Dave D. Taylor
Encyclopedia
Dave D. Taylor is an American game programmer
, best known as a former id Software
employee and noted for his work promoting Linux
gaming
.
In 1993 he graduated from University of Texas at Austin
with a Bachelor of Science
degree in electrical engineering
.
He worked for id Software between 1993 and 1996, and was during the time involved with the development of Doom and Quake. He created ports of both games to IRIX
, AIX
, Solaris and Linux
, and helped program the Atari Jaguar
ports of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D
. He also considers himself to have been the "spackle coder" on Doom, for adding things such as the status bar, sound library integration, the automap, level transitions, cheat codes, and the network chat system. On Quake, he wrote the original sound engine, the DOS
TCP/IP network library, and added VESA
2.0 support. One of the musical themes in Doom II
, "Dave D. Taylor Blues", was named after him by Robert Prince
.
His work for id caused him to be mentioned several times in the book Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture. Specifically mentioned was his habit of passing out after prolonged playing of Doom, and how the other employees would, after such incidents, sketch a body outline of his unconscious form with masking tape. After the success of the game, they eventually bought him a couch to pass out on. His attempts to "talk up" Quake on-line, his purchase of an Acura NSX with Doom money, his friendship with American McGee
, and his eventual departure from the company are also mentioned.
He founded and worked as president of the small game company Crack dot Com
from 1996 to 1998. Between 1998 and 2001 he worked for Transmeta
. He was president of Carbon6 from 2001 to 2002, there also working as lead designer and producer for the Game Boy Advance
game Spy Kids Challenger. Since 2002 he has been vice president of Naked Sky Entertainment
and since 2003 also an advisor and freelance game designer. He is also willing to act as a Linux game porter for pay projects.
In 2009, he produced Abuse Classic for the Apple iPhone and Beakiez for the PC.
Game programmer
A game programmer is a software engineer, programmer, or computer scientist who primarily develops codebase for video games or related software, such as game development tools. Game programming has many specialized disciplines all of which fall under the umbrella term of "game programmer"...
, best known as a former id Software
Id Software
Id Software is an American video game development company with its headquarters in Richardson, Texas. The company was founded in 1991 by four members of the computer company Softdisk: programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer Tom Hall, and artist Adrian Carmack...
employee and noted for his work promoting Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
gaming
Linux gaming
Linux gaming refers to playing or developing video games for the Linux operating systems.- Background :Linux gaming refers to all game titles that can run on Linux based operating systems. This can refer to free / open source games, which may also be commercial, that run natively on Linux, or...
.
In 1993 he graduated from University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
with a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
.
He worked for id Software between 1993 and 1996, and was during the time involved with the development of Doom and Quake. He created ports of both games to IRIX
IRIX
IRIX is a computer operating system developed by Silicon Graphics, Inc. to run natively on their 32- and 64-bit MIPS architecture workstations and servers. It was based on UNIX System V with BSD extensions. IRIX was the first operating system to include the XFS file system.The last major version...
, AIX
AIX operating system
AIX AIX AIX (Advanced Interactive eXecutive, pronounced "a i ex" is a series of proprietary Unix operating systems developed and sold by IBM for several of its computer platforms...
, Solaris and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, and helped program the Atari Jaguar
Atari Jaguar
The Atari Jaguar is a video game console that was released by Atari Corporation in 1993. It was the last to be marketed under the Atari brand until the release of the Atari Flashback in 2004. It was designed to surpass the Mega Drive/Genesis, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and the Panasonic...
ports of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein 3D is a video game that is generally regarded by critics and gaming journalists as having both popularized the first-person shooter genre on the PC and created the basic archetype upon which all subsequent games of the same genre would be built. It was created by id Software and...
. He also considers himself to have been the "spackle coder" on Doom, for adding things such as the status bar, sound library integration, the automap, level transitions, cheat codes, and the network chat system. On Quake, he wrote the original sound engine, the DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
TCP/IP network library, and added VESA
VESA
VESA is an international standards body for computer graphics founded in 1989 by NEC Home Electronics and eight other video display adapter manufacturers.VESA's initial goal was to produce a standard for 800×600 SVGA resolution video displays...
2.0 support. One of the musical themes in Doom II
Doom II
Doom II: Hell on Earth is an award winning first-person shooter video game and second title of id Software's Doom franchise. Unlike Doom which was initially only available through shareware and mail order, Doom II was a commercial release sold in stores...
, "Dave D. Taylor Blues", was named after him by Robert Prince
Robert Prince
Robert Prince, also known as Bobby Prince, is a composer and sound designer. He has worked as an independent contractor for several gaming companies, most notably id Software and Apogee/3D Realms....
.
His work for id caused him to be mentioned several times in the book Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture. Specifically mentioned was his habit of passing out after prolonged playing of Doom, and how the other employees would, after such incidents, sketch a body outline of his unconscious form with masking tape. After the success of the game, they eventually bought him a couch to pass out on. His attempts to "talk up" Quake on-line, his purchase of an Acura NSX with Doom money, his friendship with American McGee
American McGee
-Career:McGee began his career at id Software, working on level design, music production, sound effects development, and programming in such games as Doom, Doom II, Quake, and Quake II. In 1998, he moved to Electronic Arts, where he worked as creative director on several projects, including...
, and his eventual departure from the company are also mentioned.
He founded and worked as president of the small game company Crack dot Com
Crack dot Com
Crack dot Com was a computer game development company. The company was co-founded by ex-id Software programmer Dave Taylor, and Jonathan Clark....
from 1996 to 1998. Between 1998 and 2001 he worked for Transmeta
Transmeta
Transmeta Corporation was a US-based corporation that licensed low power semiconductor intellectual property. Transmeta originally produced very long instruction word code morphing microprocessors, with a focus on reducing power consumption in electronic devices. It was founded in 1995 by Bob...
. He was president of Carbon6 from 2001 to 2002, there also working as lead designer and producer for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
game Spy Kids Challenger. Since 2002 he has been vice president of Naked Sky Entertainment
Naked Sky Entertainment
Naked Sky Entertainment is an independent game development studio based in Los Angeles. They are a licensed developer for Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Apple iPhone...
and since 2003 also an advisor and freelance game designer. He is also willing to act as a Linux game porter for pay projects.
In 2009, he produced Abuse Classic for the Apple iPhone and Beakiez for the PC.
External links
- Interview dated 1999
- Dave D. Taylor interview about Crack.Com from LinuxGamesLinuxGamesLinuxGames is a website that provides news about Linux gaming. It mostly announces information on new game products and release dates, although it also covers some important events such as QuakeCon and occasionally interviews important figures in Linux gaming such as Ryan C...
- Dave Taylor's Official Website
- Interview between Dave Taylor and Dave Taylor
- Abuse Classic
- Beakiez