I thought this was kinda weird after reading the PC Gamer article and it saying id had made their own sound technology and didn't need Creative:
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040726/sfm055_1.html
Creative Technology Ltd., a worldwide leader in digital entertainment solutions for PC users, today announced its agreement with id Software(TM) relating to Creative's patented shadowing technique and id's cutting-edge 3D graphics DOOM 3 engine, allowing Creative to develop EAX® ADVANCED HD(TM) 3D audio options for future licensees.
Not only was the sound part weird, the shadow technique was even weirder. Apparently, Carmack came up with something called "Carmack's Reverse" for shadow calculation.
Creative got involved because they own a patent on it and forced id to, basically, put in that HD Advanced sound cr@p or they'd charge them over the shadow thing. Carmack said this:
The patent situation well and truly sucks. We were prepared to use a two-pass algorithm that gave equivalent results at a speed hit, but we negotiated the deal with Creative so that we were able to use the zfail method without having to actually pay any cash. It was tempting to take a stand and say that our products were never going to use any advanced Creative/3dlabs products because of their position on patenting gaming software algorithms, but that would only have hurt the users.
They did it so that the game wouldn't be delayed longer which I can understand. Though, I almost wish they would've said "F**k you" and taken it to court.
I'd maybe see Creative's side in this had they actually developed the technology, but they didn't. Some guy gave a lecture on it and they patented his presentation. They didn't really have an idea what he was talking about--they just realized they could make a buck.
M-audio Revolution for me.
