id Software poised for a comeback, says id Software

by Tony Carnevale { Apr 12th 2007 at 3:27PM }

It's been a long time since id Software defined the first-person shooter with Wolfenstein 3D, and later took it to a new level of insanity with Doom. The company got rich not only off their own revolutionary games, but also by farming out their powerful engines to other developers.

In recent years, id has fallen from prominence. Doom 3 and Quake 4 were mere shadows of their predecessors. id began to lose FPS market share as other people's engines got more play. Even id founder/visionary John Carmack seemed to be losing interest in the genre he created, and spent his time building rockets and cell phone games.

But in a new interview with Next Generation, id CEO Todd Hollenshead makes it clear that his company has a few tricks up its sleeve, the most exciting of which is Carmack's "brand new shooter that is not based on any previous IP." While Hollenshead refuses to reveal much about this mysterious new game, he does say that "[Carmack's] approach allows us to do some things visually that we haven't ever been able to do before. He is really unfettering the ability of artists to go absolutely nuts."

Do you hear that, video game artists? Are you tired of those fetters on your ability to go absolutely nuts? Get a job at id.

Tags: doom, fps, id software, IdSoftware, next generation, NextGeneration, quake, todd hollenshead, ToddHollenshead, wolfenstein

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

benjamin @ Apr 12th 2007 3:38PM

Romero's gonna make you his BITCH!

Shreveport represent!

Rob Accomando @ Apr 12th 2007 3:53PM

Doom 4? Return to Castle Wolfenstein 2?

calthaer @ Apr 12th 2007 3:58PM

Sometime in the past decade, real gamers realized that pretty graphics aren't everything.

That was when id became irrelevant, because that's the only strength they have.

sheppy @ Apr 12th 2007 4:01PM

iD became irrelevant thanks to two words, Unreal Engine.

Now, in order for iD to trump UE3, they are going to not only have to surpas UE3, but also support relief mapping without the huge hit the hackers saw on Doom3. Seriously, normal mapping is shit compared to relief mapping.

Jack of No Trades @ Apr 12th 2007 4:02PM

"pretty graphics aren't everything"

You can say the samething about AI & Gameplay. It takes a balance of all of them to create a great game. Each game genre requires a different balance.

hegemonyhog @ Apr 12th 2007 4:07PM

Let me guess. You're one man, alone against a frightening (and perhaps supernatural) horde.

And you have ten weapons.

kilodelta @ Apr 12th 2007 4:09PM

man, i gotta give praise to id...that Doom 3 engine was really good at rendering black.

WizarDru @ Apr 12th 2007 4:27PM

id failed to meet with Doom 3 and Quake 4 was virtually ignored. It used to be that we would wait for someone else to make better use of id's engine than id could....now we don't even wait for id's engine. With Unreal Engine, Crysis and Havok, among others, id's engine has a lot to prove...and it needs to do it on something less than a $6000 machine, for once.

LongshotX @ Apr 12th 2007 4:37PM

Doom 3 was garbage...you couldn't even use your gun and flashlight at the same time. I mean what the fuck is that?

sheppy @ Apr 12th 2007 4:42PM

"Doom 3 was garbage...you couldn't even use your gun and flashlight at the same time. I mean what the fuck is that?"

If you ever played it in 5:1 Surround Sound... the creepiest fucking game EVER made. People today. Some of the scariest shit ever is the stuff you never see. The subtle shifting of black in the darkness of a shadow. The slow shuffling of a dragging leg as the sound slowly creeps up your spine.

I personally loved Doom3 because it had a SHITTON of really, really, REALLY tense moments. A majority of that was because of the claustrophobic paranoia the shadows and blackness of that game created.

Rubang B @ Apr 12th 2007 5:00PM

I liked how creepy Doom 3 was, but the levels were too boring. I still think Doom and Doom 2 had the best level design out of any single player FPS games. And I can still play those games, because good level design lasts forever, while good graphics age and look like crap.

