The 28-Hour Coding Marathon That Changed Gaming and Aerospace

In 1991, a single coding marathon transformed not just the gaming world, but also the field of aerospace engineering. This is the incredible story of DOOM and the relentless pursuit of innovation. The journey begins in February 1991, when a group of programmers at Softdisk, hungry for something more than their monthly game creation cycle, had a breakthrough idea. The Spark of Innovation It was John Carmack who ignited the spark. While at Softdisk, he developed a revolutionary way to rapidly side-scroll graphics on PC. This was groundbreaking, a feat no one had achieved before. The team, inspired, created a demo of Super Mario Bros. 3 with *Dangerous Dave* characters. Though Nintendo passed on the demo, this moment marked the birth of something extraordinary: the realization that they had stumbled upon a game-changer. This led to the formation of ID Software in February 1991, a move that would forever change the landscape of gaming. From Side-Scrolling to 3D Worlds Their first game, Commander…