While the original fellows behind id Software had all been making games for years before the company’s official formation in 1991, this legendary game development studio first rose to prominence with the release of a cult-classic side-scrolling platform game, Commander Keen.
After that watershed game which contained graphical and technical wizardry as-yet-unseen on the PC, id Software went on to release classic after classic, with Wolfenstein 3D, DOOM and DOOM II, Quake, Quake 2 and Quake 3: Arena, and DOOM 3 representing the studio’s last in-house developed title.
id Software is currently putting the finishing touches on (and scrambling to cram more stuff into) RAGE, the company’s upcoming first-person shooter.
While RAGE looks absolutely terrific, it’s been a long road getting to this point in the evolution of the studio’s graphics technology, and in this video you can watch through a number of clips showing each of id Software’s previous games, representing a 20 year evolution:
id Software – 20 Years of Technology Evolution
RAGE is due for release across Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC platforms on September 13th in the US, and September 15th in the UK and Europe.
Catch up with this ultimate first-person shooter (with driving elements!) with El33tonline’s previous looks at the game.
- Sleeping Dogs 101: High octane screens and trailer teach us the ropes
- Dead or Alive 5 goes to the circus in zany 'Lei Fang VS Zack' gameplay
- E3 2012: Konami teasing an announcement - Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2?
- Free Mass Effect 3 'Rebellion Pack' arriving soon to reinforce multiplayer
- Ron Gilbert's Double Fine game, The Cave, finally unveiled by SEGA
- Metro: Last Light live-action short film welcomes us to a disturbing future
- The Arrival of Azmodan: A Desperate Plea to the Armies of Light
- Why is War fighting against Death in this Darksiders II screenshot?
- Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition Review
- Exclusive: Halo Infinity Multiplayer revealed for Halo 4, innovative online modes detailed
- Exclusive: Halo 4 Limited Edition announced with South African pricing and pre-order details
- CoD Elite members can cash in on Double XP now, but also welcome your new Call of Duty community manager
Comments:
awesome - thanks for posting this! i recognise every game except the very first one (the platformer). it's truly amazing how far graphics have come - so much more work now for level and character artists than ever before. i'm more excited by something like l.a. noire focusing on realistic virtual performances than something like rage with massive, highly detailed landscapes. virtual characters expressing lifelike emotion is where it's @ for me! imagine tetsuya nomura designed characters where you could see every muscle in their face move realistically - it would breathe a whole new life into the fantasy genre (for me at least).
tsk tsk tsk... if you do not know Commander Keen you do not know id software my friend :)
i played the later commander keens (3 and 4 maybe?) with more detailed graphics - couldn't recognise mr keen from that clip. had no idea that id software was behind the series though...