A tech demo you say. Obvious. Doom, Doom2, Quake and Unreals and nothing more than FPS clones of the same concepts to sell engine features to third parties.
I'm not claiming that's their goal, but yes, Carmack often seems more interested in his craft than the end product. Which I very much enjoy, and the computing world benefits from. I wish more game companies were like that.
As to views on the end product as a whole: opinions differ, ridicule seems unwarranted.
As to views on the end product as a whole: opinions differ, ridicule seems unwarranted.