Doom 3 source code will be released after Rage

id Software's plans to release the Doom 3 source code after Rage launches are still on, and now have the approval of parent company ZeniMax, id's technical wizard John Carmack revealed at QuakeCon.

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id Software has said for several years that it intends to release the Doom 3 source code after Rage shipped, and now those plans are looking a little more concrete. During his legendary QCon keynote speech yesterday, id technical wizard John Carmack revealed that parent company ZeniMax has approved the source release, and it'll arrive some time after Rage's October launch (via Eurogamer).

Carmack explained that ZeniMax approved of id's plans to release the source, though it'll still need to be run by legal. The source code also needs a bit of a polish first, he said. Carmack also called on other games developers to release their source code, as it helps budding devs learn the ropes.

What does the source code release mean for your average player? Plenty! Thanks to the open source code, past id games have been updated by the community with bug fixes, improved compatibility with modern hardware, and new features ranging from updated menus and netcode to astounding graphics improvements. It'll enable mods to become standalone releases, playable by people who don't have Doom 3. Then there'll undoubtedly be brand new games, both free and commercial, built upon the engine.

What it won't mean is free Doom 3. While the engine source code will be open, this won't include the game's assets (levels, artwork, sounds, and all that jazz) so you'll still need to buy it to play.

While id's past source releases have waited until all games which licensed the engine were out the door, there's still one id Tech 4 game in development: Prey 2. However, Human Head is almost certainly using a newer version of the engine than that seen in Doom 3, and has "heavily modified" it anyway.

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  • reply
    August 5, 2011 6:00 AM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Doom 3 source code will be released after Rage.

    id Software's plans to release the Doom 3 source code after Rage launches are still on, and now have the approval of parent company ZeniMax, id's technical wizard John Carmack revealed at QuakeCon.

    • rms legacy 10 years legacy 20 years mercury super mega
      reply
      August 5, 2011 7:30 AM

      Quake tenebrae update plz!

    • reply
      August 5, 2011 1:59 PM

      FYI the game will not be open sourced. The game engine will be open sources.

    • reply
      August 5, 2011 8:11 PM

      I really like the idea and think it is awesome of id to do this. However, aside from the Doom ports has anything interesting come of this? The Enemy Territory source code was released last year and I couldn't find out if anyone was doing anything with it.

    • reply
      August 6, 2011 12:11 AM

      Maybe someone can mod the co-op mode exclusive to the xbox version.

      • reply
        August 6, 2011 2:31 AM

        Heh no, Microsoft won't allow that.

        • reply
          August 8, 2011 12:51 AM

          Even if they cared, how do you think they would stop it, exactly?

      • reply
        August 10, 2011 9:36 AM

        LMS co-op mod already exists.

        MS hasn't threatened them, either, AFAIK.

    • reply
      August 12, 2011 9:10 AM

      Why isn't Prey 2 being done with id Tech 5 if it is officially owned by ZeniMax? There's no good reason to use the outdated id Tech 4 engine when you have a perfectly good brand new (and gorgeous) engine to use in iT5. What a fucking fail.

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