A construction company is designing buildings using the Doom engine

The source code for Doom has been made available to the masses under the guise of a free license for the better part of 15 years now, where it is also fondly known as id Tech 1. Just when you thought that all possibilities of applying it has been exhausted, along comes Canadian construction company DIRTT Environmental Solutions (DIRTT stands for “Doing It Right This Time”) that will make us see the Doom engine in a whole new light. The company has developed a software known as ICE, which is based on the Doom engine.

Doom’s source code has been available under a free license for 15 years, and just when you think you’ve seen all possible uses of the engine known as id Tech 1, a construction company comes along to change your mind. Popular Science reports that DIRTT Environmental Solutions (for “Doing It Right This Time”), a Calgary, Canada-based construction firm, designs blueprints for prefabricated buildings using software they developed called ICE — software that is based on the Doomengine. The original 1993 game rendered a 3D space from a 2D floor plan, and that’s what ICE does as well. ICE works with industry-standard design software like AutoCAD, and allows engineers to create a virtual mock-up of a room, including underlying building features such as pipes and electrical lines. Then, everything is built at once, not piecemeal, which DIRTT says is a much more efficient method.