James @ Apr 12th 2007 5:01PM

Yeah Doom 3 was pretty decent. ID has always made rock solid games but never amazing playing ones. The downfall with the Doom 3 engine was it focusing on indoor environments even though they had gone out of style starting with the first Unreal game. id's biggest issue isn't so much with the technology but the gameplay. It would be beneficial for them to focus on another multiplayer game like Quake 3. They can throw lots of technology at it and not worry about the complications of single player games like story, variations in enemy AI, level progression etc. I'd like to see a basic first person deathmatch type game with some "NEW" twists.

schismzgz @ Apr 12th 2007 5:02PM

#3 that must be one of the most clueless comments I have seen.

id games were not about graphics (at least before D3). From W3D to D2 they progressed the FPS genre, and then with Quake they made the first real FPS multiplayer experience, one game that defined what DM games have to be. Then they did a good SP in Q2 and the purest DM game ever: Quake 3. After that, "they" created RtCW, redefining class based games with a game that didn't give a shit about realism, sacrificing it in favor of gameplay. That's why RtCW MP was so great and why it was way ahead of its time in terms of what a team game should aim for in terms of gameplay.

They have made mistakes, but saying they are only graphics is outrageous.

sheppy @ Apr 12th 2007 5:06PM

I really have to say it. Doom3 was the ONLY FPS game that kept me on edge enough that I was constantly making sure I had a full clip.

Otis Whitaker @ Apr 12th 2007 5:10PM

Id became irrelevant when they couldn't surpass the whole "DURRR ME BIGEM SMASHEM DURR GUN ZIP ZAM POW" + "TEH GRAPHIX AN NOT MUCH ELSES" image.

Quite frankly, they've shown that they couldn't keep up with the times.

sheppy @ Apr 12th 2007 5:14PM

"Id became irrelevant when they couldn't surpass the whole "DURRR ME BIGEM SMASHEM DURR GUN ZIP ZAM POW" + "TEH GRAPHIX AN NOT MUCH ELSES" image. "

Gears Of War sold how many so far? I think the only part that blows my mind about that game is that they actually hired a writer.

Vidikron @ Apr 12th 2007 5:44PM

@sheppy

Meh... Doom 3 was pretty lame. You say it keeps you on edge, which is true, but they accomplish that using very cheap tactics. You have monsters springing out of random and apparently useless cubby holes in walls and you can't use the flashlight and gun at the same time without a hack. Those are pretty lame, IMO. I thought Q4 was a much better game. Unfortunately, it got unfairly ignored thanks to D3.

fester @ Apr 12th 2007 5:53PM

You bunch of fricking whingers... "games shouldn't be pretty" bs

Doom3 was GREAT, not because it had amazing gameplay, not because it was innovative but because it nailed the immersion thing better than anything ('cept for Far Cry possibly) had done up to that point.

Yes games ARE about gameplay, but don't be so straight jacketed and backwards thinking, games are games and the immersion and interaction means different things to different people.

When I played Doom 3, in the dark, with surround I tasted what future immersion could be like once those last kinks are worked out, forgive them if they couldn't do all that cutting edge (then) with their engine AND deliver the best gameplay ever.

Some gamers (mostly older ones) are willing to accept there is only so much you can do with the standard video game format (2D displays, Same old controls, same old GPUs, game structure that not only makes senses but is actually possible to develop within less than 2000 man years) this was a taste of ids passion for advancing tech and striving for a future kind of immersion that todays tech can't quite do. Those of us with imaginations got a lot from the game as we allowed ourselves to be wrapped in it, along with Far Cry it's the best at doing that still to this day. I love gears of war for ex but it's a completely different beast. It doesn't exude the atmosphere or solitude of the evironments as d3 did.

really, so tired of the complaints of "imp appears, shoot imp, rinse and repeat" you bet your arse that 's how it is, did you not see reviews? did you not know you had a choice not to buy? You could have bought another zelda game or something more in-depth and emotionally involving but for those of us who just wanted some amazing immersion D3 hit the spot.

And I love tech and I'm not ashamed to say it, this doesn't preclude me from enjoying 'gamers games" on systems like the DS with limited gfx.

As someone else above said, it's the blend of all elements that makes a perfect game not just gameplay (which is almost a given these days with the same old cliches no matter what game or genre) so graphical/immersion aspects are one area where we can still advance - if the game suits it - and FPS (and racing games) suit it very well. So more power to people like Carmack (and Epic, Valve etc) for taking the risks with technology.

