In 1990, id Software co-founders Tom Hall and John Carmack, who at that time worked for the company Softdiskhave developed a technology that allows smooth screen scrolling in all directions on EGA adapters.
Back then, the developers didn’t have the original graphics yet, so they copied the first level of Super Mario Bros. 3, but instead of Mario they used the main character of the game Dangerous dave John Romero, which was published by Softdisk.
Later the project was turned into a full-fledged demo, which was shown Nintendo and proposed to develop a full-fledged PC port of Super Mario Bros. 3. However, the company refused.
That same year, Romero was contacted by the founder Apogee Software (3D Realms) Scott Miller, who offered to collaborate with the developers. The first game for the new publisher was Commander Keen in Invasion of the Vorticons, which used technology from the same demo.
Hall, Carmack, Romero, and artist Adrian Carmack soon left Softdisk to found id Software on February 1, 1991, and in 2015 John Romero posted a gameplay recording of a demo version of the PC port of Super Mario Bros. 3.
Strong museum curator Andrew Borman said the donation was made by a developer who received a demo while working. The demo also contains levels 1-4, according to Bormann. The curator noted that they do not plan to show the demo to museum visitors. Instead, it will be available upon request to researchers and other interested parties.
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