛写道：“不要跟我瞎搞，否则，我会揪起你的马尾巴，一脚把你踢回你最钟爱的Doom时代。” 卡马克一直保持着沉默，但办公室里的火药味越来越浓，这让他无法置身事外，最终，他决定体验一下放弃自控力的感觉，或者，用他的话说，做一次“情绪操控方面的试验”。他选择了一个大牌媒体来作为他首次参战的舞台：《时代》周刊。在那一期上，有篇两页多长的罗梅洛个人介绍，卡马克在接受访谈时，直言不讳地告诉公众，和罗梅洛的一贯说法相反：这位前任拍档的离去不是辞职，而是被解雇。“在变得有钱有名后，罗梅洛失去了工作的动力，然后公司把辞职书放到了他面前。”卡马克嘲弄了罗梅洛对于财富和名望的野心，“而我只想拥有几辆法拉利。”卡马克还补充道，罗梅洛“不可能”像他承诺的那样在圣诞节前拿出《大刀》。 同样在这篇报道里，罗梅洛把id指为“太束手束脚，太鼠目寸光”。两个约翰的正面交锋使得id和离子风暴之间的死亡竞赛愈演愈烈，而他们的决斗场，将是E3电子游戏大展（Electronic Entertainment Expo）。这是游戏界一年一度的盛会，各大公司都趁此机会把自己的最新最棒的游戏拿出来演示，id今年的王牌是Quake2，他们对此充满信心：《大刀》在它面前将不止是黯然失色，而是毫无生机。 Quake2的开发起始于1996年9月，它是id最新引擎的技术展示，也是id迄今为止风格最统一的游戏。它取材于1961年的二战电影《六壮士》（The Guns of Navarone）。在影片中，敌人在一个偏僻小岛上的堡垒里安装了两门火力超强的火炮，主角们的任务就是摧毁它。id觉得这是个绝妙的主题，在这样的军事背景下，玩家有了明确的目标和动机——这在id过去的游戏里还从未有过。在Quake2里，邪恶星球斯特罗格斯（Stroggos）上的异形们囤积起了大量的人类残肢断臂，用以生产威力强大的半机械战士，在地球人的反击过程中，玩家驾驶的战机被对方击落，为了逃出生天，为了阻止人类被它们征服，你要找到并摧毁斯特罗格斯异形建造的终极武器：巨炮（the Big Gun）。 Quake引擎里的真三维技术是一次质的飞跃，而Quake2，卡马克不觉得它在技术上有多大进步。尽管如此，新引擎仍然足以使人过目难忘，最显著的，就是Quake2能够以软件和硬件加速两种模式进行渲染，也就是说，拥有三维加速卡的玩家将看到前所未有的图像效果——彩色的光影、平滑的物体表面、等等，那是一种栩栩如生的、流畅的、影院般的游戏体验。 凯文从来就是id持股人中最有外交手腕和组织才干的一位，在他的带领下，id大军正步调一致地朝着目标进发。死亡竞赛销声匿迹了，在沉静紧张的气氛中，他们日以继夜地工作着。早年什里夫波特湖畔、麦迪逊公寓、拉普拉达顶楼里的一些身影已经消失：汤姆、罗梅洛、杰伊、肖恩……，取而代之的，是更符合卡马克务实作风的团队，包括新任CEO：托德·霍伦谢尔德（Todd Hollenshead）——前安达信公司的税务顾问，以及提姆——id现在的首席设计师。 一反往常，卡马克的喜悦之情溢于言表。1997年6月16号，就在id即将参加E3大展之前，他在计划文件里写道：“你们怎么也猜不到事情的进展是多么顺利，在外人看来，我们好像过气了，不行了，但是，我们要用事实来说话。最近，我会不时地欣然微笑，只因为想到我们的新游戏会有多酷（当然，也有可能是因为没睡够……）。现在的id是一支梦幻般的队伍，我们在按部就班地前进（绝不是胡扯！），我们在制作一个伟大的游戏，所有人小心了！” ﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡ 1997年的E3不光是一个游戏大展，它本身就是一个游戏。从正门步入，参观者就像走进一台计算机的内部：闪耀的灯光、轰鸣的音响、年轻的玩家，以及，无处不在的展会小姐——女模特、女演员、舞女们，她们打扮成游戏中的各种角色，刺激着小伙子们的视觉。