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id Tech

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, seeId tech (disambiguation).
Quakefamily tree, showing engines and a selection of games based on theQuakeengine

id Techis a series of separategame enginesdesigned and developed byid Software.Prior to the presentation of theid Tech 5-based gameRagein 2011, the engines lacked official designation and as such were simply referred to as theDoomandQuakeengines, from the name of the main game series the engines had been developed for. "id Tech" has been released asfree softwareunder theGNU 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 toEurogamer.net,"id Software has been synonymous with PC game engines since the concept of a detached game engine was first popularised." Howeverid Tech 4had far fewer licensees than theUnreal EnginefromEpic Games,and id planned to regain the momentum withid Tech 5,[1]until they were bought byZeniMax Mediawhich intended to keep the id Tech engines exclusively for id's sister studios.

Predecessors

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id Software had developed 3D engines for several games beforeWolfenstein 3D.Each engine had progressively more advanced 3D technology.

  • Hovertank 3D(1991) used solid-color drawn polygonal walls and scalable sprites. The source code was released byFlat Rock Softwarein June 2014 under GPL-2.0-or-later.
  • Catacomb 3-D(1991) addedtexture mappingto the walls. The source code was released by Flat Rock Software in June 2014 under GPL-2.0-or-later.

Wolfenstein 3D engine

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Main article:Wolfenstein 3D engine
Main article:Rise of the Triad

Wolfenstein 3D(1992) increased the color palette from 16-colorEGAto 256-colorVGAand also adoptedraycasting.Thegame enginewas also licensed out to other companies. The source code to Wolfenstein 3D, along with its prequelSpear of Destiny,was released on 21 July 1995 under a proprietary license, and then later under GPL-2.0-or-later.[2][3]

ShadowCaster(1993) was built upon the Wolfenstein 3D engine and was licensed out toRaven Software.[4]It features diminished lighting, texture mapped floors and ceilings, walls with variable heights, and sloped floors.[5]This Raven engine was later also used byCyClonesandIn Pursuit of Greed.

Rise of the Triaduses an enhanced engine ofWolfenstein 3Dand 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, with several modifications,Rise of the Triad.

Development

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Release timeline
1993Doom engine
1994–1995
1996Quake engine
1997Quake II engine
1998
1999id Tech 3
2000–2003
2004id Tech 4
2005–2010
2011id Tech 5
2012–2015
2016id Tech 6
2017–2019
2020id Tech 7

id Tech 1

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Main articles:Doom engineandDoom (1993 video game)

Originally known as the "Doomengine ", this engine powers the id Software gamesDoom(1993),Doom II: Hell on Earth(1994) andDoom 64(1997). It was created byJohn Carmack,with auxiliary functions written byJohn Romero,Dave Taylor,and Paul Radek. Initially developed onNeXTcomputers, it wasportedtoMS-DOSforDoom's release and was later ported to severalgame consolesandoperating systems.The source code was released on 23 December 1997 under a proprietary license, and then later on 3 October 1999 under GPL-2.0-or-later.[6]

HereticandHexen: Beyond Hereticwere developed byRaven Softwareand published by id Software. Their sources were released on 4 September 2008 under GPL-2.0-only. Other games using this engine includeStrife: Quest for the SigilandChex Quest.

id Tech 2

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Main articles:Quake engineandQuake (video game)
Main articles:Quake II engineandQuake II

Originally known as the "Quakeengine",it was originally written to power 1996'sQuake.It featuredtrue 3Dreal-time renderingand is the first id Tech engine to use theclient–server model.The source code was released on 21 December 1999 under GPL-2.0-or-later.

TheQuakeengine was updated with a new executable titledQuakeWorldthat contained code to enhance the networking capabilities ofQuakein response to the demand for across-internet network games that arose as a result ofQuake's usage ofUDPfor networking.

id Tech 2 was later updated for the release ofQuake IIin 1997, with enhancements such as colored lighting and a new MD2 model format.[7]id Tech 2.5 is the last to include asoftware renderer.The source code was released on 22 December 2001 under GPL-2.0-or-later.

id Tech 3

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Main articles:id Tech 3andQuake III Arena
Main article:Return to Castle Wolfenstein

Originally known as the "Quake III Arenaengine",it was used to power id Software'sQuake III Arenain 1999. TheQuake III Arenaengine 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 anOpenGL-compliantgraphics acceleratorto 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 ofReturn To Castle Wolfensteinwhich included a single-player scripting system, and was eventually used to power the firstCall of Dutytitle in 2003, ultimately spawning theIW engine.It was also used forWolfenstein: Enemy Territory.The source code was released on 12 August 2010 under GPL-3.0-or-later.

id Tech 4

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Main articles:id Tech 4andDoom 3
Main article:Doom 3: BFG Edition

Commonly known as the "Doom 3engine"which was used to powerDoom 3as it released in 2004, id Tech 4 began as an enhancement toid Tech 3.During development, it was initially just a complete rewrite of the engine'srenderer,while still retaining other subsystems, such as file access, and memory management. The decision to switch fromCto theC++programming languagenecessitated a restructuring and rewrite of the rest of the engine; today, while id Tech 4 contains code from id Tech 3, much of it has been rewritten.[8]The source code was released on 22 November 2011 under GPL-3.0-or-later.

