No! Game engines are not v12’s for a flat screen, but in fact those engines on which games are based on. The secret is that game developers have their own preference for choosing a engine, the most well known engines is the Cry engine which powered Far Cry series, the Unreal engine which powered a number of games including Splinter Cell and Bioshock and the Frostbite engine powered Battlefield Bad Company series and upcoming tiles like Need for Speed the Run and Mirror Edge 2. These engines allow for huge amounts of in-game environment to be destroyed but also greater detail in visuals.


 The engine we profiling today is the Id Tech engine. This engine powered games such as Doom series and the Quake series. What makes this engine very interesting is that it has been in use since 1996 and has only has been upgraded over time.


 
The first id tech engine was known as the Quake engine. This allowed for shadows for moving objects, and static lighting for non moving objects. Yips in those days the graphics were beyond awesome and this engine was seen as revolutionary, this was used for the first Quake back in 1996.



 

The engine then got upgraded to the id tech engine 2 which powered Quake 2 back in 1997 and a number of other games. The Quake 2 engine allowed for detailed lighting and modifications (this allowed gamers to create their own gaming content e.g levels and so on) and better graphic models.



 

The id tech 3 engine which was used for the game Quake 3 which was released in 1999 was also used by elite force2 ( star trek game). This engine allowed for shaders (more detailed and realistic environments) and skeletal movement (more detailed and realistic movement of the A.I).



 

The id 4 tech engine was released in 2004 and powered a number of games, including Doom3, Quake 4, Prey and Brink. The engine was replaced earlier this year by the id tech 5 engine. The id tech 4 engine was released ahead of its time, in fact, when Doom3 was released back in 2004 it could only be run on a high end pc with majority of graphic cards released back then not supporting its high end graphics. The id tech 4 allowed for massive outdoor environments, more realistic skin that moved with the skeletal movement and more realistic dynamic lights ( this allowed games to have spooky shadows and lighting). The id 5 tech engine made its appearance for the first time this year after it was used to power rAge. This allows for even higher dynamic lighting, depth of field, motion blur the new features of the id tech 5 is way beyond the previous engines, however with this engine it has set the benchmark for other engines to follow.