DOOM (1993) artist revealed how he created animations using the "undo" key

Other developers were impressed by such ingenuity.

Developers don't always have the opportunity to use a ready-made solution or tool, so human ingenuity comes into play. In a recent interview with TechJesse YouTube channel author Jesse Petrilla, id Software co-founder and DOOM artist revealed a production secret.

Adrian Carmack said he used the "undo" key to make animations:

You know, as an artist, you often end up making your own tools. Sculptors, for example, constantly do this — they create their own sculpting tools. And in this case, there was no animation tool, and I was like, "Oh, look at that." And I started using the "undo key" to create animation. The undo key in Deluxe Paint. Just switching back and forth. I think: "Okay, it works."

Adrian Carmack admitted that he initially lost some of his work, but then became more careful and "usually didn't lose anything anymore." The method was strange and his colleagues were impressed that he even thought of it.

The artist also noted that at the time, he had limitations on animation frames and had to "economize":

And John Carmack severely limited me on the number of animation frames, so I always tried to be as economical as possible. This added a challenge — to make the animation as good as possible using as few frames as possible. That's when I essentially started creating animations, although I hadn't done it before.