John Carmack facts for kids

John Carmack
Carmack at the 2010 GDC
Born	August 20, 1970 (1970-08-20) Roeland Park, Kansas, United States
Alma mater	University of Missouri, Kansas City (dropped out)
Occupation	CTO, Oculus VR, Inc. Founder, Armadillo Aerospace
Known for	Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Rage
Spouse(s)	Katherine Anna Kang (m. 2000)
Children	2

John D. Carmack (born August 20, 1970) is an American computer programmer, engineer, and businessman. He co-founded id Software. Carmack was the lead programmer of the id video games Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Quake, Rage and their sequels.

In 1999, Carmack appeared as number 10 in TIME's list of the 50 most influential people in technology. In March of 2006, Carmack was added to the Walk of Game, an event that names the most important people in video games.

He is best known for his innovations in 3D graphics, such as his Carmack's Reverse algorithm for shadow volumes. In August 2013, Carmack took the position of CTO at Oculus VR.

Early life

John Carmack 2006

Carmack, son of local television news reporter Stan Carmack, grew up in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area where he became interested in computers at an early age. He attended Shawnee Mission East High School in Prairie Village, Kansas and Raytown South High School in nearby Raytown, Missouri.

Carmack was introduced to video games with the 1978 shoot 'em up title Space Invaders in the arcades during a summer vacation as a child. The 1980 maze chase arcade game Pac-Man also left a strong impression on him. He cited Shigeru Miyamoto as the game developer he most admired.

He attended the University of Missouri–Kansas City for two semesters before withdrawing to work as a freelance programmer.

Personal life

The star for John Carmack at the Walk of Game in the Metreon in San Francisco, California

Carmack was so successful at id that by mid-1994 he had purchased two Ferrari Testarossas. He met his wife Katherine Anna Kang at the 1997 QuakeCon. Carmack and Kang married on January 1, 2000. They had a son in 2004.

As a game developer, he differs from many of his contemporaries by avoiding commitment to a final release date for any game he is developing. Instead, when asked for a release date on a new title, Carmack will usually reply that the game will be released "when it's done."

He loves pizza. During his time at id Software, a medium pepperoni pizza would arrive for Carmack from Domino's Pizza almost every day, carried by the same delivery person for more than 15 years. Carmack had been such a regular customer that they still charge him 1995 prices.

Games

Titles are listed below in reverse chronological order.

Release date	Title	Developer	Publisher	Credited for
May 13, 2016	Doom	id Software	Bethesda Softworks	Former technical director, former engine programmer, former developer
October 16, 2012	Doom 3 BFG Edition	id Software	Bethesda Softworks	Technical director, engine programmer, developer
October 4, 2011	Rage	id Software	Bethesda Softworks	Technical director, engine programmer, developer
September 28, 2007	Enemy Territory: Quake Wars	Splash Damage	Activision	Programming
May 1, 2006	Orcs & Elves	Fountainhead Entertainment	Electronic Arts	Producer/programmer/writer
October 18, 2005	Quake 4	Raven Software	Activision, Bethesda Softworks (republished 2012)	Technical director
September 13, 2005	Doom RPG	Fountainhead Entertainment	id Software	Producer/programmer
April 3, 2005	Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil	Nerve Software	Activision	Technical director
August 3, 2004	Doom 3	id Software	Activision	Technical director
November 19, 2001	Return to Castle Wolfenstein	id Software	Activision	Technical director
December 18, 2000	Quake III: Team Arena	id Software	Activision	Programming
December 2, 1999	Quake III Arena	id Software	Activision	Programming
November 30, 1997	Quake II	id Software	Activision	Programming
March 31, 1997	Doom 64	Midway Games	Midway Games	Programming
June 22, 1996	Quake	id Software	GT Interactive	Programming
May 31, 1996	Final Doom	id Software	GT Interactive	Programming
October 30, 1995	Hexen: Beyond Heretic	Raven Software	id Software	3D engine
December 23, 1994	Heretic	Raven Software	id Software	Engine programmer
September 30, 1994	Doom II: Hell on Earth	id Software	GT Interactive	Programming
December 10, 1993	Doom	id Software	id Software	Programming
1993	Shadowcaster	Raven Software	Origin Systems	3D engine
September 18, 1992	Spear of Destiny	id Software	FormGen	Software engineer
May 5, 1992	Wolfenstein 3D	id Software	Apogee Software	Programming
1991	Catacomb 3-D	id Software	Softdisk	Programming
1991	Commander Keen in Aliens Ate My Babysitter!	id Software	FormGen	Programming
December 15, 1991	Commander Keen in Goodbye, Galaxy!	id Software	Apogee Software	Programming
1991	Commander Keen in Keen Dreams	id Software	Softdisk	Programming
1991	Shadow Knights	id Software	Softdisk	Design/programming
1991	Rescue Rover 2	id Software	Softdisk	Programmer
1991	Rescue Rover	id Software	Softdisk	Programmer
1991	Hovertank 3D	id Software	Softdisk	Programming
1991	Dangerous Dave in the Haunted Mansion	id Software	Softdisk	Programming
1991	Dark Designs III: Retribution	Softdisk	Softdisk	Programmer/designer
December 14, 1990	Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons	id Software	Apogee Software	Programming
1990	Slordax: The Unknown Enemy	Softdisk	Softdisk	Programming
1990	Catacomb II	Softdisk	Softdisk	Developer
1990	Catacomb	Softdisk	Softdisk	Programmer
1990	Dark Designs II: Closing the Gate	Softdisk	Softdisk	Programmer/designer
1990	Dark Designs: Grelminar's Staff	John Carmack	Softdisk	Developer
1990	Tennis	John Carmack	Softdisk	Developer
1990	Wraith: The Devil's Demise	John Carmack	Nite Owl Productions	Developer
1989	Shadowforge	John Carmack	Nite Owl Productions	Developer

Images for kids

• 

  Carmack during the 2005 X PRIZE Cup in Las Cruces and Alamogordo, New Mexico

• 

  John Carmack at QuakeCon 2009

• 

  ohn Carmack during his keynote “The Dawn of Mobile VR” during the Game Developer Conference 2015