Editing Id Software (section)

=== Technology ===
[[File:John Carmack GDC 2010.jpg|right|thumb|Co-founder John Carmack at the 2010 [[Game Developers Conference|GDC]]]]
Starting with their first shareware game series, ''Commander Keen'', id Software has licensed the core source code for the game, or what is more commonly known as the engine. Brainstormed by [[John Romero]], id Software held a weekend session titled "The id Summer Seminar" in the summer of 1991 with prospective buyers including [[Scott Miller (programmer)|Scott Miller]], [[George Broussard]], Ken Rogoway, Jim Norwood and [[Todd Replogle]]. One of the nights, id Software put together an impromptu game known as "Wac-Man" to demonstrate not only the technical prowess of the ''Keen'' engine, but also how it worked internally.

id Software has developed their own game engine for each of their titles when moving to the next technological milestone, including ''Commander Keen'', ''Wolfenstein 3D'', ''[[ShadowCaster]]'',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kushner |first=David |author-link=David Kushner (writer)|title=[[Masters of Doom]] |publisher=Random House Publishing Group |year=2004 |isbn=0-8129-7215-5 |edition=paperback |pages=119–122}}</ref> ''Doom'', ''Quake'', ''Quake II'', and ''Quake III'', as well as the technology used in making ''Doom 3''. After being used first for id Software's in-house game, the engines are licensed out to other developers. According to ''Eurogamer.net'', "id Software has been synonymous with PC game engines since the concept of a detached game engine was first popularized". During the mid to late 1990s, "the launch of each successive round of technology it's been expected to occupy a headlining position", with the ''Quake III'' engine being most widely adopted of their engines. However [[id Tech 4]] had far fewer licensees than the [[Unreal Engine]] from [[Epic Games]], due to the long development time that went into ''Doom 3'' which id Software had to release before licensing out that engine to others.

Despite his enthusiasm for open source code, Carmack revealed in 2011 that he had no interest in licensing the technology to the mass market. Beginning with ''Wolfenstein 3D'', he felt bothered when third-party companies started "pestering" him to license the id tech engine, adding that he wanted to focus on new technology instead of providing support to existing ones. He felt very strongly that this was not why he signed up to be a game programmer for; to be "holding the hands" of other game developers. Carmack commended Epic Games for pursuing the licensing to the market beginning with Unreal Engine 3. Even though the said company has gained more success with its game engine than id Software over the years, Carmack had no regrets by his decision and continued to focus on open source until his departure from the company in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gamespot |title=id Software 20th Anniversary Feature |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoLaA-CVmTE |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/IoLaA-CVmTE |archive-date=2021-12-11 |access-date=21 January 2019 |website=YouTube|date=August 15, 2011 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In conjunction with his self-professed affinity for sharing [[source code]], John Carmack has open-sourced most of the major id Software engines under the [[GNU General Public License]]. Historically, the [[source code]] for each engine has been released once the code base is 5 years old. Consequently, many home grown projects have sprung up porting the code to different platforms, cleaning up the source code, or providing major modifications to the core engine. ''Wolfenstein 3D'', ''Doom'' and ''Quake'' engine ports are ubiquitous to nearly all platforms capable of running games, such as hand-held PCs, iPods, the PSP, the Nintendo DS and more. Impressive core modifications include [[GZDoom]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2020/11/fps-game-engine-gzdoom-450-is-out-as-the-first-64bit-only-release/|title=FPS game engine GZDoom 4.5.0 is out as the first 64bit only release|first=Liam|last=Dawe|date=2020-11-04|access-date=2024-07-14|website=GamingOnLinux}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://techraptor.net/gaming/previews/supplice-works-some-gzdoom-magic|title=Supplice Preview - Works Some GZDoom Magic|website=TechRaptor|date=2023-04-06|access-date=2024-07-14|first=Austin|last=Suther}}</ref> which adds to the [[Doom engine]] modern hardware accelerared renderers and a scripting system called ZScript, and was also utilized in the creation of ECWolf for ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.shacknews.com/article/99890/celebrate-wolfenstein-3ds-25th-birthday-with-mods-and-source-ports|title=
Celebrate Wolfenstein 3D's 25th Birthday with Mods and Source Ports|first=David|last=Craddock|website=[[Shacknews]]|date=2017-05-05|access-date=2024-07-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/video-games/3540090/infamous-snes-version-wolfenstein-3d-now-playable-pc/|title=The Infamous SNES Version of 'Wolfenstein 3D' is Now Playable on PC|first=Mike|last=Wilson|website=[[Bloody Disgusting]]|date=2019-01-03|access-date=2024-07-14}}</ref> and Raze for the [[Build engine]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Raze - a new open source fork of EDuke32 backed by GZDoom tech |url=https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/raze-a-new-open-source-fork-of-eduke32-backed-by-gzdoom-tech.15937/ |website=GamingOnLinux |author=Liam Dawe |access-date=2020-08-15 |archive-date=October 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201027080449/https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/raze-a-new-open-source-fork-of-eduke32-backed-by-gzdoom-tech.15937/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Meanwhile [[DarkPlaces]] adds stencil shadow volumes into the original ''Quake'' engine along with a more efficient network protocol.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/quake-renaissance-a-short-history-of-25-years-of-quake-modding|title=Quake Renaissance: a short history of 25 years of Quake modding|first=Robert|last=Yang|date=2021-08-23|access-date=2024-07-14|website=[[Rock Paper Shotgun]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2020/03/wrath-aeon-of-ruin-engine-source-code-released-a-quick-look/|title=Wrath: Aeon of Ruin engine source code released - a quick look|author=Samsai|date=2020-03-15|access-date=2024-07-14|website=GamingOnLinux}}</ref> Other projects include [[Quake II engine|Yamagi Quake II]],<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2021/06/alternate-quake-ii-game-engine-yamagi-quake-ii-adds-vulkan/|title = Alternate Quake II game engine Yamagi Quake II adds optional Vulkan support|website=GamingOnLinux|last=Dawe|first=Liam|date=2021-07-21|access-date = 2023-07-29}}</ref> [[ioquake3]],<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614052412/http://www.linuxgames.com/archives/10379|url=http://www.linuxgames.com/archives/10379|title=ioquake3 Miscellany|date=2008-05-02|archive-date=2011-06-14|first=Dustin|last=Reyes|website=LinuxGames|access-date=2024-07-14}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2014/08/ioquake3-fps-game-engine-switching-over-to-sdl2/|title=Ioquake3 FPS Game Engine Switching Over to SDL2|website=GamingOnLinux|first=Liam|last=Dawe|date=2014-08-27|access-date=2024-07-14}}</ref> and [[id Tech 4|dhewm3]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dsogaming.com/news/final-version-of-doom-3-source-port-dhewm3-available-for-download-supports-4k-openal-and-more/|title=Final version of Doom 3 source port, dhewm3, available for download, supports 4K, OpenAL and more|date=2018-12-17|access-date=2024-07-14|first=John|last=Papadopoulos|website=DSO Gaming}}</ref> which maintain the goal of cleaning up the source code, adding features and fixing bugs. Even earlier id Software code, namely for ''[[Hovertank 3D]]'' and ''[[Catacomb 3D]]'', was released in June 2014 by [[Flat Rock Software]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Larabel |first=Michael |date=June 6, 2014 |title=id Software's Softdisk Open-Sources Some Really Old Games |url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTcxMjM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140609231037/http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTcxMjM |archive-date=June 9, 2014 |access-date=June 6, 2014 |publisher=[[Phoronix]]}}</ref>

