id to release Doom 3 source code

By Fred Dutton Published 5 August, 2011

Carmack wants other devs to follow suit.

id Software is to release the source code for its 2004 shooter Doom 3 to the public later this year, technical director John Carmack has announced.

Speaking during his keynote at this year's QuakeCon event in Dallas, Carmack revealed that parent company ZeniMax had given it permission to do so, and that the code will be available some time after the release of Rage in October.

He added that it needed a quick polish before you can all get your hands on it, and that it still has to be run past legal.

He then called on other developers to follow suit and release some of their old code, arguing that it helps young developers better learn their trade.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (26) Latest comment 10 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • steviepunk #1 10 months ago

    The guy is still a hero :)

  • pr0ev0lution #2 10 months ago

    legend.

    must say he is absolutely right. there is only so much the guys going through uni are going to learn and releasing the source code of a 7 year old triple A title i'm sure the guys who are serious about getting into the industry will learn so much by looking at something like that

  • djcool3005 #3 10 months ago

    Wow, as a games programming student this will be great to study and pick up on good coding practices and new techniques. Cheers Carmack :)

  • senso-ji #4 10 months ago

    Excellent idea. Good for students and hobbyists alike.

  • Raiko101 #5 10 months ago

    It doesn't matter how old it is, you can still learn from script. I'd personally find it a fascinating document to get a hold of.

  • wellzy4eva #6 10 months ago

    I have tons of respect for John Carmack and id software for releasing the source code, I wish Epic would do the same...

    And for people who underestimate id software's role in modern gaming, remember that the half life engine and source engine have Quake 1 engine roots.

    It's a shame that the I'd tech 4 engine couldn't commercially compete with Unreal Engine 3/3.5.

  • Softie2k #7 10 months ago

    id are on the backfoot in terms of graphics and have been for a decade.

  • curryking3 #8 10 months ago

    Yayy!!!!

  • Maswor #9 10 months ago

    And now Infinity Ward can upgrade their god damn Engine........

  • Bennicus #10 10 months ago

    Can't imagine many publishers will allow their developers to do this! Nice idea though.

  • Inmediasress #11 10 months ago

    @wellzy4eva
    Yeah honestly we need more variety I'm sick of the Unreal engine all it seems to be doing is plastic characters with plastic hair and ugly faces.
    I don't know wether it's the engines fault or the people using it but it's kind of terrible everything looks like plastic.

  • TelexStar #12 10 months ago

    "id are on the backfoot in terms of graphics and have been for a decade."

    @Softie2k - That's not the point you grumpy troll. They'll be so much more to learn here than graphics code.

  • linksdad #13 10 months ago

    Troll whatever your name was: Quake 3's graphics were terrible in the day wherent they? Have you actually played it? I re-downloaded recently (thanks steam summer sale) and the graphics still just about pass muster today.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #14 10 months ago

    all it seems to be doing is plastic characters with plastic hair and ugly faces

    Have you seen Doom 3? It has the plastic-est faces in the history of video games!

  • miiiguel #15 10 months ago

    Plastik Fantastik!

  • LHH #16 10 months ago

    Such a role model. The guy is a champion

  • rojjer #17 10 months ago

    Softie2k works for EPIC games

    Trollololol

  • abigsmurf #18 10 months ago

    The Doom 3 engine doesn't get a lot of credit but it did have some innovations.

    I seem to remember it was the first FPS to actually feature interactive screens and menus that were done in-game. Before Doom 3 you would have to open a menu window for complex interactions and opening doors required pulling switches or pushing giant red buttons.

    I think that in game videos (ie seeing a video on a monitor in-game) were also another thing it did first but I'm not sure.

  • ColdCoffee #19 10 months ago

    To bad Epic and Id Engines look like plastic.

  • SpaceMonkey77 #20 10 months ago

    I can agree with this. And yes, we do need to see more of it, especially spent and retired engines and code. Sure, publishers are going to lose hair over such a prospect, but overall it serve to help bring new blood into the industry, who'll know what's needed to produce todays games.

    Uni courses etc will be fine, with their cut down versions of code and half baked engines, but you can't beat the real mc'coy from the horses mouth. I'm sure once done, we'll see some fresh game concepts from off the radar indies. Graphics are engine supported by the like of Unity, Blenderware, and UTC engines. Code on the other hand, needs much of the same treatment.

    Go Carmack. Would like to see some better games from you though, sir. You can't sell us Doom like games forever, can you?

    How about EA do the same for their

  • TexMurphy01 #21 10 months ago

    Generic joke about the source code having the ambient colour set to black.

  • nbringer #22 10 months ago

    Looking forward to see this on my machine... :D

    Great spirit, ID!

  • Rack #23 10 months ago

    I'm not serious enough to really be able to put this stuff to use, but I'm definitely going to have a look through this, just to see how it's put together. I should probably buy the game too come to think of it, give a bit of perspective. Good show Carmack.

  • ukimpact2010 #24 10 months ago

    i going to buy a id Cap now for my advatar

  • ukimpact2010 #25 10 months ago

    i going to buy a id Cap now for my advatar

  • ghiest #26 10 months ago

    Looks like CoD might finally get an engine upgrade then ... (yer all the cod's are based on Quake 3 :p).