Seriously, I admire this man a lot.

What has he done that you admire so much, elaborate for me please.

John Carmack invented the PC sidescroller and the first person shooter to name two things.  Basically, he is exceptionally good at taking a problem and figuring out a way to solve it.  Granted, if he didn't do those things, someone else would have eventually, but he did do it first.  And he doesn't just sit back on his laurels and let other people do the hard work.  He's still the lead programmer for id and just enjoys programming for its own sake.

He also does rocket science as a hobby which is pretty awesome.

So I don't mean "hero" as in someone who actually saves people.  Carmack is in the profession that I want for myself someday, and he is very good at it.  As such I admire his skill.  I guess that's what I mean to say.  I don't necessarily admire him as a person, because I don't know him as a person, but I admire his achievements and his continued achievement.

I'm sorry if my wording before was misleading.

It's interesting that this little topic has led me to take a closer look at what I mean when I call someone my hero.

I guess when I was younger I had this concept that everyone was supposed to have a hero. Someone they looked up to. It always seemed to be athletes for other people, but I was never interested in sports. So even though I didn't have a hero at the time it seemed that I needed one, one that was relevant to my interests as it were.  After reading The Masters of Doom, which was about how id started, I decided John Carmack was my hero. The whole thing sounds rather silly to me now that I've thought about it.

John Carmack is also just about the nicest dude in the industry. Never makes horribly inflammatory, Itagaki-esque comments or any of that nonsense.

Except to Steve Job, but those are justified, referring to games on the Mac or iPhone, saying that Steve doesn't actually care about that one way or the other because he doesn't play games, hes just trying to jump on the bandwagon, which is completely true... but I agree, John Carmack has done great things, and is definitely at the very top of the chain as far as game making and talent go.

On a totally unrelated note, I just want to forewarn you before you become a game programmer that it's not as romantic as it sounds. It's difficult, tough, and stressful work that goes by strict, often unrealistic deadlines. A friend of mine who is in the field told me that if you want to get into game development, you should become a graphic designer/artist instead.

Oh, I definitely know that it will be hard as hell, and I'll have to work ridiculous hours.  The graphic designer path isn't so much an option for me since I'm somewhat colorblind.  On the other hand that could be a useful trait to a developer that wants to make their game accessible to colorblind people.

"On the other hand that could be a useful trait to a developer that wants to make their game accessible to colorblind people."

"Seriously, I admire this man a lot.
"

He always just seems so nice. 

This guy has restored my faith in EA. That is a feat that was deemed impossible by me years back after the debacle of Westwood Studios.

I think he is a nice guy not as arrogance as some of the devs.

I actually know Mr. Carmack, he lived next door to me a few years back, then he moved to garland i think. To be closer to id, i also knew john cash, he lived next door to me, but i think he went to work for blizzard.