The GPL release of the ''Quake III'' engine's source code was moved from the end of 2004 to August 2005 as the engine was still being licensed to commercial customers who would otherwise be concerned over the sudden loss in value of their recent investment.

On August 4, 2011, [[John Carmack]] revealed during his [[QuakeCon]] 2011 keynote that they will be releasing the source code of the ''[[Doom 3]]'' engine ([[id Tech 4]]) during the year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doom 3 Source-Code To Be Released This Year |url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTc1MQ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011045711/http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTc1MQ |archive-date=October 11, 2011}}</ref>

id Software publicly stated they would not support the [[Wii]] console (possibly due to technical limitations),<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 12, 2009 |title=id Software boss unconvinced by Wii |url=http://play.tm/news/24147/id-software-boss-unconvinced-by-wii/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413101828/http://play.tm/news/24147/id-software-boss-unconvinced-by-wii/ |archive-date=April 13, 2009 |website=Play.tm}}</ref> although they have since indicated that they may release titles on that platform (although it would be limited to their games released during the 1990s).<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928001953/http://www.cubed3.com/news/6961/1/id_Properties_Coming_to_Wii "id Properties Coming to Wii"] from Cubed3</ref> They continued this policy with the [[Wii U]] but for [[Nintendo Switch]], they collaborated with [[Panic Button (company)|Panic Button]] starting with 2016's ''[[Doom (2016 video game)|Doom]]'' and ''[[Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus]]''.

Since id Software revealed their engine [[id Tech 5]], they call their engines "[[id Tech]]", followed by a version number.<ref>{{Cite news |title=id Software: Technology licensing |publisher=idsoftware.com |url=http://www.idsoftware.com/business/technology |access-date=July 15, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215034944/http://www.idsoftware.com/business/technology |archive-date=December 15, 2007}}</ref> Older engines have retroactively been renamed to fit this scheme, with the [[Doom engine|''Doom'' engine]] as id Tech 1.

==== IMF Music File Format ====
IMF ("id music file" or "id's music format") is an [[audio file format]] created by id Software for the [[AdLib]] [[sound card]] for use in their video games.<ref>{{Cite web |title=IMF Format |url=https://moddingwiki.shikadi.net/wiki/IMF_Format |access-date=6 October 2023}}</ref> The format is similar to [[Musical Instrument Digital Interface|MIDI]], in that it defines musical notes, and does not support [[sampling (music)|sample]]d [[digital audio]] for sound effects. IMF files store the actual bytes sent to the AdLib's [[Yamaha YM3812|OPL2]] chip, which uses [[frequency modulation synthesis|FM synthesis]] to produce audio output. The format is based on the AdLib command syntax, with a few modifications. Due to the limited features and relatively low sound quality, modern games no longer use IMF music.

A large number of songs in id Software's early games (such as ''Commander Keen'' and ''Wolfenstein 3D'') were composed by [[Robert Prince (video game composer)|Bobby Prince]] in IMF format. Other game developers like [[3D Realms|Apogee Software]] also used this format in their games (such as ''[[Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure]]'', ''[[Duke Nukem II]]'', and ''[[Monster Bash]]'').