最耀眼的现场女星无疑是《古墓丽影》游戏里的女主角劳拉·克劳芙特（Lara Croft）。玩家们背囊里塞满了各种免费小礼品，他们在展台前排起长队试玩游戏，劳拉们四处游走，但她们无法企及这次E3上的真正明星：一个身着黑装的长发青年，他缓缓穿过大厅，所到之处，玩家们纷纷弯腰鞠躬，久久不起。 “万岁，万岁……”玩家们呢喃道，他们当然是指罗梅洛，或者说是“上帝”——就像他后来称呼自己那样，他在一份计划文件里半开玩笑地接受了这个神圣的绰号。但这不完全是个玩笑，就媒体或玩家所能看到的，他俨然就是一个摇滚之神，他无处不在：《计算机游戏世界》、《华尔街日报》、《财富》。他的大幅彩照如帝王般出现在封面上：在给一家游戏手柄公司做广告时，他身着红色长袍，头戴皇冠，背景字样是：“来自皇家封印的推荐”，以及罗梅洛的引语：“如果你想把对手们打得落花流水，那么，'黑豹XL'就是你必备的武器。”在罗梅洛给媒体准备的特写照片中，他端坐在一张价值九千美元的宝座上。 此刻的罗梅洛比以往任何时候看上去都更为高贵。他的紧身衬衫上装点着珠宝，他黑亮的长发披散在身后。罗梅洛的长发现在是如此出名，甚至，在一次访谈中，他透露了他打理头发的十部曲：“我会先让头发从面前垂下，然后用梳子和吹风机慢慢梳理。我是从上往下梳，这可以使头发保持直顺，而把它完全吹干可以保证它不会打结。” 徜徉在五光十色的会场中，罗梅洛和周围的游戏一样欢快兴奋，但每一个与会者都知道，他不是来这里作秀的，他是来向世人展示《大刀》的。1997年3月项目启动时，罗梅洛就向大家保证在1997年圣诞节前发布游戏，这么说，游戏现在应该已经完成一半了。在罗梅洛看来，这个进度表完全是可行的，他拥有一支庞大的开发队伍，譬如，他有八个美工——而id只有两个。尽管卡马克曾公开对《大刀》能否按期发布表示过怀疑，但媒体和玩家仍满怀热情，直到他们看到离子风暴的一个广告后，所有人都觉得，罗梅洛做得太过分了。 有罗梅洛的显赫名声以及Eidos的巨额投资作为双保险，再加上麦克这个口无遮拦的经纪人，离子风暴做起广告来简直是肆无忌惮。1997年早些时候，在麦克的建议下，罗梅洛批准了一则模仿死亡竞赛时玩家对骂的广告，那本就是他和其他玩家一起创造的语言，但当他看到那句话变成铅字时，他略微犹豫了一下，“就这样？你确定？”他问麦克。 “当然！”麦克告诉罗梅洛：“别跟个娘们似的。” 罗梅洛同意了。随后，在四月份，这则广告覆盖了所有主流游戏出版物，那是红色背景上的一行黑色字样：“罗梅洛就要把你变成他的婊子”（John Romero's About To Make You His Bitch），最下方是小字：“吞了它！”——麦克刚把这个短语注册成商标。广告的效果立竿见影，它不止是煽动起了玩家，它还激怒了玩家，他们感觉受到了侮辱：罗梅洛以为他是什么人？他真觉得自己那么牛？但玩家们愿意再给这位游戏之神一次机会，看看他的作品是不是真像他吹的那样，是地球上有史以来最酷的游戏，毕竟，它来自id的大师，来自制作了《德军总部3D》、Doom、Quake的罗梅洛。玩家们都准备在1997年E3上一睹《大刀》的尊容。 《大刀》的演示就在Eidos展台最前方的正中央，它旁边才是势头正劲的《古墓丽影》系列。游戏里的挪威关卡是专门为E3而制作的，玩家们围聚在大屏幕前，屏幕上不再是Doom或Quake里阴暗的迷宫，而是室外场景，村落里一幢幢挪威风格的小房屋，银装素裹，神秘幽远，此外，还有一段古希腊庙宇场景的视频展示。玩家们交口称赞，但却没有过于激动，当罗梅洛逛到id摊位前时，他知道这是为什么了。 罗梅洛穿过人群，走到近处观看Quake2的演示。淡黄色的光芒映在他脸上，映着他合不拢的嘴：彩色光影！