Id Software

It's time to get started!

Waking up early the next morning, we met up with a couple of Anna's friends, who would be the additional level testers for the game. We scored a ride with them to the office, and off we went.

The black obelisk from the freeway

The other office tennants avoid this door

Quite a few people have seen or at least heard about the black cube that is the Mesquite Commerce Center. Id Software occupies the 6th floor, and of course, their office number is 666 - always looking to ruffle some feathers! As a company, id is kind of like the pride of Mesquite. They're not completely sure what goes on inside the cube, but they know it's big and it's digging into all of the Senators' skins. Very much like the developer's cave at FiringSquad/GX, all of the lights in the office are off. In our case, developers are nocturnal, and the best way to fool them to do work before 10PM is to close the windows and turn out the lights, simulating a nighttime environment. Ironically, the only room with the lights on is the owner's room, where John Carmack, Adrian Carmack, and Kevin Cloud bask in the warmth of the fluorescents.

Hell is moving further south

Id's offices are a spacious 7,000 square feet, taking up a little more than half of the floor. Id is currently an office-centric environment. Everyone is either in an office or a 3-man room, and compared to the cramp conditions here at FS, it looks like there's more than enough space to go around.

That's going to change near the end of the year. After Quake 3 ships, all of id will pack up and move about half a mile down the road to brand new facilities, being finished as you read this. Finally taking the opportunity to splurge a bit, they're going to add a wet bar and some really spicy décor. However, being a coding house for the most part, I suspect it's still going to be a lights-out, nocturnal environment.