Q& A : T OM MUSTAI NE
GAME DESI GNER AND E S CALATION S T UDIOS CO- F OUNDER
Game designer and Escalation Studios co-founder Tom Mustaine talks us through working closely with Id to create SnapMap (below), and how building levels for the original Doom kicked off his career. How did you get started making levels for Doom? The first time I played Doom on my dad’s 486, I took a left in E1M1 and saw those stairs ascending up to the green armour room with those huge picture windows looking out to what felt like an infinite sky. I knew then I’d do anything to find out how to make levels for Doom. I spent months digging up every possible tool and resource to build content for the game, and from there it was a rollercoaster of making hundreds of levels and mods, including some that made it into Master Levels,
Final Doom, and more. What does it mean to you to be working so closely with Id on a series so close to your heart?
This is a dream come true. Doom ultimately became a gateway for infinite content and as a side effect provided a path into professional game development for myself and many others like me. Being able to take an idea, build it into a downloadable package, and share it with the world is something that the original Doom essentially pioneered. With SnapMap, we’re pushing to take that experience up another level by having infinite content available to players, along with the capability to create, remix, and share with ease. Do you still dabble in WAD-making these days? I do! I play a fair amount of ZDaemon, which is basically classic Doom and Doom II with modern networking and tons of custom levels. I frequently check out the latest Doom WADs, WAD editors and source ports, many of which have mind-blowing features these days. The Doom community is certainly still going strong!