id Tech
id Tech is a series of separate game engines designed and developed by id Software. Prior to the presentation of the id Tech 5-based game Rage in 2011, the engines lacked official designation and as such were simply referred to as the Doom and Quake engines, from the name of the main game series the engines had been developed for. "id Tech" has been released as free software under the GNU General Public License. id Tech versions 0 to 3 were released under GPL-2.0-or-later. id Tech versions 3.5 to 4.5 were released under GPL-3.0-or-later. id Tech 5 to 7 are proprietary, with id Tech 7 currently being the latest utilized engine.
According to Eurogamer.net, "id Software has been synonymous with PC game engines since the concept of a detached game engine was first popularised." However id Tech 4 had far fewer licensees than the Unreal Engine from Epic Games, and id planned to regain the momentum with id Tech 5,[1] until they were bought by ZeniMax Media which intended to keep the id Tech engines exclusively for id's sister studios.
Predecessors
id Software had developed 3D engines for several games before Wolfenstein 3D. Each engine had progressively more advanced 3D technology.
- Flat Rock Softwarein June 2014 under GPL-2.0-or-later.
- Catacomb 3-D (1991) added texture mapping to the walls. The source code was released by Flat Rock Software in June 2014 under GPL-2.0-or-later.
Wolfenstein 3D engine
ShadowCaster (1993) was built upon the Wolfenstein 3D engine and was licensed out to Raven Software. It features diminished lighting, texture mapped floors and ceilings, walls with variable heights, and sloped floors.[4] This Raven engine was later also used by CyClones and In Pursuit of Greed.
Rise of the Triad uses an enhanced engine of Wolfenstein 3D and was meant to serve as the sequel to it. The source code was released on 20 December 2002 under GPL-2.0-or-later.
Other games using this engine are: Blake Stone: Aliens of Gold, Blake Stone: Planet Strike, Corridor 7: Alien Invasion, Operation Body Count, and Rise of the Triad.
id Tech 1
Originally known as the "Doom engine", this engine powers the id Software games
Heretic and Hexen: Beyond Heretic were developed by
id Tech 2
Originally known as the "Quake engine", it was originally written to power 1996's
The Quake engine was updated with a new executable titled
id Tech 2 was later updated for the release of Quake II in 1997, with enhancements such as colored lighting and a new MD2 model format.[6] id Tech 2.5 is the last to include a software renderer. The source code was released on 22 December 2001 under GPL-2.0-or-later.
id Tech 3
Originally known as the "Quake III Arena engine", it was used to power id Software's Quake III Arena in 1999. The Quake III Arena engine was updated to patch 1.26 and later versions are called "Quake III Team Arena engine" with a new MD4 skeletal model format and huge outdoor areas. id Tech 3 is the first in this series to require an OpenGL-compliant graphics accelerator to run. The source code was released on 19 August 2005 under GPL-2.0-or-later.
id Tech 3 was updated with the 2001 release of
id Tech 4
Commonly known as the "
Other games using this engine are: Raven Software's Quake 4 (2005) and Wolfenstein (2009), Human Head Studios' Prey (2006), Splash Damage's Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (2007) and Brink (2011).
id Tech 4 was updated with the 2012 release of Doom 3: BFG Edition with some features from id Tech 5. The source code was released on 26 November 2012 under GPL-3.0-or-later.
id Tech 5
Used for id Software's
The engine has since been used to power MachineGames' first two Wolfenstein titles; The New Order in 2014 with its standalone expansion The Old Blood, which released in 2015. It was also used for Tango Gameworks' The Evil Within (2014).
id Tech 6
Used for
id Tech 7
At
See also
References
- ^ Bramwell, Tom (2007-09-08). "id Tech 5 - Steve Nix on the growth of id's next engine". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2017-05-15.
- ^ Carmack, John (March 20, 2009). "readme_iWolf.txt" (TXT). GitHub. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
- ^ Carmack, John (September 1, 2011). "Re: License of Wolf3d source code". metadata.ftp-master.debian.org. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
- ^ "Shadowcaster at Ravensoft.com". Raven Software. Archived from the original on 2009-06-14. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
- ^ "Doom source code, under the GNU GPL - Doomworld /Idgames database frontend".
- ^ "id Tech 2 page". id Software. Archived from the original on 2008-09-17.
- ^ "Q&A with John Carmack, E3 2002". GameSpy. Archived from the original on 2012-01-24.
- ^ Bramwell, Tom (2010-12-08). "id Tech 5 only for Bethesda titles". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2017-08-15.
- ^ "Doom Eternal ushers in idTech 7, bloody new powers". Ars Technica. Retrieved 2018-08-10.
- ^ Birch, Nathan (2018-08-10). "Doom Eternal Unleashes Bloody Debut Gameplay at QuakeCon". Wccftech. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
- ^ "Billy Khan on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2018-08-12.