Arturo @ Apr 12th 2007 5:54PM

@vidikron and longshot:

i know its a matter of opinion, but to me, it wouldve been much less scary being able to put light everywhere all the time. darkness = fear. not a flame or anything towards u guys i can understand what u meant and i felt it too for a while and it didnt make much sense, but when i think about it i probably wouldnt have pooed myself as much w/ the flash light out all the time.

The Exiled @ Apr 12th 2007 6:28PM

Yep that was the point of having to use the flash light separately. Immersion and fear in dark spaces. That was the reason for the random monster closets. They wanted to immerse and scare you.

Mr Khan @ Apr 12th 2007 6:51PM

The problem is innovation

iD put their name on the map through innovation, creating the FPS with Wolfenstein, redefining it with Doom, then starting the multiplayer FPS with Quake

FPS is a genre that has basically been perfected between games like Halo, Resistance, R6 Vegas, and Metroid Prime, and its a hard genre to compete in

Try something new, it may work, it may not, but that's the way to put iD back on the map...

Rubang B @ Apr 12th 2007 7:18PM

While I was playing Doom 3 in the dark I would reload after every shotgun blast. I NEEDED a full clip. It was spooky. I liked the atmosphere and all that. But I still thought the levels were boring. The poor level design ruined the immersion for me. I couldn't help but keep thinking to myself "Hm, they hired a monkey to design the levels in this VIDEO GAME I'm playing right now." And poof, there goes my willing suspension of disbelief. I was no longer a space marine. I was some dude holding a controller as big as my nuts, with the lights out. Doom 2 and Quake were magic though, and I hope id makes a comeback.

LaughingTarget @ Apr 12th 2007 8:46PM

The content of Doom 3 doesn't exactly have a relationship with why id engines aren't being used anymore. The major problem is id engines still focus on the old-school shooter model. Cramped locations, limited gameplay options. Doom 3 lacked large, outdoor areas, creating an engine that was utterly useless for anything but corridor crawlers.

id should change their focus and make games that are strong in large, outdoor areas and are feature rich. They can easily scale it down and make a corridor crawler their designers love so much but leaves the flexibility to handle larger, more varied environments.

Arlen @ Apr 12th 2007 9:48PM

There's a great interview with Carmack in this month's Games For Windows magazine. It's definitely worth the read. Special thanks to Joystiq for hooking me up with a free subscription!

Otis Whitaker @ Apr 13th 2007 1:26AM

"Gears Of War sold how many so far? I think the only part that blows my mind about that game is that they actually hired a writer."

God, I agree... and it was damned short too.

I think the ads tricked people into believing it was more than it was... as did story-hating game reviewers. They tried to talk up the story, as if it were on the scale of Halo, or something.

Quakeulf @ Apr 13th 2007 4:05AM

JUST FUCKING MAKE SUM MOAR COMMANDER KEEN!!!

FOR THE WII!!!

Burnt Meatloaf @ Apr 13th 2007 6:03AM

*Laughing Target: "The content of Doom 3 doesn't exactly have a relationship with why id engines aren't being used anymore. The major problem is id engines still focus on the old-school shooter model. Cramped locations, limited gameplay options. Doom 3 lacked large, outdoor areas, creating an engine that was utterly useless for anything but corridor crawlers."

Precisely. From a technical standpoint, the Doom3 engine was very inefficient for real-world usage. Disable bump mapping, and EVERYTHING looks pig ugly. They thought up every feature they could find and tossed it in and overused the hell out of it. The result? Slow framerates, blocky models, it didn't look that good -- and that's while mostly rendering black.

Id still puts technology ahead of design and application. That's why people have lost interest.

Jdoki @ Apr 13th 2007 6:12AM

Doom 3 was OK, but it felt artificial. The scares were all cheap... Why is the zombie hiding in that cupboard? Why do the creatures only appear behind me? Why do I have to swap out my gun for flashlight?

By the time I was half way through it was so obvious where the scares were going to come from that it stopped being... well... scary.

Quake 4 was the most generic and dated FPS I have played in a long time. I did play it all the way through as it was mindlessly entertaining. I think it's important that we don't lose those mindless 'old skool' FPS games - not everything needs to innovate.