As you may remember, just over a week ago, id Software announced John Carmack's latest plan to make you feel inadequate about your PC via the new engine he's working on. At the time, id gave little away, professing that they preferred not to talk about anything that wasn't yet ready to show.
Well it now seems that those pondering the Catch-22 nature of that statement were right to be suspicious, as the new engine, dubbed id Tech 5, was demoed today at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. Four screenshots have escaped from the conference via Engadget, and id has pledged to have more demos available for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Mac at E3, these being the planned formats for the new IP linked to the engine.
While it's unclear at the moment whether the rather pretty racing action depicted in the shots relates to the new game in any way, the demo level made use of 20 GB of textures, utilizing technology which id says "practically eliminates the texture memory constraints typically placed on artists and designers and allows for the unique customization of the entire game world at the pixel level".
Impressive stuff. Check out the gallery for the shots (Like you haven't already), and hit the jump for the full lowdown from id via the press release.
id Software Debuts id Tech 5
Groundbreaking New Videogame Engine Previewed on a Mac
WWDC, San Francisco, June 11, 2007 – Today, id Software unveiled their never-before-seen next-generation game engine technology, id Tech 5™, running on a Mac at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference. This revolutionary new technology will power the studio's internally created new game property and will be available for licensing to third parties. Previous iterations of id technology have powered games with worldwide retail sales totaling more than $1 billion, cementing id's status as the premier technology provider for the industry.
id Software's co-founder and technical director, John Carmack, demonstrated id Tech 5 during the keynote address and commented, "Since many developers at id have made the switch to the Mac for their personal use, we decided it was now time to bring our core game technology to OS X. After a rapid bring up of the codebase, we were delighted to find that the latest Macs are the fastest systems in our offices for some of the time consuming processing jobs and will be contributing to our development process in many useful ways."
The new id rendering technology practically eliminates the texture memory constraints typically placed on artists and designers and allows for the unique customization of the entire game world at the pixel level, delivering virtually unlimited visual fidelity. Combined with a powerful new suite of tools designed specifically to facilitate and accelerate the content creation process, id Tech 5 will power games that contain vast outdoor landscapes that are completely unique to the horizon, yet have indoor environments with unprecedented artistic detail.
While shown for the very first time running in real time on a Mac, id Tech 5 additionally supports the Xbox 360 and Playstation3 console platforms as well as the PC, and will be available for licensing to developers and publishers interested in working with a truly next-generation rendering and game development solution. id Software will be showing id Tech 5 to interested developers and publishers by appointment only at the E3 Media & Business Summit from July 11 – 13, 2007 in Santa Monica, Calif. Companies interested in id Tech licensing information can visit www.idsoftware.com or email licensing@idsoftware.com with an E3 appointment request.
About id Software:
id – defined by Freud as the primal section of the human psyche; id Software, located in Mesquite, Texas, was founded in 1991. From inception to present day, id Software has relentlessly provided technical, design and artistic leadership as an independent game developer and technology provider. Transcending the games industry, id's iconic brands such as Wolfenstein, DOOM, QUAKE and Enemy Territory have become staples of popular culture for generations of gamers. More information on id Software can be found at www.idsoftware.com.
Contest:
7:16 PM on 06.11.2007
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Apple Computers. Remember? The guy from Apple sponsered the Us Festival.
Just when I think you can't do anything more for me, you show up onstage with Steve Jobs and single-handedly eliminate in-game memory constraints.
I curse you, Carmack. I curse you to the heavens.
*puts on foil hat*
Hmmm. I'm no programmer, but this sounds like a particularly tasty feature for console developers especially.
A lot of people are overlooking the "engine" part. What can it do besides render graphics? How good are the scripting and physics?
Also, ID never uses their engines effectively. They chose some pretty lame scenery to show off what the rendering looks like. The balloons in shot #2 look pretty impressive, but everything else is inorganic or looks like plastic. Cutting edge engines should aim for more than Thunderdome.
When they make an engine that can reproduce something you would see in animated movies, I'll be impressed. Good graphics is about art, not billions of polygons or clever memory management.
No soft shading? No self shadowing? C'mon iD, you can do waaay better then this.
Not even close to Unreal Engine 3 quality.
@mage - you're also a mac hater, neet.
@ Burnt - even when billions of polygons DUE to clever memory management make silky smooth photorealistic (anime-realistic?) graphics possible?
As much as you guys bitch about PS3 haters, you really jumped on the first opportunity to take cuts at Apple.