id Software co-founder and master of Doom John Carmack is one of the brightest minds in the industry, which is why we were excited to learn he had joined Oculus VR , maker of the Oculus Rift virtual reality goggles. Aside from the impressive demos of the device, nothing lent the company as much legitimacy as his coming on board as chief technical officer.
What that says about his actual responsibilities there, we don't exactly know, but according to a recent report from Engadget , he's also working on software that will showcase the Rift. That doesn't mean we'll see a full-fledged John Carmack-developed game, but it makes a lot of sense for him to be working on an engine, development tools, or even just an in-house tech demo that proves the full potential of the Rift.
“He's working on a lot of exciting tech,” Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe told Engadget, “but his heart and soul and history certainly lies in the game-development side...It's been John carmack's philosophy—you gotta eat your own dog food here, and develop internal content also.”
Up to this point, Oculus VR relied on third parties to make software that shows off the Rift, either by incorporating it into existing games, or by creating limited demos like CCP's EVE: Valkyrie .
From the first Doom multiplayer mode to the id Tech 4 engine (Doom 3) and id Tech 5 engine (Rage), the games Carmack is known for have arguably always existed first and foremost to prove the value of the technology they were using. I can't wait to see what he comes up with for the Rift.
