If you've been waiting for id Software to open source its retroactively titled id Tech 4 technology, first used in 2004's Doom 3, your seven-year test of patience is nearly over. John Carmack used yesterday's Halloween opportunity to burst out of a monster closet (on Twitter) declaring, "doom 3 source is packaged and tested, we are waiting on final lawyer clearance for release."
And while seven years seems like just enough time to ensure the absence of commercial viability for the tech, remember Prey 2 will be using a modified version, which producer Matt Bisenius called "capable." We're also going to take this opportunity to prematurely mark 2018 down in our calendars, for the Rage / id Tech 5 source code release.
Doom 3 source code 'packaged and tested,' waiting on legal OK
7
Reader Comments (7)
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 1:03PM Diemer said
So is this just the engine or the whole game? My copy has a bad scratch and I wouldn't mind duck taping a flashlight to my gun unleash carnage on the peaceful citizens of hell again.
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 1:08PM BlueRajasmyk said
@Diemer
As with so many other Id games, they release the source code, but not the rest of the resources (textures, models, sounds etc.) you need to build and run the game.
Reply
As with so many other Id games, they release the source code, but not the rest of the resources (textures, models, sounds etc.) you need to build and run the game.
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 1:48PM neojames82 said
Why do they need legal clearance for their OWN engine?
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 2:03PM Steel Toad said
@neojames82
My guess would be the lawyers have to look it over for potential licensing issues with 3rd parties.
ST
Reply
My guess would be the lawyers have to look it over for potential licensing issues with 3rd parties.
ST
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 2:40PM Madball Neek said
@neojames82 a lot of times, engineers will "borrow" code from other sources, when they probably shouldn't have. This can result in some legal issues for id. But I'm sure there are other legal issues that lawyers are needed to clear for before releasing a once commercial code base.
Reply
Posted: Nov 1st 2011 7:10PM KillAWatt1705 said
YES!! Loved it when they released the previous Doom source code! Examining id Tech's source code is always a valuable learning experience. Granted it'll take a few months to wrap my head around....





