|-----------------| Regarding WOLFENSTEIN
|Was Wolfenstein 3D a product of Apogee AND ID?
|Have you ever been working with ID?
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
I haven't updated this in awhile, but it's still fairly accurate...
This is for people who are still confused as to the relationship between
Apogee and Id Software. (Updated Feb 13, 1995)
Apogee and Id Software are two completely different companies.  Always have
been, always will be. Apogee doesn't own Id, nor does Id own Apogee or 
anything
like that.  Here is an explanation as to the two of the companies.
Apogee Software writes and distributes software.  We have published a total 
f
35 games over our history up until the writing of this text, and of those,
only only a handful have not actually been written by Apogee.  Id Software 
id
three of these handful of games.  The three being Keen Vorticons, Keen 
alaxy,
and Wolfenstein 3D.
Id Software writes software, and up until Doom, had never published anything
themselves.  Id has published through a few companies, and Apogee was one of
them.  As mentioned before, Keen Vorticons, Keen Galaxy, and Wolfenstein 3D
were distributed by Apogee.  (At later dates, id went on and also published
Keen Galaxy and Wolf3D in the stores through GT Software, but that's another
story).  Some earlier Id efforts such as Catacombs Abyss are distributed
through Softdisk.  (Technically, games like Catacombs Abyss, Dangerous Dave,
and Rescue Rover are Softdisk games, and not "id Software" games.  Id's first
official game as "id Software" was Keen: Vorticons for Apogee.  While the 
ame
people worked at Softdisk on the previously mentioned games, they're not
officially id Software games.)  Id has published three commercial only games.
Two of these were published by FormGen.  They are Aliens Ate My Babysitter
(Keen6), and Spear of Destiny.  These two are quite frequently assumed to be
Apogee games, but they are not.  Check them, the name Apogee does not appear
in there.  More confusion gets added when I say that Apogee RESELLS Keen6 and
Spear, but they aren't our games.  We only sell them.  We have to buy them
from FormGen like any other computer store like CompUSA would.  The third id
retail game is Doom II.  This is being published in the retail markets by GT
Software.
Starting with Doom, Id has been publishing on their own. Apogee has 
bsolutely
nothing to do with Doom, nor any future titles by id Software.  Furthermore,
starting with the release of Heretic, id Software will also be publishing 
games
on their own label.  They licensed their Doom engine to two companies, Cygnus
Studios, and Raven Software.  The two games produced under this agreement
(Strife & Heretic respectively), are going to be published under the "id"
label exactly the same way that id Software themselves published Wolfenstein 
3D
under the "Apogee" label.
There has also been no "big divorce", or "big feud" or something along those
lines.  The Id guys and the Apogee guys are all really good friends, and in
fact, every once in awhile, we get together, shoot pool up at the Id offices.
We've also gone out and played paintball with id Software and Cygnus.  There 
is
no big fallout, or anything of the sort.  Anyone who tries to imply this is
trying to drive a wedge where it doesn't belong or exist.
I hope this has cleared up the id Software confusion a bit.  If you have any
further questions, please feel free to ask.
Joe Siegler - Apogee Software
... Cats have not forgotten they were once worshipped.
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