[scott_s]

I think you misunderstand Carmack's position. As of this talk, he had not yet solved this problem, but he is optimistic that it can be solved, and ece mentioned the solutions he outlines. He goes on to say such a system would be beneficial to all game developers.

[sololipsist]

He says it's a problem that can be tackled, it just hasn't been yet. Like you look at a square block, and you need to get it in a square hole, you just haven't gotten to it.

It's not the language of someone that isn't confident that there isn't a perfectly fine solution. I mean, it's likely that other people have already figured this out, just not him.