id Tech 5

id Tech 5 is a proprietary game engine developed by id Software. It was designed as a successor to id Tech 4 (the engine behind Doom 3) and was notable for its use of "megatexture" technology, officially termed "Virtual Texturing." This technology allowed for extremely detailed and unique textures across entire game levels.

Virtual Texturing works by streaming portions of a massive texture file onto the game world as needed. This eliminates the repeating texture patterns common in older games and allows artists to paint detailed, individual surfaces. The engine also supports global illumination and deferred shading, contributing to advanced lighting effects.

id Tech 5 was first used in id Software's 2011 title, Rage. It was subsequently used in Prey 2 (later cancelled), Wolfenstein: The New Order, The Evil Within, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, Dishonored 2 (as a base for the Void Engine), and The Evil Within 2.

One of the criticisms of id Tech 5 was its high system requirements, particularly regarding RAM and video memory, as well as some optimization issues that hindered performance on certain hardware configurations. While graphically impressive, the engine's streaming technology also presented challenges in terms of level design and content creation. The engine is considered less widely adopted compared to its predecessor or more contemporary engines like Unreal Engine or Unity.