# id Tech engine 26 Hacker News commenters recommended id Tech engine and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Praised for performance and rendering, with many calling it among the industry's best game engine families. Critics say it is hard to develop for and rarely used beyond id Software. ## Why people recommend it - Strong performance and high frame rates (6 comments): "The id tech 8 engine is a whole lot more performant than the unreal 5 engine and absolutely does what it needs to, fantastically" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47563988)) "the fact that id tech 6 engine games look as good as they do and pump out 200+ fps is pretty novel" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48825515)) "id tech has stellar performance compared to a very general purpose engine like UE." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820862)) - Technically advanced and innovative design (6 comments): "i found myself even in such an old engine in awe of the incredibly creative ways problems are solved" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48333290)) "Idtech practically invented the modern 3D engine and is constantly pushing the envelope" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820345)) "I hear a lot of good things about modern idTech. Pervasive multithreading is one" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48825248)) - Competes well with Unreal and Unity (5 comments): "idTech rendering is more competitive with Epic's Unreal technology than Unity and Godot." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820944)) "id tech has stellar performance compared to a very general purpose engine like UE." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820862)) "Godot and Id get much better performance than Unity and Unreal" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48824619)) - Long-lasting value for games and industry (5 comments): "For most of the 90s and 00s, your game engine, specifically idTech in this case, was a competitive advantage." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820064)) "Thing is the idtech (Quake) engines power basically everything" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48824765)) "it brought great value to the industry for decades" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48833614)) ## What people warn about - Complex and inflexible to develop with (2 comments): "so complicated to develop for that even id Software doesn't use it for every game" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48827425)) "The original id engines were also famously inflexible." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47219161)) - Little use, even internally (3 comments): "so complicated to develop for that even id Software doesn't use it for every game" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48827425)) "The games that use this engine have poor sales and no one is even buying idTech." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48821313)) "it wasn't getting used very much, even internally at Microsoft" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48826129)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Godot](https://hackerapproved.com/p/godot.md): 213 recommend - [Unity](https://hackerapproved.com/p/unity.md): 110 recommend - [Unreal Engine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/unreal-engine.md): 104 recommend - [Bevy game engine](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bevy.md): 50 recommend - [S&box](https://hackerapproved.com/p/s-box.md): 14 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.idsoftware.com/en) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "id Tech engine", https://hackerapproved.com/p/id-tech-engine/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).