Other games using this engine are:Raven Software'sQuake 4(2005) andWolfenstein(2009),Human Head Studios'Prey(2006),Splash Damage'sEnemy Territory: Quake Wars(2007) andBrink(2011).

id Tech 4 was updated with the 2012 release ofDoom 3: BFG Editionwith some features from id Tech 5. The source code was released on 26 November 2012 under GPL-3.0-or-later.

id Tech 5

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Main article:id Tech 5

Used for id Software'sRage,the engine is based on the file system frameworks. Some technologies included are the GUI system fromid Tech 4,including a new renderer,MegaTexture2.0 technology, soft shadows and more. id is requiring companies that use the engine to publish their games through id's sister company,Bethesda Softworks.[9]

The engine has since been used to powerMachineGames' first twoWolfensteintitles;The New Orderin 2014 with its standalone expansionThe Old Blood,which released in 2015. It was also used forTango Gameworks'The Evil Within(2014).

id Tech 5 was the first id Software engine not to be released under theGNU GPL license.As of 2024, the engine remainsclosed-source.[10]

id Tech 6

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Main article:id Tech 6

Used forDoomreleased on May 13, 2016. While the engine uses some of the features from id Tech 5, id has also added support forVulkanrendering. Development of the renderer is led by Tiago Sousa, who had previously worked onCryEngine,following previoustechnical directorJohn Carmack's resignation in 2013. id Tech 6 was also used inWolfenstein II: The New Colossus(2017), andWolfenstein: Youngblood(2019) again byMachineGames.It was not used forQuake Championshowever, which combined id Tech features with theSaber3D Engine.

id Tech 7

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Main article:id Tech 7

AtQuakeCon2018, id Software announced the release of a new game in the Doom franchise calledDoom Eternal.[11]Powered by the id Tech 7 engine,Doom Eternalwas released on March 20, 2020. The new engine is capable of delivering an increase in geometric detail without drops in frame-rate vs. id Tech 6.[12]On PC, id Tech 7 supportsVulkanrendering only.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Bramwell, Tom (2007-09-08)."id Tech 5 - Steve Nix on the growth of id's next engine".Eurogamer.Retrieved2017-05-15.
  2. ^Carmack, John (March 20, 2009)."readme_iWolf.txt"(TXT).GitHub.RetrievedFebruary 26,2024.
  3. ^Carmack, John (September 1, 2011)."Re: License of Wolf3d source code".metadata.ftp-master.debian.org.Archived fromthe originalon January 20, 2016.RetrievedFebruary 26,2024.
  4. ^Antoniades, Alexander (22 August 2013)."Monsters from the Id: The Making of Doom".Game Developer.Informa.Retrieved13 July2024.
  5. ^"Shadowcaster at Ravensoft".Raven Software.Archived fromthe originalon 2009-06-14.Retrieved2009-07-02.
  6. ^"Doom source code, under the GNU GPL - Doomworld /Idgames database frontend".
  7. ^"id Tech 2 page".id Software.Archived fromthe originalon 2008-09-17.
  8. ^"Q&A with John Carmack, E3 2002".GameSpy.Archived fromthe originalon 2012-01-24.
  9. ^Bramwell, Tom (2010-12-08)."id Tech 5 only for Bethesda titles".Eurogamer.Retrieved2017-08-15.
  10. ^Graft, Kris."id Tech 5 Rage Engine No Longer Up For External Licensing".Gamasutra.RetrievedAugust 12,2018.
  11. ^Machkovech, Sam (2018-10-08)."Doom Eternal ushers in idTech 7, bloody new powers".Ars Technica.Retrieved2018-08-10.
  12. ^Birch, Nathan (2018-08-10)."Doom Eternal Unleashes Bloody Debut Gameplay at QuakeCon".Wccftech.Retrieved2018-08-12.
  13. ^Khan, Billy [@billykhan] (2018-08-11)."Yes, it's #Vulkan only on PC. #Vulkan is the best API if you want to achieve the absolute highest frame rates on PC"(Tweet) – viaTwitter.
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