罗梅洛无法相信屏幕上的画面：那是一个地牢似的军事基地关卡，当玩家开枪时，黄色的火光沿走道射出，两侧墙壁在它的照耀下泛出一阵阵黄色。尽管这效果不是很明显，但罗梅洛知道这意味着什么，他就像回到了许久以前的那个早晨，他就像看到了行走在马里奥世界里的戴夫：“天哪，”他嘟囔道，卡马克还是那个卡马克。 罗梅洛觉得Quake2是他在计算机屏幕上见到过最棒的东西，在硬件加速的帮助下，卡马克铸就了一个充满美感的虚拟世界，彩色光影使它无比逼真。这是下一波技术浪潮，罗梅洛知道，卡马克的游戏也是他《大刀》的竞争对手，唉，如果非要做个比较，那么，《大刀》只是一本书，而Quake2是一台彩色电视机，罗梅洛琢磨着，如果像这样下去，《大刀》根本没有任何机会。 罗梅洛和id的协议里有个条款：他可以获得id的下一个引擎，当然，他没想到这“下一个”原来是如此大的飞跃。他心意已定：为了利用起Quake2引擎，他不惜把《大刀》重头来过。但还有一个问题：协议里有专门规定，只有在id的游戏上架发售后，罗梅洛才可以获得新引擎的授权，也就是说，要到圣诞节后他才可以得到Quake2引擎，他必须用现有技术继续做下去，然后，花一个月，他估计，来把游戏转换到Quake2引擎下。 卡马克的技术再次迫使罗梅洛改变了计划。 ﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡﹡ 大展进行到尾声时，玩家们纷纷把注意力投向了另一项活动：id公司赞助的“赤色全歼”（Red Annihilation）死亡锦标赛。房间正中放着比赛的奖品——卡马克那辆红色的法拉利328跑车。“在《德军总部3D》获得成功后，我买了我的第一辆法拉利，”卡马克告诉媒体：“Doom和Quake又为我带来了三辆，我一个人开不了那么多，但我不想把它们卖掉或是停在车库里，我要把它送给玩家，说到底，id的成功离不开玩家们的支持，这次死亡竞赛的王者就将获得这顶桂冠。” 两千多名玩家已为十六张决赛入场券在网上鏖战了许久，胜出的选手们聚集到了最终一决高下的会场里。强中更有强中手，一轮轮淘汰后，台上最后只剩下汤姆·Entropy·奇兹默——堪萨斯大学“第九原力”的队员，和丹尼斯·Thresh·方——第一届官方死亡竞赛，微软“审判日”比赛的冠军。车牌为IDTEK1的法拉利已经停到会场中，大屏幕投影出决赛选手屏幕上的画面，人群开始欢呼。Thresh尽量让自己不去注意显示器上跑车的倒影，直到他完成最后一次得分——他以13比1取得胜利。 卡马克走上台，把车钥匙交到Thresh手中：“嗯，你准备怎么把它弄回家？”Thresh似乎面有难色：“我不知道，应该是把它托运回去吧。”半个小时后，卡马克带着五千美元现金回到会场，那是给Thresh的运费。 人潮退去后，罗梅洛逛了过来，他想看看id都到了些什么人，没错，他们是对手，但他们仍然可以做朋友。他看到卡马克和几个id的人坐在计算机边闲聊，他们谈论起这次比赛，然后有人提议说大家互相比试一下，罗梅洛过五关斩六将，直到只剩下他和卡马克。 两位约翰坐到了台上，决斗就在眼前。延绵骤变之后，物依旧而人已非。他们曾一起在什里夫波特玩《超级马里奥》，那时，世界还充满着未知和机遇， id还只是一个深处来的想法；他们曾一起在威斯康星玩气垫飞车F-Zero，寒冷的冬夜里，他们梦想着有朝一日可以拥有自己的跑车；他们曾一起在Doom的世界里追逐，在屏幕上看到对方的那一刹，他们看到了即将到来的名望与财富；现在，他们平生第一次在Quake——这个使他们走到决裂边缘的游戏——里碰面了：漫长的开发过程中，他们从未一起玩过。 比赛开始，火箭弹在厅堂中呼啸穿过，他们追逐着、躲避着，很快，引擎师约翰就败在了手术师约翰枪下。这场比赛结束了，而下一场即将在更加刺激动人的领域展开——那就是Quake2和《大刀》终将狭路相逢的地方。这世界永远充满竞争，和意外。