id software

Only one company can claim to have truly ridden the whole ride: id software. From 1988, till the present day, id software has been at the head of gaming, setting numerous industry technical standards.

Commander Keen:
We begin with Commander Keen, id software's first revolutionary game:

This game pioneered the use of smooth side scrolling on a PC. It was also the first to use an advanced graphics card.

Wolfenstein 3D:

Wolfenstein 3D is the grandfather of the entire FPS genre. With this game, id singlehandedly paved the path for generations to come. There's a reason why literally every FPS since then featured Nazi's as the enemy. In the technical area, Wolfenstein 3D pioneered smooth scrolling, pseudo 3D, ray casting. Unlike many games at the time, Wolfenstein 3D could run on virtually any computer without graphics enhancements.

Doom (id tech 1):

All right... You knew this was coming. Meet Doom, the first game using the id tech engine. Ever heard of it? It's only like one of the most used game engines of all time! Doom set numerous graphics standards, with it's use of high quality textures, and atmospheric lighting.

But Doom gave us one thing that we will never forget. BSP: Binary space partitioning. BSP is used in every freaking engine today. The Source engine, Unreal engine, Torque, Cryengine, you name it. It is the single most common method used for geometry, due to it's super fast rendering and collision detection. Thank you Doom!

Quake:

What is Quake? Quake is the difference between Wolfenstein 3D and Halo. Quake is the modern FPS. Improving on id tech 1, the quake engine gave us total ultimate pownage! Oh my god, you can look up and down! Oh my god, I can play death matches against people all over the world! Oh my god, it's a light map! Quake is awesome.

Quake 2 (id tech 2):

Now, we see the next iteration of id tech! Quake 2 supported hardware accelerated rendering, as well as sported multiple networking enhancements.

Quake 3 Arena (id tech 3):

Oh yes... Id tech 3. This is engine is probably the most popular of the id tech series, being used in 100's of games, including the almost as famous Call of Duty. Quake 3 boasted superior networking, fast paced game play, high resolution textures, and even some shader support.

Doom 3 (id tech 4):

Now, most of the previous title look kind of lame compared to modern standards. But Doom 3 set the bar so high, that it still has yet to be broken. Doom 3 gave us modern graphics, complete with shadow mapping, advanced lighting effects, and numerous other technical improvements. Doom completely revolutionized how we create stunning effects, pioneering the use of various optimization and shader techniques to produce amazing results. Id tech 4 has been used in numerous game including Quake 4, Enemy territory Quake wars, and many of the more recent Call of Duty games.

Rage/Doom4 (id tech 5)

Id tech 5 is id's upcoming engine, and it is expected to continue the amazing trend that id has established.

Cousins of id tech:

Many games have utilized id tech, or use a modified version of it:

Half Life (GoldSrc)

Call of Duty

Medal of Honor Allied Assault

Jedi Academy

Prey