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Developer American McGee had to learn he was destined for goth greatness at some point, so why not during Quake 2's development? Somewhere around 30 years ago, he found out he was interested in telling stories through video games in a way his co-workers at id Software didn't care for, and it eventually led him to create my favorite, graveyard smash Alice games.
In response to a clip from his 2000 game American McGee's Alice on Twitter, the former Doom developer remembers the moment he discovered others at id Software weren't eager to use the studio's proprietary Quake engine for "proper cinematic storytelling."
The gameplay clip demonstrates what he means: it's from early in Alice, when the wayward girl gives into her anger at everyone who seeks to confine her, developing ram horns and an itchy red glow. The Rage gives her temporary invincibility, plus a firepower buff, and in the short clip, we see a player using it to demolish enemies in seconds. Then they push open a few squeaky doors and wander into a series of treacherous, floating puzzle sections characterized by black-and-white tiled floors, winding stone staircases, and the sneering Cheshire cat who delivers advice through insults.
"The proper order of things is often a mystery to me," he says at one stage. "You too?"
The game camera tracks Alice in different ways throughout all of it, to set different moods. It gets in her face when she's full of Rage, then it zooms out at odd angles when she's navigating a puzzle and disoriented.
McGee's interest in constructing a game this way – with emotional layers – he says in his Twitter post, traces back to "this one time at id Software when we were working on Quake 2 and everyone piled into [late video game artist] Paul Steed's office to check out what Valve was doing was our tech. And there was a cinematic scene with characters moving around while a crane operating and multiple cameras panning around to convey some element of the narrative. Proper cinematic storytelling using the Quake engine!"
There was this one time at id Software when we were working on Quake 2 and everyone piled into Paul Steed's office to check out what Valve was doing was our tech. And there was a cinematic scene with characters moving around while a crane operating and multiple cameras panning… https://t.co/ciOcvMXiOeApril 22, 2026
"And I let out a breathless 'WOW,'" McGee continues. "The whole room turned around and scowled at me. Ha. That was the moment I knew, 'OK, well. I want to tell stories with this tech. And these guys don't.'"
McGee was eventually fired from id Software in 1998, though, he says in another Twitter post, "I have no idea why I was let go from id. In the meeting where I was told I was being let go, I recall [studio co-founder John] Carmack or someone saying something along the lines of, 'We feel you no longer fit in here.'"
That day, McGee "first cried," he says, then "I began smiling. Then laughing. And the first chance I was given to do something on my own with that tech? Well, I pushed it as hard as I could in relation to surreal visuals and cinematic storytelling. 26 years later and I can still say 'Wow.'"
Alice and its 2011 sequel Madness Returns, which McGee says "felt like magic" to make, stun me with their narrative and stylistic ambition. Plenty of developers have tried to imitate them in the decades since they were made, but the games are surely made with a secret recipe combination of fairytale horror and dizzy platforming that I don't think anyone other than McGee understands. That's why I nervously confirmed with him earlier this spring that he was working on a spiritual successor to the games – and why I'm overjoyed that he is.
