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id Software's Steve Nix talks id Tech 5

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Aug 9th 2007 at 6:40PM }

Having recently unveiled a new and very promising multi-platform graphics engine in the form of id Tech 5 (and environmentally unfriendly FPS racing hybrid, Rage), id Software is once again poised to challenge Unreal's default reign over new-generation consoles. Not that the company's too concerned with Epic -- in an interview with Tom Bramwell at GamesIndustry.BIZ, id business development director Steve Nix stated, "I don't spend much time looking at Epic's current offering or what their product line is - we've always just done our own thing at id, so we don't spend too much time thinking about them."

Time not spent thinking about the competition was dedicated to id Tech 5's "virtualised texture system," which Nix explained will provided unlimited texture memory to developers and prompt a "huge paradigm shift in the way game developers can work." Of course, developers and publishers will have to shift many a pair of dimes to license the engine, though Nix promised the cost would be fair and unaffected by competing software. "I don't think we need to really be concerned with anyone else's pricing, because we believe we have the best technology solution available."

Gamers can judge the technology for themselves when id unleashes Rage..."when it's done."

QuakeCon 2007 keynote recap

by Erik Hanson { Aug 5th 2007 at 1:30PM }

Even though we couldn't liveblog the QuakeCon keynote, that didn't mean we weren't taking notes. It's Sunday, the final day of this giant BYOC (bring-your-own-computer) LAN party organized by volunteers right in id's backyard: Dallas, TX. Want to see how things went down on Friday night, when they announced Rage, their first game built using the id Tech 5 engine? Or how about the status of the next Wolfenstein game (hint: they're making one). Or how about John Carmack's thoughts on cell phone game development (if anyone can get us excited ...).

6:10pm - We're all filing in.

6:17pm - Todd Hollenshead takes the stage. Sponsor thanks; QuakeCon 2008 date is already set! (July 31 - August 3, 2008). He announces that the Enemy Territory: Quake Wars beta is open to all attendees both at the BYOC LAN, and as a downloadable beta once you get home. (The crowd goes wild). An October 2nd ship date is already set for ET: QW so mark those calendars.

6:24pm - OMG! Wolfenstein news! A new game is in development! ... and that's it. We already knew that much. No other news, just the teaser. Thanks for nothing, id!

Gallery: QuakeCon 2007 Keynote

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id says new game's genre won't be a shock

by Justin McElroy { Jul 31st 2007 at 8:30AM }

Though you might have had some fun imagining what an id-made cart racer would be like when you saw the dune buggies and zeppelins of their WWDC demo of id Tech 5, the company is trying to pull fans back to earth a bit in a new interview with Shacknews. "We're always looking to broaden the gameplay, but people aren't going to be shocked. You shouldn't expect an RTS or a fighting game or something, [laughs]" said id director of business development Steve Nix. "People are going to like what they see, but it's not going to be shocking."

God, and we were so close to pre-ordering Flaming Disembodied Head Hero. Well, at least QuakeCon starts this week. Hopefully we'll have some answers soon. (Psst -- We'd put our money on first person shooter. Don't tell anyone.)

[Via CVG]

Watch the id Tech 5 WWDC demo, drown in its shininess

by Christopher Grant { Jun 13th 2007 at 10:58AM }

While EA is busy wrapping their software in Cider, promising a quick and easy way to achieve Mac OS X compatibility, id Software is creating a new multiplatform game engine that will run natively on Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and, whaddya know, Mac OS X. id Tech 5, first unveiled at yesterday's WWDC conference, is id's fifth generation 3D engine -- see the revisionist name changes here -- and it's notably not being built with Microsoft's DirectX 10.

Before everyone starts complaining about the palpable layer of polyurethane coating every surface in the demo, consider Carmack's claim that if he had four more days, the demo would be twice as smooth. That's just it, Mr. Carmack, it's already too smooth. But we know it's early so we'll just study this video until we get to see more (like your special Mac-related announcement) at E3.

If you'd rather avoid the embedded YouTube shakycam footage, you can watch Apple's much nicer streaming version of the 2007 WWDC keynote (jump ahead to 11:30).

John Carmack of id Software unveils new ultra high detail game engine

by Jem Alexander { Jun 12th 2007 at 9:00AM }

Yesterday, during the keynote address at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, John Carmack revealed some footage of a new game engine. The video above is the best quality you're going to get for a little while. At least until id release some footage themselves. Despite this, however, it still looks stunning.

Dubbed "id Tech 5," the new engine promises to almost completely remove any limitations on texture size, allowing "for the unique customization of the entire game world at the pixel level." Examples include changing material colours on the fly and etching fine detail, such as initials, into existing geometry. As the video says, the footage above uses over 20 gigabytes of texture files. Presumably, with their developments into new compression methods, we'll be seeing all this fit onto a 9 gigabyte DVD. It'll have to if they plan on releasing games that run on this engine onto the PC and Xbox 360. Games on the PS3, on the other hand, will be able to take advantage of the 50 gigabytes of storage on Blu-Ray discs, allowing for lower compression and, we assume, faster loading as a result.

This is all just speculation for now, however. Other than the above video and the blurb that has been posted on the id Software official website, there's no specific information. We'll have to wait until E3 for that.

[Via CVG and Engadget]

id Software debuts new engine at Apple conference

by Christopher Grant { Jun 11th 2007 at 1:37PM }

Just minutes ago, during Engadget's liveblogging of Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote, id Software had the first public debut of their newest technology. While they're not showing off what the new IP is just yet, they were showing off the technology that will power it and, in what we think is a first for id, the engine won't be named after the game it was built for. Instead, the technology is called "id Tech 5," perhaps a reference to a fifth generation graphics engine (we're losing count; Wolfenstein, DOOM, Quake, Quake II, Quake III, and DOOM 3)?

Carmack introduced the technology, saying, "So the last couple of years at id we've been working in secrecy on next-gen tech and a game for it ... this is the first time we're showing anything we've done on it publicly." He describes the demo happening on screen: "What we've got here is the entire world with unique textures, 20GB of textures covering this track. They can go in and look at the world and, say, change the color of the mountaintop, or carve their name into the rock. They can change as much as they want on surfaces with no impact on the game."

Carmack finished off the tease saying, "We're going to be showing on a Mac, PC, PS3, and Xbox at E3, we'll have another Mac announcement at E3." Wow, talk about multiplatform. Check out some pics of the id Tech 5 demo from Engadget after the break.

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