Randy Pitchford had a go at Valve recently. Now he’s having a dig at another veteran PC developer: id Software.
Unlike some other developers, Gearbox’s Randy Pitchford is happy to let players control their own experience. When chatting to him recently about their decision to not force level restrictions in Borderlands’ co-op mode, Pitchford recalled the time he worked with id Software and the DOOM III technology.
“Too many designers want to be in control, and they want you to know that they’re in control. And a lot of times they actually block us from the fun.
“I had a really funny experience with this with DOOM III. When they wrote the tech, I was evaluating the DOOM tech, and they had a gravity gun as a tool. But I was talking to the guys about it and they were all, “Oh, it’s too much power, we don’t want to do that.” Then Valve of course made it an actual weapon in the game and it was fun. So, who wins?
“They added it in the expansion and it was nerfed! So, you add it in after Half-Life 2 comes out and you still didn’t even beat those guys who came out before you. You’re dumb! It’s sad because I’m making shooters because of those guys, you know? As far as I’m concerned, they walk on water… but at the same time, id’s dumb.”
Now, before anyone gets up in arms, I should note that Randy was laughing the whole time he was saying this. He’s right though!
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