Exactly... I read "masters of doom" and Carmack didn't strike me as the product guy who cares about people needs. He was more like a coding machine.

Yet, they were able to find a market for their products. He knew both how to code and what to code.

Ultima Underword was technologically superior to Wolfenstein 3D.

System Shock was technologically superior to Doom and a much better game for my taste. I also think it has aged better.

Doom, Wolf 3D and Quake were less sophisticated, but kicked ass. They captured the spirit of the times and people loved it.

They're still pretty good games too, 30 years later.

In "Rocket Jump: Quake and the Golden Age of First-Person Shooters" id guys figure out that their product is the cutting-edge graphics, and being first, and are able to pull that off for a while. Their games were not great, but the product was idTech engines. With Rage however (id Tech 5) the streak ran cold.