The article explores id Software's decision to fill a Quake shareware CD-ROM with extra content despite the game only needing about 22 MiB. It reflects on John Carmack's minimalist design philosophy from 1994, when he preferred fitting games on cartridges rather than bloating CDs with unnecessary media. The piece contextualizes the CD-ROM era's excess against id Software's practical approach to game distribution.
Background
This is a historical retrospective by Fabien Sanglard examining the evolution of game distribution media in the mid-1990s, focusing on how CD-ROM capacity influenced developer decisions around shareware releases.
- Source
- Lobsters
- Published
- Aug 18, 2026 at 06:58 AM
- Score
- 5.0 / 10