John D. Carmack II [ 1 ] born August 21, [ a ] [ 1 ] is an American computer programmer and video game developer. He co-founded the video game company id Software and was the lead programmer of its s games Commander Keen , Wolfenstein 3D , Doom , Quake , and their sequels. Carmack made innovations in 3D computer graphics , such as his Carmack's Reverse algorithm for shadow volumes. Carmack was born in Shawnee Mission, Kansas , [ 1 ] the son of local television news reporter Stan Carmack. He grew up in the Kansas City metropolitan area , where he became interested in computers at an early age.
Carmack was introduced to video games with the shoot 'em up game Space Invaders in the arcades during a summer vacation as a child. The maze chase arcade game Pac-Man also left a strong impression on him. He cited Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto as the game developer he most admired. To gain entry to the building, Carmack concocted a sticky substance of thermite mixed with Vaseline that melted through the windows. However, an overweight accomplice struggled to get through the hole and instead opened the window, setting off a silent alarm and alerting police.
Carmack was arrested and sent for psychiatric evaluation. He was sentenced to a year in a juvenile home. In , while still at Softdisk, Carmack, Romero, and others created the first of the Commander Keen games, a series that was published by Apogee Software , under the shareware distribution model, from onwards. Carmack has pioneered or popularized the use of many techniques in computer graphics, including " adaptive tile refresh " for Commander Keen , [ 14 ] ray casting for Hovertank 3D , Catacomb 3-D , and Wolfenstein 3D , binary space partitioning which Doom became the first game to use, [ 15 ] surface caching which he invented for Quake , Carmack's Reverse formally known as z-fail stencil shadows which he devised for Doom 3 , and MegaTexture technology, first used in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.
Carmack's engines have also been licensed for use in other influential first-person shooters such as Half-Life , Call of Duty and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. In , when Carmack was on vacation with his wife, he ended up playing some games on his cellphone, and decided he was going to make a "good" mobile game. Carmack claims to have maintained a sixty-hour work week, working a hour day, six days a week, throughout his career.
Not only does high intensity allow him to make progress more quickly, but long hours are also critical to maintaining a focused mindset over time. Despite working such a demanding schedule, he has never experienced burnout. Carmack is also known for taking week-long programming retreats. These retreats involve a solitary, uninterrupted period away from his normal routine often sequestered in a random city and hotel.
