Earlier this week, classic PC game developers confirmed that Bobby Prince, the composer and sound designer for some of the most foundational games, had sadly passed away. Prince worked alongside Apogee/3D Realms and id Software in their formative years, composing for Doom, Wolfenstein, Duke Nukem and Commander Keen alike. He was 81 years old.
Originally a lawyer by profession, Prince took a liking to the usenet forums on Prodigy, particularly the boards for MIDI and digital composing. It was there that he spotted posts from one Scott Miller, Apogee founder, who was looking to hire someone to compose a jingle for the company. Having played an early shareware version of Commander Keen, Prince reached out. After being flown out to Dallas to meet more of the team, their chemistry turned out to run much deeper. Prince would end up having more to contribute than an opening title card.
Prince’s early work ranged from the legendary Duke Nukem II and Wolfenstein 3D, to cult classics like Bio Menace and Word Rescue. It goes without saying that his most famous contribution was on the original Doom. A collection of hammering Pantera -inspired riffs that has shredded through gaming history. It was even selected for preservation by the Library of Congress last May. That is to say nothing of the overall sound design of the first Dooms, compressing moans and animal snarls into something deservedly otherworldly. A feat Prince would reenact with Duke Nukem 3D‘s urban hellscape in 1996.
“We lost a legend,” posted Miller. “Music in PC games was emerging tech with a dozen companies offering competing sound cards. Bobby lived on the cutting edge of game music for several years. A pioneer. An innovator. And most of all, a terrifically nice person to everyone who met him.”
Anyone who played in the shareware era was subject to Bobby Prince’s shredded symphony. He was generous with his knowledge, writing guest pieces for gaming magazines and presented at Game Developers Conference in its most nascent years. His ability to navigate and master the earliest computer composition technology made him a legend, and his music will shake the floors of heaven, hell, Los Angeles and Mars alike.