John Romero is a name that should be familiar to the majority of gamers the world over, especially those who were around when gaming was taking off in the 80s and 90s. As the co-creator of Doom, Romero was id Software’s very own rock star developer until his departure in 1996 around the time of the original Quake’s release. As a result, if there’s one person who knows pretty much everything there is to know about one of the most influential first-person shooters ever, then it’s going to be this guy.
In a recent post on Twitter, a user called no_context_doom spoke about how the original Doom takes place on March 15, 2022. They go on to say that this information comes directly from the SNES port of the game, which gives the date in the manual. However, Romero quote tweeted the message and added a correction, saying that the story doesn’t take place on this date. While there was a date mentioned in the Super Nintendo manual, the ex-id developer says that no one at the company provided such information, adding that Doom is “timeless.”
That’s not to say that Romero is calling the user out. They take it in good stride and even offer a follow-up tweet, saying “I hope you’re well.” Therefore, for anyone reading this who was wondering, it came straight from the horse’s mouth that one of gaming’s most innovative FPS titles doesn’t take place during a specific time period. With John Romero still making maps for Doom, he is clearly still steeped in the lore and is bound to know a thing or two about it, especially as one of the game’s creators.
Over the years, the original release has made something of an impact on the gaming sphere, especially in the first-person genre. With even a SpongeBob-themed mod for Doom and people attempting to run it on all sorts of weird and wonderful devices not designed to be compatible, it’s clear that the community has not tired of the retro shooter.
With id Software also in the market for more staff, there’s a chance the studio may be working on a possible follow-up to 2020’s Doom Eternal or maybe even a new Quake game. In any case, while Romero is no longer part of the team, his work in the past laid the groundwork for what was to come, and it’s good to see that classic Doom is still a huge part of his life.
