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|-----------------| Regarding id and Apogee |-----------------------------|  
|I was just wondering what you guys at apogee think about id. Do you      |  
|guys have any respect for them? Do you take them seriously, or do you    |  
|guys look at them as a speck on the monitor that needs to be destroyed?  |  
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|  
                                                                             
Here, read this.  I wrote it some time ago, and probably needs to be         
updated with new game information, but the info about us and id is still     
current.                                                                     
                                                                             
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 of 35 games over our history up until the writing of this text,        
and of those, only a handful have not actually been written by Apogee.       
Id Software did three of these handful of games.  The three being Keen       
Vorticons, Keen Galaxy, 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 same 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          
absolutely 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                                                

